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Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in North America today but for a lot of people, lacrosse is a relatively unknown sport that can look quite complex and dangerous to play. I’ve had many people new to this sport ask me if this was a fun sport to play and this is what I told them:
In general, lacrosse is a fun sport to play. It is fast-paced and action-packed with very few stoppages. It includes a combination of elements of different popular sports which makes it a unique team sport. It has varying levels of team competition suitable for different ages and physical attributes.
When starting out lacrosse, it was an easy sport for me to learn. The rules are fairly simple and it is played in a manner structurally similar to soccer or field hockey. In this article, I will discuss why lacrosse is a fun sport and talk about how to determine if lacrosse is a sport that is meant for you!
Is Lacrosse an Easy Sport to Learn?
Lacrosse is a relatively easy sport to pick up and learn for most people, especially for those with a background in team sports. Lacrosse has simple rules to follow and a structure of gameplay familiar to other contact sports which makes it fairly easy to pick up for a beginner.
*By the way, I recently wrote an article that talks about Why Your Lacrosse Stick Throws Down. This article explains why your stick throws down and talks about how to fix and prevent your stick from throwing down. You can check out this article here!
Probably the most difficult aspect of lacrosse to learn for any beginner would be using the lacrosse stick. This is because most popular team sports use their limbs (hands and arms or feet and legs) of the body to handle and control the ball.
However, you can learn to use the lacrosse stick effectively with a lot of solo practice and drilling.
In lacrosse, you cannot use your hands to control the ball, the ball can only be controlled by the lacrosse stick.
So, while the rules and the general gameplay of lacrosse are fairly easy to learn and understand, it can take you a bit of time to master using the stick.
The great thing is that you can learn to use the lacrosse stick through solo drilling in your spare time.
*By the way, I recently wrote an article about If It Is Possible To Play Lacrosse In The Rain. In this article, I break down everything you need to know about playing lacrosse in the rain so that you can have a successful game no matter what the weather is. You can check out this article here!
Below, I will let you know all the reasons why I like to play lacrosse!
What Makes Lacrosse so Fascinating to Play and Watch?
Lacrosse is a fun sport to play and watch because it is a high-paced, action-packed sport that requires skill combined with physical endurance. Lacrosse is one of the oldest competitive team sports in North America and has a deep history beyond most other modern-day sports.
For those veteran lacrosse players and long-term fans, lacrosse is an exciting and fun sport to play and is also relatively easy to learn for novices.
Lacrosse was invented by Native American tribes in the 1100s and was played as a way to settle tribal disputes, as well as for physical training for warriors and recreation.
So the cultural and historical aspects of lacrosse definitely make it very unique and interesting for you to watch or take part in.
Choosing the right lacrosse stick for you is one of the most important things to do. After having many lacrosse sticks throughout the years, the best one that I came across was the STX Lacrosse Fortress 700 Complete Stick. This lacrosse stick comes with a Crux Mesh Pro Pocket and is perfect for any lacrosse player to use. You can check out this Stick on Amazon!
Another aspect of lacrosse that I find makes it fun is the combination of fitness, cardio endurance, and physical force.
Lacrosse players run a lot during the duration of a typical match which requires a decent level of cardiovascular endurance.
Combining great cardio with the skill, finesse, and accuracy required to handle a lacrosse stick and catch and score with a lacrosse ball makes this sport fun and unique.
You will see that by combining the skill and fitness of a soccer or hockey player with the endurance of a track athlete and the physical force of a football player, you end up with the unique, fascinating, and fun sport of lacrosse.
*Side Note: You might be wondering if there are cheerleaders in the sport of lacrosse. I recently wrote an article about If Lacrosse Has Cheerleaders. This article breaks down if there are cheerleaders at ALL levels of lacrosse and professional lacrosse. You can check out this article here!
How Dangerous is Lacrosse?
Lacrosse can be considered a moderate-risk sport with the most common injuries being minor muscle strains and bruising. However, due to the very physical nature of the sport, more serious injuries are always a possibility in lacrosse, such as shoulder dislocations and knee injuries.
Lacrosse is a physical sport and the version played by males is a contact sport. So there is always the likelihood that you could sustain injuries due to the physical nature of the game.
But if you are not familiar with lacrosse, the pads and helmets you see lacrosse players wearing can make the sport appear to be much more dangerous than it is in reality.
There are some medical studies out there that support the case that lacrosse is a lot less dangerous than other sports.
A medical research paper on sports-related injuries of college students between 2009 and 2014 ranked Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse #’s 11 and 17 respectively on a ranking of ‘Average Annual National Estimate of Injuries in Competition’ from a Total of 25 College sports.
In the above-mentioned study, Men’s Football ranked #1 for injuries in competition, and Women’s Gymnastics ranked #25 out of 25 sports.
A report by the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program also supports the argument that lacrosse is a moderate-risk sport.
Their statistics show that lacrosse players experience two-thirds the number of injuries as soccer players and only one-tenth the number of injuries compared to football players.
*By the way, I recently wrote an article about If Lacrosse Players Should Wear Protective Cups. This article talks about if lacrosse players should wear cups and breaks down the rules of wearing protective cups in lacrosse. You can check out this article here!
Why is Lacrosse so Popular?
Lacrosse is so popular for many people it is not as extreme in physical requirements as many other contact sports. Physical height, muscularity, or other attributes are not necessary to be competitive in lacrosse which is one reason why lacrosse is so popular among a wide range of people.
Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in popularity in North America and globally and for good reasons.
*By the way, I recently wrote an article about What Combination Of Sports Is Lacrosse Made From. These 4 sports contributed to the creation of the lacrosse that we know today. You can check out this article here!
Also, the fast-paced action and competitive team spirit that comes from participating in lacrosse makes it an ever-growing sport in terms of popularity, with younger participants gravitating toward lacrosse in recent years.
If team spirit and friendly and fair competition interest you, then lacrosse is definitely a sport you should consider trying out.
Is Lacrosse an Expensive Sport to Play?
Generally speaking, lacrosse is considered an expensive sport to play due to the gear and equipment required to participate in the sport. A full set of lacrosse gear and equipment can cost up to $1,000 plus which includes pads, cleats, a helmet, and a lacrosse stick.
The fact that 60% plus of lacrosse players over the last 10 years come from families that earn $100,000 plus in income supports the notion that lacrosse is an expensive sport to play.
So in comparison to many of the more popular sports in the world with much less equipment and gear requirements.
Compared to basketball and soccer, lacrosse is definitely a more expensive sport to play.
Consider that if you play basketball or soccer, the gear you would need to purchase would pretty much only be suitable footwear, i.e court shoes or cleats and maybe shin pads for soccer.
But for lacrosse, there is a lot more gear you would need to purchase to start playing.
*By the way, I recently wrote an article about The 4 Sports That Are Most Similar To Lacrosse. These 4 sports contributed to the creation of the lacrosse that we know today. You can check out this article here!
