Women's lacrosse and the art of the catching...

...how moving you hand up on the lacrosse stick will make you a better scorer..

Shooting and catching in the game of lacrosse are some of the most difficult skills to learn and every little bit helps. If you have played softball or basketball you have a leg up on learning to catch and throw a lacrosse ball. Hand eye coordination is the center of catching and that is what we are going to look at today. How to help you become a better lacrosse player by moving your hand closer to the ball.

Start by moving your hand up your stick until till it is within four to eight inches of the top of the stick. There are some women's lacrosse shafts such as the Warrior Heroine Power Wave that tapers at the right spot for your top hand. If that particular shaft is not to your liking take a look at other brands to at least get an idea of where your hand placement should be. See Fig 1. If you don't want to purchase a new shaft or cannot afford the cost then you can place athletic tape where you top hand should ride so that you will have a marker that you can feel. When you become familiar enough you can remove the tape.

...comfort matters when it comes to hand placement...

Adjust your bottom hand according to your comfort. If you are a tall player you can leave your hand at the bottom of the stick. Not all of us are taller players and moving our hands up to the top of the stick will cause discomfort and that is the last thing a player needs. A shorter player should consider cutting their stick down to a size that actually fits them. Any lacrosse store or coach who is familiar with working on sticks can do this for you. Resizing your stick could very well change your game! The minimum and maximum lengths for a women's lacrosse stick are 35 1/2 - 43 1/4 inches. This is the full length of the lacrosse stick and it includes the head in the overall length. As you can see you have almost 8 inches of length to adjust your stick to fit you as a player so take advantage of this.

...a simple test to prove how hand placement changes control...
Let's try an experiment - hold your stick directly in front of you. Place your hands at the bottom of your stick and at the middle of your stick. Without moving the bottom of your stick quickly move the head of our your lacrosse stick back and forth at a fast pace. See Fig 2. Pay close attention to how the movement feels and the weight of the stick while you are moving it.

Now move you hand up the shaft like we discussed earlier and complete that same movement. You should notice an immediate change in how the stick feels and the speed at which you can move it. The lacrosse stick should feel lighter and the movement you feel more comfortable and have less strain on your arms.

...now that you have moved your hand up how is that going to help you...

The most common part of the field this will be helpful is inside the critical shooting area. This is inside the 8 meter and 12 meter arcs. The defense will be much closer and also much more aggressive. By moving your hand to the top of the shaft you will be able to control your stick and avoid defensive checks. You will be able to move the stick head away from defenders and also keep it closer to your body.

Catching inside the critical shooting area also becomes more difficult. Every defenders goal is to stop you as an offensive player from catching the ball or at least not let you get good position to catch. Holding your hand up higher on your lacrosse stick greatly increases hand eye coordination which will increase your control and ability to catch and shoot. It is the same premise of catching a baseball, the closer your hand is the to the ball when you are catching it the more likely you are to succeed.

Most often passes and shots inside the eight meter arc are from within ten feet of each other. Which means you will most likely catch and then immediately shoot. Commonly called a quick stick shot. Your success in both catching and shooting will directly improve if you learn to move your hand up the stick. Control and quickness will overpower most goalies. Remember to move as close to the goal circle as possible when shooting.

...how to teach a beginning youth player how to catch without fear...

Youth players in girl's lacrosse are usually first time player to any sport. So it is important to make it as fun as possible and as safe as possible. When starting out youth players make sure you purchase soft indoor lacrosse balls. They are about half the weight of a normal lacrosse ball and are a shade of pink such as this indoor lacrosse ball by Warrior.

Also make sure when you are teaching younger players to catch a ball that you toss it underhand to them. Do not try to prove your accuracy as a player or coach by throwing the ball to a new player. It will only take one time of hitting them in the head or upper body to produce a flinch every time the ball comes at them.

With youth players you want them to continuously keep their hand at the top of the stick. Make sure youth players have youth sticks. You can purchase youth sticks with regular heads and this is the preferred stick for youth players. They will be able to use it for at least the first couple of seasons and this will allow them to become comfortable with their stick and give them more time to work on other skills. Remember to make it fun!

 

by  - Lin Coleson

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