Lacrosse balls are known to be sturdy and can sustain up to a month with proper care in play. But what can you do with old lacrosse balls when they begin to lose their grip? In most cases, you may try to restore or repurpose the old lacrosse balls.
Restoring a lacrosse ball is one of the most common things to do with an old lacrosse ball, and all you’ll need is some sandpaper and a whole lot of patience. You’ll have to sand it down until the next layer of rubber is visible, and your ball will be as good as new.
Unfortunately, restoring a lacrosse ball may take a long time and can be tiring. As such, many players would choose to repurpose their old lacrosse balls instead. Let’s look at some intelligent ways on how you can use an old lacrosse ball differently.
How Do I Repurpose Old Lacrosse Balls?
When your old lacrosse ball reaches the end of its lifespan on the field, you may want to find different ways to put it to use. Below are some common ways to repurpose the old lacrosse balls you have.
1. Use it as a muscle recovery roller
Thanks to its firmness, old lacrosse balls make great muscle recovery rollers – it’s almost like having a foam roller at hand. Many players will choose to have an old ball or two in their bags each time they hit the field, so they can reach for it once the game ends.
2. Use It as chew toy for your dogs
Like tennis balls, old lacrosse balls also make great chew toys for your dogs and help strengthen their jaws. If you don’t have a dog of your own, do look to see if your friends or neighbors would like the ball for their dogs instead.,
If you’re looking to repurpose a lacrosse ball for your pooch, you’ll want to be sure to clean the ball thoroughly as you’ll never know what the ball has rolled on. The last thing you’ll want is for your pooch to get an upset stomach after chewing on an old lacrosse ball.
3. Donate the lacrosse balls to youth teams
In a bid to help broaden the interest in lacrosse, you can always choose to donate any old lacrosse balls to the youth teams. This could significantly cut down the cost of training youth lacrosse players as they can continuously practice with your old, discarded lacrosse balls.
How To Make Your Lacrosse Balls Last Longer?
Due to the material used to make lacrosse balls, regular wear and tear can cause your lacrosse balls to deteriorate quicker. Although you can easily swap out an old ball for a newer lacrosse ball, there are also ways to help make your lacrosse balls last longer.
One of the easiest ways is to place your old lacrosse balls in a tennis ball tube lined with sandpaper. This works best when there are 2 or 3 balls inside the tube, and you can gently shake it for a minute to clean the surface of your lacrosse balls.
Picking out lacrosse balls that are made of good quality rubber can also reduce the number of times you need to clean out the scuffs as compared to most cheap lacrosse balls.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the end of your lacrosse ball’s lifespan on the game field does not mean it’s all over for the ball. There are still a variety of uses that you can employ with an old lacrosse ball, so you don’t have to always throw them out at the first sign of deterioration.
