Floor Hockey Equipment

The Right Floor Hockey Equipment Starts Here

Whether it's your first time running a floor hockey unit, or you're a seasoned instructor you're going to love floor hockey for it's countless benefits to you and your students! Educators, instructors, and coaches the world over love floor hockey for its: 

• Quick-to-learn play and rules that are easy to adapt for nearly any age group, skill level, or class size
• High-participation gameplay that keeps more students active and engaged throughout the lesson
• Ability to be made into small-sided games or full-class activities, making it easy to scale for your program
• Success developing key gross motor skills, including hand-eye coordination, running, agility, and change of direction
• Necessary communication and teamwork through passing, positioning, and collaborative play
• Required game awareness and decision-making which develops cognitive skills as students learn to anticipate plays and support teammates
• Ability to support both movement and social-emotional learning objectives, making it a valuable addition to any PE curriculum
• Inclusive, enjoyable experience that helps students build confidence through activity

This combination of accessibility, skill development, and student engagement is why floor hockey continues to be one of the most popular units in PE programs, recreation departments, and after-school activities. However to successfully engage your students and facilitate your unit, you need the right equipment!

Why the right floor hockey equipment matters!

Choosing the right equipment helps you create a floor hockey experience that works for your students, space, and instructional goals. The right setup helps you: 

• Give students a better experience playing the game, with sticks they can control and equipment appropriately sized to fit them 
• Keep students safe through appropriate protective equipment, blade and stick materials, and puck or ball chosen for the age group you're instructing 
• Organize the game so it's played correctly, avoids interruptions, and easy to instruct
• Make setup, takedown, and storage a breeze so your period can be dedicated to instruction rather than equipment logistics 

Use this guide to choose sticks, goals, pucks, balls, barriers, protective equipment, and storage that help your lessons run smoothly and give your students more opportunities for successful play.

What Equipment Do I Need to Play Floor Hockey?

When you are outfitting a floor hockey program, comparing sticks, blades, pucks, goals, barriers, and protective equipment can feel complicated. Breaking the decision into equipment categories makes it easier to build a setup that supports your class size, student abilities, playing surface, storage space, and program requirements.

Floor hockey sticks

The right stick helps your students control the puck or ball, build skills with greater confidence, and stay engaged throughout the lesson. 

Floor hockey sticks pair a shaft with a blade or head. Depending on the model, shafts may be hollow, solid, or reinforced with dowels. Blades may be made of rigid plastic, replaceable plastic, or soft foam. By reviewing each product's shaft and blade construction, you can choose sticks that fit your students' needs based on their size, skill, and need for safety while also keeping in mind the need to protect your facility's surfaces and other equipment.

Browse the full range of floor hockey sticks to compare. 

Floor hockey pucks and balls 

Your choice of a puck or ball helps determine how quickly students find success and what type of game experience you create. 

Pucks slide and stop, which produces a game that feels genuinely like hockey. Stickhandling, passing, and shooting all work the way students expect from watching the sport. That realism comes with a learning curve, and younger or newer students often find pucks harder to move and control. 

Balls tend to be easier for students to handle as they bounce and move more predictably based upon their experiences with other balls! Students find it simpler to stickhandle and shoot with a ball, making it the better starting point for beginners. How much the ball bounces and rolls depends on material and design. PVC balls bounce less than foam but tend to roll further due to their higher weight and mass. Consider a sided-ball option like the Shield Hex Ball design for a ball-like gameplay with fewer disruptions from balls rolling under bleachers!

Puck and ball materials range from soft foam for beginners through plastic, vinyl, and PVC for regular play. Oversized pucks are easier for young students to track and strike, and bright colors help beginners follow the floor hockey puck or ball across a busy gymnasium floor. 

Browse the full range of floor hockey pucks and balls to compare. 

Floor hockey goals and nets 

The right goal helps you create an appropriate scoring challenge for your students without adding unnecessary setup or storage work. Match the size to your players and space, then choose a frame material whose durability aligns with how often you move, store, and use it. 

Frame material options include lightweight PVC, more durable ABS, and high-quality options like aluminum and steel. The material determines how much punishment the goal can take from your players, and how easy it is to move and store . Sizes range from compact goals (54"-58" W) for younger students and smaller spaces up to official-width (72"-76"W) for older players and leagues. Folding and pop-up models easily collapse for storage, while non-folding models assemble once and stay rigid, helping them maintain performance after heavy use.

Goals can feature different net materials, which is often overlooked when evaluating a goal's durability. Floor hockey nets in nylon and polyethylene typically stand up to consistent daily shooting. Browse Gopher's full range of floor hockey goals to see how sizes compare. 

