Should My Son Cut His Defensive Stick Down? Coach Thinks So.

Question: My son is 15 and 6ft tall, he has been playing defense for 4 years now. He plays Varsity for his high school team. He now has a new defensive coach who wants to cut down his stick. What's your opinion? He says it make him a better player and that most colleges won't let him use the stick as is either?

Answer: Robyn thanks for the question. When I coached I often told kids to cut their sticks down because they usually didn't have the core strength to handle it, or they weren't that great at stick handling.

The main reason defenders use that long stick is to keep offensive players at bay. The extended length helps them knock down passes and stick check their opponent. They can usually get to a ground ball sooner than someone with a short stick, and if they are behind that offensive player they can poke check his stick or gloves in hopes that the player misses and can't pick it up.

All that being said, I've never met a high school kid who didn't catch, throw, cradle and all in all play better on the field with a shorter stick. When I say short I mean no less than 5 feet or 60 inches. The days of the 52 inch defensive stick are gone.

So I do believe that it will probably make your son a better player now. I know he is tall but I imagine that he's running around with that big thing and he's not using it correctly because it's so long. He's only fifteen. He's going to be a stud at 6 feet. For now I would probably chop it down, maybe 6 inches so it's 5 feet 6 inches long. If that still looks a bit unruly I'd take it down another 6 inches.

Cutting the stick down will not HURT his game. It will only improve it. But if the stick is too long it will definitely hurt his game.

Now the comment about most colleges won't let him use the stick as is either? I think that's a load of you know what. It's true if your fifteen year old son was trying out right now. But it may just be that your coach is looking for a third party reference that you would believe in to help justify the decision. I don't think the coach really needs to do that if he explains himself and that comment kind of ruins his credibility with me. If your son is 19, 6 feet and two hundred pounds he's going to be using a six foot stick.

Think of a stick like you would a pair of shoes. Sure, you may save some money by not having to buy another pair while you wait for him to grow into them. But in the short term those shoes are going to give him blisters, they will affect how he runs, and they will affect his coordination. But if you go down to the right size that he needs right now he's going to develop properly, with good technique, and in the long run he will be a better athlete because of it.

Hope that helps Robyn. Keep my posted and good luck!

Jonathan -