Expert: Jonathan Edwards - 5/30/2007

Question
I've read some of your past anserws and they have informed me and been very helpful but I still have questions. I'm a 7th grade girl goalie and to clear the ball, I run it up the feild. Should I keep a smaller pocket for this or make a larger one. I know that if you have a larger pocket, you have to be pretty strong to throw the ball far, but I can already throw the ball VERY far with my smaller pocket. The only reason I was questioning my smaller pocket was because when I'm running up to mid-feild, girls are trying to check my stick while I'm trying to cradle and dodge. Cradleing with a smaller pocket also limits my speed because when I'm running fast, th ball sometimes falls out of my stick. Thanks for the help!

Answer
Laura you sound a lot like me when I was your age.  I remember in eight grade I had D that couldn't catch and throw very well so I had to run up the field a lot!

You totally understand the pros and cons of the deeper pocket or the shallow pocket.

You can throw far with the shallow one but it's tough to hang on to the ball.  If you go deeper it's hard to throw but you have more ability to cradle and dodge.

There is another advantage to the deeper pocket and that is to hold on to hard shots.  If the pocket is shallow you will give up rebounds.  If it's deeper you'll hold on to more balls.

My suggestion is to try a deeper pocket.  It will be harder to throw with but you need to adjust your throwing style.  What this means is that you would just have to release the ball higher when you throw.  You would need more of a wind up which makes you vulnerable to getting stick checked.  But I think you can learn how to protect your stick a bit.

My suggestion would be to set up another stick with a deeper pocket.  Use it in practice and when you feel confident you can try it in a game.

Laura if you think about it.  The only thing that is keeping you from going with the deeper pocket is your strength.  You can easily work on that over the summer.  

You also have to remember that with this team you have to run and dodge etc.  As you get to play with better people that will change.

It is a good thing that you can throw very far.  But do you need to throw THAT far?  If you put in a deeper pocket maybe you'll lose a few yards.  Test it out.  Try to throw down field and see how long you can throw.  Then use a deeper pocket and see how far that one goes. You might be surprised how far you can throw once your throwing technique adjusts to the new pocket.

I hope that helps Laura.  Email me if you need anything else at jone94@shaw.ca and I'll help you.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Jonathan Edwards -
www.lacrossegoaltending.com coming soon!