On Ball Defense – Cannons Lacrosse
Defense: On ball
Question: How can I stop getting beat one on one or “on-ball”?
Sealing off your man with solid on ball defense is a pillar of great team defense. If you are consistently getting beat by your man, there is extra pressure being put on the rest of the defense to slide and potentially get out of position on the other offensive players in the formation. This often will lead to open shots on goal. Before I get into specifics, there are two overarching principles that you need to get to be an effective on ball defender…
YOU DICTATE THE ACTION, NOT THE ATTACKER!
That dude is in your house, going after your goal and your goalie. He is literally trying to take food out of your mouth. In your house, you make the rules, not him. That means that you control him like he is your little puppet and you don’t ever let him make his own choices about what he is going to do in your house.
The second overarching rule:
NEVER, EVER GET BEAT TOPSIDE!
Imagine the lacrosse field is cut in half long ways, from your goal to the opponent’s goal. Topside is whatever side puts the defender toward the middle of the field…in front of the goal. If you are defending at the top left of goal, and you get beat topside, you let the attacker beat you to your right. If you are defending to the top right of the goal and you get beat topside, you let the attacker beat you to the left. You should always be forcing the action toward the sideline (or the end line if you are defending the bottom). Over-defending and getting topside position DICTATES that your defender will go the other way and not have a good look at the front of the goal.
There are three keys to solid on-ball defense that you can employ every time to help avoid getting beat. These progressively build on each other:
- Fly to your man when the ball is being passed to him, not after he catches the ball.
When you see that the ball is being passed to your man, approach him aggressively while the ball is in the air. I am not telling you to gamble and go for the ball all of the time…that is a sure way to get beat if you come up empty. What I mean is, anticipate that he is going to get the ball, and get into your good defensive position before he catches it. After your man catches the ball and looks forward, you, up in his grill, should be the first thing he sees. Giving him room, gives him options which is letting him decide. Remember, YOU make the rules not him. He is going to go where you want him to go not the other way around.
- Big Steps to Little Steps
If the brain is the most important part of the defenseman, his feet are a very close second. The best defensemen in the game play defense with their feet, not just their arms or the pole. By having good footwork, you will always be in the right position to use your body to DICTATE position.
When you are flying to the ball you want to take big steps at first to get over to the defender quickly. However, as you get closer to your defender, when he catches the ball, your steps need to be smaller jab steps. Why? Again, you are dictating things, not him. By taking smaller jab steps, you are not overcommitting to any one direction. These smaller steps allow you to position your body to head off his topside moves. Remember, that dude is trying to get topside to square up a shot…but this is your house not his. So, big steps at first and smaller steps as you close in on your guy will ensure that you will maintain that topside position.
- DICTATE direction and pace!
I know I have said this before but it is the single most important concept to grasp when playing defense so it bears repeating. By following the first two steps you have now put yourself in the optimum position to do step 3.
In Step 1 you flew to the defender while the ball was in the air. While you were flying to the defender you used big to little steps (Step 2) to make sure you were in the best position. Now that you are there, you DICTATE direction and the pace (Step 3). By keeping good topside position, you force the attacker to the sideline or the end line. Your job is to get the ball back to your offense. Make your guy give the ball up…he’ll do that when he realizes that you are not going to give him a good shot on goal because YOU ARE DICTATING his position.
Don’t worry, we will be going over all of these (and other) concepts in practice. If something in this article appears in Bold you will hear it often from me and the other coaches in practice. The better you grasp these concepts now, the crisper we can be in practice and ultimately in the games. See you on the field boys and…
GO CANNONS!
LACROSSE 101 – CEDAR PARK
CEDAR PARK
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The first sport in North America, “baggataway” was played by Native Americans as far back as the 1400s, often with thousands of people participating and goals spread miles apart. French colonists referred to the stick used to play as a “crosse” — French for a “bishop’s staff” — and lacrosse was created. A Canadian dentist, W. George Beers, established the rules in 1867 that formed modern lacrosse. Traditionally an East Coast sport, lacrosse has experienced recent growth at the high school and college levels, and the game has rapidly expanded across the country.
The modern game has evolved to become “the fastest game on two feet” due to the rapid pace, high-speed maneuvers, and shots that can exceed 110 miles per hour.
Men’s field lacrosse involves two teams of 10 players each competing to project a small ball of solid rubber into the opposing team’s goal. The field of play is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide. The goals are 6 feet by 6 feet, containing a mesh netting similar to an ice hockey goal. The goal sits inside a circular “crease”, measuring 18 feet in diameter.
