Side-arm or overhand?

[primetime21db37]

From what I've experienced, you can get a faster "scarier" shot going sidearm, but it is more accurate to go overhand. Does anyone have a personal preference, an idea which is better, or which the goalie hates most to defend against?

[mmlaxplaya17]

also i my goalie said he hates over hand the most because he dosnt know where it is going to go but side arm it usually goes right or left and underhand is usually top or bottom

[bloodilax977]

I personally prefer sidearm because of the speed it creates, and it just feels better for me. also, you can change your shot last second by switching to a crank if you need to do so.

[D Bay]

I prefer sidearm, it just feels more natural to me, and gets the ball going a bit faster. My coach really encourages me to take more overhand shots, though so I'm practicing those more now.

[GBaschski]

I never go side-arm. Its usually a 3/4 for everything. Occassionally an underhand if I'm feeling fancy, but 3/4 is the way to go.

[HdGLaxWarrior]

same here but u need to search there is already a ton on this
also i my goalie said he hates over hand the most because he dosnt know where it is going to go but side arm it usually goes right or left and underhand is usually top or bottom

Actually no. No other threads answer what he's asking.

[mmlaxplaya17]

Actually no. No other threads answer what he's asking.
wow lol thats a 1st a simple question like that has never been asked out of almost 27000 threads weird

[LCNlaxman]

Personally, from a goalie's stand-point, it's 10 times harder to follow the ball on a sidearm shot than overhand.

From a shooter/defence stand-point, it's not a good shot because, no matter how you shoot it, sidearm ALWAYS leaves stick hanging to be hacked.

[HdGLaxWarrior]

wow lol thats a 1st a simple question like that has never been asked out of almost 27000 threads weird

Yeah, I know. Isnt it weird.

[CoachK]

I think you're in the minority for goalies. Sidearm is pretty easy to track for most. Typically players that shoot sidearm give away the height they're going to shoot at, and many can't hit both sides of the cage.

I shoot sidearm to give my goalies confidence during warm-ups, and move to overhand when trying to teach them a thing or two.

[chslax538]

buy a longpole. golies never save thoes if their fast enough

[LiveforLax10]

I think that you have more options when shooting overhand, and also better accuracy.

[slice n dice]

I made just about all of my goals last season from side-arm shots. I prefer side-arm.

[titans 43]

I get faster overhand and more accurate than sidearm :wtf:

[TweeK]

I get faster overhand and more accurate than sidearm :wtf:

it really depends on the person but i think its more common having an accurate over hand and faster sidearm but,who cares.

[lax4life6]

i dont have a typical shot`. if theres a guy in the way i'll shoot sidearm but if i have teh chance i'll go overhand. its all about which situation really.

[stnyk]

i prefer shooting sidearm because of the faster shot and i practice it a lot more so its more accurate than my overhand

[WHEELAX2]

overhand shots are the hardest to read.. especially if you can hide the head of your stick..

[CoachK]

overhand shots are the hardest to read.. especially if you can hide the head of your stick..

He's correct. Most players aren't strong enough to hide their sticks sidearm and still get off an accurate shot. Shooting around someone is great, so is shooting off someone's helmet, but you should probably have both in your game, and predominantly use overhand. There have been lots of threads about shooting overhand/sidearm, with the pluses and negatives. Most coaches preach overhand, and they don't do it to piss you off, or make you score less goals.

[stinisonfire]

Actually, I think sidearm is the hardest to defend against. You can make them rise, skip, either side or top/bottom. Overhand doesn't seem to have as many options because you can generally see which way he's aiming his head. I guess you could say the same for sidearm, but what it really boils down to is how well the attackman hides his stick.

[WHEELAX2]

well.. why don't you try a little experiment..

warm up a goalie, then rip 100 shots side arm right and left handed

then rip 100 shots over-hand, and see which group scores the most

[mmlaxplaya17]

well.. why don't you try a little experiment..

warm up a goalie, then rip 100 shots side arm right and left handed

then rip 100 shots over-hand, and see which group scores the most

after RIPING 100 shots each hand side arm i would be too tired to do more mabey like 10-20 each 100 is alot

[LCNlaxman]

after RIPING 100 shots each hand side arm i would be too tired to do more mabey like 10-20 each 100 is alot

Not to mention the fact that he'd probably be good and warmed up at 50-75 each hand.

[sharpshooterFTW]

a shot that u guys hav forgotten is the "old school" shot. i'v scored more goals w/ that shot then the rest combined. but out of your choices. if i hav just cut to the spot i want to, ovverhand. if i'm standing still unguarded, sidearm crank. if i'm on the run w/ someone guarding me it's overhand. unguarded it depends where i am. close range it's useually sidearm but semi far out it's overhand.

