Everything You Need to Know about Men's Lacrosse Pockets

Your pocket depth is determined by holding your stick horizontally and looking at the top of the ball compared to the bottom side rail on the head. There cannot be any space between the top of the ball and the bottom side rail or else the pocket's depth is illegal.

Pocket depth can be easily adjusted by shortening or lengthening your bottom lace. A longer bottom lace creates a deeper pocket that will have more whip while a shorter bottom lace creates a shallower pocket that will have less whip.

This describes your pocket's release angle when throwing the ball. High whip releases the ball toward the ground while low whip releases the ball toward the sky.

Whip can be easily adjusted by tightening or loosening your shooting laces. Tightening your shooting laces increases whip while loosening your shooting laces decreases whip. When making adjustments, start with minor tweaks and see how that changes the release angle. Repeat this process of making small adjustments until your pocket throws precisely.

This describes your pocket’s ability to grip and control the ball while cradling. Low pockets typically have less hold while high pockets typically have more hold.

This describes how consistent and precise your throwing is. Pockets that are less accurate will throw slightly differently each time. It is extremely important to have a pocket that throws consistently every time.

This describes how responsive the pocket is when the ball is thrown. Some pockets are more responsive than others so the player can tell how the ball travels from the pocket through the channel and out of the head. Having good feel in your pocket helps improve control and accuracy.

This describes the path of the ball when releasing from your pocket. The optimal width of the channel is the size of the ball. Channels that are too wide will cause the ball to release less accurately while channels that are too narrow will cause the ball to snag on the mesh and throw inconsistently.

Channel is more time consuming to adjust. It requires unstringing and restringing the sidewall strings with a different stringing pattern. For step-by-step stringing instructions, please visit

This describes the natural resting point of the ball in the pocket when held horizontally. Low pockets sit closer to the throat of the head while high pockets sit closer to the scoop. Most players use a mid pocket which will sit in the middle of the head.

Placement is also more time consuming to adjust. It requires unstringing and restringing the sidewall strings with a different stringing pattern. For step-by-step stringing instructions, please visit:

This describes the process of moving around and working in a new piece of mesh. Certain mesh pieces, especially harder ones, can be more difficult to string so it is recommended that you break in the mesh before stringing and then again after the pocket is strung.