Artful Dodger
07-24-2003, 06:07 AM
Stance – Your stance depends on what you are comfortable with, but in a good stance you are balanced, on the balls of your feet (not too much, though), there is little to no wait on your hands, and you are low (lowest man usually wins).
Face-Off Grip – Both hands should be cocked in a certain direction depending on what move you are going to use. For example, if you are going to use a standard clamp, your right hand should be cocked under the shaft and your left hand should be cocked over the shaft, but if you are going to use a rake move, your right hand should be cocked over the shaft and your left hand should be cocked under the shaft. Also, your left hand should be somewhere n the middle of the shaft. If it is too close to the head you lose strength and leverage. If it is too close to the butt-end you lose quickness.
A good way to approach the grip is this: Hold your stick in front of you with the open face of the stick facing you so that your thumbs are pointing up towards the front of the head of the stick. That is the ideal direction your hands should be cocked towards for a clamp (with maybe some slight adjustments). From there maintain that hand position (but don’t forget to curl your thumbs back around the stick and lay the stick on the ground in the face-off position.
You should not underestimate the importance of a good grip. From a technique point of view it will give you an added advantage, but from a strategy point of view it will make a world of difference, a grip can be a huge advantage or disadvantage for you. One of the first things to do before you line up to the ball is look at the grip of your opponent. Look to see if his hands are cocked and if so in a way that suggests a clamp or a way that suggests a rake, or something else. Also, when you approach the ball notice how much weight he has on his hands. Is he heavy on his hands and is going to use a power move or is he light and going to use a quick move. Consequently, if your opponent is knowledgeable and you use a very different grip for each move, then he will be able to tell what you are going to do before you even do it; therefore it is very important to learn to hide your grip. Obviously, it may be difficult to hide a clamp grip from a rake grip, but once you get a wide array of different moves with different emphasized motions, it will be a great advantage to you if you are able to have the same looking grip for each move that you have(one thing you can do is use loose fitting gloves. This will allow your hands to be in slightly different positions, but make the gloves appear in the same position for every clamp). For instance, your grip for your clamps should look the same as your clamp for your jump.
Face-Off Grip – Both hands should be cocked in a certain direction depending on what move you are going to use. For example, if you are going to use a standard clamp, your right hand should be cocked under the shaft and your left hand should be cocked over the shaft, but if you are going to use a rake move, your right hand should be cocked over the shaft and your left hand should be cocked under the shaft. Also, your left hand should be somewhere n the middle of the shaft. If it is too close to the head you lose strength and leverage. If it is too close to the butt-end you lose quickness.
A good way to approach the grip is this: Hold your stick in front of you with the open face of the stick facing you so that your thumbs are pointing up towards the front of the head of the stick. That is the ideal direction your hands should be cocked towards for a clamp (with maybe some slight adjustments). From there maintain that hand position (but don’t forget to curl your thumbs back around the stick and lay the stick on the ground in the face-off position.
You should not underestimate the importance of a good grip. From a technique point of view it will give you an added advantage, but from a strategy point of view it will make a world of difference, a grip can be a huge advantage or disadvantage for you. One of the first things to do before you line up to the ball is look at the grip of your opponent. Look to see if his hands are cocked and if so in a way that suggests a clamp or a way that suggests a rake, or something else. Also, when you approach the ball notice how much weight he has on his hands. Is he heavy on his hands and is going to use a power move or is he light and going to use a quick move. Consequently, if your opponent is knowledgeable and you use a very different grip for each move, then he will be able to tell what you are going to do before you even do it; therefore it is very important to learn to hide your grip. Obviously, it may be difficult to hide a clamp grip from a rake grip, but once you get a wide array of different moves with different emphasized motions, it will be a great advantage to you if you are able to have the same looking grip for each move that you have(one thing you can do is use loose fitting gloves. This will allow your hands to be in slightly different positions, but make the gloves appear in the same position for every clamp). For instance, your grip for your clamps should look the same as your clamp for your jump.