Lacrosse Intelligence...help

[mm389907]

Forgive me if there are some similar threads...

I've been playing lacrosse for a long time (I'm a middie), but I've been having a lot of trouble now that I'm up at the varsity level. For some reason, I never really developed lacrosse "instincts" (I'm not stupid, trust me). I have trouble knowing what to do in certain situations. I just don't have a lot of lacrosse common sense.

On offense, I don't know what to do in a lot of situations, like when someone dodges towards me, or how to move off ball.

Clearing, I won't know where to run a lot of the time.

Defense is particularly bad because I just started playing middie a year ago... I have a lot of trouble playing the man and knowing when to slide. I'm 5'8", 135, so I have trouble playing a body because guys can normally just muscle me out (the same thing goes for offense--- as soon as I catch the ball a guy is right on me with a lot of pressure, and I have no idea what to do)...

These are only a few problems, and don't even get me started on knowing what to do during my team's plays...

Does/has anyone else had similar problems?

Any tips? I feel like watching a lot of lacrosse game tapes would help, but I can't buy any. Are there any good links on the internet? I can never find anything...

thanks..

[robi]

Aye, I have the same problems, although this is only my first year. But I'm getting better (I think...). I don't know about you but I just sort of got into the swing of things, like cutting towards the guy with the ball, etc. There aren't many good videos online. You're just going to have to buy some.

[Pitibear]

one new guy to another...there's a lot of stuff on these forum boards, especially the tutorials, keep looking...

also, I get "on offense, keep moving, keep cutting, find space and act like you want the ball" from everybody...

Also, practice with the ball a million times a day, so when you have the ball, nobody is going to take it away from you...when you don't have a lot of confidence in your ability to not lose possession, you panic, and either do the wrong thing, or do nothing...I'm still workin' on that one myself...

good luck, have fun, eh?

[Jmalins23]

yeah im the same on attack i dont know when to cut or where to run when someone with the ball is running towards me

[Ash18]

I've heard this same issue from a lot of players who seem for whatever reason to have trouble with game situations. When I was still learning the game I watched D1 final four tapes over and over trying to pick up on some of the details like spacing, movement, and timing. Playing and watching are really the only two remedies for this, the more you play the more game situations you see and the more natural the in game decisions will be. It's the kind of thing that just cant be taught, you need to get it through experience either playing or watching.

Some general tips:

On offense, spacing is key. In a general motion offense, you want to clear space for the dodger. For example, in a 1-3-2 offense, if you are one of the wing guys and one of the middies up top starts to dodge, you want to clear across the crease so your defender can't help. If you're on the crease and someone is dodging on the wing, you want to back up some to make the slide longer for your dman. At the lower high school levels, where there often isnt a 2 slide, if you're on the crease and your man goes try a C cut to the ball since you will be the open man (at least temporarily).

When clearing, you need to worry about your onside responsibility. Generally the weak side middie (the one opposite the ball) has responsibility for staying back if one of the poles wants to go over. When trying to clear it with the short sticks, you dont want to crowd space so don't run towards the other middies. If you are ball side, make a hard cut to the pole or goalie with the ball.

On defense, you need to play well both on ball and off ball. Basics of on ball defense include taking away a side/forcing your man to his weak hand, sitting down to get leverage, focusing on lift and poke checks, and make sure you get your hands on your man when he's dodging so he can't get momentum toward the cage. When you're off ball, you need to offer help to your slide package. If you're on the crease guy, you're probably going to be the hot guy. When you are furthest from the ball, you're probably the 2 guy, so if the hot man slides you need to cover him on the crease. Remember when your guy is out on the perimeter without the ball, you need to sag in toward the crease, since your man is less of a threat.

[mm389907]

thanks guys