On the other hand, if you have a clear view of the entire ball because the sidewall string does not cover up any section of the ball, you have an illegal stick on your hands. Lacrosse officials have coined this phenomenon as sidewall string interference. If the sidewall string disrupts your view of seeing the entire ball within the pocket, then the stick is legal. Next, turn your attention to the sidewall string. To do this, hold up your lacrosse stick to eye level and keep the head completely parallel. One of the tests performed is the pocket depth test. Since lacrosse players are given a tremendous amount of freedom in how they construct their individual pocket, there are several different tests that officials must perform to confidently say that a pocket is legal. The next area that officials analyze when it comes to lacrosse stick legality is the pocket. Even a one or two degree shaft bend could deem your stick illegal. The bend in the shaft may not be noticeable unless you take the time to conduct this table test. With the heavy emphasis on defensive stick checking in lacrosse, shafts can get dented or bent more often than you might think. The most probable reason for why a lacrosse stick does not pass the table test is that the shaft is not perfectly straight. This distance should not surpass 2.75 inches. Keep in mind that you are not measuring to the mesh, you are measuring to the farthest edge of the head plastic. Only a small portion of the shaft near the end cap should be hanging off of the tabletop.įrom here, you will measure the distance from the tabletop to the edge of the lacrosse head that is farthest away from the tabletop. The lacrosse stick is placed onto a tabletop so that the head is positioned entirely on the table along with the majority of the shaft. The table test is a reliable method of measuring the shaft angle of a lacrosse stick. So if your head has been through the ringer, I recommend conducting some measurements yourself to ensure that it is still permissible. If the head pinches in excessively, then the head will fail to meet the legal measurements and will be deemed illegal. In other words, the head plastic begins to alter its shape by bending or pinching in without you purposefully doing so. As a lacrosse head undergoes the abuse of multiple lacrosse seasons, the plastic of the head begins to warp. You could run into issues if your lacrosse head has seen its fair share of lacrosse seasons, especially during the summer. Lacrosse head manufacturers produce their products to specifically observe these minimum measurements. With new lacrosse heads, complying with these measurements should not be an issue whatsoever. Measuring from the tip of the scoop to the throat, the lacrosse head must be exactly 10 inches. At the lowest and narrowest point of the head, the diameter must be at least 3 inches.Īs far as head length goes, there is only one real measurement that must be followed. The midline of the lacrosse head, which is 5 inches above the throat, must have a diameter of at least 3.5 inches. The scoop must have a diameter of at least 6.5 inches. There are a couple of different width measurements that a lacrosse head must follow in order to be considered legal. In the event that these minimum measurements are not met, the stick is considered illegal. The diagram below outlines the various points of the lacrosse head that must adhere to a minimum measurement length.

Although I must admit, I have never witnessed a goalie actually play with a 72 inch long stick in game. The attack/midfield short stick has the least flexibility in terms of length, whereas the goalie stick has the most flexibility in terms of length. To avoid this, I have organized a chart that lists out the legal stick length of the three different kinds of lacrosse sticks, from the tip of the lacrosse head to the end cap of the shaft. Illegal Measurements of Lacrosse Stickįailure to fall within the legal range of stick length automatically deems the stick illegal. If these stick measurements are not met, the stick is automatically deemed illegal. They must establish that the overall measurements of the lacrosse stick and the particular measurements of the lacrosse head are completely legal.

When officials conduct stick checks during lacrosse games, the first aspect of the stick that they analyze are its measurements.

Warp lacrosse stick