Lacrosse Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-25-2022

Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports around. But it’s actually three games in one: men’s field lacrosse, women’s field lacrosse, and box lacrosse. The women’s field game differs from men’s field lacrosse in several critical ways. The player positions on a field lacrosse team differ from the box lacrosse positions. Finally, the rules of play are different in each of the three versions of the sport.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

To play lacrosse successfully, you need physical qualities, such as strength, endurance, quick-as-a-cat agility, flexibility, and quickness. In this article, you'll discover how to improve these qualities and how to get into shape to be a better lacrosse player (hopefully, so you'll stay injury-free — injuries can make or break a season). Lacrosse players are among the fittest athletes in the world. They must have speed and quickness, plus strength in their upper body to take all the pounding in a box lacrosse game, whether it's a cross-check, a body check, or a crunch into the boards. You should do your best to be in game-ready shape when your team gathers to start workouts for an upcoming season. These training camps don't always focus on getting into shape; instead, they concentrate on skills and team play. Here are a few more things to keep in mind as you get in playing shape: No rest for the weary, so train to minimize weariness. The nature of a lacrosse game consists of endurance running, short bursts of speed, stop-and-start running with high intensity, and a lot of body and stick contact thrown in, with only brief rests on the bench while waiting for your next shift. Practice sprint marathoning. Lacrosse players have to run shorts bursts of speed over a long period of time, so players have to train for both types of running. Even a flat surface has its ups and downs. In a lacrosse game, if you're in shape, you feel like you're running downhill; if you're not in very good shape, the game feels like drudgery, and you feel like you're running uphill. Stretching to be your best As with any physical conditioning, your best workout is only as effective as your best pre-workout stretch. Stretching helps to reduce strains, sprains, spasms, and the muscle tears that happen when muscles are tight and inflexible. Stretching also helps prevent injuries common to running, such as pulled muscles, shin splints, hamstring pulls, ankle sprains, pulled groins, and Achilles tendonitis. Stretching before and after practices and games will keep you flexible — it reduces muscle tension by increasing your range of motion, which makes you a better lacrosse player. Running You have to run both long and short distances in lacrosse. All that running requires you to stay in running shape with long-distance conditioning, spring conditioning to increase speed, and endurance training. While you can run for game-shape conditioning at any time during the year, long-distance and endurance training are best reserved for the off-season or during preseason training, and conditioning for speed is ideal for in-season workouts. Usually, a good long distance run lasts from 12 to 15 minutes. To increase speed efficiency, stress short strides to begin with, starting with running on your toes and the middle of your foot, but then generate more speed by opening up your stride (thus increasing your stride length and moving your legs faster). Endurance, or interval, training during the season can be tailored to your lacrosse practices. Focus the workouts on simulating lacrosse game conditions — that is, going for short intensive spurts of activity before a period of rest. Box lacrosse players play in shifts and each shift requires continuous bursts of speed over short distances with little recovery time. The shorter your workout period, the higher its intensity should be. Weight training Strength is one of the keys to success in lacrosse, and strength can be best developed through a properly organized weight-training program. Players are hit into the boards going after loose balls; they are cross-checked hard across their upper body and arms to stop them from going to the net; they are slashed by a lacrosse stick to steal the ball; they are stopped from cutting into the middle of the floor to score. In all these situations, weight training will help players improve their performance by increasing their endurance, their flexibility, their agility, their running speed, and their overall physical strength. Weight training also helps to prevent injuries. As with any training that you take on, keep a record or chart to gauge your progress, as well as to motivate you to greater heights. Mentally preparing for lacrosse Being in game-shape includes a mental challenge for lacrosse players. You should be able to stay in the "zone" that encourages great performance. Here are a few tips to get started: Be positive. Lacrosse is, after all, a game, and your mental attitude toward it should