defensive checks

[rhlaxd09]

ive played lax for a few years...and im pretty good with posistioning so i dont get beat often...but i dont get the ball from the guy very often...i do poke and lifts alot...but the dont seem to be very effective..do u know anytips to help get them harder/more effective.

[bonebrakr12]

after you poke and lift, slap

[stegmakk]

i do poke and lifts alot...but the dont seem to be very effective..do u know anytips to help get them harder/more effective.

At least you aren't looking to do fancier/riskier checks...

why not try working on your timing...hitting them when they aren't expecting it is more effective...meaning don't constantly do one thing over and over...switch it up a bit...
Also work on fluid combos...lift into a slap or poke into a lift

work on wrist strength to make these checks lightning fast (and more powerful)...but most importantly quicker...

[spenny]

very few people do these days. the sticks arent built to let the ball come out.

the best chance you have to make a turnover is play good foot postion defense keep your stick on his glove and wait for him to make a bad pass

[rhlaxd09]

thanks guys...i hope these tips help me in tryouts this weekend

[GatorsLax]

even the best defenders in the game have a hard time taking the ball away with just a poke. a good lift (I'm talking his bottom hand above his shoulder) will almost always get the ball. with a real lift check, the key is sticking with it. you can't just nudge the bottom hand up and expect to get the ball. you've got to "finish".

taking body helps too...

[gripitandripit]

A great take away defenseman uses the checks in his repertoire as weapons, not as crutches. You say you play solid position defense and that's great, but you need to make sure you keep it up if you want to be a threat to the other team and not your own. Beyond body position, the next most important skill you can master is patience. Wailing away on your man and maybe eventually dislodging the ball only makes you a liability to your team, not an asset. In addition to limiting penalties, being patient will also lull your man to sleep. If he doesn't feel threatened he'll get sloppy and when he gets sloppy he'll over compensate for almost anything you do. Now don't take this to mean all you do is run around with your man. You're not in rapid fire mode, but you're keeping his bottom hand off his stick with short, controlled pokes and slaps, just enough so he doesn't get comfortable with the ball. It's from this scenario that you can start setting up your checks. You don't register as a threat quite yet, so you fake a backside slap or make a move to go over his head. Gauge his reaction. Did he stay tight and in control or did he overcompensate away from your check? Depending on the look he gives you, you now know your move. The key is to not get greedy. If he doesn't give you anything right away just keep playing solid defense and he will eventually.

[Lax4life528]

make him worry about the ball at all times, then he won't be running full speed.

[gripitandripit]

make him worry about the ball at all times, then he won't be running full speed.

:WTF:

Want to elaborate on that?

[Lax4life528]

:WTF:

Want to elaborate on that?

Its something our coach told us. If you get on his hands with a barrage of checks and follow him everywhere, the more he is gonna be looking down to see if the ball is still in his pocket, the less he is looking to make a feed, or even see where he is going. Basically get his eyes looking down and he is naturally gonna run slower because of some physics reason or something. Try this, run full speed cradling the ball normally, then try to do the same thing while looking at your stick and being pushed sideways.

[gripitandripit]

Its something our coach told us. If you get on his hands with a barrage of checks and follow him everywhere, the more he is gonna be looking down to see if the ball is still in his pocket, the less he is looking to make a feed, or even see where he is going. Basically get his eyes looking down and he is naturally gonna run slower because of some physics reason or something. Try this, run full speed cradling the ball normally, then try to do the same thing while looking at your stick and being pushed sideways.

I'm not going to say you or your coach is wrong, but I don't agree with that school of thought at all. Doing anything besides playing good body position can compromise a defensive player, so the more checks you throw the more vulnerable you are. That's why I'm a huge advocate of planned, precise, timed checks. You'll land a much higher percentage of well thought out checks so even though you're throwing fewer, they're more effective.

[FlucoDpole]

... That's why I'm a huge advocate of planned, precise, timed checks. You'll land a much higher percentage of well thought out checks so even though you're throwing fewer, they're more effective.
Yup
One of the best checks can be a slight poke check to the gloves during his passing motion. Forcing him to pass wide and out of bounds so that your middie gets to take possession is even more efficient than stripping the ball from him.

[Formerlaxdemon]

Yup
One of the best checks can be a slight poke check to the gloves during his passing motion. Forcing him to pass wide and out of bounds so that your middie gets to take possession is even more efficient than stripping the ball from him.

Very sound advice Dpole. One of the other members mentioned that increasing one's arm strength could would also make for a stronger effect as well. Combined, the two strategies would lead to very good defense from my coaching experience. Keep It Simple, Stupid. When things get too fancy, flags get thrown.

[HeadHeartHustle]

my coach told me a story one time

his brother played lax at Syracuse. He could get the ball from any attack men, pretty much whenever he wanted. he went on to get a few awards, and became a coach in England.

His brother had a friend. this friend almost never had a good takeaway check and almost always had his man pass the ball or forced him to take a bad shot. he went on to be an all american, Drafted in the MLL, and won a championship.

so which do you think was better?

i know i have a crazy hard time going 1 on 1 vs position defenders, b/c if you cant get high side, youll have a hard time scoring.