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 -

Lacrosse Goalie Hurts Hand, Now Ducks When Shots Are Taken, Help!

Tom writes in that his son hurt his hand badly playing box and he now ducks when shots are taken. He didn't do that before his hand got hurt and he wants to know how to fix the problem.

Answer: Hey there Tom. Great question. Injuries are tough and tougher still is the relationship between parent and young lacrosse goalie. I have two ideas in my head right now, you pick which one works for you...

1) Let him be. It may be better to leave him alone and let him figure it out.

2) I'm not a big fan of #1 so here's a better recommndation...try to get some video of him and try to catch his eyes/head so he can see what he is doing.

I once saw video of a college lacrosse goalie and was able to see that as the shot came the goalie jumped. It was a little jump but just enough to delay his ability to move to the ball effectively. Now, your son, once he sees that he is ducking or closing his eyes may raise his awareness and realize that he's having a problem. As they say, awareness is the first step to recovery. Getting back from an injury is no different. I'll let you deal with how to help him get more aware but video may be your best option.

When a lacrosse goalie ducks it means he's afraid of the ball. To solve that you need to either have the shooter back up so that he's at a distance where the goalie feels safe, have the goalie wear more equipment, or change the ball from a lacrosse ball to a tennis ball that is softer and won't hurt him. Even college goalies that develop fear for the ball will go the tennis ball route to get their confidence back.

If he is wearing the same gloves that he wore when he got injured guess what he's thinking about? Getting hit that exact same way. If you haven't gotten him tougher glove for indoor do it now. Also, goalie gloves for indoor are like hockey gloves. You can't throw nearly as well with them but then again this is box, it's not field. In box the goalies demands are much different, and the equipment is much different. In box the goalie takes more shot to the body. If he's wearing his field stuff he's going to get hurt and that's not good for his long term development.

Thomas that should help a bit. If you need some more info don't hesitate to email me back. If you want to talk about equipment more just let me know.