Lacrosse is nothing without a stick.
There’s no piece of equipment more important. Taking good care of your lacrosse stick is an absolute must. Modern sticks are pretty amazing, and they’re more consistent and reliable than ever before. But even when your stick is perfect, a rainy game or practice in the mud can cause some serious pocket problems.
How do you make sure your stick treats you right the next time you play? By treating your lacrosse stick right!
How to Treat Your Lacrosse Stick
Wash Off the Dirt
The first thing is to remove pieces of turf, grass, and mud from the plastic and the pocket. If you’ve just played in a wet game, your stick is already wet or was wet at some point during the day, so there’s nothing wrong with running hot water over the head under a faucet or hose to wash off as much dirt, grime, or turf as possible.
Do not use soap. Hot water will do the job here.
Dry Your Lacrosse Stick
Now, you have a clean but very wet lacrosse head and pocket. Paper towels should be used to take as much moisture off the plastic, out of strings, and out of the mesh/leathers as possible. Spend a good couple of minutes trying to dry the head out with paper towels.
Next is to set your pocket to truly dry out. A lot of people put a ball in the head and let it sit overnight, but this can create a weird stretch to a pocket where the ball sits, so another really good option is to crumble up newspaper and stuff it TIGHTLY into the pocket in the overall shape you want the pocket to hold. You may need a butter knife, chop sticks, or other thin, rigid piece of plastic or wood to keep the paper tight against the pocket.
The newspaper does two things. First, it allows you to put a full channel in a pocket (not just a dent where the ball sits), and second, it actively draws moisture out of the mesh, strings, or leathers. The dryness of the newspaper helps the entire pocket reform as it dries, and it helps it dry more evenly.
Keep in mind, some modern mesh is so advanced that you may not need to be so diligent with forcing a positive shape for your pocket. However, generic mesh that you may find in a new entry-level stick right off the rack at the store could still need the help, and if you’re worried about pocket shape or want to extra careful, you won’t hurt anything but giving these methods a shot.
The Next Morning
After everything is dried out, use a wooden ball or poll ball – something smooth and round – to run up and down the pocket, as if you were breaking it in for the first time. Push hard on the pocket a couple times to give it back a little stretch, and go hit the wall!
Take Care of Your Equipment
If you just throw your wet stick in your locker or leave it on the floor, the next time you pick it up, it might not treat you the same. So, after your stick serves you in nasty weather, you really need to serve your lacrosse stick right back.
A fantastic way to treat your stick is to use a FlexForce, which solves the problem of pinched heads and can ensure the durability and quality of your head. Lacrosse players have had to come up with different ways to take care of their heads for a while, but never before has there been something made specifically to solve their problem. But now there is, and your FlexForce can offer you guaranteed longevity that homemade remedies just can’t.
