Hey, all! My son has recently become obsessed with road hockey. He most often loves to play goal. He borrowed a pal’s old goalie pads, but they were really small (he’s 8 and the pads were for like a 3-year-old). We saw a road hockey equipment set for a reasonable price - two pads, a trapper and a blocker. Sounded good. Comes in either right-handed or left-handed. Hmmm…
My son is right-handed and shoots right. Same with me. I have never played goal. However, it feels more comfortable to me to hold my goal stick in my left hand and catch with my right (dominant) hand. When playing baseball, I catch with my left and throw with my right, as do most players. But I guess a lot of right-handed goalies hold their stick with their right hand. That just seems backwards to me! Anyway, before we make this purchase… what say Doper Goalies? Blocker on right or on left for a right-hander?
I am right handed. When I play hockey, I like the stick and trapper in my dominant hand and the glove on my left side. If I play baseball, I would usually wear the glove on my left hand so I can throw with my dominant hand too. So it works out.
Shouldn’t your son try on some equipment and see which feels more comfortable to him?
I’m ambidexterious and I never know which way I’m going to do a particular sport until I actually do it. I’m not sure that a poll on the internet is going to be super helpful, ya know?
I prefer the stick and blocker in my dominant(right) hand, and the trapper on my left hand. Out of the 6 of us who regularily played goalie, we all played this way.
By the way: free tip to preserve those goalie leg pads. The asphalt will really rip them up. Eventually, we learned to wrap up a new set of pads in duct tape. I’m not sure if we ever had to buy a new pair of pads after we learned that trick. Doing the same to the bottom of the net can prevent it from tearing as well, which will save the players a lot of time chasing down tennis balls.
Rysto has some good advice regarding wrapping up your pads with duct tape or something similar. In addition to preventing wear and tear, duct tape may not catch on the pavement as bad as the pad’s material.
You should buy whatever your son feels most comfortable using. I am right handed and wear a blocker on my right hand. It will likely make it easier for him to play the puck (ball) and it may be easier for him to maneuver the stick with his right hand. However, I did know a few people who were right handed that played with their blocker on the left hand. It’s all a matter of preference. Given your son’s age, whatever he chooses now should be alright as he won’t have to unlearn something he has been practicing with for 10 years. I changed gear with a lefty for one practice and it was an eye-opener to see how much that threw off my game. Muscle memory is hard to reverse. Also, if he decides to continue playing it is far easier to find blockers for the right hand then for the left hand; which may be something to consider.
Best of luck! I hope your son’s love of hockey continues to flourish, it’s a great game!
Good point! That is what we should do first. I guess I just figured he wouldn’t have a preference yet and I could steer him in the so-called ‘proper’ direction!
The duct tape idea sounds good and is appreciated! I wouldn’t have known to do that.
I’ve always thought that it would be a little odd to catch with different hands for hockey and baseball. I too am ambidextrious and have played both ways but it seemed like a good idea to let one hand specialize in catching.
It’s just a matter of preference. After all, stopping the puck/ball is the only thing that matters.