Floor hockey rink barriers 

Rink barriers help you keep balls and pucks in play, provide a clear boundary for players, and reduce interruptions that take time away from instruction and gameplay. Barriers typically vary in size, complexity of setup and storage, and of course - price! Many floor hockey barrier packages can be used to create smaller "rinks" for small-sided gameplay or skill development. 

Barrier materials can include durable and lightweight ABS frames and polyester fabric, covered foam that stays soft on contact, rigid plastic panels that connect with a notch system, and inflatable options that store in almost no space. Heights, sizes, and configurations vary, so you can contain anything from a full-court game to a small-group station. 

Barriers also earn their place in your storage closet due to their benefits beyond floor hockey. The same panels can be used to create bowling lanes, obstacle courses, running lanes, and boundaries for any activity that benefits from a defined area, and more. See the full range of Gopher rink barriers to compare.

Protective equipment 

Protective-equipment requirements can depend on your game or league rules, facility requirements, age group, and local policy. By checking those requirements before play, you can select eyewear, goalie protection, or other protective floor hockey equipment that effectively addresses the needs of your program.

Goalies benefit from dedicated protection, and complete goalie sets cover the whole body while individual pieces let you replace or upgrade as needed. For court players, check whether your school, facility, league, or governing ruleset requires protective eyewear, shin protection, or other equipment. You can choose from protective eyewear as well as goalie pads, helmets, blocker gloves, and catch gloves to meet your program's needs. 

Floor hockey sets and packs 

If you are outfitting a class, a set can save you time by grouping compatible equipment into one purchase!

Sets and packs help you outfit groups more efficiently, but their contents and intended player levels vary. Compare player capacity, stick length, material, goals, pucks or balls, and storage so you get the pieces your program actually needs. 

UltraSoft Floor Hockey Sets are built around extra-soft foam blades and heads, which makes them a strong fit when comfort and inclusion come first. Sets include sticks along with foam balls and foam pucks, and 10-player and 20-player options let you match the set to your class. 

DOM Supersafe Floor Hockey Sets pair a reinforced polyethylene shaft with a soft foam blade for indoor play, with sticks in 30"L and 36"L. 

ClassPlus PowerPlay Basic Floor Hockey Packs help you equip 12 players with 10 player sticks, 2 goalie sticks, 2 folding goals, 6 pucks, 2 goggles, a storage bag, and game instructions. You can select a stick option matched to different ages and abilities. PowerPlay Deluxe packs give larger programs a more complete setup. 

Browse all floor hockey equipment packs to compare what each includes. 

How to Choose the Right Floor Hockey Equipment For Your Class, Program, or League

Now to the good stuff - how to choose between many options within an equipment category (eg. floor hockey sticks). If you haven't already, review the "What Equipment Do I Need to Play Floor Hockey?" guide in the prior tab. Once you understand what equipment is required to play the game, the following content can help you make quality decisions on materials, sizing, versatility, and other key attributes in your floor hockey equipment purchases!

How do I choose the right floor hockey stick? 

You can narrow your stick choice by comparing three attributes: shaft material, blade material, and length. Together, they help you match the stick to your students, playing surface, and expectations for use. 

Shaft material determines its durability, weight, and how much the stick flexes. More flex is typically favorable for younger or lighter players, while less flex is preferred for older, heavier players. Getting the flex right is important to both provide the right degree of control and feel and ensure the shaft holds up to the pressure the player applies during shots and passes.

Beginning programs do well with hollow plastic shafts, which are lighter and have more flex which is ideal for smaller players. Dowel-reinforced plastic is the most versatile choice if one set has to serve several grade levels as it typically holds up well across age levels. Programs with older students or heavy daily use will get the most from aluminum or fiberglass shafts which have the strongest frame and will hold up season after season. 

Beyond shaft choice, blade materials are important to evaluate as they vary in durability, performance, and the safety of other players and your facility. See the table below for a complete breakdown on blade materials and how they differ by performance, durability, and safety for your players and facility.

How do I choose the right floor hockey goal? 

You can choose a goal by focusing on three practical needs: the durability you need, the size that suits your players and space, and whether folding is required given your available equipment storage. 

Material determines durability and how easily the goal moves. PVC is affordable, lightweight, and easy to transport. ABS is stronger than PVC and resists cracking or bending while staying lightweight. Aluminum is extremely durable and light enough to move and store easily. Steel is the strongest and most durable option, built to withstand years of rugged use. Fiberglass pop-up frames twist down for storage where space is tightest. 

Size should match your students and your space. Official goals run roughly 72-76-1/4"W and 46-1/2-48"H, giving a larger shooting area necessary for higher grade levels or competitive play. Compact goals run roughly 54-58"W and 44-46"H, which suits elementary to early middle school grades and smaller spaces. A Jr size gives you official width with a very low profile height, and that forces students to keep pucks, sticks, and shots low. 

