Mom Wants To Know What Stick Is Best For Her Lacrosse Goalie

Question: I saw that you recommend the STX Excalibur goalie head. I am having trouble finding it and I do not think that STX makes it any more. Is there another stick head that you would recommend? My daughter is 13 and is playing her first year of club lacrosse in the goal (she has been playing goalie at the rec level for several years). She has grown a lot since we bought her last stick and we are thinking of getting her an entirely new stick and head once the club season is over (next week) that she can break in during the rec indoor season.

Thanks so much.

We have gotten some good suggestions from your blog. My daughter was really helped by the entry in which you talked about what the jobs of the goalie and the defense are - whose responsibility it is to stop the high percentage vs. the low percentage shots. We also found a private goalie coach for her this year, as she had never been formally trained in the position. She has had a few sessions, and the focus has primarily been footwork. My daughter is an aggressive goalie that loves to come out of the goal to surprise the shooter. She also loves one on one penalty shots - they are the thing she is most confident in. We want to give her the opportunity to progress as far as she wants to, as she just lights up when she is in the goal. I just printed out your blog entry on low shots, as we discovered at her last tournament that low shots are her weakness. I will show her what you said about getting her head over the ball. She is not afraid of being hit (in the head or otherwise), so it shouldn't be a problem. It just isn't a skill she has been taught yet. I suspect that part of the problem is her ever changing height. There is a bit of misjudging the distance to the ground now.

Anyway, thanks for any recommendations/suggestions you can give as far as the stick is concerned.

Answer: Hey there Lisa. Thanks for writing and thanks for the kind words. I appreciate the feedback and love to hear it.

I was able to find some Excalibur's online and would doubt highly if they discontinued that stick as it is one of their best sellers. I grew up in the same town as Commonwealth Lacrosse http://www.comlax.com/ecom/product/80/262/t and would give them a call although you've got a ton of resources in Maryland.

Once you get this stick going all you're going to need to spend money on for a while are shafts since she is still growing. I would go with the lightest shaft you can find that is inexpensive until she stops growing or at least slows in growth. When you get to that point I always recommend Titanium because it will last the longest and you will spend less on shafts over time. That being said, in the womens game there is far less contact on sticks so you may still be able to go with a light, inexpensive shaft that may in fact last her a very long time.

With her changing height she will have coordination issues as well as a muscle to skeletal length issues. You want to make sure that she really focuses on her flexibility while she grows. Women are prone to knee issues because of hip to knee angles and we don't want her to develop tendonitis that keeps her from wanting to bend her knees. You will see in some young goalies where their knees hurt so much they just bend at the waist and not the knees. Keep an eye on that and always ask her how she is feeling. (Don't keep asking her if her knees hurt because she may end up expecting them to hurt. We don't want her to perpetuate that in her own mind, just keep it in the back of your head. If she is flexible, and develops good leg strength she should be fine.)

Good luck with everything. Let me know how it goes and keep me updated on her progress. I'm always here to help.

All the best to you and your daughter.

Jonathan Edwards - Olympian (Luge 94) All-American