Middie Movement

[Wooks]

I honest-to-god searched for this for about 30 min. Please don't close this, or at least point me in the direction where this has been answered.

As a Middie, when do I need to rotate over, when do I need to cut in, and what do I do when I'm on the crease? I always just end up standing doing nothing on the crease feeling like I don't know what I'm doing.

[ShermanLax607]

It really differs from team to team, what line you are on, and what your coach wants you to do.

I think you should just talk to your coach and say that you need help on knowing what to do. Other than that, we really cannot help you all that much.

[MaKiMaKi13]

Just to add on to what Sherman said it also depends on what formations your coach is running along with what the play is designed to do

[lax-crazy]

useualy rotating over has to do with following your fellow middie and giving him support and balancing back up if he drives. Almost like a triangle. Jut make sure to give him an outlet incase he gets pressured and has to rollback.

[Eclipse]

Well, since I play crease, and have been specifically acclimated to do it for the last two years, allow me to give you a basic overview:

Simply put, your job on crease is to be....annoying.

Now I know that may sound somewhat silly at first, but allow me to explain:

Your primary goal on crease is not necessarily to get slam dunk goals. More importantly, you need to get the defense to commit to you, honor you, and constantly be on the move to keep up with you. If you find yourself standing around on crease, simply put, your not doing your job. When you're on crease, your feet should NEVER stop moving. You need to be cutting, creating space, and looking for quick shot opportunities. Here is some basic ways to accomplish those goals:

1.) Mirror the ball. You need to be opposite of wherever the ball is in the offensive zone. If the ball is low, you are high, if the ball is high, you are low. This is very important. You need to be staying opposite the ball so your attack and middies have plenty of room and space to work with. If the opposing defense slides from crease, this will also make the slide much longer.

2.) Time your cuts. You need to make sure when you are going to make a cut, the timing is right. Depending on the level you play out, your probably not going to be getting feeds from the midfield. Its very hard to catch the ball from up top, turn, and get a solid shot off with the defense collapsing on you. Your going to want to time your cuts as the ball is getting spun from the wing attackmen, through X, or as the X attackman is dodging. You have to anticipate in order to do this. If the man at X is dodging to his left, your gonna wanna shadow him, moving to you left a little, almost as if there is a pole connecting the two of you. At the same time, if you want to cut as the ball is getting moved from the wing, through X, then time your cut to the ball side, just as the ball is getting received by the X man.

3.) STAY ACTIVE! I cannot emphasize this enough. As odd as this may sound, if you are not scoring goals on crease, as long as you are keeping the defensemen committed to you, then you are doing your job. Standing still, takes you out of the game, you are no longer a threat, and the defense will capitalize. Keep them confused, wondering where you are, constantly moving. By doing this, you can literally occupy the attention of a few defenseman, and the goalie.

I know this is long, but crease is a lot more skilled then people think. You need to be working extremely hard off ball to be succesful.

[Wooks]

Thanks eclipse, I think I get it better now.

For the other questions, we run a 2-3-1 I'm pretty sure.