You found lacrosse late. Maybe a friend dragged you to an adult rec league, maybe you played in high school and just got back into it, maybe you just decided you needed a sport that involves hitting people with a stick legally. Doesn’t matter. You need a complete stick, you don’t want to spend $300 on gear you might hate, and you don’t want to buy garbage that’ll embarrass you at the first practice. This list exists for you.
A complete stick comes with both the head and shaft pre-assembled and pre-strung. For adult beginners, that’s exactly what you want — one less thing to overthink. The downside is that factory stringing is rarely great, but it’s workable until you know enough to care about pocket depth and channel.
How We Ranked These
We looked at four things: stringing quality out of the box, shaft weight and feel for players still developing their skills, head durability (beginners break gear), and price-to-value ratio. We didn’t factor in brand prestige. A name-brand head on a garbage shaft isn’t a good stick. We also only included sticks appropriate for adult sizing — no youth or senior pockets that’ll mess up your fundamentals before you even build any.
The Sticks
1. STX Stallion 50 Complete Stick
The Stallion 50 is the best all-around starting point for adult beginners at around $60–$70. The head is wide enough to make catching forgiving without being embarrassingly oversized, and the aluminum shaft gives you a neutral feel without weighing you down. The factory stringing is actually decent — not elite, but you won’t be fighting the pocket on every catch. This is the stick we’d hand someone walking into their first adult rec practice and tell them they’re set for at least a full season.
2. Warrior Burn Complete Stick
Warrior’s entry-level complete stick runs about $65–$80 depending on where you find it, and it earns its place here because the head plastic holds up. Adult beginners are going to ground-ball the stick, slam it on turf, and generally abuse it in ways a varsity kid never would. The Burn head survives that. The shaft is on the heavier side, which some beginners actually prefer — you can feel where the stick is without looking at it. Not a bad learning tool. Upgrade the shaft first if you stick with it past year one.
3. Maverik Charger Complete Stick
Around $55–$65, the Charger is the budget pick that doesn’t feel like a budget pick. Maverik put real effort into the stringing on this one — the mesh sits in a reasonable mid-pocket that translates to actual throwing accuracy for someone still ingraining the motion. The head is a touch narrow for a complete beginner, so if you’re truly starting from zero, the Stallion 50 edges it. But if you’ve played a little — high school JV, years ago, whatever — the Charger lets you progress faster without buying a second stick six months in.
4. Nike Lakota U Complete Stick
Nike makes solid beginner gear that nobody talks about because Nike lacrosse doesn’t have the cultural cache of STX or Warrior. That’s your opportunity. The Lakota U complete runs $70–$85 and gives you a lightweight offset head that’s genuinely more advanced than most complete stick offerings at this tier. The factory stringing is the weakest link here — plan on getting it restrung or buying replacement mesh within a few months. But the head and shaft are worth keeping long after you upgrade from beginner status. Best stick here for someone who wants to grow into it rather than replace it.
5. StringKing Complete 2 Junior (Adult Sizing)
StringKing’s Complete 2 in adult sizing runs around $80–$90, making it the most expensive option on this list, but StringKing’s factory stringing is legitimately the best out of the box of any complete stick in this price range. The mesh they use is the same technology they sell separately as a premium product. If you want to skip the “replace the stringing immediately” step that applies to almost everything else here, this is your stick. The head runs a little stiff, which helps durability but makes some advanced techniques harder to learn. For a beginner, that’s not a problem yet.
What Specs Actually Matter for Beginners
Head width: wider is more forgiving. Shaft material: aluminum is heavier but durable and cheap; composite is lighter but adds cost. Pocket depth: mid-pocket is the most teachable. Offset: slight offset helps throwing mechanics. Everything else — scoop angles, sidewall patterns, pocket strings — is noise until you’ve played for a year.
Skip the shaft length conversation until you know your own preference. All these sticks come in standard adult length. Don’t cut it down yet.
The Bottom Line
If you’re starting completely from scratch, buy the STX Stallion 50 and spend the money you saved on a lesson or two. If you want the best factory stringing and don’t mind paying a little more, the StringKing Complete 2 earns the premium. If you want a stick you’ll still be using after you’re no longer a beginner, the Nike Lakota U is the sleeper pick on this list.
Don’t buy a $200 complete stick as a beginner. You don’t know what you like yet, and the expensive complete sticks in that range are charging you for brand and features you can’t use. Get something functional, play a full season, then spend real money on a setup you’ve earned the right to have an opinion about.