Rundown on Greasers

In lacrosse, the word “greaser” gets thrown around quite frequently, but what does it mean? In lacrosse, a greaser is an older ball that has become extremely hard and has lost all grip to it. This loss of grip is what makes them feel greasy; there is no actual grease involved.

How are greasers created? Typically, lacrosse balls are made of rubber, and they harden as they heat up and cool down over time. These rubber balls are filled with oils and fillers that seep out onto the outside surface, causing the “greasy” feeling causing a lack in grip.

Why Greasers are an issue

In his video, Patrick describes the main idea of why greasers are an issue and why coaches should stop allowing greasers in their buckets at practice.

First, he addresses the fact that the athletes will adapt to how the greasers leave their sticks. The problem arises when there is a majority of balls that still have their grip and there are random greasers mixed in.

Greasers leave a player’s stick much earlier than a normal ball, which means the athlete will accommodate for the error and slightly shift the way they’re shooting. This could potentially create bad habits and not allow the athlete to train at their full potential.

As Patrick points out in his video, the point of coaching is to create consistency. So, why would you even bother with greasers and potentially ruin practices?

Greasers in a Game

To provide a visual as to why greasers can be detrimental to a lacrosse player’s performance, Patrick goes on to show footage from a game in which the ball went out of bounds and a player scooped up a greaser on accident to continue the game.

In the first three passes once the greaser is in play, there were three turnovers. While there were a few completed passes with the greaser, there were much more turnovers until the ball got replaced after much yelling from the sidelines to get the greaser out of the game.

The difference in gameplay once the greaser entered the game was blatantly clear, and the athletes became visibly frustrated by the situation almost immediately. This is just one instance of what can happen when an unexpected greaser is picked up.

The Solution – PEARL X (greaseless) lacrosse balls

Patrick presents the answer to the ago-old greaser problem: re-engineered lacrosse balls! He introduces the PEARL X and the ECD Mint, both designed with a longer lasting grip than normal rubber balls.

From our end, the PEARL X was designed with greasers specifically in mind. They’re made in the USA with a cross-linked polyurethane formula. The formula contains no oils, fillers, or substances that are banned by Prop 65 and thus never grease or get hard.

As a coach, Patrick discusses how he believes it makes sense to invest in better balls when you consider the time and effort that’s put into the sport to provide the athletes with consistent and effective practices.

He advises to buy in bulk in order to save money overall, and then you’ll have enough balls to last you from season to season between your teams. Since the greaseless balls last longer than rubber balls, you really aren’t spending that much more in the end.

POWLAX’s Experiment: Greasers vs. PEARLs

To put the PEARL X’s to the test, Patrick designed an experiment to show the difference between a greaser and a PEARL. He used 20 balls in total, with one group of 10 PEARLs, and a second group of 10 greasers, each numbered one through 20. Patrick had three different athletes go one by one shooting the balls at random, and he tracked the results of each shot by each athlete. Their results were as follows:

The Results

These results are a great testament to the consistency that the PEARL X’s have when directly compared to greasers. Out of the three athletes, there was only 1 combined complete miss with the PEARLs, while the greasers gave the athletes a combined 17 misses overall.

To conclude: just make the switch!

In the end, the only way to keep greasers from being the issue that they are is to stop buying them. The problem only progresses as long as greasers are still in play, so why not consider a switch? Do yourself, or your athletes, a favor and invest in some greaseless lacrosse balls if you want more consistent practices.

Check out the PEARL X greaseless lacrosse balls on our web store or contact our team to request team pricing.