Best Women’s Lacrosse Cleats

Women's Lacrosse Cleats Buying Guide

Before we send you off into the wild world of women’s lacrosse cleats, we do want to leave you with the necessary tools to consider other options beyond our list.

Here’s a rundown of things to consider before swiping that credit card on a new pair of women’s or girls’ lacrosse cleats:

1) Turf Shoes vs. Normal Cleats

The clash of turf shoes versus normal cleats is always at the forefront when considering footwear for a player.

As artificial surfaces become the norm, the natural purpose for cleats is shifting to be less about simple stability and more into added value: quick cutting and maneuverability.

Turf shoes do not have quite the studs that normal cleats sport, with a trimmed down base that keeps them a bit lighter weight and a wear that skews closer to a normal sneaker. These are a solid option for more rug like turfs that do not have the dirt or rubber base that you can dig into.

The turf shoes’ main caveat, though, is that they do not have the versatility of a normal cleat. A normal cleat is transferable between grass and artificial surfaces with no real drawbacks. They may be heavier than a turf shoe and wear differently, but that Swiss army nature gives them a bit more bang for your buck.

No matter if you end up settling on a turf shoe or traditional cleat, be sure to consult the rules for your league before purchasing. Certain organizations may have regulations on the types of footwear you can play in as well as restrictions on things like stud length.

2) Fit

As with any and every type of shoe, fit is the ultimate element to consider when purchasing.

The stiffness and tightness of a cleat can make or break your performance on the field. You do not want to handicap yourself out of the gate with an uncomfortable shoe or one that takes weeks to properly break-in.

Fit is also indicative of security; you want a cleat that fits well not just through the toe but around the ankle as well to avoid any of the sprains and breaks that can come with a quick cutting sport like lacrosse.

You should also consider foot width as well. Most cleats skew towards a more narrow design through the insole and even into the toe box to prioritize a more focused pressure center as you’d see in a runner’s cleat. It can be extremely uncomfortable for those with a wider foot and lead to non-contact injuries that could put you on the sideline for an extended period.

Be sure to find the cleat that best fits your specific foot and do your best not to settle for any small discomforts as those can exacerbate into larger problems.

3) Cut

Cut is the shape and length around the ankle of a cleat.

The higher the cut, the more stability that is provided to your ankles. The lower the cut, the more maneuverability that you can exert.

It is safe to say that those who are more at risk for ankle trauma should consider a higher-cut cleat as it will provide the stability to withstand the lapses that can lead to a sprain or break. It also gives you the added peace of mind to care less about your footing and more about the game.

Mid-cut cleats are a sampler platter of both worlds but are not the best in either stability or maneuverability. It is a solid cut for those players that have had some ankle issues but who rely on a full range of motion to cut and accelerate on the field.

Low-cut cleats are for those players who are fearless when it comes to their ankle health and who want to maximize their maneuverability without being hampered by a clunky cleat. This is a solid option for those frequent dodgers with a clean bill of health.

4) Weight

As cleat technology advances, the weight just keeps going down.

And that is worth considering when looking at options to rock on the field. Breathable material and interlocking patterns makeup for the heaviness of previous generations of footwear, but you should know what you are losing with those dropped ounces.

Weight can be indicative of durability both in the long and short terms. Breathable, lightweight material sounds nice but, in the chance of showers or a recent sprinkler job, you may find your socks making up for the weight that space-age tech cut.

In the same token though, you do not want bricks on the bottom of your feet in day-to-day play just because you can wear them from cradle to grave.

It is important to strike a balance when it comes to weight—something that sheds the pounds where it can, not by outright excising elements but replacing them with something lighter but just as durable.

In the end, it all boils down to your personal feel with a cleat. Just don’t fall too hard for the “breathability” assessment without looking a bit deeper into it.

5) Materials

Naturally progressing from weight into material, which has shaved off those LBs considerably and helped usher in new elements for comfort and stability.

The frequent player you’ll see when looking for cleats is Thermoplastic Polyurethane, or more often shortened to TPU. TPU is a lightweight material used for the molded sole of a cleat and is the heart of what tends to make a cleat a cleat. The TPU extends into the studs as well which tend to be molded into one continuous piece.

This singular piece of sole is an important advancement from the removable spikes of the past as it better avoids the slippage and “flat tire” effect of a lost spike. But the drawback is a lack of adjustment to a cleat if the conditions are truly horrendous (see muddy).

Going inside of the shoe, mesh liners and foam beds for your toes and sole are the mark of comfort. Added elements of compression liners similar to nylon compression shorts appear as well to provide extra security to the wear.

When it comes to certain cleats, an interlocking technology, such as Nike’s Flywire, over the foot mixed with a synthetic outer shell should cling over the top of your step to provide extra responsiveness.

The main things to watch out for with a cleat are mentions of elasticity or interlocking elements that seem to be of a lesser material. While nylon can provide durability, lesser fabrics and those meant to stretch have been known to break as exemplified in the New Balance Freeze above.