From my experiences coaching, playing, and working in the lacrosse industry, I feel there is not enough emphasis on a player and how he understands his playing instrument. Sometimes it is the wand, not the wizard.
The number of lacrosse players who can also string their own sticks is a small percentage compared to the number of total lacrosse players. Lacrosse is the only sport where such an integral part of the game changes literally every time you use it. The weather, the humidity, the wear and tear on your pocket – you name it – something changes every time you pick up your stick.
Lacrosse players will lift for strength, study film to understand how they play, and run for speed and endurance. If you work so hard on all these things, why not raise your overall lacrosse knowledge and improve your game by learning how you use this ever-changing instrument? A better knowledge of your pocket will help increase consistency on passing and shooting as well as knowing how to do on-the-fly adjustments to avoid game day disasters.
You control your own destiny. The more you know about your game, the better off you’ll be. Thanks to Lacrosse Playground for inviting me to be a featured blogger! Now let’s start improving our game, thinking in a creative and critical manner, and gaining some knowledge!
Here are a few pics of a new traditional pocket I strung. I will be offering advice on how you can string a nice leather pocket, too.
Feel free to shoot him an email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @RoseStringing.
In the lacrosse community, Greg has a long standing reputation as a stick doctor, knowing exactly how to mend a broken bag. From MLL Players (Jesse Hubbard, Pete Vlahakis, Justin Smith) to post-collegiate club laxers to U11 allstars, his stringing serves all levels of play. His workshop, Rose School of Stringing, aims to show the importance of knowing about your pocket and providing a fun, inspirational environment to learn and grow as a lacrosse player and as a human being. In the outside world, Greg attended high school at Shawnee (same as Navy AA Graham Gill, face-off specialist Mike Burns from UNC, and big boy middie Chris LaPierre at UVA) and graduated from the University of Mary Washington, which was Mary Washington College at the time.
