Questions: Hey,
so i'm a freshman, getting ready for lacrosse season, and of course, i'm a goalie.
I haven't played in a long time. like a full year almost. or since like last june.
tryouts are on the 28th. and i'm really nervous.
any last minute practice ideas?
any help would be totally appriciated.
oh, and by the way, what stick do you think i should get?
I need to get a new goalie stick.
thanks,
sarah
Answer: OK. STX Eclipse. Medium mesh. Lightest shaft that you can afford (Titanium is best.)
Get out there and start throwing against a wall. If you've got a school with a big brick wall go there. Or the back of departments stores are good as well. I've got a grocery store near my house with a massive brick wall which I can throw clearing passes against. Very cool.
Try to snag a friend and get throwing. You don't need a net to get shot on really. Any backstop will do. But to start just get throwing. Make a good clearing pass and then get in your stance to catch shots. Super easy really. I do it every year. You'll be surprised how quickly things come back. And that year off will have given your mind a really healthy break. You're going to be a lot better than you were because you've grown a bit and gotten stronger. Mentally you're stronger too but you won't realize that until you are in the cage.
Hope that helps Sarah. What part of the US do you play in?
Jonathan - The Goalie Guru
PS. How was that for fast?
Showing posts with label Clearing The Ball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clearing The Ball. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
New York Lacrosse Goalie Needs Some Answers Aboout His Mesh
Question: Jonathon
I am a goalie that is in the winter before the season of my sophomore year. As a freshman, I played well, but noticed a weak point in my game, clearing and stick control. After each save, depending on where i made the save, I normally picked it off the ground and looked for an outlet and if i didn't find it, made my way out the back. I was in my winter league last Saturday with the same routine when I was walking the ball up the field, i started to make progress when i got stick checked and I dropped the ball, i managed to keep the ball out of the net for the rest of the drive, bit in the process, i got nailed in the knee by a stick check. I use monster mesh wish a small pocket, and i think that it is the problem. I have an eclipse also. I was wondering what kind of mesh is great for ball control and the pocket size for that. I wash looking for a mesh that i could bomb the ball down the field with, but also keeping control in a deep pocket. I'm 5'10 180 and i play in New York.
Answer: Hey Bobby. Thanks for the question.
The first thing that sticks out to me has nothing to do with your stick at all. It's getting checked.
You mentioned in this question that you were "walking up the field". Now I can't tell if this was a controlled clear after a save or not. For example, you were unable to make the pass during the four seconds so you went out the back and then were heading up field with it. When you do this your team has the advantage. You have one extra player now that you are in the mix. In order to get checked someone was out of position and/or wasn't open and/or you did a horrible job of not recognizing who to pass to.
Clearing the ball is a team game. And in order for it to be successful everyone needs to know their role and be in position. It doesn't seem that was happening on this clear. So you have to decide what it was and try and fix that first because the type of mesh you have in your stick is irrelevant if you are getting checked on the ride with no one to pass to.
All that said, my take on mesh is this, it's not the mesh that makes the difference...it's your hands. As you get better you will realize that you can play with any stick. With a couple of saves and passes your hands will adjust to whatever stick you are using. Granted, you will have your favorites, and you will pick up sticks that are just garbage, but your hands will adjust to whatever stick you decide to use.
You've got great height and weight for your age. So you will be able to get away with using a deeper pocket. I am NOT a fan of monster mesh unless you are playing indoors or in really dry conditions where it doesn't rain. In New York it can rain and that monster mesh gets really baggy. My recommendation is NOT the Monster, and not the Mini, but the ones in between. I find that it gives you the greatest bang for the buck. It works in most field conditions. I run two sticks. They are both Eclipses. I have one strung with the mini mesh for when it gets really wet because it tends to bag out just enough to be perfect. I have the average mesh in the other which I play with most of the time.
Bombing the ball down field will be mostly based on your strength levels and how much whip you have on the stick. Again, the mesh by itself won't make a difference. In high school I used a very shallow pocket. Wasn't great for dodging but in today's game you shouldn't need to do that much so your primary role for your stick is to make saves and not to give up rebounds. Your shouldn't be stringing your stick to fake or dodge. That should be an afterthought.
