To be a good lacrosse player, you have to be
able to catch the ball. Like basically any ball sport, particularly
basketball and baseball, the best technique for catching is to watch
the ball. Never take your eye off it, even if a defender is
right by you. It's much easier to catch if you have your top
hand close to the head of your stick and if you give with the ball as
you catch it. Never try to snatch at the ball; otherwise, the
ball will likely drop out of your stick's pocket.
After catching the ball, move your top hand
from the top of the stick to the middle. Defenders should take an
approach similar to the other players when throwing: if the ball is
thrown with your hands high up on the stick, you will have a much more
accurate throw. Then, like throwing a baseball, aim your foot (opposite
the hand you are using to throw with) at the person you are throwing
to. Your body does not face the person you are throwing to,
but rather your opposite shoulder faces him/her. For example
if you were throwing with your right hand, then your left foot and left
shoulder would be aimed towards the person you were throwing
to. Then you would step forward with your left foot and throw
the ball while flicking your wrist and replacing your left shoulder
with your right shoulder. The best way to practice catching
and throwing is by playing against a tall wall. Practice with
your left hand just as much as your right hand. When throwing with
another player, it is extremely important to get used to throwing on
the run, as this is how you will need to be in a game situation when
the pressure is on and the action of the game is heating up.
Cradling is used to keep the ball from falling
out of your stick as you are running. This movement is
analogous to dribbling in soccer in that both deal with security and
control of the ball. It is likely to be an extremely awkward and
imposing task at first, but with practice and dedication
this crucial tactic can be mastered and will eventaully become
a natural part of your game. Many body movements and
actions in sports and physical activities are related and
lacrosse is no exception. The basic forearm-wrist movement
that you use while cradling, is similar to that used for
weight-lifting. always make sure your cradling is in a smooth and
controlled motion-try not to cradle too fast at first or you will have
a harder time maintaining control-this may sound counterintuitive, but
using controlled forearm motion in your cradle takes precedence over
speed in most cirucmstances, unless you are in a high-traffic area in
enemy territorory-even then, always be focused on keeping the cradling
motion under control.A good way to master the technique of controlled
cradling is to jog around a track while cradling with your lacrosse
stick (it is definitely most effective to keep your lacrosse gloves on
and a lacrosse ball in the stick to gain
realistic experience while performing this training). From there you
can move to an open field and practice cradling while on the move in
different patterns to build valuable experience that will help you to
become effective in a real game situation.
Offense is very straightforward, you just try to
score a goal. But finding the best way to score can be very
complicated. Be sure to always have motion in
offense. Every player should constantly be moving; setting
picks, or trying to get open. The animations shown here
demonstrate how to drive to crease in a 2-3-1 offense. This
where you have 2 middies up top and 1 at crease, 2 attack men on the
wings and 1 at x.
Animation: The red middie symbolizes the dodging middie.
Notice that the rest of the offense notices that he is about to dodge,
and starts the motion before the dodging middie.
The keys to being an effective defender include
basically doing everything legal in your power to prevent the other
team from scoring, or even getting opportunities to score-Remember,
however, the best defense is a good offense! Although a history of
lacrosse playing and skillful stick work are helpful, experience in
other sports, particularly as a defensive player, will
contribute greatly to your ability to succeed. Skills and attributes
learned in other sports such as form, footwork, quickness and
aggressiveness, will work wonders towards becoming a
tenacious defender. Good clean stick checks, stick pokes, and
body checks are the order of the day in shutting out any
offender who stands between you and your goal. A good
deal of toughness, agility, vigilance, and cooperation among the
defenders and goalie is critical to the defending half's success, and
in turn the whole team. Also important is a knowledge of the defensive
patterns, similar to those run in basketball-namely, zone
("amoeba") and man-on-man defense.
