In one of the most surprising stories to hit the lacrosse scene this off season, women's lacrosse FINALLY allowing for mesh in women's sticks at all levels! This is huge news for the sport of lacrosse and the growth of our sport. One of the major drawbacks in our sport has been its complexity whether it comes from rules, padding or sticks. The mens side has seen great growth since its introduction of mesh pockets making catching and throwing much easier for new players. It also makes the rules and maintenance for girls sticks much simpler to follow and understand keeping new girls in the game longer. While the official regulations for mesh pockets in women's lacrosse have not been released in terms of stringing restrictions, the overall regulations have been released.
Now Girls players can primarily focus on two basic rules for women's pockets that are easily identifiable and previously used. 1) The pocket depth must allow the ball to be visible above the sidewall and 2) Same shooting string rules apply, shooting strings must be attached both sidewalls of the head.
What does this mean? Means things are a lot simpler for players, coaches and refs... but it also means the girls game is going to see some interesting new styles of play in the coming season. The main intent of this rule change is to keep the stick simpler but inherently there will also be some performance factors at play as well. As the mens game discovered, mesh offers several different performance benefits for hold, control and accuracy over traditional.
It will be interesting to see how manufactures like ECD take to Women's Mesh Pockets with new products and designs. Warrior's Warp program has had rapid advancements with several integrations since its launch last season. It would not be surprising to see major manufactures develop new tech to fit the mold of these new rules for women's sticks and seeing what proves to be most effective.
Now Girls players can primarily focus on two basic rules for women's pockets that are easily identifiable and previously used. 1) The pocket depth must allow the ball to be visible above the sidewall and 2) Same shooting string rules apply, shooting strings must be attached both sidewalls of the head.
What does this mean? Means things are a lot simpler for players, coaches and refs... but it also means the girls game is going to see some interesting new styles of play in the coming season. The main intent of this rule change is to keep the stick simpler but inherently there will also be some performance factors at play as well. As the mens game discovered, mesh offers several different performance benefits for hold, control and accuracy over traditional.
It will be interesting to see how manufactures like ECD take to Women's Mesh Pockets with new products and designs. Warrior's Warp program has had rapid advancements with several integrations since its launch last season. It would not be surprising to see major manufactures develop new tech to fit the mold of these new rules for women's sticks and seeing what proves to be most effective.