be a positive one. Remember, too, that it's easy to stay positive when you're winning; the tough part is staying positive after losing or after making mistakes. It's all part of the lacrosse learning curve. Accept the challenge. Look forward to each upcoming game, to the challenge of the opponent (both your team's opponent and any particular individual opponent you have in mind), and to the fundamentals of the conflict ahead. Plan for success. Find a lacrosse player who anticipates that each game will be a good game, and you'll find a successful lacrosse player. Use your nervousness. You should try to calm and quiet your mind before the game. However, it's also okay to feel a little bit nervous (but not overly so). Use your nerves to help you get physically energized and ready to play; let your mind keep things loose. Have fun. Lacrosse is a game. Enjoy yourself. The result of these good feelings is that you get into what is called the zone. Being in the zone means that you play alert and can anticipate things before they happen — all the activity around you seems to happen in slow motion. Your mental focus is totally absorbed in playing the game and blocking out all distractions. You play with self-confidence, and you're emotionally controlled. Being in the zone helps you play the game effortlessly, and you react by instinct.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Lacrosse has many similarities to both basketball and hockey. Simply put, the lacrosse team that ends the game with the most goals wins. A game clock dictates the length of the game, and scoring goals is the sole determiner of who wins and who loses. The following list offers a few of the technical essentials that you need to know to better understand the game. Four quarters equals a game: The length of a box or field lacrosse game is 60 minutes, which 4 quarters lasting 15 minutes each. Unless . . . Two halves do make a whole (game): Depending on the age and/or gender of the teams playing, variations on the length of a lacrosse game do exist. Women's lacrosse matches are divided into halves instead of quarters, and can range in length from 50 to 60 minutes. Minor league lacrosse games offer a wide variety of lengths and divisions, from 8-or 12-minute quarters to three 20-minute periods, much like a hockey contest. High-school field games have 12-minute quarters. Whatever the length of the game, remember that any individual contest will include at least one intermission. There's a lot of running and bumping and hitting and missing to recuperate from. Facing down the opposition: A faceoff at the center circle starts each game and each quarter, and it begins play after every goal scored. A faceoff is one of the many areas where lacrosse resembles both hockey (the only other sport with faceoffs) and basketball (with its jump-ball set-up at the beginning of games). In a box lacrosse faceoff, the teams surround one of the lined circles on the floor, with two players in the center of the circle awaiting the referee's whistle to being play and go for the ball. Essentially, a faceoff is an organized, if sometimes frenetic, way to initiate play at the beginning of a game, or to restart play that has been stopped for some reason (opening a new playing period, after a scored goal, in a dead-ball situation, and so on). Any game can present many faceoff opportunities, so you better be pretty good at it to have a chance of controlling the ball and therefore giving your team more scoring opportunities. Faceoffs in field lacrosse come at the start of each quarter and after each goal. They consist of two players at the center X and two players from each team perched on the wing area lines (20 yards from the middle of the field and 20 yards long, parallel with the sideline). Once possession is gained by one of these eight players, the rest of the players can cross the restraining lines that are perpendicular to the sideline and 20 yards from the midline. Games don't end in ties: Well, at least not generally. Except for minor lacrosse, when games end regulation play with the two teams tied, a sudden-death overtime period determines the winner. In sudden death, the first team to score a goal wins. Minor lacrosse leagues typically allow a single sudden-death overtime period; however, if the game is still tied at the end of the period, the game is called a tie. Stay out of the crease: Offensive players must stay out of the crease area in front of the goal. The crease is a 9-foot semicircle that arcs from goalpost to goalpost. The crease in field lacrosse is a 9-foot radius, and it sits farther away from the endline (15 yards from the goal) than in the box game. Much of a team's offense starts behind the goal, so management of the crease from defensive as well as offensive standpoints is very important. Players are not allowed to step into or land in the crease, unless they are forced in by a defender. If this violation occurs, goals are waived off and possession is given to the defense. Stay in your own backyard: Field lacrosse defenders always stay in the opposition's offensive zone, and the offensive players always stay in their own offensive zone. Only midfielders can run the entire field without restriction. Penalties regulate the game's physical tendencies: Referees monitor the physical play to help prevent injuries and out-and-out brawls.