Taylor Aronhiake Smoke is what’s known in the lacrosse world as a stick doctor. His Akwesasne-based Smokin’ Stringz specializes in traditional Haudenosaunee-style string variations and stick rehabs. The 28-year-old married father of two has been in the game since 2010, and is working hard to expand his brand while growing the game by supporting youth lacrosse.
TAYLOR, WHAT EXACTLY DOES A STICK DOCTOR DO?
A stick doctor customizes, maintains, and repairs any part of a lacrosse stick, whether it’s adjusting shooting strings or the bridge, fixing sidewalls, or completely re-stringing a head for better performance. I’m known for the traditional pocket, a complex stringing technique that involves leathers. I learned that to help keep part of our culture alive.
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START?
I started playing lacrosse at age five. As a young player, I learned that you don’t just take a stick off a shelf and play with it. I started customizing my own stick with different shooting string styles or by changing the bridge, where the string spans across the top of a pocket. I studied sticks at Mohawk International Lacrosse on Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island), and how traditional pockets were strung. I soaked it all in. Then I began replicating the exact stick set-ups of professional players I admired, and soon I was stringing my teammates’ pockets. It just evolved from there.
WHAT MADE YOU THINK, ‘THIS COULD BE A BUSINESS?’
I was 21 years old and at the end of my junior lacrosse career. I had a 9-to-5 job; stringing sticks was a nice side hustle. After my first son was born, I had more than just myself to provide for. My mentality shifted, and I decided to dive into the business. I started sharing my work on Instagram and Facebook, which helped get the word out locally. Smokin’ Stringz really exploded in 2018 when I began to approach lacrosse companies, whose stringing was sub-par because they outsourced from places that don’t even know what lacrosse is.
Last year, ECD released a limited edition head with my traditional pocket that sold out in 90 minutes!
WHAT BRANDS HAVE YOU WORKED WITH?
I’ve worked with Traditional Lacrosse and Mohawk International Lacrosse (MIL), and popular U.S.-based equipment companies like Maverick, True Lacrosse, and East Coast Dyes (ECD). I’m a certified member of the Powell Lacrosse String Team. I’ve completed four branded, limited-edition drops, which means I strung a unique collection of game-ready sticks especially for these companies. Last year ECD released a limited-edition head with my traditional pocket that sold out in 90 minutes!
WHERE ARE YOUR STICKS BEING USED?
I’ve had sticks at the World Lacrosse Championships, the collegiate level, the National Lacrosse League, and the former Major Lacrosse League. I have a couple of sticks in Ireland and Germany. I really should keep track!
WHAT PROJECTS HAVE KEPT YOU BUSY THIS YEAR?
My work with Powell and ECD has continued throughout the past year. I strung 100 sticks for the Gloucester Minor Lacrosse Association’s winter skills program. That’s 100 players who got a good quality stick. Last winter, Strong Roots Charitable Foundation donated 700 sticks to the Iroquois Nationals Development Program to grow the game through youth clinics hosted in Haudenosaunee communities, and I joined other Akwesasne stringers for the project. It was a great opportunity to give back.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUNG PLAYERS?
By your senior year of high school, you should know how you like your stick and have a stringer who works with it. You don’t need an expensive or flashy stick, just something of decent quality. This is where my specialty comes in. I can give a beginner a stick they’ll use until they start to develop a harder shot, then we adjust from there.
WHAT IS YOUR DREAM PROJECT?
I got a call from the owner of MIL, saying, “I need a stringer.” I am a total fanboy, so it was like, “My dream is happening!” It was great to get that level of recognition in my community. My five-year plan is to make Smokin’ Stringz a full-time business with a dedicated workspace. I want to train apprentices in my community. My ultimate goal is to carve my own sticks. I want customers for the length of their lacrosse careers—and maybe one day they’ll come back for Smokin’ Stringz sticks for their kids.
Follow Taylor’s work on Instagram at @smokinstringz
Learn about “Traditional Lacrosse Stick Making” in Akwesasne through a virtual tour with Airbnb’s Online Experiences.