Hope that helps Bobby. I've posted this answer on my blog so you can take a look there as well. Stay in touch and let me know how things go.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
www.lacrossegoaltendingforum.com
I am a goalie that is in the winter before the season of my sophomore year. As a freshman, I played well, but noticed a weak point in my game, clearing and stick control. After each save, depending on where i made the save, I normally picked it off the ground and looked for an outlet and if i didn't find it, made my way out the back. I was in my winter league last Saturday with the same routine when I was walking the ball up the field, i started to make progress when i got stick checked and I dropped the ball, i managed to keep the ball out of the net for the rest of the drive, bit in the process, i got nailed in the knee by a stick check. I use monster mesh wish a small pocket, and i think that it is the problem. I have an eclipse also. I was wondering what kind of mesh is great for ball control and the pocket size for that. I wash looking for a mesh that i could bomb the ball down the field with, but also keeping control in a deep pocket. I'm 5'10 180 and i play in New York.
Answer: Hey Bobby. Thanks for the question.
The first thing that sticks out to me has nothing to do with your stick at all. It's getting checked.
You mentioned in this question that you were "walking up the field". Now I can't tell if this was a controlled clear after a save or not. For example, you were unable to make the pass during the four seconds so you went out the back and then were heading up field with it. When you do this your team has the advantage. You have one extra player now that you are in the mix. In order to get checked someone was out of position and/or wasn't open and/or you did a horrible job of not recognizing who to pass to.
Clearing the ball is a team game. And in order for it to be successful everyone needs to know their role and be in position. It doesn't seem that was happening on this clear. So you have to decide what it was and try and fix that first because the type of mesh you have in your stick is irrelevant if you are getting checked on the ride with no one to pass to.
All that said, my take on mesh is this, it's not the mesh that makes the difference...it's your hands. As you get better you will realize that you can play with any stick. With a couple of saves and passes your hands will adjust to whatever stick you are using. Granted, you will have your favorites, and you will pick up sticks that are just garbage, but your hands will adjust to whatever stick you decide to use.
You've got great height and weight for your age. So you will be able to get away with using a deeper pocket. I am NOT a fan of monster mesh unless you are playing indoors or in really dry conditions where it doesn't rain. In New York it can rain and that monster mesh gets really baggy. My recommendation is NOT the Monster, and not the Mini, but the ones in between. I find that it gives you the greatest bang for the buck. It works in most field conditions. I run two sticks. They are both Eclipses. I have one strung with the mini mesh for when it gets really wet because it tends to bag out just enough to be perfect. I have the average mesh in the other which I play with most of the time.
Bombing the ball down field will be mostly based on your strength levels and how much whip you have on the stick. Again, the mesh by itself won't make a difference. In high school I used a very shallow pocket. Wasn't great for dodging but in today's game you shouldn't need to do that much so your primary role for your stick is to make saves and not to give up rebounds. Your shouldn't be stringing your stick to fake or dodge. That should be an afterthought.
Hope that helps Bobby. I've posted this answer on my blog so you can take a look there as well. Stay in touch and let me know how things go.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
www.lacrossegoaltendingforum.com
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Lacrosse Goalies Throwing and Making Saves With Both Hands. When? Where?
Warning: The topics discussed in this post may cause you to think a bit. I'm all for talking about new topics and this is one of them. You might not agree with it, but it brings it up for discussion. If you've got a thought on this please comment so we can discuss.
Question: This lacrosse parent writes to tell me that his son is ambidextrous (can play with both hands) and wonders when the best time to switch hands in the cage would be. As you'll see from my response I feel that being able to play with both hands is a huge advantage especially when throwing and clearing. It is also an advantage when used as a surprise tactic when making saves (although this is a VERY advanced tactic) I'd mess around with this in practice before trying it in games.
Answer:
Andy I think that the most advantageous use of the other hand is when it is a surprise. This would happen:
1) When the offensive player is in a tight dodging situation (roll dodge) and shoots on the goalie thinking that the goalie is holding the stick in a certain hand.
2) When the player is mid shot from outside.
I've messed around with both, and while I feel it could be a tactic used by good goalies it needs to be tried in practice first. When I get shot on from the outside I will lower my stance which leaves a lot of net exposed up top. And while the shooter is winding up I will switch hands. The shooter (usually) is aiming off-stick high and is committed to that space while he is winding up. A shooter can't always adjust in mid shot so you tend to get a couple good saves out of this.
