Hi....looking for a light weigh durable defense long pole for my 8 year old without spending a small fortune. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Checkout Tribe7. They have a website. The have a very good product and great pricing.

Yes. let him play with a short pole. To young to play with the long pole. He needs to develop footwork and body positioning. he also needs to develop better stick skills. When he can do that the long pole will be far easier to adjust to in another year or two

8 year old should not be using a long pole. Even in travel. No way before 4th grade.

Lax mom , no disrespect but at 8 you should not limit your son to defense just yet. Let him learn the skill first . Cradle , switch hands , dodge , shoot. If you want it in addition to the short stick , I suggest you go to lacrosse unlimited an ask them.

lf you don't want to save $ by shopping online, l would go see John at Olympic Den. Saved me alot of $ over the years with P.A.L. discount. Lacrosse unlimited is highway robbery!

Don't buy a long pole buy a goalie shaft it the perfect length for a younger player.

Thank you for the info. Unfortunately his travel coach wants him to start getting use to a long pole for 4th grade. So I have no choice but to purchase one.

Let me add....he is currently on 2 travel teams were he plays defense on one and middie and defense on the other. The coach has asked me to get him a long pole so he can start getting use to catching and throwing with it before he starts 4th grade. As it is now they play up against the 4th graders who have the long poles. Thanks again for any and all input.

Thank you...where is that located?

Someone else suggested that but another person said it was too heavy.

I would question any travel coach suggesting that an 8 year old needs to start playing with a long pole. Like one of the earlier posters said - he should be working on stick skills, body positioning, and footwork. Any good coach should know that.

I worry more about getting robbed by the travel team then LU. Lol.

His travel coach is wrong!

Long pole in 4th grade?

The coach is a fool. Ask him what benefit to learning how to play the position will he have using a long pole? Ridiculous.

If you must.......Gait Ice is very light.

Two travel teams at 8 years old ? Mom , YOU are crazy. Suspect. He plays on 2 teams and with all the know it all Dads , or in this case Moms , no one suggested where to get a long pole ? Yet you come on this gauntlet and ask a ridiculous question. Well it worked.

The only tea playing up is the Wolfpack so guessing that is the team where he is playing D. Don't listen to these fools. Do whatever you need to stay with that team. Reality is the type of shaft doesn't matter at this age. Get something light and cheap and cut it down so it's no bigger than his eye brows.

My advice is to ask around to see if anyone has an old shaft that he can use. It's essentially a high priced rental because he'll need to cut it down dramatically and get a new one in two years. That's a lot of coin to drop for something that he won't use forever. Again, like some above posters said, it may be a little early. Defense is played with the feet more than the stick. At his age, he may become too dependent on the stick before he masters the defensive fundamentals. I'll take a kid with a short shaft and fast feet over a weak defender with a long pole every day and twice on Tuesday.

GOALIE SHAFT...29.99 ALL U NEED

Obviously your kid does not play travel. EVERY travel team from 4th grade up has the defense with a long pole. This is my son's 2nd year with a long pole and if it is cut to a proper height he will be just fine!

We're talking about an 8 year old, not a 11 year old, all of you playing travel in 2,3,4 grade are crazy, there's no real upside and half the kids will burn out before HS. The problem is everyone is paranoid and conned into believing that they must start playing right away to secure a spot on tye top teams. trust me if your kid belongs the coaches will find him

When my son was in 4th grade he wanted a long pole many do. He was given a 6ftr. About an hour after it was given to him he asked me if I wanted to see his SHLONG. I nearly passed out laughing (im a dad).

I said Wha, what! He said my short long pole. Shlong for short! He took a hacksaw or dremel to it and was happy with his creation.

It is okay for them to get used to a right sized pole and have fun. All of the bloggers are right though, don't get your son pigeon holed. Have them play with all the sticks he can IN BOTH HANDS!!!

Just remember he is in 4th grade, the team he is on now may not be the same team he is on a year or two from now. Make good friends and it all falls into place.

Yes, and he will have it cut down since the long pole is too much for an 8th grader, stick with the short pole for another year, my son plays D and he too had to cut his expensive pole. I don't believe long pokes are allowed for 4th grade play.

According to USL youth guide, U9 - "all sticks must be 37-42"" Page 30.

Ask his coach "why he is the only coach on the planet that thinks a nine year old should get used to playing with a long pole" A regular length middie or attack pole is almost the correct size long pole for a nine year old!.

Obviously you are a nut. Most U9 or fourth grade and BELOW teams do not play with a long pole. Most leagues do not allow long poles at U9.

