Dodging and Shooting
September 22nd, 2009
Originaly found at www.laxnews.com
written by Joe Boulokos
Dodging and shooting are very important skills to have and master in the game of lacrosse. They are skills that take practice and discipline to become a great at. Whether you are dodging to feed or dodging to shoot you must be able to separate yourself, create space, and free your hands.
Two things that most good dodgers have are COS and COD, which stand for Change of Speed and Change of Direction. These skills help you deceive your defender and allow you to separate yourself. The hardest player to guard is one that is constantly changing how fast he is running and changing the angle and direction of where he is going…
When I am dodging the first thing I think about is catching the ball going downhill. This means no matter when and where I am dodging I try to receive the ball from my teammate while moving forward giving me more momentum than my opponent who is closing out on me to try to defend me. After I have successfully done that, I try to locate the head of my defender’s stick or his bottom hand. I do this because those are the two spots I look to exploit. No defender on Earth can defend a determined dodger with just his stick. They must use their body and hands in order to slow you down. Once I have decided where my defender is and how he is trying to defend me, I use a move to get to one of the previously mentioned spots.
With a good COS and/or COD, I attempt to run through those areas. In doing this you have to be willing to take any check he throws at you and just keep running through it. If while dodging I see just the defender’s stick in front of me, I know I now have the advantage. At this point, I like to step hard toward the goal and the defenseman drawing more contact – but when I want the contact not the defender, and thus bumping him off course and making him more off balance. Once I have done this, I step away and decide whether I have a shot or, if I have drawn a slide, whether or not a teammate of mine is open. If a teammate is open for a better shot or I do not have one because of a sliding defender, I become a feeder and move the ball.
If you have a good shot after you have created separation and you have your hands free you must go back at the goal and shoot the ball as hard as you can in a good location. The process of getting into your defender and then stepping away to create space is called Z-dodging, and if used properly, can help you become a dangerous dodger.
The second part of dodging is being able to shoot well. The good news is this is something anyone can be good at if they are willing to practice it over and over again. With repetition you can learn how to shoot the ball as hard and as accurately as you want. There are things you must practice, though, in order to become a complete shooter. You must learn how to shoot standing still, on the run, from any part of the field, from any arm angle (whether it is over the top, ¾’s, or side arm), and you must be able to do all that with both hands. Once you have become a good shooter, it makes it easier for you to shoot to a goalie’s weakness because you can shoot from anywhere and at any arm angle to that spot.
Whether you know it beforehand, or you find it out during the game, the spot where you think the goalie is weakest is where you should shoot every time until he proves to you he can stop it. If he does that, then changing your shot becomes more important. You have to switch up where you shoot on net and how you get it there. For instance, one time you might want to shoot over hand low, and the next time you might want to try ¾’s off his hip. You never want to let the goalie know you are going to shoot one type of shot all night – keep him guessing and you will be much more successful.
If you can become great at dodging and shooting, you will become a very valuable person in the offensive end. You will help brake the defense down for your team, and create good opportunities for your teammates and yourself to score. In turn, your offense will become much better. Just remember, it doesn’t happen overnight. All these skills must be practiced a lot, and once you feel like you are getting pretty good at them, you must practice them again. This will make you and unstoppable dodger and shooter.
