If you're shopping for a backyard lacrosse stick, you've probably seen three terms: fiddle stick, mini stick, and Skill Stick. They look similar. They cost about the same. But they're built for completely different things.
Here's the breakdown.
What Is a Fiddle Stick?
A fiddle stick is a small lacrosse stick made for casual play. The most popular is the STX FiddleSTX — it comes in sets of 2-7 sticks with a mini goal for backyard games.
What fiddle sticks are good at:
• Casual backyard fun with friends and family
• Beach trips and tailgates
• Basement play
• Very young kids' first exposure to a stick (ages 3-6)
What fiddle sticks are NOT good at:
• Skill development — the pockets are shallow and use soft mesh
• Real throwing form — shafts are short and the mesh and pockets are notoriously poor
• Skill development — they're not built for it
• Using common balls — they only work well with the included mini ball
Price: $29.99 per stick, or $29.99-$89.99 for game sets
What Is a Mini Stick?
A mini stick is a scaled-down version of a real lacrosse stick head. Popular options include the STX Mini Power, Warrior Evo Warp Mini, and Brine RP3 Mini.
What mini sticks are good at:
• Closest feel to a real stick in a small package
• Young players (ages 5-8) developing a first feel for pocket work
• Throwing and catching (with mini balls)
What mini sticks are NOT good at:
• Using real lacrosse balls and using common balls — the head is too small for tennis, wiffle, or foam balls
• Shooting — unless you don’t mind paying a lot for when the mini lacrosse balls go missing. These things sail beyond the goal on a miss unlike tennis and wiffle balls.
• Developing muscle memory for game translation— low-quality pockets need frequent adjustments and tweaks.
Price: $29.99 - 49.99
What Is the Skill Stick?
The Skill Stick is a backyard training stick from People's Lacrosse. It's not a fiddle stick and it's not a regulation game stick — it's a new category designed specifically for skill development with lightweight backyard balls.
What the Skill Stick is good at:
• Building real stick skills that transfer to your game stick
• Fitting common backyard balls — tennis, wiffle, foam stress balls
• Shooting practice — rip shots with wiffle balls (no broken windows), no chasing shots, no special set up or backstop needed
• Solo training + group play — works for 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 backyard games
• Daily practice — highly durable, reliable, consistent mesh holds up to regular use and weather
• Casual backyard fun — throws and catches like a fiddle stick, so it works for pickup games too
• A toy that actually teaches — the best of both worlds
What the Skill Stick is NOT:
• A regulation game stick — can't use it in real games
• For regulation lacrosse balls — too heavy, could damage the head
Price: $29.99
Which Should You Buy?
For a 3-5 year old's very first stick: A mini stick (STX Mini Power or Brine RP3). They're cheap and fine for the "first catch" stage.
For a fun family backyard game: A fiddle stick set (STX FiddleSTX 3-player or 7-player). Great for parties and casual play.
For actually getting better at lacrosse: The Skill Stick. Same price as the others, but it builds real skills instead of bad habits. Fits the balls you already have. Works for solo training AND small-side games. And yes — it's fun for casual backyard play too, not just serious training.
For a player age 6+ who wants to practice at home: The Skill Stick, hands down. Fiddle sticks and mini sticks top out at "toy" — they can't develop shooting, dodging, or real throwing mechanics. The Skill Stick picks up where toys leave off.
The Bottom Line
All three cost about $30. The difference is what you get for that $30:
• Fiddle stick = a fun toy (but the Skill Stick does everything a fiddle stick does, plus training)
• Mini stick = a slightly better lacrosse stick than the fiddle stick
• Skill Stick = a training tool that's also fun for casual play — the best of both worlds
If you're buying a stick to get better at lacrosse at home, save the $30 on a toy and put it toward a stick that builds skills. And if you just want something fun for the backyard? The Skill Stick does that too — it throws and catches just like a fiddle stick, but it won't hold you back when you want to practice for real.
Shop the Skill Stick:
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Free Training Resources:
- Playbook Maker: playbook.peopleslacrosse.com
- Skills and Drills: guide.peopleslacrosse.com/guides/
- 10 Dodge Techniques: guide.peopleslacrosse.com/guides/dodge-techniques/