4th grade plays with long poles. In travel and PAL "A" division. Probably B+ as well. Since when does USL mean anything?

please stay off this site..you know nothing about the youth rules with long poles...Pal "A" division 4th grade...Ha half the teams have evenly balanced team in 4th grade PAL except if your town only has 1 team...

If you really really must get him a long pole, go online and buy a cheap one, CUT it down to size because in two years or so he can use a long pole. Just make sure to cut it down to size, have seen may kids try to use a long pole and it just becomes a weapon and they dont learn or benefit from it at all

This thread has been around a while. If you have not already, go to lacrosse monkey.com. They have an excellent selection of clearance poles. Basically , you can get a top of the line shaft from a few years back for a great price. They have December deals and usually let you pile all those onto your clearance purchase. They display the original cost on the site. For a starter long pole you can usually go by original price. Do this and you won't feel bad about cutting it down plus it will last. Great customer service as well.

You're a [lacrosse]. Suffolk PAL has A, B+, B and C divisions. Most towns that have multiple teams have gone to an A/B format. "A" division teams play by the rules of the age group above. That means that 4th grade "A" division teams play with long poles. I watched 4th grade teams play with long poles last season on numerous occasions. Not certain if this applies to "B+" teams because last year was the first year of that division; however, 4th grade "A" division teams played with long poles.

Playing with them is not the issue. SHOULD they play with them is the issue!

SCPAL 4th grade "A" and "B+" play with long poles 60 inch maximum and some refs do measure. B+ has been around longer then one year. Maybe just not at every grade level. US Lacrosse is useless.

This started with the question from a kid 7 or 8 years old. No way that age should be using a pole.

If other travel and PAL teams are using long poles in 4th grade then you would be a foolish coach to discourage your player from using one. With that being said, there is absolutely no reason to get one a year early to get used to it. He'll get used to it in 4th grade just like everyone else.

At 7 or 8 I am not even sure they should be using a regulation ATT length. You have to cut that down.

Long poles should be banned by PAL on LI until 5th grade.Kids should learn to play defense with a short stick and work on stick skills,footwork and defensive positioning. When they get to 5th grade they will be a little stronger, have better stick skills and will understand defense a little better. Using a pole also limits the kids at an early age and pigeon holes them into a position by a DADDY coach.

Maybe I can assist - I was a D1 defensive and now my son plays defense for a competitive club team.

You play defense with you feet. A long pole at this age will discourage them for playing defense properly because they are going to be chasing with their stick.

Also, I don't think they 4th graders (especially D) have developed their strong hand/weak hand. So, let them develop with a short stick.

If you son can scope, cradle, switch hands effectively, pass, catch-- and plays defense whis feet - then go long pole

My son is a very good player for his age (8) who uses both hands well and we've cut his stick down 2 inches. he plays D quite a bit and we were told by the coach that the long pole is a terrible idea for at least a couple more years. And this guy is a HS Varsity Coach. so I think he knows what he is talking about.

"Because other teams are using long poles" is a terrible reason to allow your 3rd/4th graders to use a pole. Let the kid develop his feet and instincts instead of relying on the pole as most end up doing. Ignore other teams and let the kid learn to play D with a short stick. Just my 2 cents.

I often have my young defensemen practice without a stick entirely. My mantra is, you shouldn't even need a stick to play effective defense. I must agree with the guy above, who cares what other teams or coaches are doing or saying?

Amen. Go ahead bring out a long pole you jack [lacrosse]. Instead listen many of us have been through this. Cut the darn stick down and have him use quick feet.

Both sides have good points. I have played every position. If these are club lacrosse crazies posting, I am sure the long pole will not be the only stick in the house. I never understood the hostility in the responses about having a stick a little longer (and heavier) if that is what excites the child. If having a long pole is going to keep a stick in his hands then it cant be all bad. Realistically, the stick can not be longer then 60 inches so it has to be cut anyway and shouldn't be taller then the player. But it takes tremendous strength to wield a pole, beginning to build those muscles and fell the weight isn't bad either. My .02.

Question for those out there that would know. My sons xmas list is very short. Really doesn't want much. He does want a pole which i got him. He's in 4th grade now and just thinks they look cool, who knows if he ends up using it. Question is it needs to be cut down- Can anyone tell me what length i should make it, head included? Thanks in advance.

Has to be total 5' for 5th grade PAL.

Having read the various philosophies, if you are comfortable putting a pole in the hands of a young player, the entire pole, including the head, should just about come up to the eyebrow/forehead of the child when the pole is stood on end.

if he wants touse a long pole at his age it should be cut so the head of the stick is about the heightof his forhead. It should be no taller than he is. If itis to big he will not use it properly and itwill hang at his side which will defeat the purpose of having a longer stick and he will lose the ball handling ability.