Last Updated on March 27, 2022 by Field Hockey
Nowadays, there is a real palette of quality field hockey stick brands. Thanks to the development of the technology, the manufacturing process as well as the design, has greatly improved over the last decade, and now, the player’s potential has significantly enhanced. The goal of our article is to present to you the top field hockey sticks for beginners and help you speed up your choosing process. Also, we will explain all the different types of sticks and their advantages and disadvantages, and allow you to find the stick that will best suit your needs, from the sea of available options. But first, let us give you an insight into the beginner field hockey sticks.
Don’t know where to start? Check out our Field Hockey Stick Buying Guide!
Field Hockey Sticks for Beginners
You can come across a variety of materials, shapes, lengths and sizes of field hockey sticks. If you are a beginner, your best option would be to get familiar with the characteristics of hockey sticks, and if you chose the right one, it will allow you to improve your game. You can start by asking the coach to give you some pointers on which stick to choose or ask to try out some different types of sticks from more experienced players.
Top 5 Field Hockey Sticks for Beginner Players
These field hockey sticks are great if you are a beginner, but they can be used by intermediate players as well. They are perfect for beginners because they are relatively cheap, and allow you to grow your handling skills and ball control.
Grays Surf 500 Field Hockey Stick
This stick is one of the best field hockey stick a beginner can buy. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor fields, it comes with a design that delivers superb passing abilities super thin design and lightweight.
Dragonfly Mystique Sola Field Hockey Stick
Buy the Dragonfly Mystique Stick!
This field hockey stick is perfect for beginners because it comes with a wooded core, which allows you to develop your skills with a soft touch. It is perfectly balanced, meaning that it feels great in hands, and allows you to develop your passing and ball-handling skills in short time.
Dita Giga Red
This stick is one of the best for beginners because it allows mistakes, thanks to its excellent flex, and is perfect for players with the slower ability for developing of skills. It allows optimal receiving and passing feeling.
STX Stalllion Field Hockey Stick
The most famous beginner’s field hockey stick! As soon as you take it out of the box, you will feel how balanced it is, and how its weight allows perfect defending and passing. The stick is sold fully assembled, and it comes with an extended concept, sports field hockey stick grip.
Harrow Supreme Field Hockey Stick
Buy the Harrow Supreme 25 Stick!
This model is one of the best designed beginners field hockey sticks made by Harrow. It is manufactured from durable mulberry wood, which also allows it to be extremely responsive and flexible. Furthermore, the fiberglass reinforcement allows you to have nice power in your shot, but doesn’t take away the forgiveness when trapping the ball. It weighs 550g, and is 22mm standard.
Characteristics of a Beginners Stick
If you haven’t made up your mind about the position you will play, the best choice would be to start with a medium-weight stick, since it can be used for any position. The important thing to understand is to choose a stick that will allow you to have an accurate and precise play, and it would be better if you choose a stick with a larger hitting surface. Our best suggestion would be a standard 20mm bow, with 85% fiberglass composition, and a midi toe. In case you want to find out more about the characteristics of a field hockey stick, you can click here. There you will find out what types of stick toes exist, and all the advantages of each type.
Different Types of Sticks?
In the beginning, the field hockey sticks were crafted out of mulberry, ash, or hickory wood. The heads were carved by hand, meaning that the people who produced them had to have serious crafting skills. Nowadays, you can still find wood sticks, but the high-end sticks are now made of composite material, such as carbon fiber, aramid fiber, and fiberglass. In order to produce a stick with desired characteristics (abrasion, resistance to impact, stiffness, and flexibility) these materials are used in different proportions.
Bend
If you are looking for a stick that will allow you to have better maneuverability, achieve aerials, drag flicks, and lifts, you should choose a Bend stick. The more bend your stick has, the easier it will be for you to make lifted shots, or to perform aerials. If you plan on making drag flicks, look for a stick that has a lower placed bend, such as Low bow or Late bow.
Power
When it comes to power, it all comes down to how much carbon can be found in the stick. The more carbon, the more power. But, have in mind that the more carbon a stick has, the stiffer it is, meaning that it will not absorb the impact of the ball so much, and deflections will happen. On the other hand, if you want a stick that will allow you to “softly” trap the ball, and have better control over it, you should choose a stick with less carbon in it. It mostly depends on your style, but for beginners, it is probably better to start with the lowest percentage of carbon in the stick, and move up as their skills improve.
Head Shape
The field hockey stick comes with 3 main head shape types: the J, the Midi, and the Maxi. 
- J-Shape
Most of the players love using this shape of the head because it allows them to dribble easier, and to make passes and receive the ball with less effort. This shape is preferred by many forwards, as it allows them to make quick passes.
- Midi
This head shape is for players who love quick sticks, and what makes it quick is the fact that it is shorter than the J-shape and Maxi, and during the dribbling, it goes over the ball quicker.
- Maxi
The Maxi head is larger than the Midi head. This means that it offers a bigger sweet spot and trapping area.
Power Hook
This isn’t a favorite head shape among players, as it is quite unusual. In order to increase the speed of the turnovers in dribbling, the toe of the head is shaped in a way that makes a “ball pocket”. This also helps with making lifts, but most of the players are not comfortable with this type of stick in the beginning. But, once they get the hang of it, they never switch back to other types.
Weight
The weight of a field hockey stick depends on the position you play. Usually, defenders love using the heavier sticks, as they allow them to make stronger block tackles, and because the weight is concentrated in the stick’s head, the heavier sticks have more momentum when hitting the ball. Offense players, on the other hand, like to use lighter sticks, as they are more effective during dribbling.
What is the average cost range of beginner sticks?
Depending on the quality, field hockey sticks for beginners go from $20 to $60, but you also have to have in mind that you will need safety equipment as well. This includes shin guards ($25), eyewear ($20 to $60), and cleats ($80).
Conclusion
Choosing the best field hockey stick for beginner players can be quite tricky seeing the number of products being sold in the market by competitive brands. One must never make this decision impatiently and with closed eyes. Getting an ideal field hockey stick designed specifically for the beginners will help them in enhancing their natural playing skills.