Each defensive pattern is effective in different situations, so it is
important to know what will work best according to the situation that
your team is in; although it is important that your team be completely
skilled with one pattern , it is wise to be familiar with both patterns
in case your team runs into a situation in which your defense needs to
better adapt to your opposition. Communication between defenders is key
to managing a formidable, coordinated defensive power-A communication
breakdown could result in the death of your goalie (or at least getting
scored on) Another key to being an effective offender is what
is known as "keeping your head on the swivel"-this means always keeping
your eyes peeled on your opponents all around you, even those behind
the crease. It is important to use good judgement in determining where
you should concentrate your vision-your attention should generally been
concentrated on what is going on in front of you. Always stay between
your man and the goal. Zone Defense: Zone
defense is the best way to play if you want to save energy.
Each defender has his own zone and he should cover anyone that goes
into it. The zones are set up depending on how the offense is
set up. If the offense is doing a 2-3-1 offense, then there
should be two zones at the top and 3 zones in the middle. Two
middies protect the top two zones, and the third middie covers the
crease. The crease middie defender is the primary
slide. Meaning, if anyone gets beat, then he should be the
first one to cover that man. Then two d-poles play on the
wing attack-men and one d-pole plays on crease to cover the man at
x. However, there is no reason to actually go out behind the
cage to cover the x-man because there is no way he could score from
x. But if the score is close and you are short on time, then
you should always pressure the ball. If the man your
covering, beats you in your zone, then you should yell "Cutter!" to
inform the crease middie to slide. Man-on-Man Defense: The key
to this defense is to do everything you can to prevent the man you are
defending from scoring. Unless your man is out of the box or on the
other side of the field, you should always be within a close enough
proximity that you will be able to stop your man, maybe even shut him
out if your defense is run well enough. Just like in other
sports, there are situations in which your man will beat you. To
prevent this from happening, it is important to not get too close to
your man or make a risky defensive maneuver that would give your
opponent the chance to place a tricky move and drive past you.
Furthermore, always maintain a controlled defensive presence, keeping
yourself in line with your man's movements. If you do get beat,
however, don't despair and take action to rectify: yell something to
the effect of "I'm beat!" or "pick him up!" just something that will
let a nearby teammate know that they need to get on your man and fast.
You should also try to haul yourself over to opposing player who could
receive a pass and thus pose a potential offensive threat.
Clearing is one of the most important parts of
lacrosse. Period. Clearing statistics usually determine
whoever wins the game. The great part about clearing is that
the team clearing is always man up on the defense because they have the
goalie-Not such a great situation for the defense, however. So, one key
element is definitely passing to the open man. Clearing is
accomplished via the goalie, defenders, and middies. A typical clearing
pattern involves the two defending wings curving down below
the goal in a banana pattern, then running up so that they are in line
with the goalie. The defenders should remain in line with the goalie
unless either two scenarios come up: the goalie is being attacked or
the goalie has already made the pass to the open man. This is one
situation in which catching, or failure to catch, can have a dramatic
game-altering effect, for better or worse, respectively. Defenders
should also be competent in their catching ability for this reason.
Failure to clear will likely result in a risky defensive situation in
which the opposing team will have an ideal scoring situation on their
hands. A successful clear, however, can place your team in a nice
offensive situation. A well executed clear will save your goalie from
some anxiety that could otherwise result from a sudden attack from the
opposition. Ay ay ay!
Goal blocking refers to all measures taken by
the goalie to, well, block goals. The goalie should always
stand in a wide stance across the goal to cover as much as
possible. The goalie should watch the stick and the eyes of
where the shooter is looking. This will help the goalie to
predict where the ball is going. The goalie may have to take some for
the team, many-many a goalie has no shortage of battle scars to show
off to his teammates and/or girlfriend-thankfully he has the courage,
skill and extra protection that will keep the goalie (and hopefully the
team's chance of victory) alive and well. What a guy. Bon voyage
goalie. Bon voyage.
Riding is what the offense should do as the ball
transitions to defense. Attack covers the d-poles and the
goalie, while middies cover middies while they clear.
Basically you just cover a man as he clears down the field.
Like playing defense, you always want to be between your man and the
goal. But, you should always be close to your man so you can
check his stick when he goes to catch the ball. Never let
your man past you. Never!
