Size or Speed?

[jjking700]

I am going into my junior year and i wanted to play lacrosse so i decided to try out. I want to play attack and i have been practicing for 2 or so years now and i am getting good. I know most of the players on the team and they all say im pretty good. but i was wondering how important your size is cause i am not that tall or muscular. but the thing i do have is speed and stick skills. i am right handed but i can play just as good lefty i have a decent shot speed. so do you think i whould make it on the team?

[tiplax]

speed is more important than size
just work out and put on more muscle

[jjking700]

cool thanx cause i am only 5'5 and 120lb

[kevidinho]

Damn. That's pretty small for a Junior. I'm small too, just lift whenever you can until the season. There is a thread for strength or speed too in the tactics forum.

[QBYattackmen15]

ok..im 5'5" and im 135 as a sophmore next year. But ive been told by my football coach(and this might have been one of my biggest self-esteem boosters ever) that pound for pound i was the strongest and toughest person on the team. and i brought that to my lacrosse game.. youve got like...about 8 months to build up everything oyu got. hit everything you can in he weight room. get to be good friends with the weight room guy/supervisor/trainer whatever. whoever runs it in your school. he'll help you out soo much. He will tell you what workouts are good for lax. do that everyday after school. use weekends for practice with your stick along with wall ball everyday after workouts.

[jjking700]

yea i practice every day but i cant get to the weight room that much cause im on busy alot but i bring my stick with me every where i go

[the next 'one']

i am about 5'10 and 155 pounds, so i have a little strength on my side...but i also have speed with a sub 5.0 40.

but if i had to choose between the too. i would definitely pick to have speed. speed is without a doubt the most important thing in lacrosse...especially if you are playing attack. you always see those kids in youth lacrosse who are HUGE compared to the other kids and somewhat slow. they are really good at attack because they literally run over the other guys and walk straight into the goal. but as you get into higher levels of play, everyone gets to be about the same size. so now that huge strong guy isnt so good because everyone else is just as strong and big as he is.

but if you are the small quick guy (echem Mikey Powell echem) then you will be able to be elusive and quick enough to dodge the rest of the guys to get to the goal.

so basically i would MUCH rather be small and quick than huge and slow. it's a thing where you can't be really big and really quick at the same time (of course there are a few exceptions...).

[mmlaxplaya17]

5'11'' 145 lbs 4.43 40!!! yeah thats right! Having speed as an attackmen has helped me countless times. I dont feel like I need to be using strength all that often because 80% of the time im only a finisher.

[laxanalyst]

In reality, you need to use YOUR assets. If you are big and strong, then you should use that, if you are small and quick, use that.

You describe yourself as small and quick..if so, continue to build on your quickness and stick skills. As you move up, most smaller guys move to middies because of the pounding you might take at attack...it may only take 1 good one! Work out to get strong so a big hit doesn't injure you and continue to work on your assets.

[Sir_Jimmy_Page]

im about 5'7'' and currently at ~130-135 lbs, this year im a sophomore, im a midfielder for my school, and i haven't been to the gym in a long *** time (too lazy to get up to go at 5 when i can get a ride, hey its summer, what do you expect)

as far as attack goes, you want to be small, as defensemen tend to be big, you are more mobile, and if you have good stick skills, that exactly what you need to be an attack

as everyone has said, you do want to work out, gain a bit of weight, work especially hard on your back, abs, and legs, those muscles will give you the most effect in a lacrosse game. i want to be somewhere around 150 lbs by lacrosse season, we are pretty close in height, so that would probably be a good target weight for you, maybe 5lbs less or so because you are going for attack. this doesn't mean you should get fat and gorge yourself, it means protein, working out, and lots and lots of cardio to keep it muscle weight, not fat weight

one thing i will say, even though size isn't everything, dont be afraid to throw your body behind a hit, (i have a football background, but still always was the small guy) there have been a lot of times where a lost ground ball from one of my teammates has been saved because i just hit the kid. dont take his size into account, the key is to keep your legs pumping all the way through him, you will take down many a larger kid who stops and ducks into you if you keep your legs pumping, and never, ever think that you cant take someone just because of their size

[akahector]

i'm a bit under 5'8, 150 lbs. and i've got a bit of both strength and speed. all that really matters to me is not screwing up my passes and shots; i've never had my speed, strength, or size be an issue.

granted, i'm a bit athletic, but you'll know what you need to work on after your first scrimmage.

[dreamweaver]

I agree with you laxanalyst. Try to get bigger and stronger but don't forget to continue to hone and improve the skills you already have. I don't think you can put enough value in speed.

[eddrico29]

im about 5'7'' and currently at ~130-135 lbs, this year im a sophomore, im a midfielder for my school, and i haven't been to the gym in a long *** time (too lazy to get up to go at 5 when i can get a ride, hey its summer, what do you expect)


Im as well 5'7'' at 140 flat. I thought I was to small for the game. I use to be lead off for varsity baseball until i destroyed my elbow. Last year(as a junior) I played my first season and scored most goals/most assist in the team. People arent kidding when they say you can pick up lacrosse real quick lol.
I believe that quickness really is everything. I did very simple dodges beating my defender enough to run around him, which opened up a simple shot at goal or a quick pass to an open attack man. Hopefully this year I will add a little more muscle to add power behind the shot. That would looks nice wouldn't it? Stick skills/quick/gun:chuckle:

Yes you can make the team from what you have said. Sounds like you are an all around player, height and weight shouldn't matter, its about what you can offer on the field. You have speed, stick skills, and average shot speed...why shouldn't they take you right? I believe that you should continue working on your speed and stick skills no matter what though. As for your size,your only a sophomore and there is still time for you to grow. Ive seen in many times a teammate leave for summer and grow 4-6 inches out of no where. To bad I never got that lucky:whyme: Thanks for starting this thread. Its nice to know they are lacrosse players shorter than 6 feet.