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Women’s field lacrosse is exploding in popularity — there are three times as many women’s collegiate lacrosse programs today as there were in 1990. The women’s field game differs from the men’s field game in some critical ways: Physical contact: The main difference between men’s and women’s lacrosse comes down to contact. In the men’s game, body-checking is legal — and encouraged (especially by coaches) — while in the women’s game, it is not. As a result, there is far less protective equipment in the women’s game: Men wear helmets, mouth guards, gloves, shoulder pads, elbow pads, and often ribs pads, whereas women wear mouth guards and protective eyewear, but (with the exception of goalies) no helmets or padding. Number of players: In the men’s game, ten players are on the field — three attackmen, three midfielders, three defensemen, and a goaltender. In the women’s game, there are 12 players on the field — offensive players (first home, second home, third home, and two attack wings) and defensive players (center, two defensive wings, point, cover point, third man, and goalie). Sticks: Unlike men’s lacrosse, mesh is not permitted for the pockets of women’s sticks; the pockets must be strung in the traditional way. Also, the top of the ball must be above the sidewall when it’s in the pocket. As a result, stick handling and shooting are more difficult in the women’s game. In addition, the standard stick length in men’s field lacrosse is 40 to 42 inches from the end of the head to the end of the handle; sticks for defensive players (as well as one midfielder) can measure 52 to 72 inches in length, and the goalie’s stick can be 40 to 72 inches long. Women’s lacrosse sticks must measure 35½ to 43¼ inches in length; the goalie’s stick must measure 35½ to 48 inches in length. Field size: In men’s lacrosse, the field measures 110 yards long and 60 yards wide. In women’s lacrosse, the field is a bit bigger: 120 yards long and 70 yards wide.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

The easiest way to know the positions on the field and in the arena is to know the responsibilities that come with them. In a nutshell, players have three main assignments that come with their positions: score goals (attack players), prevent the other team from scoring goals (defenders), and stop the ball from entering the net (goaltenders). In addition, in field lacrosse, one set of players — known as the midfielders — is regularly assigned the task of playing both offense and defense. That said, the names of the positions and their precise responsibilities do vary in men’s and women’s field lacrosse and box lacrosse. Here are the men’s field lacrosse positions: Attackmen: The attackmen are the primary offensive weapons looking to feed and score. They create most of the offense and generally don’t play defense. They’re the three players kept on the opposite side of the midline while the ball is at the other end. Midfielders: Midfielders play offense and defense, following the flow of the game and getting involved at both ends of the field. Midfielders, or “middies,” are crucial to a team’s transition offense and defense. Defensemen: The role of the defensemen is generally to stop the opposing attackmen from creating offense or scoring. Occasionally, a defenseman will be dispatched to cover a dominant opposing midfielder. Goaltender: In addition to stopping shots and getting the ball out of the defensive end, goalies are also responsible for directing the defense. Goalies in field lacrosse have to be more athletic than those in box lacrosse because of the larger goal (6 feet wide by 6 feet high in field, as opposed to just 4 feet wide by 4 feet high in box). Here are the women’s field lacrosse positions: Attack: The attack positions are made up of first, second, and third homes, and two attack wings, all of whom are responsible for scoring goals. Defense: Defensive assignments are broken down into these areas: center, two defensive wings, point, cover point, and third man. Wing players move the ball from defense to offense. Goaltender: The only player on the field wearing a helmet, her job is to prevent goals from being scored. In box lacrosse, all five offensive players — the two creasemen, two cornermen, and pointman — also play defense: Creasemen: These two players are generally the primary goal scorers who have strong one-on-one skills. Cornermen: These two players trail the creasemen on offensive breaks. Pointman: This player is a threat to score and usually a strong perimeter shooter, but his main role is to feed the ball to his teammates. Goaltender: The final line of defense, his job is to keep the ball out of the net.