Face off against a faster opponent

[julius125]

stepping up more to face off next season, and need a bit more info on how to win if your opponent is faster to the clamp? As in if the guy you're against is quicker in his hands and beats you to it, is there anything you can do other than just stand up and attempt to defend him?

I know you can attempt to block him if he trys to flick out the ball, beat him to it if he tries to pick it up himself, and obviously put your stick over his and engage with your body so he can't get free, but understand none of that's foolproof... Any good techniques/ideas anyone can suggest?

Thanks...

[webby]

As a pole I'm no face off specialist but as far as I'm aware, there are many more techniques than just the clamp. Look up on google or YouTube for different techniques. Ones I can think of include pushing your stick under his clamp, jumping your hands/stick over to push his out of the way or to trap his hands/stick, etc. Facing off is not just about speed but being able to vary your technique, counter their technique and learn your opponent's plays. That, and cheat. As it was once said on here, if you face off without cheating, you're not doing it right. But of course cheating is wrong....

[kael101]

You can practice and get just faster. Just get a ball and clamp it as many times as possible in 30 seconds. Count how many you do and they try and then repeat but try and do better- If you put this into your training regime it will all work up.

And as webby say's different techniques to the clamp youtube them or just google "face-off techniques"

[Mr.Stanford]

I could waste my time writing something of my own, or I can point you in the direction of some good reading...

This has videos to help with the descriptions...

http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?t=62001

[Aico]

If you're 2 slow you already lost. He has the ball so all you can do is play defense. This can start by jamming his arms or checking his stick while getting up, but when he's a fast clamper he will probably get the ball out quickly aswell. All you can do is try to make him drop the ball or slow him down.

[UKLaxfan]

I could waste my time writing something of my own, or I can point you in the direction of some good reading...

This has videos to help with the descriptions...

http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?t=62001

What he said /\/\/\/\ Good Read with video demos

Speed Kills

If he is faster & better reactions than you = you lose

see Geoff Snider Canada 2006

[Harry Collins]

My old coach said tape a ball to the floor in your room and practice.

Should improve speed of clamp and train your muscles up to have that elasticity to help snap your head over the ball almost instinctively.

[julius125]

Thanks guys... Yeah I always understood that if you're fast on reactions then you wouldn't have to worry about it as much... I'm always making up games to test my reactions while in school since there's nothing better to do, but I'll use the more lacrosse related ones suggested at training sessions...

My technique at the moment, I always aim to push forward with my stick first, so that I'll either send the ball behind my opponent, or if they're in mid-clamp I can catch their stick and push it back... After that I'll then go for the clamp and flick it out to a wing-man or upwards for myself... Could be considered basic, so are there ways of developing that, or more effective techniques to practice?

[Mort rotu]

One of our old face off guys improved his speed on the clamp and boxing his opponent out by training his dog to face off against him and try to get the ball. No idea how he trained it though.

[davidmcculloch81]

There's a video on the web somewhere (possibly through US Lacrosse website) that has Alex Smith talking about how he improved his speed. It involved a CD of random whistles, a piece of astroturf on his bedroom floor and about 5,000 hours of practice.

[webby]

There's a video on the web somewhere (possibly through US Lacrosse website) that has Alex Smith talking about how he improved his speed. It involved a CD of random whistles, a piece of astroturf on his bedroom floor and about 5,000 hours of practice.

There's an MP3 of random whistles available on the insidelacrosse forum that Rhod posted. I imagine if you got a number of MP3s with randomly timed whistles, you could just stick them on shuffle and voila.

I like the idea that someone mentioned in the IL thread - whisper the word "go", cough or whistle when you're down and see if the other guy jumps the gun! Nothing in the rule book against that!

[Mr.Stanford]

http://www.fogolacrosse.com/whistles.htm

Direct link for the audio files that are best suited to the British game:

'Down, Set, Whistle'
http://www.fogolacrosse.com/Down,%20Set,%20Whistle.zip

Each file has a different timing. Slap them on your iPod and away yo go. 5000 hours of work and you can compete with Alex Smith

[FarmerDan]

I like the idea that someone mentioned in the IL thread - whisper the word "go", cough or whistle when you're down and see if the other guy jumps the gun! Nothing in the rule book against that!

75.1 No player, substitute, non-playing member of a squad, coach or anyone officially connected with a competing team shall:
.
.
.
iv) Commit any act considered unsportsmanlike or ungentlemanly by the referees.

Do it often enough within hearing of the ref and he may use that rule. It's a great catch all rule

[the pom]

If he is quicker than you just ruin the face off knock him out of the way and pick up the ball appears to work well for me.

[webby]

I like the idea that someone mentioned in the IL thread - whisper the word "go", cough or whistle when you're down and see if the other guy jumps the gun! Nothing in the rule book against that!

75.1 No player, substitute, non-playing member of a squad, coach or anyone officially connected with a competing team shall:
.
.
.
iv) Commit any act considered unsportsmanlike or ungentlemanly by the referees.

Do it often enough within hearing of the ref and he may use that rule. It's a great catch all rule

It's a nervous tick sir I promise!

[Paul_lboro/wildcats]

Another US tip I have seen is watching the refs face and moving when his cheeks go in to give you a split second advantage

[webby]

I do similar when playing on the wing. You cant see his cheeks very easily but when the ref puts the whistle to his mouth you know you'll be going in a split second.

That being said, on our reffing course we were taught to vary our whistle technique to stop players jumping the gun.

Just with everything else, the more you practice and carry it out in a game situation, the more little tricks you pick up. In ice hockey I used to be able to read the other guy depending on how he held his stick at the face off, but also taught myself to do a number of different moves using the same hand/stick position to make it difficult for the other guy to guess. Practice makes perfect and you'll learn what works best for you!