sma6pcp wrote:Best would have to be the poke and lift just as they shoot result in the ball being dropped behind them or skyed 20ft over the goal!
Favourite, would have to agree the behind the back with the stick spinning away!
The
LIFT CHECK is vastly under rated as an effective defensive move.
it doesn't even have to be on the stick or hands, if you can get the head of your stick
under the elbow (front or back) of the shooter in the act of shooting you will stop any power or accuracy on the shot.
The Best check though is a purely subjective call but I would have to go with the
TRAIL CHECKthis is where the dodger has done his best work by beating the defender cleanly and comprehensively
and thinks he is home free for a 1-on-1 with the Goalie only to have the ball taken off him at the last second by the defender he beat getting a
TRAIL CHECK on him as he pulls the stick back to shoot.
this is great to see for a couple of reasons:
1) the sheer devilment of seeing someone convinced they are going to score denied at the last second
2) the pleasure is watching a defender who never, ever gives up
#29 Pat McCabe (Syracuse University & USA) made a career out of this check. He played really aggressively on the ball being willing to throw high risk takeaway checks, which would occasionally leading to the ball carrier getting past him but he never quit and more often than not would get himself out of trouble with perfect timing of a
TRAIL CHECK. The most spectacular example of this was in the 1989 NCAA Final for Syracuse vs Johns Hopkins where he performed at full stretch a diving one handed wrap check with a long pole to strip Matt Panetta just as he was about to shoot on goal from right in front of the crease.
WOW! What a check what a player.
The Best English exponent of this check was
Shaun Moran (Sheffield University, Mellor & England) who would slide "just in time" to make a trail check, leaving many an attacker looking foolish shooting on the goal when they no longer had the ball
he would then scoop up the GB and start the clear while you're still wondering what happened to the ball.
He didn't get the nickname "Hoover" from having problems with GBs on the crease!
