New York Lacrosse Goalie Needs Some Answers Aboout His Mesh

Question: Jonathon
I am a goalie that is in the winter before the season of my sophomore year. As a freshman, I played well, but noticed a weak point in my game, clearing and stick control. After each save, depending on where i made the save, I normally picked it off the ground and looked for an outlet and if i didn't find it, made my way out the back. I was in my winter league last Saturday with the same routine when I was walking the ball up the field, i started to make progress when i got stick checked and I dropped the ball, i managed to keep the ball out of the net for the rest of the drive, bit in the process, i got nailed in the knee by a stick check. I use monster mesh wish a small pocket, and i think that it is the problem. I have an eclipse also. I was wondering what kind of mesh is great for ball control and the pocket size for that. I wash looking for a mesh that i could bomb the ball down the field with, but also keeping control in a deep pocket. I'm 5'10 180 and i play in New York.

Answer: Hey Bobby. Thanks for the question.

The first thing that sticks out to me has nothing to do with your stick at all. It's getting checked.

You mentioned in this question that you were "walking up the field". Now I can't tell if this was a controlled clear after a save or not. For example, you were unable to make the pass during the four seconds so you went out the back and then were heading up field with it. When you do this your team has the advantage. You have one extra player now that you are in the mix. In order to get checked someone was out of position and/or wasn't open and/or you did a horrible job of not recognizing who to pass to.

Clearing the ball is a team game. And in order for it to be successful everyone needs to know their role and be in position. It doesn't seem that was happening on this clear. So you have to decide what it was and try and fix that first because the type of mesh you have in your stick is irrelevant if you are getting checked on the ride with no one to pass to.

All that said, my take on mesh is this, it's not the mesh that makes the difference...it's your hands. As you get better you will realize that you can play with any stick. With a couple of saves and passes your hands will adjust to whatever stick you are using. Granted, you will have your favorites, and you will pick up sticks that are just garbage, but your hands will adjust to whatever stick you decide to use.

You've got great height and weight for your age. So you will be able to get away with using a deeper pocket. I am NOT a fan of monster mesh unless you are playing indoors or in really dry conditions where it doesn't rain. In New York it can rain and that monster mesh gets really baggy. My recommendation is NOT the Monster, and not the Mini, but the ones in between. I find that it gives you the greatest bang for the buck. It works in most field conditions. I run two sticks. They are both Eclipses. I have one strung with the mini mesh for when it gets really wet because it tends to bag out just enough to be perfect. I have the average mesh in the other which I play with most of the time.

Bombing the ball down field will be mostly based on your strength levels and how much whip you have on the stick. Again, the mesh by itself won't make a difference. In high school I used a very shallow pocket. Wasn't great for dodging but in today's game you shouldn't need to do that much so your primary role for your stick is to make saves and not to give up rebounds. Your shouldn't be stringing your stick to fake or dodge. That should be an afterthought.

Hope that helps Bobby. I've posted this answer on my blog so you can take a look there as well. Stay in touch and let me know how things go.

Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
www.lacrossegoaltendingforum.com

Goalie Stick Length

Pablo writes: Hey, I got a question about my goalie stick & the rules. I am having trouble with the control on my stick, when i pull back I lose control and i throw strange, but when i use an attack shaft i just can't get the distance. I talked to someone and they said to cut off about three inches but I don't know if that is legal or not. Please give me your advice and if that is legal or not, thanks.

Jonathan Writes: Pablo there is an inverse relationship between stick length and pocket depth. Usually, but not always, the deeper your pocket the longer it needs to be. The shorter the stick, the shallower it needs to be.

But that is all dependent on how strong you are physically. I'm a pretty strong guy and I have a shorter stick that I have a monster pocket in. With a deeper pocket you need more stick action to get the ball out. You need a bigger wind up where you pull the stick back behind you to get the ball out of there.

Not seeing you throw I can't recommend chopping off three inches or even adding three inches. By what you are saying, "when I pull back I lose control and I throw strange" sounds like your pocket is too shallow. But when you say, "when I use and attack shaft I just can't get the distance" sounds like your pocket is too deep and at this point you just aren't strong enough to throw with a short shaft yet. So it's really tough for me to give you a solid answer.

You may just need to spend some time improving your stick skills. Becoming a better stick handler will help you in all aspects of your game and that's just a matter of spending time catching, throwing and cradling.

Just FYI there is no length limit on a goalie stick. By I wouldn't go any shorter than a stick that goes from your belly button to the floor. That's pretty short. Unless you are really short yourself I find that an attack shaft is the shortest I would go. I am 5'8" and use an attack shaft.

Hope that helps Pablo. Let me know if you need any clarification.

Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com

Interesting Question About Clamping The Lacrosse Ball for Goalies

Ok I got this question from a sixth grader named Mike. The question was, "How does hard mesh in a new goalie stick affect clamping?"

Hmm...Can't say I've ever really thought of this. Here is my answer:

Mike clamping the ball is the last thing you should be worrying about.

This is an interesting question and not one I've ever received before so it's made me have to think a little bit.

When you clamp the ball your goal is to gain control of the ball, rake it into the crease (if it's outside) and get the ball into your stick. My experience tells me that brand new hard mesh would not be an issue. What is more of an issue is if your top shooting string is too loose then the ball gets hung up on the plastic when you go to rake the ball.

That would be more of an issue. Otherwise, hard mesh has way too many benefits over soft mesh, and I would never recommend going with soft mesh so you could clamp the ball better.

Clamping on a list of priorities goes something like this:

1) Stopping the ball.
2) Catching the ball.
3) Throwing the ball.
4) Cradling the ball. (You an throw a ball without ever having to cradle)

and way down on the end of the list would be clamping. It's really an afterthought to so many other priorities.

Great question though mike. It brings up an important point I'd like to make. Don't focus on the little things. Focus on the big things. I'm going to guess that you're a pretty analytical kid who likes to have all the answers. I was like you as well at that age so I'd like to tell you that you're on the way to doing great things in this game. But at your age there are soooo many other things to be focusing on. Like your strength. Your visualization. And your stick skills among others. It is rare in a game that you have the time (or need) to stand over the ball clamping it to the ground. It does come in handy around the crease. But stay focused on the big things buddy! Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes.

Jonathan-
www.LacrosseGoaltending.blogspot.com