[CoachK]

The bottom line is you'll miss the cage less shooting overhand, a shoulder turn hides the stick, you don't have to hang your stick, its easier on the run, and I doubt your coaches that tell you overhand want you to be a worse player or not look as cool as you could shooting sidearm.

I encourage people to do both, but sidearm shooting is addictive. Players are used to it from baseball, and I tell guys to go play baseball if they don't want to develop overhand shots. If they like to shoot from their ankles when its unnecessary, they should play golf. Side arm shooting has its place, which is typically to increase angle, or shoot around a player, but it allows the goalie to track the ball longer than a good overhand shot. An average player will have a much easier time masking their overhand than their sidearm, and the less time the goalie sees the ball the better.

We aren't all pros, we don't load our shots the same, and come over the top, sidearm, or underhand with the same takeaway. I strongly doubt more than about 3% of you can reach straight back (so your left shoulder, right shoulder, then stick head fully extended (right handed) point in a straight line at the cage) and shoot overhand, underhand, & sidearm equally as well, and without a hitch. By far, overhand is the easiest of the 3, and should be perfected first.

[LCNlaxman]

a shot that u guys hav forgotten is the "old school" shot. i'v scored more goals w/ that shot then the rest combined.

The "old school" shot?

[UNCdefense]

i dont agree....im a long pole granted, so there are differences but my side arm is much faster & more accurate.........i didnt get to pick up my stick & throw for like a week cause there was noone to throw with so naturally when a teammate came back we started to throw, my normal passes wern't horrible but my side arms were right on the money everytime still as if nothin had changed....in my opinion side arm is way better(plus its easier to incorporate your body/have good form)

[texlax00026]

you should make this a poll

[LaXDaVe]

In my opinion (as a goalie my freshmen year, and an attackman from there after, im a junior now) a "scarier" shot isnt going to matter when the goalie for your team is fearless. Our goalie this year would never flinch or drop his stick at anything less than a 90mph shot, he was sick, and he said overhand shots are definately worse because you can react quick and make a guess but the shooter has more control over the situation than you do. I shoot overhand when i practice but when i play i have this habit of dropping my stick and rippin it, which i need to break.

[cslaxplaya11]

my frend is a goliey at herkamer, said he hates when people wind up like a side arm and bounce it off the crease he said its so much harder to track becuse its so much harder to track

[CoachK]

Guys, try to think about this mechanically. A bunch of you are saying things like, I'm greally good at sidearm, but never mention if you can be accurate overhand. I'll bet quite a few of you rarely take overhand shots in practice, let alone a game. That's not a shot at anyone, but try it. Take some time to shoot on the run off your shoulder, both hands, then try it sidearm. Think about the defender guarding you and how he can disrupt it. Watch where your misses go, and make sure you try for all 4 corners. We can tell you this stuff, but you've got to experiment with it and give it all a try, and learn it on your own.

When I was younger, I spent all my time trying to learn an underhand shot. I've scored maybe 10 goals with it. I use sidearm to gain angle and shoot around poles, rarely is it my first shot of the game. Just like your inside shots, placement is more important than speed (otherwise every 90+mph shot would go in). If you spent half the time you have sidearm, working on bouncers to the top corners you'd score more goals. You lose practice, and some skill when you don't play for a while, but college was a lot easier when I could use a quick split dodge to free my hands, and bounce it to the corners. I've NEVER scored more than 3 sidearm shots in a game, but I have had several 11 point games, 20 point weekends, 9 goal games, and so on. I say that because most of the old guys posting on here have lived it, learned, and wish we could go back and practice differently. I didn't have those games in high school, just college, when my coaching was much better.

You guys don't have to believe us, you shouldn't, but you should go out and try it, to figure it out for yourselves. Try to figure out why we're saying these things, not what did he say? No way.

When I shoot overhand, I can hit top corner to the bottom, no bounce. I can bounce it anywhere to get it to bounce to the same spot (when I'm on). If I do the same sidearm, the goalie can watch my shot angle (angle the stick swings at) and determine the height of the shot or where it will bounce. That's part of our logic, and when we shoot overhand, we only miss the cage high. When we shoot sidearm, we can miss high, left, and right. Try it out guys. An 80+ mph bouncer top corner does more to fool a goalie than bouncing a sidearm shot on the crease.

[EHSLAX12]

im gonna have to intervene. i am the goalie for my school and i can tell you that most goalies have more difficulty with bouncers. they can destroy a goalies position. if you give a hard enough bouncer and it goes low, the goalie would follow it, so after you have a chance at a rebound, go high. i can admit that i have been taken out by those situations. people say its easy to save it, but its not. sidearm is good when you have the goalie hugging the post by the goal line. even if you get a small angle you can get it. the best shot you can take is a 3/4 to the low corners. they will go in 8 out of 10 times depending on the side your on. if your in front, go to their dominant side. if your on an angle go with your opposite hand to the far ground corner. this stuff will help shooters a lot.