Players line up with 3 offensive players called “attackmen,” players who shoot on the opposing team’s net; 3 “midfielders” or “middies,” who shoot on the opposing team’s net as well as defending their own net; 3 “defensemen,” who guard their own team’s net; and 1 designated goaltender, or “goalie” who stands inside the “crease” and blocks incoming shots. Although most attackmen and midfielders utilize short crosses, defensemen carry long crosses, and one midfielder on defense may carry a long crosse.
As mentioned, men’s lacrosse is a full-contact sport, with players wearing complete protective equipment. Thus “checking” – striking opponents’ stick or body with the crosse – is legal and very much part of the game.
Each quarter starts with a “face-off” in which the ball is placed on the ground and two “faceoffmen” lay their stick horizontally next to the ball, head of the stick inches from the ball and the butt-end pointing down the midfield line. Faceoffmen scrap for the ball. A face-off also restarts the game after each goal.
In men’s lacrosse, players can be awarded penalties of two types by the referee for rule infractions. Personal and technical fouls always result in the player serving time in the penalty box, located at the side of the field between the opposing teams’ interchange benches. These penalties can last from 30 seconds up to three minutes at the referee’s discretion. Fouls form an important part of men’s lacrosse as while a player is serving time, his team is ‘man down’, offering the opposing team what hockey refers to as a “power-play”.
Body Check: Hitting an opponent with your body. Players can only hit an opponent within 3 yards of the ball. They can not hit them from the back. Not legal for young players.
Butt or Butt-End: A butt is the end cap at the bottom of the lacrosse stick. Coaches &players refer to the bottom of the stick as the butt-end of the stick.
Clear: A clear is a lacrosse term that means getting the ball out from the defensive half of the field and into the offensive half (i.e. a goalie clear).
Cradling: A technique used to keep the ball in the lacrosse stick when running, etc.
Crease: The circle around the goal that offensive players are not allowed to enter.
Cross Check: An illegal check where a player uses the shaft of his lacrosse stick to check his opponent. According to the rule books, a lacrosse cross-check is a “check with that part of the handle of the crosse that is between the player’s hands, either by thrusting away from the body or by holding it extended from the body”.
D-Middie (or Short Stick Defensive Middie): A D-middie is a short stick middie who specializes in playing defensive. Often replaces a better offensive (but weak defending)middie as the ball transitions to the defensive side of the field.
Dodge: Dodges are where players use various moves to bypass opposing players in order to pass or score.
GLE (Goal Line Extended): An imaginary line that extends out from the sides of the goal. Defenders will try to prevent an attacker from crossing this line (because an attacker
can’t shoot on the goal behind the net).
Ground Ball: A ball that is loose on the ground. As they say, ground balls win games (if you win control of the ground balls).
Hole: A defensive area in front of the goal. You will hear “Get back in the hole!”.
LSM: LSM stands for a Long Stick Middie. This is a defensive middie armed with a long defensive stick.
Man-Down/Man-Up: Due to a penalty (i.e. slashing), a Man-Down Situation is where a team is playing with one less player for a set period of time. The team is down “a man” in
numbers.
Middie Back: If a defender crosses the midfield line with the ball, a midfielder must stay back in order to maintain three “defenders” plus the goalie in the defensive half of the field. You will hear players yelling “Middie Back” to tell a midfielder to stay on the defensive side of the field in order to avoid an off-sides penalty.
Off-Sides: A penalty where the requisite numbers of players are not on their side of the field (i.e. three defenders and the goalie). Someone has gone “off-sides” and there are
now too many players on one half of the field.
Ride: A ride is a lacrosse term for when an offensive player will “ride” an opposing defensive player with aggressive stick checks in order to force a turnover and get the ball. For example, on a clear, a goalie could pass the ball to one of his defensemen and an opposing attackman will ride the defender in order to force a turnover or to prevent a possible
fast break.
Slide: Where a defenseman has left his position or player to help another defender (especially if the other defender has been beaten by an offensive player).
Top-Side: This is where an offensive player tries to get above a defender into the middle of the field for a better percentage shot. A defender will try to prevent an opposing player from getting top side.
Wall Ball: This is a great lacrosse training tool where players use a wall to practice passing, shooting, and catches.
Warding: Warding is an illegal technique where a player does a one-arm cradle and moves his free arm to block an opposing player’s stick (versus keeping it stationary).
X: X is a position about 5-10 yards behind a lacrosse net
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