As a lacrosse attacker, your responsibility is to score goals. Your good performance will ultimately take the team to victory. If you wonder ‘how do I get better at lacrosse attack’, here are the simple tips to follow to get good results for sure.
Playing as an attacker:
Your team has three attackers and each has to stay on the offensive side of the field. They take the ball in the transition from the midfielders and forward it to the goal to score.
The basic skills that every attacker must have are:
- Shooting
- Passing and
- Defending the ball from defenders
There are many ways to improve these skills:
Shooting:
Shooting is the first skill to improve but it has many further categories which are as follow with their tips:
While practicing:
When you are practicing, you have enough time to make things right. From your position to action, you can improve everything. What you can do are as follow:
- Your hands should be near the handle’s bottom; approx. 12-inch away
- Practice a strong base using your legs
- Your elbows and hands must be away from your body and at some height
- Push off using your legs while turning hips and shoulders
When on the run:
Shooting while running is one of the toughest skills to master. What you need to do is simple. Practice all the above-mentioned practicing tips at your full speed.
When Scoring
When you are shooting inside, keep in mind the following things:
- Get extra control and place your hands 12-inch away
- Focus on accuracy than speed
- Shoot low, high, or off the hips of the goalie
- When close to the goal, use your wrist more
- Instead of your stick, use your shoulders to do fakes
- There must be one or two players to back up your shot around the goal
- Shoot harder when you can
- Take many shots but try to take as much as good shots as you can
- For the long shots, look for your teammate on the crease
- You must be ready to back up any shot or feed
You can only score a goal when you work with other attackers of your team. Whenever a shot is taken, other attackers must also become part of that shot to make it a success.
Passing:
Your every pass will matter when you follow these tips:
- Your feed passes must be strong
- All passes should be short, outside, and sharp, and far from the defenders
- Don’t throw feed passes sidearm, only go for underhand and overhand
- You can hold onto the ball if you get the pass after cutting and you can’t find the right target
- Stay away from the defenseman as much as you can
- After receiving the pass, check the body movements of the player who has passed the ball and then head towards the crease
Among all, you must take pride in passing – all the great shots are because of a great pass always. You are an attacker, you want to take the winning shot, but if anyone else has the clear shot, you must pass the glory away because, in the end, it is the team who wins the match.
Positioning:
When you are an attacker, you have to take all the attention of the defensemen by moving all the time. Moving around will keep the defensemen busy so you can achieve your goal.
Defensemen are bigger and stronger than you but you have the edge. They have the longer stick, you have the ball. You are in control of your moves but they have to follow yours. Without knowing where you will head next, they cannot make their own move. So, in short, you are in charge and you can be ahead of the defenders.
Defensemen are bully most of the time. So, one tip here is to make your contact first with the defensemen. When you take the first move, their body position, as well as composure level changes.
Tips on Dodging as a Lacrosse Attacker
Why do you want to dodge? Your intention must not only be to outrun the defenders but to move to get clear for a pass or shot, even if it means it is for only two to three seconds. Whatever you do, do at the full speed. When you are at your 100%, it becomes harder for others to get to you.
Here are some more tips:
- When there’s an open man, don’t dodge or hold the ball for long and keep it going with short but quick passes
- Go right and left when dodging; never choose a single side only because the defensemen will learn your moves and it will become easy for them to tackle you
- When there is anyone to back you up, skip dodging
- You must learn different kinds of dodges, at least three kinds of dodges must be learned and use differently during the play
Bonus tips:
Here are some effective tips that can help you to improve the game further.
- While cutting make full cuts
- Don’t run at the same speed, change your pace to see the benefits
- When you hold the ball, run, don’t stand in a single place – run zig-zag, forward and backward, but run
- Dodge when you cut – fake right and go left and vice versa
- When the ball is in your hands, fake the passes continuously – it will not keep the stick of your defensemen stationary
- Ride the ball when you lose it
- Don’t run on the same plane or line
- To play good, loosen your shooting strings
- Tighten the pocket and start with tightening the sidewalls
- Play with the stringings that you find the best; you can use traditional or mesh depending on your needs
- Any ground ball must be considered like a trophy; speed up to get it
- When you pick the ground ball, run to the crease right away and see if anyone can take your pass
- Your arm that is free must have the protective yet comfortable position
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