Lacrosse Ball Color Reasons, Uses, & Options

Lacrosse balls come in several different colors that are used in various levels of lacrosse dependent on the league rules and the type of lacrosse being played. Signature Lacrosse offers lacrosse game balls in three different colors and lacrosse practice balls in five different colors. These colors are for specific versions of lacrosse, but lacrosse balls of different colors are not different in any way besides color.

Having lacrosse balls of different colors can be beneficial for lacrosse teams, players, and coaches trying to stay organized and keep some lacrosse balls separate from others. Choosing which lacrosse ball colors you should buy should depend on your needs as a team or individual and which lacrosse ball colors are legal for play where you'll be playing.

Currently, Signature Lacrosse sells lacrosse game balls in white, yellow, and orange colors to conform to the rules of most competitive lacrosse leagues around the world. The different lacrosse ball colors are used for various types of lacrosse, but the most common lacrosse ball colors are white and yellow.

• White lacrosse balls are used for most levels of boy's and men's lacrosse going from early youth lacrosse all the way up to NCAA collegiate men's lacrosse and the NLL. The National Lacrosse League is a professional indoor lacrosse league that exclusively uses white lacrosse balls.
• Yellow lacrosse balls are used in women's and girl's lacrosse going from early youth lacrosse all the way up to NCAA collegiate women's lacrosse and the WPLL. The WPLL is the highest level of women's lacrosse competing at the professional level, and the lacrosse ball of the WPLL is the same as the amateur levels below the WPLL.
• Orange, Green, and Pink Lacrosse Balls or are allowed to be used during inclement weather if determined to be needed by the officials.

Currently, Signature Lacrosse sells practice lacrosse balls in five colors: white, orange, yellow, green, and pink. There are no rules that restrict which color lacrosse balls must be used in a team's lacrosse practices. This means that lacrosse coaches are free to buy whichever color lacrosse balls they wish for the season ahead.

Using a different color lacrosse ball for practice can be helpful if your practice field has non-ideal visibility, you're trying to keep your practice balls and game balls separate, you want to keep JV and Varsity lacrosse ball stashes separate, or you want to explore some of the training methods below.

Using any of the lacrosse ball colors sold by Signature Lacrosse for your lacrosse training can provide an interesting twist on some drills that can improve performance, speed, and mental focus during a lacrosse game. Some examples of drills are listed below:

Being able to improve the ability to focus and think clearly during physical exhaustion is a difficult skill to master. When practice lacrosse goalie training, using different lacrosse ball colors and having the goalie try to yell out the color of the ball being shot at them during the save can improve two skills on top of actual reaction to the lacrosse ball.

• First, you're forcing the goalie to focus on the ball as it travels in the air and seriously identify it during flight. This extra element of focus forces the brain to be a part of the equation; instead of just pure muscle reaction from sight.
• Second, you are demanding more communication from your lacrosse goalie. Lacrosse goalies are literally "field generals" in-charge of the defense from the most important place on the field. This extra verbal task can reinforce the idea that lacrosse goalies should always be talking with the defense while in the cage.

Since this drill is really asking a lot out of your lacrosse goalie, it's best to not shoot the balls at full go and allow the goalie to really focus on their movement and shouting out the color.

This drill idea can be done in a few different ways, and you can use one lacrosse player or multiple lacrosse players to accomplish the same idea. First, we will start with how this can help an individual.

• For one lacrosse player, a lacrosse coach can either set multiple lacrosse balls of various colors on the field by the player or hold two different color lacrosse balls in their hands.
• When the lacrosse balls start on the ground, the lacrosse coach starts by blowing their whistle and immediately announcing a color of the ball they want the lacrosse player to go after as a ground ball.
• The lacrosse coach may then either wait until the lacrosse player secures the ground ball, or only let them get very close to it, before repeating with a different color and forcing the lacrosse player to abandon the first ball and move on.
• Repeat until all lacrosse ball colors are collected.

When the lacrosse balls are begin in the hands of the lacrosse coach, they toss them out in two different directions and then announce the color the lacrosse coach wants the player to go after. In this drill, it can be helpful to have the lacrosse player chopping their feet, lying on the ground, or backpedaling to add an extra element of distraction for the player. These two examples for an individual force the lacrosse player to think quickly, identify the proper lacrosse ball, work on fundamentals, and listen intently during the drill.

For multiple lacrosse players, only the second version is a safe drill for multiple lacrosse players. In this instance, the lacrosse players are either on a line, chopping their feet, lying down, etc., when the lacrosse coach throws two different color lacrosse balls in two opposite directions. Then, the lacrosse coach announces the desired color and has the lacrosse players go after it. Players should be either competing 1v1, 1v2, 2v2, or 2v3 and then proceeding to pass the ball back to the lacrosse coach or go towards the goal and attempt to score.