Lacrosse Cleats

There are basketball shoes and football cleats and golf shoes and soccer cleats. For the longest time, until fairly recently actually, lacrosse cleats weren’t a thing. The sport had to borrow shoes from other aisles in shoe stores like football and soccer.

While lacrosse can be played on many different surfaces, either inside or outside, when the game is played on grass or turf-grass, it’s typically expected players wear cleats for comfort, performance and safety.

Prior to today’s wide market of footwear designed specifically for the demands of the game of lacrosse, it was not uncommon for outdoor field players to wear football cleats a lot of the time. While indoor players and turf players prefer turf shoes or basketball shoes, outdoor field players are best served by a pair of molded cleats that are comfortable and offer lots of support and traction.

Nike is now seven generations into the Huarache line of lacrosse-specific cleats that are regarded among the best footwear you can find. Other shoe manufacturers like New Balance and Adidas are also excellent choices, as are respected shoe brands like Under Armour.

Here are some of the most popular lacrosse cleats today:

• Nike Alpha Huarache 7 Elite Lacrosse Cleats

• Retails for $130; available for $40-70 on SidelineSwap

• New Balance Freeze V3 White Lacrosse Cleats

• Retails for $110; available for $50-70 on SidelineSwap

• Warrior Burn Speed 9.0 Lacrosse Cleats

• Retails for $90, available for $25-40 on SidelineSwap

• Under Armour Highlight MC Lacrosse Cleat

• Retails for $90; available for $25-55 on SidelineSwap

There are three distinct styles of lacrosse cleats:

• Low Cut Lacrosse Cleats
  • Cut low like a running shoe, this is the lightest and most aerodynamic style built for speed and comfort.
• Mid Cut Lacrosse Cleats
  • Not quite a high-top and now quite a low-cut running shoe, the mid-high offers versatility for players looking for a light, fast shoe with plenty of ankle support.
• High Top Lacrosse Cleats
  • Designed for optimal ankle support, the high-top model cleat offers a lot of stability for players like defensemen who rely on lateral movements throughout the game.

You do not need special cleats for lacrosse, but it helps to wear footwear designed specifically for a sport like it when playing on grass. The sport most closely associated with lacrosse footwear is football, so it has not been uncommon to see players over the last decades wearing low-, mid- or hi-top football cleats on a lacrosse field.

Lacrosse, like football, is a game that relies on speed and lateral movement within a collision sport. Lacrosse-specific footwear, which was not produced until recently, is made to be light, comfortable, stable and offers players maximum lateral traction for cutting and moving.

That being said, weaning cleats designed for other sports like soccer or baseball, is not recommended. In fact, wearing certain spikes, such as metal spikes found on some baseball cleats, are simply not permitted in lacrosse and could result in significant injuries.

No. As mentioned above, lacrosse cleats more closely resemble American football cleats—they’re cut higher for more ankle support. Soccer cleats are molded differently, and are typically a lower shoe designed more for running than cutting. Hold up a soccer shoe, and it looks more like a running shoe, while most football cleats have lines and bulk that more resemble basketball shoes or cross-trainers.

However, it is entirely possible to wear molded, plastic soccer cleats while playing lacrosse if you choose, though not recommended.

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Lacrosse cleats are incredibly durable, and buying them used can unlock big savings without any quality trade-offs. Read more about buying used lacrosse cleats.