Don’t get your signals lacrossed

Lacrosse is a game that can seem confusing to those that don’t understand. But really all it comes down to is passing and throwing … and a couple other things.

While the concept of lacrosse may seem simple enough, the actual execution of passing, catching and scoring takes a lot of practice and skill.

The first thing to do when you are passing a lacrosse ball is to bring the stick, with the ball in it, over your shoulder. One hand should be about halfway up the stick – so you can get the maximum push – while the other should be loosely holding the bottom to guide it through the throw.

You then have to point your elbow toward the person you are passing to, aiming for the “square above the shoulder of whichever

hand the stick is in,” lacrosse Head Coach Matt Polityka said. Once you have your target, you start the throwing motion by stepping forward with your off foot.

“It’s like throwing a baseball,” Polityka said. “It’s a push motion with your top hand and a pull motion with your bottom hand.”

You will have to do a little bit of a follow through, but it’s like baseball again in that you don’t bring the stick down too far. The stick ends up pointing at the same place your elbow had been.

Catching the ball requires a lot of hand-eye coordination. It’s a little ball and a not-so-big pocket.

“When you’re receiving the pass, you’re absorbing the ball into your stick,” Polityka said. “Your hand is going to be at the top of your stick, so pretty much your net is just an extension of your hand, like a baseball mitt.”

After catching the ball, to keep it in the pocket, you need to “cradle” the ball. Polityka said cradling makes the ball stay in the net by centripetal force.

“When you’re cradling – as long as the ball is securely in the net – it’s going to stay in there, even if you’re getting checked,” he said.

To cradle the ball, you need to hold the stick loosely in your hands and kind of roll it up your arm. Polityka said you can think of it as going finger, hand, wrist, arm – rolling the stick up your arm. However, you have to make sure you don’t roll the stick all the way around so it doesn’t turn upside down and drop the ball.

-aedmunds@cc.usu.edu