What Makes a Lacrosse Stick Illegal? (Heads, Shafts & Pockets)

The men's and women's rules for lacrosse heads, pockets and shafts, what refs look for in a stick check, and the penalties if your stick fails.

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The stick check

We've all been there. The ref zeroes in on YOU while you mind your own business and look anywhere but back at him, because you know what's coming. He's got the tape measure in one hand and the ball in the other.

The stick check is never a zen experience for the player handing over their spoon. Most players keep their sticks right on the edge of legal, so it's hard not to think "what if" in that moment.

What if my sidewalls loosened up over the game? What if all those faceoffs left my head too pinched? What if I over-massaged that pocket for an extra millimeter of hold?

Any player will tell you it's no fun being under the ref's spotlight, and there's no worse feeling than taking a penalty that puts your team man-down. It doesn't help that the rules seem to change every few seasons, but that's the reality of our sport.

The two main things that decide if your stick is legal are the pocket and the head shape, but there are plenty of other things to watch too.

Today we'll walk you through how to make sure your stick is legal and what to keep an eye on as you use it. Unfortunately, once legal doesn't mean always legal, since every stick warps to some degree over time.

So, without further ado, let's keep you out of the box and your (legal) stick in your hands.

Coach's note: I've watched more goals get waved off over a bagged-out pocket than I care to remember, from upstate New York playoff games to Virginia Beach summer tournaments. And the Ontario box refs? They'll check your stick after every goal if they feel like it. Check your own stick before every game: drop a ball in, hold it level, tilt it both ways. Thirty seconds in the parking lot beats three minutes in the box.

Lacrosse head rules

The one silver lining of all the rule changes is that high school (NFHS) and college (NCAA) head standards are now largely aligned, so the requirements for a legal head mostly match across the two main levels of the game.

Within that standard, you can pinch and modify your head as long as it stays within the limits. But again, keep checking your stick to make sure it stays legal as you use it.

Men's lacrosse head rules

Here are the specific rules for men's heads:

• Length: Measured from the outside of the head (the top arch) to the start of the throat (the bottom of the pocket, closest to the shaft), not counting the ball stop. It must be at least 10 inches.
• Pinch: The distance from sidewall to sidewall, measured at the midpoint of the head, 5 inches up from where the plastic starts at the throat. It can be no less than 3.5 inches. The throat has to stay at least 3 inches wide from the midpoint down to the ball stop.
• Width: Measured across the top of the head (the scoop) at its widest point. It must be at least 6 inches and no more than 10 inches.
• Depth: The top of the sidewall to the bottom of the sidewall (face of the head to the back). It can be no more than 2 inches on either side at any point.
• Material: A head can be synthetic (plastic), wood or laminated wood.
• Ball stop: Most modern sticks don't need one, and it isn't part of any stick check measurement. But if you're an old-school baller, a ball stop is required on any wood stick and can't be thicker than 0.25 inches.
• Goalie heads: The head can't be more than 16.5 inches from top to bottom and should be 10 to 12 inches at its widest point. Sidewalls can be no deeper than 2 inches.

Women's lacrosse head rules

Here are the rules for women's heads at all levels:

• Length: Measured from the outside of the head (the top arch) to the start of the throat, not counting the ball stop. It must be at least 10 inches.
• Pinch: Measured sidewall to sidewall at the midpoint of the head, 5 inches up from where the plastic starts. It can be no less than 3.1 inches (8 cm), and the throat has to stay at least 2.6 inches (6.7 cm) wide down to the ball stop.
• Width: The head must be between 7 and 9 inches wide.
• Depth: There's no exact measurement. Instead, it's tested with a ball: when the ball sits in the pocket, the top of the ball must stay above the top edge of the sidewall.
• Material: A head can be synthetic (plastic), wood or laminated wood.
• Ball stop: The stop pad can't be thicker than 0.5 cm.
• Goalie: Head size mirrors the men's game. The only difference is overall stick length, covered below.

Shop legal heads at Battle Lax

Lacrosse pocket rules: what makes a pocket illegal?

Men's lacrosse pocket rules

Since manufacturers have to build heads to legal dimensions, the more likely source of an illegal stick is your pocket.

The pocket is the most customizable part of your stick and the most likely to drift out of legal specs. It's also what refs focus on most in a stick check, that dreaded moment when the ref drops the ball in your pocket and gives it the old eye-and-tilt test.

• Material: A pocket can be gut, rawhide, linen or synthetic material, including mesh and leather. Shooting strings can be cotton, synthetic or hockey lace. The pattern can be anything from a tight diamond to an old-school traditional string job.
• Custom colors: This covers your mesh, strings and so on. You're free to customize colors, BUT you can't use color to trick your opponent. The classic example is painting a white circle on black mesh to look like a ball in your stick.
• Depth: The most feared part of the stick check. The pocket can't be deeper than a ball: the top of the ball can't sit below the bottom of the sidewall at the deepest point of your pocket. This is the dreaded test where the ref holds your stick level and looks for any daylight between the sidewall and the ball.

A legal lacrosse pocket: no daylight between the plastic and the top of the ball.

