Goalies: Communication is the key

[gametender]

One of the first things we're taught as youth goalies is to always call the ball position. I'm going to list my own field vocabulary. Do you have other calls either by different name or have ones that I've missed?

Ball Top Right, Side Right, Back Right, X, etc.
"Pipe!" - anytime ball carrier is on or passes GLE
"Slide" - bring an extra man to the ball carrier
"Clear" - iv'e got the ball- break to open space
"Ball down" - any time the ball is on the ground
"heres your help" behind the goal or when breaking to open space to help clear
"Who's hot?" "Who's got his 2?" - who is going to slide? who has 2nd slide?
"Check!!!" check sticks there is a dangerous feed coming into the hole
"Who is in the hole???" don't you hate it when your defender goes out 25 yards after a ground ball and leaves his attacker camped out in front of the goal?
"Close the gate" or "Turn him" - force attacker behind the goal to do inside roll
"Sag in" - you must be new to lacrosse because we don't cover guys above the restrainer
"Gilman!!!!!!" the other team has resolved to throw the ball as far as they can (a Gilman Clear). D-poles need to be tight on their attackers. It still amazes me after 15 years to see defensemen not ready for this.
"You're island" - no one is in position to give help on a slide - hold him! Other defenders: get in position to slide
"Cutter" offensive player crashing to net looking for a feed
"Man coming in" - other team has a man coming in from the sub box
"Number up" - find your man
"Sticks up" - (man down esp.) cover the passing lanes with sticks up in the air
"rotate" - when in a rotation (man down defense) and they don't know what the hell they're doing, you may have to tell them to do this

sometimes little tips to your defenders can be helpful during play:
"get on his hands" - check his hands, he can't throw or dodget without them
"Lift!" - as you are trailing behind a shooter get a stick under his arm and lift to disrupt his shooting motion
"Shift (left, right)" - you are out of position, move a bit

I'd like to say something that tunes them in to the fact that there IS an imminent threat. Get ready to slide. I've had trouble getting responses to "Who's hot" with my team. It is simply an accountability issue and unfortunately some players can choose not to execute.

Does anyone else have trouble getting their D to communicate?
Any creative suggestions to get more talk out of a unit?
What are other "calls" that you all use?

[OldGoalie]

Good list! I've also used:
"Hold" to tell a D-man to keep his attacker out, i.e. he's getting too close to the goal.
And, of course, "Fast Break!"

[PuLsE_SpEeD]

I don't know who else uses "Even" instead of pipe, when your defender is on the goal-line extended.
"Who's got point?" is also good when there's a fast break.
Also calling for any slides works.

This should be stickied.

[somrandomguy]

That's a really good, comprehensive lift. I'm definitely saving it for reference. Also, I'll call "Ball Up" whenever the ball is just up in the air (not on a pass or shot) to make sure they're looking up to see where it is.

[lilaxgurl23]

The one I use the most that is not up there is "Crash". I don't know if this applies to mlax as much as it does wlax because in wlax you can not have people chilling in the 8 for over three seconds. But basically whenever a girl is charging to the goal inside the 8, after I yell it, everyone is supposed to collapse to prevent her from shooting. So you should have a lot of defensive people on one girl and if she pops out you just yell "mark up" (same thing as "number up" but shorter). It works in wlax because no unmarked person (usually outside or on the 8) would ever think about shooting. If your girl is in the 8 you just cover her if she is a threat.

[SEMlax]

if people aren't marked up, i call the numbers of the opponents who are open. Who's on 15?...

[ATLredgoalie55]

My school runs a zone defense and it happens to be very successful, so instead of calling each oppenents i call the area where my defenders are supposed to be to let them know to get back into place.

[claxbucky]

I use most of those calls, hold when the guy is driving from behind the goal, and getting close to GLE. FIRE Is another one I use, when the ball is on the ground, close to the cage. It alerts the D to what's happening, while the O still has to process it and be like "fire means the ball is on the ground close to the goal". If the D can't get the ball up, they just hit someone LEGALLY to kill the play, and get the D reset, and the ball back outside the box.

I'd also like to add that giving a narrative of what's going on is very helpful, let the d know that the guy is driving to the cage, or looking for the shot or whatever. It gives you a sense of knowing what's going on, and the same for the d. Also, talking a lot helps me get more comfortable and in a rhythm in the cage. I've been yelling at guys, and somehow just make saves subconsciously (no lie, I was like "what? I have the ball!"). The more comfortable/relaxed you and your d are, the better you'll think and act/react while playing, but don't get lazy or anything like that.

[stinisonfire]

A couple more things...

* If an attackman is coming from X, I like to call "GLE" before they get to the pipe, that way the defenseman knows they need to turn the attackman. I'll call "Even!" as soon as they reach "GLE".

* I like to yell to the defense to talk if I hear things start to get quiet.

* Also a crucial one (especially if you're man down) is to have the defense call for the shooter. If you see a kid winding up, the defenseman covering him should call that a shot is coming. This is especially important if you're being screened.

* Call out picks and give the location the pick is coming from. If you see an attackman coming behind one of my teammates and they're behind X, you better make sure you yell "PICK LEFT" or "PICK RIGHT" or "PICK BEHIND" so that way they can step around and avoid the pick.

* Call out the formation the offense is in, and make sure you know what they switch to, if they change formations.

We must remember that goalies are the quarterbacks of the defense and need to be the most vocal. I'll ask people from the sidelines at the half if they can hear me or not, as well as after the game. If not, I know I need to yell louder the next game.

