Hickory hickory and woods that are harder, but the combination of strength, toughness, hardness, and stiffness found in hickory wood is not found in any other commercial wood. It is used for tool handles, bows, wheel spokes, carts, drumsticks, lacrosse stick handles, golf club shafts (sometimes still called "hickory stick", even though made of steel or graphite), the bottom of skis, walking sticks, and for punitive use as a switch (like hazel), and especially as a cane-like hickory stick in schools and use by parents. Paddles are often made from hickory. This property of hickory wood has left a trace in
Lacrosse stick Rules Committee. Questions have arisen regarding the alteration of the shaft circumference. The circumference of the shaft cannot exceed 3 1/2". To be clear, added tape to the shaft must not make the shaft exceed this circumference measurement. In women's lacrosse, the stick dimensions are similar except the pocket depth is much shallower. NCAA rules dictate that the head of a woman's stick may be from seven to nine inches wide, and must be strung traditionally, with a pocket formed by a grid of leather strings. Nylon mesh stringing, permitted in men's sticks, is not permitted in women's sticks; however,