• Pull strings: Hopefully you're not already thinking about gaming the system with pull strings. A pull string lets you tighten the bottom of the pocket on the fly before a stick check so it looks shallower than it is. Refs are well aware of the trick and now look for it.
• Sidewall strings: Only one sidewall string is allowed per side. This one should be easy to follow, since more than one string makes stringing a sidewall a lot harder anyway.
• Shooting strings: Shooting strings must be within the top 4 inches of the head, measured from the scoop, and can't have more than 2 inches of excess hanging off the head. Some rule sets have restricted "U" and "V" shooting strings, so check your level's current rules before you string one.
• Retention test: This is when the ref tilts your stick with the ball in the pocket to look for any "catch." If the ball doesn't roll out when the head is turned 90 degrees vertically and horizontally, the stick is illegal.
• Flat table test: As heads have added more offset for power and speed, this test has gotten more attention. Lay your stick face down on a flat surface. The farthest point of the head from the surface can't be more than the limit in your level's rulebook (the original post listed 2.75 inches).

If your pocket's bagged out, restring it. The ECD Hero 4.0 Complete Kit ($34.99) has the mesh and strings you need, or grab a custom pre-strung head ($124.99) if you want it done for you.

Women's lacrosse pocket rules

The pocket is where women's heads differ most from the men's game. It's much shallower because there's less physical contact. Keep in mind that the rules shift more at the youngest levels of the women's game, and the rules here are for ages 12 and up.

• Material: The women's game recently opened up to the same mesh as the men's game after previously allowing only traditional strings. Mesh can be a full setup or a runner with traditional strings on either side.
• Spacing: No matter the string job or material, no hole or gap in the stringing can be bigger than 1.5 inches. Refs will look for this during a stick check.
• Custom colors: As in the men's game, customization is allowed but can't be designed to visually and purposely deceive an opponent.
• Depth: This is the clearest difference from the men's game, since the women's pocket must be much shallower. The check is the exact opposite of the men's: with the stick held perfectly level, at least part of the ball must be visible above the sidewall. Refs check both the front and back, and in both cases the ball must break the plane of the top rail to be legal.
• Pull strings: Just like the men's rules, this kind of depth manipulation isn't allowed and will be checked for.

That brings us to one of the most common questions about the women's game: why do scorers drop their stick right after a goal? The rules now require scoring players to drop their stick immediately after a goal so nobody can tweak the pocket before a stick check.

• Shooting strings: Shooting strings can be anywhere within 4 inches of the scoop but must attach directly to the sidewall plastic. That limits flex at the top of the head, which can add speed to throws and shots.
• Lower levels: At the 8U level, there's no rule on pocket depth, so young players can have as deep a pocket as they want until 10U. At 10U and up, players need a partially shallow pocket, with part of the ball visible over the bottom rail. At 12U, the depth rule shifts to the standard covered above.

Need a fresh runner? Try the ECD Venom Women's Mesh Runner ($19.99). Just starting out? The Maverik Ascent ST Complete Stick ($49.99) comes ready to play.

Lacrosse shaft rules

Now let's move down to the shaft, where we'll cover the main rule (length) and a few smaller rules you might not know about.

• Length: A men's stick (shaft plus head) must be 40 to 42 inches for attack and short-stick middies, and 52 to 72 inches for defensive long poles and LSMs. Men's goalie sticks can be 40 to 72 inches. In the women's game, field players' sticks must be 35.5 to 43.25 inches across the board (no difference between offense and defense), and goalies' can be 35.5 to 52 inches.
• Butt end: The end of your shaft opposite the head can't have any exposed bare metal in the men's or women's game. The rules now require a manufactured end cap. Tape alone (or anything similar) no longer counts. You can tape over the end cap but should leave the very bottom of it visible.
• Tape: Tape can't touch any part of the head, including the throat where the head and shaft connect. Refs look for this during stick checks, and if they find it, your stick is illegal. If you're taping to fix a loose head, look for a head and shaft that fit better, or try a different screw.

Read more: Lacrosse shaft lengths

Penalties for failing a stick check

Failing a stick check for any of the above gets you a 1- to 3-minute non-releasable penalty. For those new to the game, non-releasable means the player stays in the box for the full penalty even if the other team scores.

A pocket depth violation gets a 1-minute penalty, and you can keep using the stick once the pocket is fixed. Other violations get 3 minutes, and the stick is out for the rest of the game.

Some things, like a missing end cap or too much shooting string, may get a warning to fix before any penalty. They'll be penalized if you don't fix them after the warning.

If a goal scorer's stick fails the check after a goal, the goal is disallowed. That's the only case where a goal is waved off for an illegal stick, and it doesn't apply to a missing end cap or extra shooting string.

Penalty details vary by level (youth, NFHS and NCAA), so check your league's current rulebook.

Keep your stick legal: gear at BattleLax

The easiest way to pass a stick check is to start with a fresh pocket and a stick built to legal specs. These are in stock at BattleLax right now.

Prices and stock change, so check the product page before you order.

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Restring with the ECD Hero 4.0 Kit at Battle Lax