[stinisonfire]

Also, be sure to let your defense know where they are on the field. I didn't remember I did this until last night when I went to play dpole. I was playing defense on this kid (wound up going on GLE and in front of the crease) and I didn't know where I was until I turned around.. and was right in front of the goalie.

[FallIntoIt]

The one up there that I don't see, that I use all the time is "roll". Like Lilaxgurl said, it might apply more to wlax than mlax, but every girl and her effing mother love to crease roll and shoot across, or use a crease roll to set up a play. So I yell it out before she gets all the way around, so that a defender can shut her down.

[mmlax123]

i've always wondered, why is it called GILMAN? named after someone named gilman?

[marflax33]

i've always wondered, why is it called GILMAN? named after someone named gilman?

Yeah, Gilman was his last name, and he just chucked the ball as far as he could on clears. It worked alright.

[SeanO39]

Yeah, Gilman was his last name, and he just chucked the ball as far as he could on clears. It worked alright.

I always thought it was because the Gilman School used it.

[stinisonfire]

The one up there that I don't see, that I use all the time is "roll". Like Lilaxgurl said, it might apply more to wlax than mlax, but every girl and her effing mother love to crease roll and shoot across, or use a crease roll to set up a play. So I yell it out before she gets all the way around, so that a defender can shut her down.

Agreed, that does apply to women's lax more than mens. If I see an attackman trying to work behind crease, once he gets near the crease, I'll start to yell "Turn 'em!" to turn him into an oncoming, sliding defenseman.

[OldGoalie]

I always thought it was because the Gilman School used it.

It is. They invented it, so to speak.

[laxgoalieking]

i figured since lilaxgirl posted the link and closed the thread, id bring this to the top since we seem to have a surge of new goalies on board.

[FitzGoalie]

my most commonly used command: Screen!!Screen!!! move the hell out of the way! I can't see the damn ball.....I don't care, just freakin' MOVE!

silly defensemen.....

[sam.karcher]

my most commonly used command: Screen!!Screen!!! move the hell out of the way! I can't see the damn ball.....I don't care, just freakin' MOVE!

silly defensemen.....

I've found that "Get your *** out of my way!" is very effective.

[FitzGoalie]

I've found that "Get your *** out of my way!" is very effective.
yeah.....some of the things i tell them can't really be said on this forum....i just learned the other day that one of my guys didn't even know what screen mean until this past monday....no wonder would never move.

[speedyMcFunland]

a couple of things i have found make me fell more confident in goal is to tell my defense who is hot rather then letting them figure it out i only ask if the ball is at X. also i do my best never to let people know that i am screened and when i do say it it is only to the guy screening me. it is my responsibility to see the ball not my defenses. and i am confidant that any attack-man will tell you that if he has any sort of shot and hears the goalie can't see he is gonna take it.

[C4ND1_R4V3R]

I still don't understand the slide? Can someone please explain that a little more in detail? What I understand is I wanna yell "slide!" if the defender gets beat and the attacker is past them..probably wrong

[utkdave]

Thats a great list man, I should probably give me d-poles that so they understand what I'm saying out there. Sometimes I feel like I'm speaking a different language to those guys. Does anyone else constantly call out the ball position? (top left, top right, balls right, balls back at X, etc.)

[raiderlax335]

I still don't understand the slide? Can someone please explain that a little more in detail? What I understand is I wanna yell "slide!" if the defender gets beat and the attacker is past them..probably wrong

My understanding of the slide is that when a defender is going to get beat and the shooter is charging the net for shot then you yell "slide" to tell another defender (who should already know that he has the slide if that certain defender got beat) to slide/move to the potential shooter. After the slide an attacker will be left open so the other defenders will need to fill in to prevent a draw and dump type play.

[kgoal95]

when the balls at X i yell
call cutters so if they pass i will no to turn, and look fast
HE'S HOTis my way of saying he's doging or shooting or looking to

[Pdoherty]

I do some.

Left/Right - pipe/GLE position
Hot - whos the first to slide
Cutters(when my back is to the field, and ball is at x) - call the cutters and check where your guy is
Drop - d is going to far out and needs to drop some.
X - balls at x
Switch - I'll call switches sometimes if I feel someone else can play a player better.


Then your basics.

[OldGoalie]

Guys, I think we've pretty much covered it all at this point. Please read the first post before repeating what's already been posted.

[W.E.Lax]

Pick him up or Get on him when i want the defence to start mauling the guy, on clears, i call redirect to get the dpole to pass the ball right back to me, or over to pass the ball to the other side of the field if im covered, and push it when i want the ball out of our side, high side when the man reaches the GLE and turn him when the man reaches the GLE and i want the dpole to turn him around, bingo on slides

[TrapDoor]

I myself yell, "Post!" to indicate that a shooter is even with GLE, rather than pipe or even. That's one of the loudest things I yell, 'cause attackmen just love to rip it as they run by the crease on me.
"Watch cutters!" - Telling my defense that the guy with the ball is looking for cutters and/or people are cutting.
"Who's got 22?" or "Who's got crease?" - Letting my defense know that there's a threat currently unattended to, and to fix it.
"Rebound!" - I made the save, but I rebounded it and now there's a ball down that could cause a goal.
"Drop in, Evan!" - Telling a defenseman that he's sucked out too far and needs to come back in closer to the goal.
"Move out, Chris!" - Exactly the opposite of drop in, telling a defenseman that he's too far in and to go out towards his man more.
"You're good, Henry!" - Positioning is good.

Those are all that I can think of that haven't been noted yet.