Best Women’s Lacrosse Sticks: Advanced, Budget, & Beginner Options

Epoch changed the women's lacrosse head game when it released the Purpose. The patented 15° bottom rail allows for a deeper pocket and drives the ball to the sweet spot of the head—giving you more control and a more consistent release. The 15° offset is much more dramatic than the typical 10° bottom rail of most heads.

In 2019, UNC Women's Lacrosse signed a deal with Epoch for them to be the exclusive supplier of equipment to the renowned team—a huge vote of confidence to Epoch's products.

Along with the Purpose head, the complete stick comes with a 1″ aluminum shaft that is lightweight yet strong. 

The Epoch Purpose Complete Stick is a great option for advanced players who want to push the boundaries when it comes to stick technology. The 15° bottom rail may take time to get used to, but when you do, I think you'll find it to be a big benefit to your game.

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How to Decide Which Girls Lacrosse Stick to Buy

If you’re still not sure what girls lacrosse stick to buy, we’ve put together some things you should consider when choosing one to help out:

1) Complete Stick vs. Individual Heads & Shafts

All of the sticks in this guide include both a head and a shaft. You do have the option, however, to buy an individual head and shaft.

Unlike men’s complete sticks, women’s complete sticks often include a top tier head and shaft in one stick. Men’s complete sticks, on the other hand, are often targeted at beginner players, with more advanced players having to purchase separate heads and shafts.

For this reason, there is no right answer when it comes to whether a complete stick or individual parts is better.

Beginner and intermediate players, especially, may want to just purchase a complete stick to save on costs and the time of buying individual parts. More advanced players and those who already have a few sticks, may decide that buying individual parts makes more sense for them if they want to mix brands (such as an STX head and Maverik shaft) or if they only need a head or shaft upgrade, but not both.

If you decide to go with individual parts, just be sure the head and shaft are compatible. Most often, you will need to see if the head is specifically designed for a 10° shaft (see the STX Crux Pro Elite above) or a straight shaft.

You can see our picks for the best women's lacrosse heads here and the best women's lacrosse shafts here.

2) Head Face Shape & Offset

The face shape of your head is exactly what it sounds like: how the front of your head is shaped. Beginner heads are typically wider to allow for easier catching, while advanced heads are more pinched to allow for more control.

Similarly, defense heads are typically wider to allow for more surface area when checking and for intercepting passes while offensive sticks are more pinched to allow for more control and accuracy.

Another aspect to consider is the offset of your head. Most advanced offensive heads have a gradual downward offset for most of the head then cant back forward sharply towards the scoop. This allows for a deeper pocket and drives the ball into the sweet spot of the pocket, maximizing your hold on the ball and giving a quick, more accurate release.

On the flip side, this sharp offset may take some getting used to and is the reason why many beginner sticks are flatter with a more subtle offset.

3) Head Stiffness & Durability

When it comes to women’s lacrosse heads, the stiffer the better in most cases.

Having a stiff head helps keep your head from bending on groundballs and checks, and increases the longterm durability of your head. Defenders and players who take draws, especially, should look for ultra stiff heads.

While the stiffness of the head is usually a good indicator of the durability, it’s also important to read customer reviews (as we’ve done to create this guide) to see how they hold up over time. You may find that some heads start off stiff but start to “noodle out” in hot weather or after extended use.

4) Mesh vs. Traditional Pocket

Starting in 2018, women’s lacrosse heads were allowed to have mesh pockets instead of just traditional pockets (leather + strings).

This was a big move for the game of women’s lacrosse as many players, parents, and coaches found it difficult (and expensive) to maintain the complex traditional pockets that were solely used for so long.

Now, girls have the option to choose from traditional pockets, mesh runner pockets (a strip of mesh in the middle with strings on the outside), fully mesh pockets, and more.

While no one option is necessarily the “best”, mesh pockets are much easier to maintain and less expensive to replace than traditional pockets. Beginners and younger players may want to consider a mesh pocket unless they are really committed to learning how to string their sticks and make modifications here and there when needed.

You can learn more about women's lacrosse pocket rules here.

5) Shaft

In my opinion, the head is the most important part of the women’s lacrosse stick. They come in various shapes, are made of different materials, and differ a lot between skill levels.

Shafts, on the other hand, are generally all the same shape and size, and have less of an impact on your performance.

This doesn’t mean, however, that you should just find the cheapest shaft possible and go with that. As with a lot of lacrosse equipment, shafts can ding, bend, and break. Also, very cheap shafts may be considerably heavier than advanced options, slowing you down, even if just a little bit.

When looking for a girls lacrosse stick, you should make sure that the shaft feels good in your hands in terms of the grip and shape of the shaft, isn’t too heavy, and has a good weight distribution with the head.

You will also have to decide what diameter shaft you want. Most often, shafts come in 7/8″ or 1″ diameters. Which is best for you will depend on what you feel more comfortable with. Before buying a stick, it may make sense to test out a few of your teammates shafts with different diameters to see what feels the best.

6) Weight

As briefly mentioned earlier, the weight of your stick is another important thing to consider. Heavy sticks can make it harder to shoot, dodge, throw checks, and move around the field.

While most sticks aren’t so heavy that they’ll significantly slow you down, a few ounces here and there can really give you that competitive edge or just feel more natural in your hands.

Look for complete sticks that use advanced materials in their heads (such as STX’s Enduraform plastic) and shafts (such as carbon fiber and other composite materials).