Folding or non-folding impacts storage and portability. Folding goals collapse to move and store easily when space is limited. Non-folding goals assemble once, have no moving parts, and stay more stable during play.

Details beyond the frame material, size, and construction are worth checking as well. Gopher RinkPro Floor Hockey Goals are a good starting point: An extra-thick nylon net that resists tearing, hook-and-loop net sleeves so you never string a net by hand, and wheels on one side so a single person tips and rolls the goal through a doorway. Steel RinkPro goals use 2" dia tubing for programs that need maximum durability, and aluminum versions give you similar strength at roughly a third of the weight when you're moving goals often.

Should I use floor hockey pucks or balls? 

Before stocking both, decide what experience you want your students to have and which option gives their age and skill level the best chance for successful play. 

Choose pucks when you want a genuine hockey-like experience. Pucks slide and stop, which makes stickhandling, passing, and shooting similar to the real sport. That authenticity is the appeal, and can be more fun for upper elementary aged kids and older. Keep in mind that for younger players and students new to floor hockey, pucks are generally harder to use as they can bounce unpredictably and move in a way that isn't familiar or expected for younger kids. 

Choose balls when students are learning. Balls keep rolling, which adds a different kind of challenge, but they're noticeably easier to stickhandle and shoot with. For a group at the outset, a ball produces more successful play and faster progress. Balls also bounce to varying degrees depending on the material and shape of the ball. Foam bounces the most while PVC and vinyl options don't bounce as much. Foam tends to not roll as far or fast as PVC and vinyl options as they don't have as much mass to maintain their momentum.

To choose a ball, match the material to the age group and surface you're playing on. Foam is the gentlest option and the natural starting point for early elementary students. Plastic and vinyl are more durable and are generally more fun to play with since they have limited bounce. PVC gives you the firmest, most hockey-like gameplay option in a ball. 

Surface matters too. Smooth gymnasium floors let pucks slide as intended, while rougher outdoor surfaces require a ball or specialized puck that's designed to slide over concrete. Compare the full range of Gopher floor hockey puck and ball options to make the perfect choice for your setting!

Are floor hockey rink barriers right for my program? 

If you're looking to level up your floor hockey unit and have the budget available, rink barriers can really upgrade your players' floor hockey experience in several ways: 

1. They keep loose pucks and balls in the activity area, so your students spend more time playing and less time retrieving equipment
2. They create a clear and obvious boundary that separates players in the game vs. players out of the game
3. They make floor hockey a more legitimate hockey-like experience, since barriers become like boards in an ice rink
4. They can be used in countless ways beyond floor hockey - creating bowling lanes, obstacle courses, running lanes, station boundaries, and more

For barrier options, Gopher has an outstanding assortment! Barrier options typically vary widely by materials, size, versatility, and ease of assembly/storage. Review the Gopher assortment and check out the Floor Hockey Equipment Breakdown tab for more details on the differences in barrier options!

Storing and organizing floor hockey equipment 

When you effectively organize sticks, pucks, balls, and goals you can spend more of your period teaching and less time distributing, collecting, and sorting equipment. A quality floor hockey storage option makes your life better by:

• Helping you distribute and collect equipment efficiently. Upright stick storage and accessible baskets also make it easier for your students to help with setup and cleanup
• Protecting your investment. Sticks stored upright keep their shape, blades avoid getting bent under weight, and a cart with locking casters keeps everything in one place between classes. 

Two approaches cover most programs:

1. The RinkKing Floor Hockey Storage Cart carries a full class set, holding 24 sticks, 24 pucks or balls, and 4 official goals on a single cart. Durable 1-1/4" steel tubing and 5 mm wire handle years of use, side baskets keep pucks and balls within reach, and 6" dia swivel casters paired with 12" dia rubber wheels roll it from storage to the play area.
2. If you manage a larger program or recreation league, the Magnus Floor Hockey Storage Cart gives you room for up to 100 sticks plus a basket for pucks and balls. Its 10" dia non-marring rubber wheels and 6" dia swivel casters help you move equipment across indoor and outdoor surfaces. 

Floorball Equipment

If you want to introduce a related stick sport with rules that limit body contact and penalize prohibited physical play, floorball gives you another option for your program. 

You can organize floorball with six players per team on the rink at a time, including the goalkeeper. Concave blades support ball control, while the lightweight polyethylene ball keeps play fast. 

Floorball sets pair fiberglass shafts and a grip band with blades in two versions, polyethylene for indoor play and nylon for outdoor durability. Floorball goals measure 36"L x 24"W, and the equipment carries approval from the International Floorball Federation, which matters if your program competes.