Best Faceoff Heads for Lacrosse

Most heads flex on an oblique angle. This means they flex somewhat sideways when you pinch the ball. When you lift your left hand up to do a pinch and pop, the throat will still bend backward some, but the head primarily flexes so the throat is to the left of the rest of the head.

Face flex, on the other hand, is when the throat goes primarily perpendicular to the rest of the head instead of sideways. Heads need to have a very specific sidewall design to be able to face flex.

As for which is the best, there’s no right answer. It comes down to what you’re comfortable with. If you have used heads that flex obliquely in the past, then you will probably do better with another oblique flexing head—and vice versa if you’ve used face flexing heads in the past.

2) How Much You Stay On the Field Outside of Faceoffs

As I briefly touched on earlier, it’s important to find a head that is decent for offense and defense if you are going to be regularly staying on the field. If you just face off then get off, then it’s much less important.

Good face off, stay on heads have at least some offset and good warp resistance. You don’t want a head that is going to warp so much that it’s difficult to pass, catch, and shoot with.

3) Your Faceoff Style

You also need to consider your faceoff style when choosing a head. If you like to pinch and pop, then you need to choose a head that has some flexibility. If you are more of a power clamper or like to push other people off the ball, on the other hand, then you should look for a stiffer head.

4) Durability & Warp Resistance

Since you bend your head so much when facing off, durability can be a big issue. You should check out customer reviews and guides like this to get an idea of how heads will hold up after hundreds of reps. 

There are certain heads (like the Nike CEO) that are amazing for faceoffs but break and warp so easily that you’ll have to buy a new one every few months. As you can imagine, that can get expensive quickly.

5) Throat Length

Lastly, be sure to take a look at the length of the throats on the heads you are considering.

When facing off, the closer your hand is to the head, the more control and power you will have. Since you are not allowed to put your hand on the plastic, heads with shorter throats give you an advantage. 

Breaking in Your Faceoff Head

It’s very important to “break in” your faceoff head before you use it in a live game. By breaking in your head, I mean making it more flexible in the ways that you regularly clamp/flex your head over the ball.

Even the most flexible heads are somewhat stiff when you first start using them. Depending on the head, it may take anywhere from 50 to 500 faceoff reps before your head starts flexing in the way you prefer easily. 

It’s important to break in your faceoff head before you start using it in games so you are used to the way it performs and are confident that it will bend the way you want it to.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common ways to break in faceoff heads and which are a good idea:

1) Boil Your Head – Not Recommended (Usually)

If you ever dyed a lacrosse head in boiling water, you probably noticed that is was more flexible after. 

This can be a decent strategy for very stiff heads that you want to faceoff with, but for any of the heads listed above, I don’t recommend it mainly because it’s not necessary. 

Overtime you’ll head will break in and boiling it may just compromise the plastic making it less durable.

2) Bake Your Head – Not Recommended

Similar to boiling your head, exposing your head to extreme heat through baking it will also soften the plastic. 

For the same reasons listed above, I don’t recommend baking any of the heads mentioned on this page to make it more flexbile. 

If you really want to soften a head without doing it the natural way (see below), I recommend boiling it over baking it.

3) Just Faceoff With It – Recommended

My preferred way of breaking in faceoff heads is to simply take a bunch of faceoffs with it. 

All heads will naturally soften up somewhat over time and that tends to be especially true for faceoff-specific heads since they are designed to flex over the ball. You’d be surprised how much your head breaks in with even just 50 to 100 reps.

A Note About Warping

As your head breaks in, it will likely warp a bit. In most cases, this isn’t a bad thing (up to a point). 

As you flex your head over and over in the same way, the plastic will start to bend in that direction naturally. The benefit of this is that you’ll have to flex your head less to pinch the ball. 

Think of it this way: if your top sidewall is 2 centimeters over the ball when it is brand new, that’s 2 centimeters that you either have to clamp down over the ball or flex down to pinch it. If your head warps so it is only 1 centimeter over the ball, though, it requires less movement on your part, increasing the chances that you’ll win the clamp/pinch.

Warping gets bad when your head is either hard to pass and catch with or when it becomes illegal. In these cases, you should try bending the head back towards its original position as much as possible, use a softball or other object to keep the throat wide enough or purchase a new head.

Keeping Your Faceoff Head Legal

Over time as your head warps, you may have to use tools to keep it wide enough to be legal or so the ball pops out of the back easily. 

When I play, I often grab a baseball or softball and put it in the throat of my head every time I come off the field. It works pretty well for me and it isn't too hard to get used to the head’s width changing throughout the game.

Here are some popular objects that you can use to keep your head in the ideal shape:

• Baseball
• Softball
• Hockey puck
• Block of wood

More recently, ECD and Warrior have developed products to keep your faceoff head legal. ECD’s comes with the Weapon X and is simply a rounded block that slides into your throat. Warrior offers the Wedge (see image below) that slides into your throat. You can buy the Warrior Wedge separately for just $19.99.