You are weighing your goalies ability to make the save to the off stick side versus switching hands and catching it (now) on the stick side. I think the move has merit at certain levels of the game. The goalie still needs to be in a ready position after the switch is made and before the shot is released. It wouldn't be good to be switching hands while the ball is in flight.
It's great your son is ambidextrous. Huge advantage really. Especially when he is throwing and clearing the ball up field. He would use the outside hand while being chased by an attacker. So if he's going up the left side of the field with an attacker on his right he'd be using his left hand no matter where he throws.
Let me know how that works for him or if you need clarification. Where does your son play?
Jonathan -
Question: This lacrosse parent writes to tell me that his son is ambidextrous (can play with both hands) and wonders when the best time to switch hands in the cage would be. As you'll see from my response I feel that being able to play with both hands is a huge advantage especially when throwing and clearing. It is also an advantage when used as a surprise tactic when making saves (although this is a VERY advanced tactic) I'd mess around with this in practice before trying it in games.
Answer:
Andy I think that the most advantageous use of the other hand is when it is a surprise. This would happen:
1) When the offensive player is in a tight dodging situation (roll dodge) and shoots on the goalie thinking that the goalie is holding the stick in a certain hand.
2) When the player is mid shot from outside.
I've messed around with both, and while I feel it could be a tactic used by good goalies it needs to be tried in practice first. When I get shot on from the outside I will lower my stance which leaves a lot of net exposed up top. And while the shooter is winding up I will switch hands. The shooter (usually) is aiming off-stick high and is committed to that space while he is winding up. A shooter can't always adjust in mid shot so you tend to get a couple good saves out of this.
You are weighing your goalies ability to make the save to the off stick side versus switching hands and catching it (now) on the stick side. I think the move has merit at certain levels of the game. The goalie still needs to be in a ready position after the switch is made and before the shot is released. It wouldn't be good to be switching hands while the ball is in flight.
It's great your son is ambidextrous. Huge advantage really. Especially when he is throwing and clearing the ball up field. He would use the outside hand while being chased by an attacker. So if he's going up the left side of the field with an attacker on his right he'd be using his left hand no matter where he throws.
Let me know how that works for him or if you need clarification. Where does your son play?
Jonathan -
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Problems Clearing The Ball for this Lacrosse Goalie. Stick Help
I got a great question the other day from Al. If you're having problems with your clearing this article will help you.
Question: I am a moderately experienced goalie and my recent season has just ended. the entire season i played on jv and felt as if i was a liability because i have serious clearing issues. I can pass well for moderate distance passes but i just cant clear right. Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick or i cant get enough distance. can you help me with my clearing mechanics. I have tried man different styles of clearing but i just cant get the distance i want( my clears only go 35-40 yds) and i think it is holding me back from being a goalie that is reliable enough for varsity play.
Answer: Al it sounds to me like you need a completely different string job in your stick. Or your hands are very inconsistent. Let me explain.
Your comment, "Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick" That describes two polar extremes. One happens when you get the ball stuck on the shooting strings as you go to throw, the other happens when you bring the stick too far back in your windup and it rolls off the lip of the stick completely.
Also,"or i cant get enough distance" this usually happens because the mesh in your stick is too sloppy and the ball gets stuck on the lowest shooting string. As it gets hung up there the ball has nowhere to go and it will only come out late in your follow through which sends the ball low.
Let's address the inconsitency issue first. This can happen because of two things. First, you're hands are inconsistent. During the act of throwing your hands aren't picking up the feedback from where the ball sits in the stick as you come through with your throw. In this case you're just throwing but each time the ball is in a different place in the pocket so it comes out differently. The only way to fix this issue is with tons of practice. Tons of wall ball. If this is indeed your problem I would recommend wall ball drills with tennis balls. The lighter ball is harder to feel in the pocket and it should make your hands more sensitive to where the ball is in the pocket prior to throwing.
The other main issue you may be having is the stick itself. The whole stick may be too long for you, or not long enough. (Confused yet?) But more of an issue than that is the pocket itself. It may just not be strung correctly. Without seeing the stick that is tough to answer. You can email me some photos if you'd like. Here are a couple things that may help right away.
1) Make the pocket shallower. That will help with the whip problem.
2) Use the sidewall laces to bring the mesh tighter to the plastic. But just on the top half of the pocket. Where the shooting strings are I like to have the mesh pulled tight from sidewall to sidewall. Then you can loosen the sidewalls for the bottom half of the pocket but not too much.
