What's the best lacrosse gear for you?

What's the best lacrosse gear for you?

Years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I used to play long stick. My setup was a Brine Edge on an F15 and it worked well. The Edge isn't that accurate, but it has a wide, flat scoop which just sucked up ground balls.

One season I decided to play short stick midfield, so I put the Edge on a short pole and never looked back. I was crap at defence anyway! My game was around ground balls, faceoff wings, transition and good skills so the switch wasn't too difficult.

A couple of seasons later, I broke my last Edge so I had to buy a new one. I considered myself a bit of a goal scorer by then so I asked our best attacker what head I should buy. He recommended an Evo and so I bought it. He strung up an awesome pocket which held well and was very accurate.

The first training session went fine. I was catching and throwing well, but then we got into ground balls. I could not pick up a ground ball to save myself. The tip of my Evo was pointy and had a big lip on the back, whereas my Edge was completely flat and had no lip. This difference completely destroyed my strength: ground balls.

I persisted for the rest of the season and all the while my ground balls skills got worse. By the end of the season my whole game had fallen apart.

You see, I was rubbish at defence so the only way I could get the ball off opponents was in contested ground balls. It was a really good way to keep the opposition on their toes, because they knew if they'd lost possession of the ball and created a contest, they'd have a tough time getting it back. Once I'd lost that ability in the contest, I was no longer a threat to the opposition.

Before the next season I bought a Clutch (Edge's weren't available) and I was able to pick up ground balls again! I was in heaven.

I learned a very valuable lesson from that. The mistake I made was asking someone else to recommend a head for me. They did what any normal person would do and recommend a head they like. Not what is best for me. He was a fast, agile, highly skilful forward with a big shot. I was a trotting midfielder, who could get the ball but not do much with it. We had completely different styles requiring completely different gear.

Without doubt, the number 1 question we receive is "I play <position>. What's the best <gear> for me?". We get emails, tweets, stopped in the street, you name it. Everybody wants to know what the best gear is for THEM. This is great! It's the most important gear question a player could ask.

But you need to ask this question of YOURSELF.

By asking someone else means you value their opinion of your game over your own. How on earth could they know your game better than you? What do they know of you? Only you truly know your game. Only you know every little detail of your game and how the gear should support it. The best lacrosse gear is gear which suits YOU and YOUR game. If you don't know your game, then don't go looking for gear. Look at your game.

How do you "know your game"?

There are an infinite number of aspects of your game you can take into consideration. Some more important than others, but you need to make yourself consciously aware of them. This is a quick list of factors I'd take into consideration when getting to know my game. I've based it on looking for a lacrosse head.

• Your weight
• Your height
• Gender
• What the primary position you play?
• Do you want to play another position?
• What position do you play best?
• Are there any specific aspects about you that make you good at your primary position?
• Are you fast?
• Are you agile?
• Are you good at the basics (catch, throw, ground balls, dodge, shoot)?
• What do you like doing on the field?
• What do you not like doing?
• What type of stringing do you like?
• What conditions do you normally play in?
• Are you an aggressive player?
• Are you a play maker?

I could go on and on. The list is endless. But the more questions and self analysis you do the better. The end goal is for you to have a mental picture of yourself that you feel matches reality.

The next step is the most difficult part. You need to run your answers by at least two people whose opinions you trust. I'd recommend people who you play with or who coach you. This will validate the "reality" aspect. Self analysis is extremely difficult and your first attempt will need some adjustment. Sometimes you'll overrate yourself, but mainly you'll underrate yourself.

You're also going to get a lot of feedback during this stage too. There are thousands upon thousands of books written about feedback and how to take it so I'm not going to go into it. But the more you accept the reality of your game, the better placed you'll be to make decisions on the best gear for you.

So I know my game. Gear please.

I wish it was that easy. It would be nice if you could load yourself into an app and have it spit out the perfect gear for you. But it just doesn't work that way ... or not yet at least.

From your self analysis, you need to break your game into two areas. Your "strengths" and "areas of improvement".

When considering new gear you need to ask two questions.

• Will this gear help me work on my areas of improvement?
• Will this gear support my strengths?

Ideally you want to answer yes to both of these questions, but this is rarely the case. My experience is that in order for you to find gear that helps your work on one area, you have to compromise in another. If you want to have a better shot, get a head with a pointy tip, but it'll make ground balls harder. If you want to hold the ball better, get a head with pinch, but it'll make catching a bit harder. If you want better feel of the ball, then get a head that's light, but you'll have a more bendable head.

In the end, you have to make some decisions. Do you sacrifice some part of your strengths to improve in other areas? Do you forego improvement and hope that your strengths come out on top? Ideally, it's a combination of both, but we have some tips.

Tip 1: Don't buy gear which doesn't in some major way support your strengths.

Some days you'll be having a bad game and your confidence will be down. Being able to go back to one of your strengths is a great way to rebuild your confidence and get back into the game. Each of us have something we're good at. Ground balls, checking, dodging, clearing, passing/feeding, whatever it is. On that bad day, if you can't stop the downward spiral and build back up, indecision sets in and you'll be in a world of hurt. Why not avoid it altogether and make the right decision when you buy your gear.

Tip 2: Don't buy gear that offers no opportunity to improve.

We all have something we need to improve on. Don't cut short your development by purchasing gear that offers you nothing extra. Defenders, get the head with a bit more flex so you can shoot! Attackers, try arm pads instead of arm guards and see how free you feel when you shoot!

Ok, thanks for the lecture. So what's the best gear?

Well, we have oodles of information on this website about all the lacrosse gear you could ever want. We've got all the main types of gear categorized and ready for you to start your search. There are also a number of reviews posted from us and our users to help too. We even have price information so you can stick to your budget.

So don't waste another second and start browsing today!

• Browse Lacrosse Heads
• Browse Lacrosse Shafts
• Browse Lacrosse Gloves
• Browse Lacrosse Arm Pads
• Browse Lacrosse Helmets
• Browse Lacrosse Shoulder Pads
• Browse Lacrosse Chest Pads
• Browse Lacrosse Rib Pads

So how do you choose your new head? How do you go about it? Do you have your own horror story? I'd love to hear your experiences, so please leave a comment below.

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