[LiquidMercury16]

as everyone has said, you do want to work out, gain a bit of weight, work especially hard on your back, abs, and legs, those muscles will give you the most effect in a lacrosse game. i want to be somewhere around 150 lbs by lacrosse season, we are pretty close in height, so that would probably be a good target weight for you, maybe 5lbs less or so because you are going for attack. this doesn't mean you should get fat and gorge yourself, it means protein, working out, and lots and lots of cardio to keep it muscle weight, not fat weight



Don't judge weight by height. That's what the govt does and they are retarded. Technically I'm considered obese by govt standards since I'm 5'9" and 190 lbs. Now I only have 8% bodyfat or so and run a 4.5 40. Why not try and be the biggest/fastest attackman you can be? Don't set yourself to a limit of 150 lbs. I can guarantee you that if you small fry's are trying to get to a collegiate level you are going to want some more size on you. The defenseman are bigger and just as quick. So who is going to win out between a 150 lb and a 190 lb if they are the same speed? Chances are it's probably the bigger guy. Also doing lots and lots of cardio doesn't keep muscle weight. It actually burns muscle weight. Keeping up your fitness levels is important but you don't keep muscle weight by doing cardio.

[3rdPersonPlural]

Don't judge weight by height. That's what the govt does and they are retarded.

There are other reasons to reach this conclusion.

Technically I'm considered obese by govt standards since I'm 5'9" and 190 lbs.

I was 6 feet and 225 when I played college ball. That was considered overweight by all of the published charts, but I had a Pac10 football committment to live up to and I ran 30 miles a week, so I wasn't portly.

Now I only have 8% bodyfat or so and run a 4.5 40.

Now I weigh 205 and my waist is 6 inches bigger than it was in college. I run "Turn off the darned stopwatch and I'll get there in my own good time" in the 40.

Why not try and be the biggest/fastest attackman you can be? Don't set yourself to a limit of 150 lbs. I can guarantee you that if you small fry's are trying to get to a collegiate level you are going to want some more size on you. The defenseman are bigger and just as quick. So who is going to win out between a 150 lb and a 190 lb if they are the same speed? Chances are it's probably the bigger guy. Also doing lots and lots of cardio doesn't keep muscle weight. It actually burns muscle weight. Keeping up your fitness levels is important but you don't keep muscle weight by doing cardio.


Yeah, but quickness is the differentiator. 50/50 ground balls determine the winner of a close game (and who cares about routs?) and one more step is of more value than 15 more pounds to put meaning into the 'push from behind with possession' that results from being that step slower on contested balls.

As an older player, I miss my ability to get from here to there in a blink of the eye a LOT, and don't miss my ability to muscle attackers at all. I miss those two gears I've lost that enabled me to just accelerate past problems, and have found that a well placed check dislodges the ball just as well with keyboard-honed triceps as it did with weight-trained arms.

Without foot speed and quickness, you're a staff player no matter what other skills you offer. With superlative quickness, you're a starter unless you utterly lack stick skills.

[naderlax23]

all these people that are saying "stay small because you're an attack" need to stop feeding this guy that bullsh!t. he asked for helpful advice. my friend, you need to get as fast as possible, no matter how heavy you become.

[LiquidMercury16]

Yeah, but quickness is the differentiator. 50/50 ground balls determine the winner of a close game (and who cares about routs?) and one more step is of more value than 15 more pounds to put meaning into the 'push from behind with possession' that results from being that step slower on contested balls.

As an older player, I miss my ability to get from here to there in a blink of the eye a LOT, and don't miss my ability to muscle attackers at all. I miss those two gears I've lost that enabled me to just accelerate past problems, and have found that a well placed check dislodges the ball just as well with keyboard-honed triceps as it did with weight-trained arms.

Without foot speed and quickness, you're a staff player no matter what other skills you offer. With superlative quickness, you're a starter unless you utterly lack stick skills.

I completely agree, but you can be big and quick. So why not be the biggest and quickest. If you have two players that are the same quickness and speed the bigger one will probably win out in a ground ball. If you have two guys that are the same size and strength, the quickest/fastest one is going to win out. So why not just be bigger and faster than the other guy and destroy everyone?

[3rdPersonPlural]

Yeah, LM, as long as we list quickness as the top objective, and speed as the next priority, I have no problem with advocating strength. Strong is never bad, unless it has been achieved by neglecting or compromising quickness or speed.

Frankly, if you're going to get serious about working out, you're going to HAVE to work on your upper body because balance is key, and there will be lots of days each week that you're obliged to recover your legs, so you may as well work that arm network.

[LiquidMercury16]

Hmm I work it all. I can get my body to recover pretty quick I'd say, just got out of rehab for a type II hamstring tear in 6 weeks instead of the prescribed 12.