3) Your top shooting string should be very tight. The next one a little looser and a third one looser still. The ball needs to transition from the mesh over the shooting strings rather easily. If it's getting hung up either the mesh is too loose, or the shooting strings are too loose, or both.
Also, the ball needs to move a little bit as you go to throw. What I mean by that is when you bring the ball back in your wind up it needs to be sitting in the center of the mesh and not resting up against the first shooting string. If it's resting there you are just going to throw it in the ground. The ball needs a little momentum to travel from the mesh and over that first shooting string.
The only remedy to all of these problems is strength. The stronger you are physically the easier it is to throw with a bad stick.
Al I'm proud of your for even asking this question. Most guys wouldn't critique their own game like this and call themselves a "liability." But kudos to you for identifying a weak spot in your game that will hold you back if you don't fix it.
If you want to email me some photos, or if you have video of yourself just email me. My email is on my blog.
Let me know how it goes and let me know if you want me to clarify any of this. I guess that once you read this you'll be able to figure out that certain things make sense and certain things just aren't happening. Stay in touch.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoalending.blogspot.com
Question: I am a moderately experienced goalie and my recent season has just ended. the entire season i played on jv and felt as if i was a liability because i have serious clearing issues. I can pass well for moderate distance passes but i just cant clear right. Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick or i cant get enough distance. can you help me with my clearing mechanics. I have tried man different styles of clearing but i just cant get the distance i want( my clears only go 35-40 yds) and i think it is holding me back from being a goalie that is reliable enough for varsity play.
Answer: Al it sounds to me like you need a completely different string job in your stick. Or your hands are very inconsistent. Let me explain.
Your comment, "Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick" That describes two polar extremes. One happens when you get the ball stuck on the shooting strings as you go to throw, the other happens when you bring the stick too far back in your windup and it rolls off the lip of the stick completely.
Also,"or i cant get enough distance" this usually happens because the mesh in your stick is too sloppy and the ball gets stuck on the lowest shooting string. As it gets hung up there the ball has nowhere to go and it will only come out late in your follow through which sends the ball low.
Let's address the inconsitency issue first. This can happen because of two things. First, you're hands are inconsistent. During the act of throwing your hands aren't picking up the feedback from where the ball sits in the stick as you come through with your throw. In this case you're just throwing but each time the ball is in a different place in the pocket so it comes out differently. The only way to fix this issue is with tons of practice. Tons of wall ball. If this is indeed your problem I would recommend wall ball drills with tennis balls. The lighter ball is harder to feel in the pocket and it should make your hands more sensitive to where the ball is in the pocket prior to throwing.
The other main issue you may be having is the stick itself. The whole stick may be too long for you, or not long enough. (Confused yet?) But more of an issue than that is the pocket itself. It may just not be strung correctly. Without seeing the stick that is tough to answer. You can email me some photos if you'd like. Here are a couple things that may help right away.
1) Make the pocket shallower. That will help with the whip problem.
2) Use the sidewall laces to bring the mesh tighter to the plastic. But just on the top half of the pocket. Where the shooting strings are I like to have the mesh pulled tight from sidewall to sidewall. Then you can loosen the sidewalls for the bottom half of the pocket but not too much.
3) Your top shooting string should be very tight. The next one a little looser and a third one looser still. The ball needs to transition from the mesh over the shooting strings rather easily. If it's getting hung up either the mesh is too loose, or the shooting strings are too loose, or both.
Also, the ball needs to move a little bit as you go to throw. What I mean by that is when you bring the ball back in your wind up it needs to be sitting in the center of the mesh and not resting up against the first shooting string. If it's resting there you are just going to throw it in the ground. The ball needs a little momentum to travel from the mesh and over that first shooting string.
The only remedy to all of these problems is strength. The stronger you are physically the easier it is to throw with a bad stick.
Al I'm proud of your for even asking this question. Most guys wouldn't critique their own game like this and call themselves a "liability." But kudos to you for identifying a weak spot in your game that will hold you back if you don't fix it.
If you want to email me some photos, or if you have video of yourself just email me. My email is on my blog.
Let me know how it goes and let me know if you want me to clarify any of this. I guess that once you read this you'll be able to figure out that certain things make sense and certain things just aren't happening. Stay in touch.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoalending.blogspot.com
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