What is a minor foul in lacrosse sixes?
I · Intermediate · Fouls and penalties · 5 of 7A minor foul is any breach not listed as a major or expulsion foul, such as holding, interference, warding off or an illegal pick. The penalty depends on who had the ball. If the offender's team had it, or it was loose, the other team gets it. If the other team already had it, the offender sits out for 30 seconds.
How it works
- The definition: "all violations except those specifically listed as major fouls or expulsions".
- Loss of possession: when the offending team has the ball or the ball is loose.
- Thirty seconds: when the non-offending team has the ball at the time of the foul.
- Green card: the official's signal for a 30-second penalty.
- Interference: keeping an opponent from a loose ball when not both within 3 m of it, or guarding a player without the ball so closely they cannot move.
- Holding: impeding an opponent or their stick, with the stick, a free hand or the body.
- Pushing: in the men's game, not from behind. In the women's game, no displacing an opponent at all.
- Warding: the ball carrier using a free hand or arm to push off a defender or control their stick.
- Charging: barging into an opponent who has set their position.
- Illegal pick: a screen set while still moving, or by leaning or holding the stick out.
- Withholding the ball: lying on it, trapping it or pinning the stick to the body to shield it.
- Procedure and delay: substitution errors, crease violations, the goalkeeper offside and not being ready to play.
The glossary has the minor foul, interference, pushing and holding, the pick, withholding the ball and play-on.
Tricky cases
Two players go for a loose ball and one holds the other's stick. What is the penalty?
Possession to the other team. With the ball loose, a minor foul is not a time penalty.
A defender holds an attacker who has the ball. What is the penalty?
Thirty seconds off the field for the defender. The attacking team already had the ball.
A teammate stands still to screen a defender, who runs into them. Foul?
No. A pick is legal if the player is motionless before contact, feet no wider than the shoulders and stick held close.
A ball carrier holds the stick in one hand and pushes a defender's stick away with the other. Foul?
Yes, warding. The ball goes to the defending team.
Why the rule exists
Most of these are fouls of obstruction, not of danger, so the penalty is the ball. The 30 seconds are added only when taking the ball would be no penalty at all, because the fouled team already had it. That keeps the punishment in proportion and the stoppages short.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Offending team has the ball, or the ball is loose | Possession to the other team | WL Sixes Rule 7.1.2 |
| Non-offending team has the ball | 30 seconds for the offender | WL Sixes Rule 7.1.2 |
| Men's game | Pushing allowed from the front or side on a ball carrier, both hands on the stick | WL Sixes Rule 7.2.2M |
| Women's game | No pushing or displacing, and no cradling the ball in front of the face | WL Sixes Rule 7.2.2W; 7.2.4 |
From the rule book
World Lacrosse, 2026-2028 Sixes Lacrosse Official Playing Rules (version 2.0, May 2026), Rules 7.1 and 7.2 and Appendix D. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: World Lacrosse Sixes Rule Book 2026-2028 (PDF).