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Knowing your way around a lacrosse stick is the most important skill to have in the sport of lacrosse. After playing lacrosse for about a year, I started noticing that my lacrosse stick shots were throwing down. I needed a solution so I looked into why this was happening to my stick.
Generally speaking, your lacrosse stick throws down into the ground when you shoot because your lacrosse stick has too much whip. Too much whip occurs when there are stringing issues with the lacrosse head. Make sure to restring the lacrosse pocket properly to prevent too much whip.
Having too much whip in the lacrosse pocket is a very common issue amongst lacrosse players. In this article, I will be sharing all of the potential stringing issues that you might be having that make your lacrosse stick shoot down as well as answering some related questions that you might be having.
Why does my lacrosse stick throw down?
The main reason a lacrosse stick throws down is that the mesh of the pocket is too deep which creates too much whip. When the lacrosse pocket is too deep, it creates more drag for the ball which will slow it down when coming out of the pocket. This makes your stick feel like it’s throwing down.
There are a few potential issues that are causing your lacrosse stick to be throwing down that need to be discussed:
The bottom shooting strings are on too tight
When the bottom shooting string is too tight, it will move the pocket higher than where it’s supposed to be. This makes the ball release late when you shoot.
Make sure that the pocket in your lacrosse head is where you want it to be when you restring it.
The pocket expanded and bagged out
*Side Note: I recently wrote an article about How To Properly Store A Lacrosse Stick To Make It Last. This article talks about the right way to store your lacrosse stick to prolong its life span. You can check out this article here!
There are a few reasons for the mesh pocket to expand: It could be because it’s just worn out over time, because the strings got wet, or because the mesh you used is too soft.
Either way, replacing the mesh in your lacrosse head is the best thing to make your pocket go back into place and stop the whip from occurring.
The head is strung with a high pocket
When you string your lacrosse stick you have to make sure that the pocket is not too high up on the lacrosse head. Whether you’re stringing your lacrosse stick for the first time or just restringing it for the season, it needs to be done well in order to avoid this problem.
High pockets usually trap the ball inside when it is about to be thrown and let it go late during the full swing motion.
You didn’t restring the lacrosse stick for a while
Restringing your lacrosse stick is an important part to commit to every once in a while. The strings loosen up over time which moves the pocket around.
If you don’t restring your lacrosse stick, you’ll have to constantly adjust your shots to match the output of the ball. This could get very annoying over time!
When I need to restring my lacrosse head (which is pretty often), my favorite mesh to use is the ECD Lacrosse Hero 3.0. I recently came across this Complete Kit of Lacrosse Mesh and HeroStrings on Amazon and I never needed anything else. You can check it out on Amazon!
You release the ball too late when shooting
Sometimes the problem is not in the stick. When you’re shooting your shot, make sure to stop the stick at the right distance to create the momentum that the ball needs to come out of the pocket.
I’ve seen some lacrosse players swing their lacrosse stick without stopping it to create momentum and their ball has almost always landed on the field in front of them.
How do I keep my lacrosse stick from throwing down?
As a general rule, you can prevent your lacrosse stick from throwing down by restringing your lacrosse head with a new mesh. Tighten the top of the pocket and loosen the bottom of the pocket with the new mesh to help the lacrosse stick shoot higher. This will create a lower pocket to shoot from.
The location of your pocket and how much it is stretched determines if your lacrosse stick will throw down or not.
*By the way, I recently wrote an article about How Often You Should Restring Your Lacrosse Head. This article talks about why you should restring your lacrosse stick and how often. You can check out this article here!
Make sure to restring your lacrosse head’s mesh every so often to avoid this from happening. Since I played lacrosse every season, I usually restrung my lacrosse stick once before every season.
This allowed me to stay on top of my game and prevent my lacrosse stick from having a low or high whip.
Below, I explain what created whip while using your lacrosse stick.
What creates whip in a lacrosse stick?
In general, more whip is created in the lacrosse head when the pocket is lower in the lacrosse head. Less whip is created if the pocket is higher in the lacrosse head. Make sure that the pocket created by the mesh is in the center which prevents it from having low or high whip.
In lacrosse, whip is one of the most common problems that you will encounter! Whip means how high or low your stick is going to shoot the ball out. The whip of the stick could be adjusted once you realize why your stick is throwing down.
For example, if you’re going to shoot a low-whip stick overhand, it will shoot higher than you expect and a high-whip stick will shoot the ball lower.
Here’s a helpful video that I found explaining this concept in detail:
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!
Generally, when the pocket is too high on the lacrosse head it will create a low-whip which will make your stick throw down!
How do you make a lacrosse stick throw higher?
In general, to make your lacrosse stick throw higher you need to adjust the pocket to be lower and more shallow on the lacrosse head by pulling on the bottom of the mesh when restringing. This creates less drag which will help the ball come out of the pocket faster and throw higher.
You can make the pocket more shallow by tightening the strings on the bottom of the mesh which will pull the mesh down creating less of a pocket.
This makes the ball have less mesh to slide off of when coming out of the pocket which will make it come out faster!
*By the way, I recently wrote an article about If It Is Possible for A Lacrosse Stick Can Break A Bone. This article talks about if it is possible to break a bone when getting hit by a lacrosse stick and what to expect. You can check out this article here!
FAQs:
How can I make my lax pocket deeper?
Generally speaking, you can make your lacrosse pocket deeper by loosening up the strings on the bottom of the mesh. This will create a bigger pocket that makes more drag for the ball. More drag will help the ball come out of the pocket slower making it throw lower.
How often should you replace a lacrosse stick?
On average, lacrosse sticks/shafts should not be replaced unless they are broken, however, a lacrosse head that attaches to the stick should be replaced when you notice that the plastic starts to warp and bend too much when playing. The mesh should be replaced once you notice it stretched too much.
*Side Note: I recently wrote an article about How Often You Should Replace Your Lacrosse Stick. This article talks about when you should replace your lacrosse stick and head. You can check out this article here!
