Lacrosse Helmet
Just like any other fast moving and exciting sport where men, women or kids are chasing balls and wielding sticks around at high speed, there is a certain amount of safety gear involved when playing the sport of Lacrosse. Probably the most important piece of equipment you’ll need (apart from your Lacrosse stick of course) is your Lacrosse helmet.
How to Fit Your Lacrosse Helmet
Lacrosse helmets are designed to protect the players heads from injury, but just like anything else in this life, they only work properly if they fit properly. They have hard plastic on the outside with padding on the inside. A chin strap makes sure that it stays on your head (hopefully) without wiggling about too much, and there is a wire face mask which completely covers the players face. So, what are the key points to remember when fitting your Lacrosse helmet?
- Across the brow - Lacrosse helmets have to fit well for protection, but it’s also important that you can see what you’re doing! For this reason the brow of your helmet ought to be only around one fingers width of space above your eyebrows, maximum protection, maximum visibility, job done!
- Nice and snug – your Lacrosse helmet should sit squarely but feel nice and snug yet very firm. The skin on your forehead should “go with it” if the helmet is moved upwards, downwards or from side to side. The chin strap needs to be sufficiently tight to hold your helmet on, but not too tight to cause a headache! They also have a knob at the back of the helmet which can be turned to tighten or loosen the helmet – what a good idea!
- Lacrosse Helmet maintenance - is important, after all, in order to save your head it’s got to be working properly. U.S. Lacrosse recommends players prepare their helmet for each new season by replacing screws, nuts and the face-mask if it’s got a bit bent. Also worth bearing is mind is that, if you drastically change your hair style, ie go from very long hair to very short, you might need to change your helmet too!
- Manufactuers recommendations - are that you should follow specific sizing instructions when buying a new Lacrosse helmet, and don’t be tempted to decorate your helmet with stickers or graphics, it can damage the outer case and cause it to be less efficient.
More information on how to buy a lacrosse helmet.