Convention for naming offensive set

[Stormlax]

This is an embarassing question after 35+ years involved with lacrosse but...are offensive sets called mid-field to "X" or the "X" to midfield? It doesn't matter w/ a 1-4-1 or 2-2-2, but if you have a feeder at "X", 3 low and two middies high it is a......?

[CTLaxer]

Don't feel embarrassed, everyone is different. For me personally I'd call your specific situation a 2-3-1 (from up top). There really isn't a definitive right answer. To avoid confusion, I just add "from X/from the top" before or after I mention a set to clear things up. Depending on where you're from, who you learned from, what decade you came from, etc, you will have a different answer.

If memory serves, there was a presentation on this very topic at the US Lacrosse Convention a few years ago. I remember everyone complaining about what a waste of time it was arguing about which is the correct terminology and to just preface everything with what I mentioned above.

Hope this clarifies things....heh

[spenny]

i'm with CT. dont feed bad, thats been argued since they started lining the fields. you can do it either way as long as you just let people know which end you are starting at

[CelticLaxer]

I think they've nailed it. But if I can offer one recommendation- for the sake of the one player who faces the field in the same direction most of the time (the goalie), he (or she) can recognize & communicate to the defense more quickly if you use midfield-to-x as your convention.

[Buggs]

I'm "old school" and have been playing/coaching for over 40 years . . . I've heard it both ways but the way I was taught (and how I/we teach at the HS level) is from the top, as you are "attacking" the goal from that direction.

[recon2ten]

I agree with Buggs and CelticLaxer. I always say from midfield to "X". The direction that you attack the goal from. You should probably explain that to your players at the beginning of the season because there will always be a difference of opinion.

[Bobsch]

I agree with Buggs and CelticLaxer. I always say from midfield to "X". The direction that you attack the goal from. You should probably explain that to your players at the beginning of the season because there will always be a difference of opinion.

I agree on that, too...just because that's how I was taught 30 years ago!

[DartLax86]

I was never sure.... As a player I started as an attackmen, so I started calling offenses from X to up top. However,after coaching a decade with a guy who was a goalie, I've switched to calling everything from the goalie's perspective.

If the goalie can see two guys up top we are calling '23' or 'deuces' if they have two on the crease. So, we identify ball position from the goalie's perspective, and now we identify offenses the same way.

[CaptMDG]

I generally found that the people from Long Island (and I think Central NY) called formations from the "X" to midfield, but the people from Maryland called formations from the midfield to the "X".

If I am giving a clinic I always say the formation is a 2-1-3 from the "X" so that everyone knows what I am talking about. As you can see, I am from Long Island.