2024 Greater Egg Harbor Boys Lacrosse
Preseason Guide: Conditioning, Practice, Equipment
Welcome to the preseason guide! These are ways your player can get ready for the lacrosse season and should always be fun. If your child gets frustrated, confused or doesn’t enjoy any activities below, that’s ok! We will do everything in practice and no athlete will be “behind” if they don’t do any of these activities.
Same goes for parents. If this isn’t fun, don’t worry about it. A stick from Dick’s and taking it easy this winter is ok!
Now, if you like preparing, learning about lacrosse and finding the right equipment…this guide is for you!
CONDITIONING
If your player isn’t in any running sports now, encourage them to start conditioning. Give them time goals based on their current fitness level. Try intervals of 20 second sprints and 20 second jogs. Each time try to encourage them to stay with it a little longer.
Lacrosse uses a lot of upper body work, their arms will definitely be sore during the early season. Get a jump start on this by having them hold their arms out in front of them or out to the sides and timing it. Try for 20 seconds, 40 seconds, 60 seconds etc and repeat. If they have a lacrosse stick already, cradle for 2-3 minutes at a time, then take a break. Make it fun, it shouldn’t be unpleasant for them!
LACROSSE PRACTICE
Cradling
Improve your cradle NOW and practice will be much easier. A good cradle uses the arms, and the stick is vertical. A bad cradle looks like a fishing net and is horizontal.
Video: https://youtu.be/qwpZRzcwZm4
Video: https://youtu.be/JsyjckE7l3A
Catching/Passing
This is HARD, if your player is new and only catches 1 out of 5, don’t get discouraged, that’s a normal progression. If you have a clear brick or concrete wall at your house, free of windows, playing wall ball is a great way to improve your catching and passing. Just throwing it off the wall and catching it. And don’t forget to practice using both hands, righty and lefty.
Video: https://youtu.be/Ptf-P3u5iVY
Video: https://youtu.be/TnsMrcQ0H-M
Ground Ball Scooping
This is an underrated skill, but especially at the younger levels, the ball ends up on the ground a lot. A good scoop gets the butt of the stick low, with the shaft almost parallel to the ground, bend at the knees and run through the ball.
Video:https://youtu.be/y5fxuPAWO2g
EQUIPMENT
Shopping Tips
Shop around, if you like something, try different online vendors. Prices vary along with shipping deals. I’ve included links, but you don’t have to buy from those.
Favorite Online Vendors
SportStop.com
Lax.com
Lacrossemonkey.com
Lacrosseunlimited.com
Universallacrosse.com
Favorite Shops Semi-Local
Universal Lacrosse
Play It Again Sports
Thoughts on Dicks….It’s good if you’re first starting out, but it is not my favorite. The selection is not great, gets picked over fast, and they tend to not carry the best sticks in store. Use site to store vs buying in store. You can always use Dick’s as a way to try on pads and then shop elsewhere. Again, it’s not bad for a first time player but sites such as Lacrosse Unlimited offer starter packages that may be better deals or quality.
Sticks:
There are several options available when it comes to sticks. You could go with a used stick, there are also several good starter level sticks which are just fine for rec, then there are more expensive options. If your child is just starting out, a starter stick is usually the best option.
Some Starter Options include:
STX Stallion 200
Warrior Burn
https://www.lacrosseunlimited.com/warrior-burn-next-complete-lacrosse-stick.html
Maverick Charger
Defensive Players typically play with a defensive stick, or a long pole. These sticks tend to take longer to get used and learn to use properly. They come standard at 72 inches tall with the head, but really should be approximately the same height as the player. For this reason, I would recommend looking into a used Defensive stick from somewhere like Play It Again sports, or Sideline Swap, so if the shaft needs to be shortened you are not cutting a brand new full price stick.
Some defensive options include:
STX Stallion 200 Defensive
Warrior Burn Next Defensive
Helmets: All helmets must be SEI Certified and Meet NOCSAE standards
Cascade makes great helmets, they have a variety of models and can be ordered in a variety of colors. There is no requirement on what color they must wear. I’m including several options here, they are all good helmets. For a first year player, I would recommend the CPV-R.
https://www.universallacrosse.com/cascade-cpvr-youth-lacrosse-helmet.html
https://www.lax.com/lacrosse-equipment/cascade-s-youth-custom-lacrosse-helmet/98431.html
Mouth guards:
No clear or white mouth guards are allowed but other than that, there are no rules other than they must wear them! It is a stoppage of play and a turnover if a player does not have his mouthpiece in during a game, and they are not allowed to play if they do not have one.
Protective Pads:
Players must wear the following protective equipment, Shoulder Pads, Arm Pads, and Gloves. All Shoulder Pads MUST meet NOCSAE standards, and have a seal indicating that on them.This rule went into effect in January 2022. Typically you can find starter packages for this equipment on Lacrosse Unlimited and other sites, Dick’s Sporting Goods typically does packages as well. It is also recommended for players to wear a protective cup.
Cleats:
Football or Soccer cleats are fine! Don’t feel required to buy lacrosse cleats because they are always much more expensive. The major difference is ankle support. So if you do both sports, but football or soccer cleats. My boys have tried lacrosse cleats and found that they prefer Football cleats over them.
Baseball cleats tend to have a softer area in the toe and I do not recommend them. They aren’t designed for contact sports and getting stepped on, which happens A LOT in lacrosse. If you own them already, just check to make sure they aren’t too soft. If they aren’t, feel free to use them.