Shot Speed?

[Lax101]

which brings up a good question...how fast does the average girl lacrosse player shoot? or how fast do you shoot? I'm pretty active in girls lacrosse (i reffed local games on a regular basis last year and I have a DECENT...not great understanding of the game), so i'm always curious for these kinds of things.

[celtlax]

I clocked an average of 51 mph...dunno whether that's good or bad in relation other players....but I did notice the stick made a difference...

[sumSum]

I'm going to split the thread and make it two, one about shot speed. Its off topic...

Okay. I usually shoot in the 30-40 range. I've never gotten anything higher but I'm sure if anyone worked on it we could shoot harder. The highest I've seen a girl shoot, if I remember correctly, was in the 50's. Mayyybe 60's. I'm sure some of the college gals can do that if not better.

[celtlax]

I am sure distance is a big factor...I'll have to go back to the store and check...I would guestimate about 12-15 feet from the net....sumsum as I said shooting with the Impulse drops the speed dramatically...

[laxgirl45]

I usualy shoot 45ish.

[laxkay841]

i usually shoot in the mid 40's range...the fastest i've seen shot would be somewhere around mid 50's low 60's

i guess if i specifically practiced shot speed instead of accuracy etc., then the speed would be higher, but i find accuracy more important, therefore i have a lower speed.

[CTLaxer]

in women's, high school ranges from high 30's to low 50's, college ranges from about 45 to mid 60's.

in men's, high school can be anywhere from 55 to high 80's, low 90's, college/pro goes upwards of 100!

Celtlax is right, in women's the stick you use can have an affect on your shot speed more so than in men's. When coaching women's, I use a brine synergy and I can crank it with that. When using an apex or impulse, shot speed and power drop dramatically. In the mens game, a stick can account for a difference of lets say 5mph which when you're throwing 80 isn't really noticable. But in women's when you lose/gain 5mph, at 45mph it makes a noticable difference.

[RockStar]

It's the whip (or lack of it). You need a certain amount of whip in your pocket to give you a really hard shot. With the lean pocket in a woman's stick, the minimum whip just isn't there.

[sumSum]

Celtlax is right, in women's the stick you use can have an affect on your shot speed more so than in men's.

Never really knew/thought about that. Intresting since many top schools use deBeer, most notably UVA and UMD.

[lilaxgurl23]

I shoot mid 50's but then again I don't shoot... But at one tourney the highest was 65, but she was a college player.

[celtlax]

Never really knew/thought about that. Intresting since many top schools use deBeer, most notably UVA and UMD.

I assume that accuracy and control is probably much more important than shot speed......would a difference of 5 mph make that much of an impact if the shooter has greater accuracy?

[CTLaxer]

I say don't sacrifice speed for accuracy/control, and vice versa. A lot of players, men and women, make the mistake of not throwing really hard when trying to become more accurate. This is a bad habit and forces you to not throw as hard/fast as you should/could in order to hit that top corner. Who cares if you can hit that top corner if you can only throw it 30mph and a goalie can get there in time? Conversely, who cares if you can rip a shot at 65mph if you can't hit the spot you want to.

I find this problem affects women more so than men, or atleast in my coaching experience. Most of the guys like throwing it as hard/fast as possible, it's most likely a macho testosterone thing. But women on the other hand get nervous, or think if they try to throw hard it won't go where they want it to, so they work on accuracy at the cost of power/speed. I have to yell at my girls to throw as hard as they can to work on their accuracy in a game like situation. A lot of times when youo're shooting, especially at the younger age, it's just a reflex and aim plays little part in the action as long as you hit the net. So, since your natural instinct is to just crank the ball at the net and hope for the best, I tend to emphasize cranking the ball at the net and work on controling it from there, instead of vice versa.

Wow, this has gotten off topic huh? I'll stop now.

[ljlax]

i have met girls that can shoot over 70 but they were in college and like reallly amazing. but its not that surprising to meet a high schooler that can break 60 i can shoot 55 but thats just ripping it to see how hard i can shoot without aiming. most likely in games i shoot in the 40's maybee low 50s. and im only a sophomore so im guessing that many of u can shoot harder than me

i agree with u ctlaxer. i have noticed myself slowing down my shot in order to be more accurate. so lately when im shooting on my own-not at practice or in a game. i just like shoot at the same corner for like 10 min as hard as i can. and then do the other ones. so in the last few months my shot has gotten a lot harder and more accurate. if anyone wants to improve theyre accuracy or speed just go to ur school and shoot for like 30 min or an hour a couple days a week it really helps.

[shiftylax]

I shot next to sonja judd at radar gun in a lax shop. She cranked an 81 mph shot. Me being the nice guy that I am I stepped in after her and hit 88 (with my guy's stick) and turned back and smiled at her. She didn't like that so much.

[ljlax]

sooooo much easier for guys to shoot hard tho. i mean i cant even shoot side arm really, like i can but its slow cuz im not good at it. but if i oculd my shot would be like 10 mph faster. plus u have a lott of whip.

yeah shes coached a camp i did last year, shes really good.

[celtlax]

I wonder if composite shafts make a difference....seems to make difference in golf...i'll have to take my stick to the lax shop and try the gun...maybe more whip action than the metal shafts...

[sumSum]

sooooo much easier for guys to shoot hard tho. i mean i cant even shoot side arm really, like i can but its slow cuz im not good at it. but if i oculd my shot would be like 10 mph faster. plus u have a lott of whip.

yeah shes coached a camp i did last year, shes really good.

I've actually been told by top college/world players/coaches that shooting sidearm is slower than normal. They explained it but I forget why.

[allylax03]

^^ Because shooting straight you can get your whole body and momentum going towards the shot. You can't get your whole body behind a sidearm.

[midman17]

actually it isnt strait vertical shot that is the fastest or sidearm its 15 to 20 degrese(sp?) from the top you can get most of your body behind it and at an stx all pro camp they told use that uptop you still cant get alot of your body behind it.

[OutBurst]

I got shots from my old school upwards of 96mph.


OutBurst

[laxchic]

i know shot speed mainly depends on the person shootin the ball, but i was just wondering which lax sticks and/or pockets give the highest shot speeds?

[ex-lax]

sooooo much easier for guys to shoot hard tho. i mean i cant even shoot side arm really, like i can but its slow cuz im not good at it. but if i oculd my shot would be like 10 mph faster. plus u have a lott of whip.

yeah shes coached a camp i did last year, shes really good.
why is that

[ljlax]

cuz my form sucks? and its really awkward cuz i dont practice it enough?

[laxbabe2121]

yea when you shoot straight up, you get the momentum from your whole body, especially when you turn your back to the goal before you shoot, and whip all the way around. the last time i was clocked was 57 mph. it went down a little since last year. looks like that freshman 15 is taking its toll on me!