Fast break situations are those in which a
middie player beats his middie defenders down the field on a
clear. If he draws a d-pole as he drives
in, then he should pass to the open attack. If no d-poles
slide, then he should shoot and score! The toughest thing is
determining if you really have a fast break situation. If
there are no open offense, then it's not a fast break. He
should just slow it down and settle his offense.
If you want to win the lacrosse game, then win
the face-offs! For you footballers out there, face offs are a
little like 50-50 balls. Or for you ballas out there,
consider this the tipoff for basketball. Face-offs are so
critical because they determine who gains possession, and whichever
team has the higher amount of possession will likely be the team to
have a higher amount of goals. In other words, a player who can
face-off well will be an invaluable asset to the team by keeping the
ball in his team's possession.
The face-off involves two players, crouching down, outside legs down
and inside leg crouched at the knee, with their sticks next to each
other. There are many different strategies a player can use
to face-off. One strategy is The Clamp. With this
you have to be the first one to clamp your head over the ball and rake
it out from under the defender.
Step-downs, on-the-run, sidearm, dip and dunk,
and behind-the-back are a few of the shots that are used in lacrosse.
For whatever hand you use, your opposite hand should be placed at the
bottom of the stick while your main hand should be placed as low as
possible (except on a d-pole).
When shooting, your leg and arm movements should be in sync so that
your shot is pulled off effectively and correctly.
Step-down: This shot is usually the first one
learned. Also it is perhaps the most accurate, but easiest to
defend.
However, it can be unpredictable, as the goalie will be uncertain of
your timing. 1...2..3..14 BAM! The goalie won't even know what hit him
(or went passed him)! Make sure you shoot with your elbows
out and use your body to throw the ball. Move your body
first, then your arms will follow. You should have minimal
motion in your arms unlike throwing.
On-the-Run: On-the-Run shots are like a fast pass.
You can get the best of your shot if you are running at a constant
speed; when you speed up or slow down while running, it will do the
same to your shot and may cause you to under or overthrow.
However, if you feel that you are skilled enough to change speeds, then
this can be a great way to throw off a defender. Practice
On-the-Run shots more than anything, it will be the most useful in game
situations.
Sidearm: Sidearm is the best way to get a fast
shot. However, it is the least accurate and can be very easy
to lose the ball if you get your stick checked. The way to
pull a sidearm shot is to do a step-down or an on-the-run but start
with the stick to the side perpendicular to your body to get more
torque on your shot.
Dip and Dunk: This strategy is used when you have a
one-on-one situation with the goalie. Use your body to fake
like your going to shoot low, then shoot over the goalie into one of
the top corners. Or do just the opposite. Placement
is more important than power on this shot.
Behind-the-Back: This shot is more to show off than
anything. But it can be useful for an attack man rolling
across the crease. If you can't beat your man while you are going
across the crease, then pop it over your shoulder (behind your back),
past your defender and into the goal. This kind of shot
requires lots of practice and skill. Do not use it in a game
until you feel completely confident.
Ground balls are simple. Whoever wants
the ball most, gets it. But there is more to it then just
scooping at the ball. You should always scoop through your ground
ball. This means that you don't just stand there and rake at
it while defenders come piling into you. It means that you
scoop while running, using both hands and get as low to the ground as
possible, then explode out of the scoop while tucking the head of your
stick close to your body and your head (this way if they try to check
at you, then they might slash your head and draw a penalty).
Also, a strategy called man-ball is very helpful in getting ground
balls. To do this, you need two team members going for the
ground ball. The first one to get there plays intense defense
against the opposing player. He calls "MAN!", before he gets
to him. Pushing and hitting is allowed as long as you are
within five yards of the ground ball. Then the second
teammate quickly calls "BALL!" and properly scoops the ball without any
pressure. After he scoops the ball, he should call "RELEASE!"
loud enough for the officials and other teammate to hear.
When the first teammate hears "RELEASE!", then he should stop playing
defense on his man so he doesn't get a holding penalty.
