What makes a player?  More than that, what can make him more than he already is?

THE SHOOTING GALLERY

Definitely one of my coaching ‘pet peeves’ is pretty much the entire subject of shooting and the practicing thereof.  Before I rant I wish to express that I do appreciate a great shooter as much as the next coach, and I always want to encourage the better shooters to practice and use their skills as much as is good for them and the team. 

My angle here and what I question  sometimes is the shooting practice ‘practices’ of many players who might mistakenly think they are working hard at getting to be better shooters by simply taking more shots after practice, etc.  That thought process isn’t enough to improve your game in my opinion.

BREAK IT DOWN BOYS – BEAT HIM LIKE A RENTED MULE

Shooting is obviously a huge part of scoring goals, and shooting and passing by the way are indeed very different lacrosse skills, also in my opinion, but as a coach I have felt strongly over the years that goal scoring comes about as the logical progression of/conclusion to, and here I go again, doing things ‘right’, both as a player and as a team.  What do I mean by that?  To simplify I would say that whether it come about off of an individual dodge-and-go-to-the-goal kind of thing, or instead from some kind of complicated EMO play that the players really get, buy into, and execute well, the offensive idea for me is the same and that is to break down the defense and more or less take the other goalie out of the equation by the end of the figuring.  That means that good offensive things are happening to the point where the goal scoring is not a ‘sniper’ shot, but rather the shooter is seeing a great deal of net and in effect is just throwing it past the goal tender to the back of the 6 x 6 goal.  That is how it is in my perfect little world, and goal would also be complete with plenty of assist points to go around.

Some of my teams have been better at breaking down defenses than others.  The methods have often been quite different with the chemistry and abilities of different teams.  Finding the key to opening those scoring doors is in fact a big part of my late-50’s thought process for improved coaching at a later age possibilities.  I am an old dog eager to learn new tricks. 

MAN IN THE MIRROR

As a coach I do have the players work extra and we use lots of in-practice drills to work on the very important individual shooting skills.  Truthfully, however, we do more of it some years than others for sure, and it is because I do ultimately strive to make the shooting a ‘formality’ more than the ‘everything’ of scoring goals, and some teams of mine have done that better than others. At times when our offense is efficient everyone can see and knows when a goal is on the way.

My greatest hope would be to have an offense that more or less mirrors what we might be doing on defense, a system with rotations and easy reads along with creating ample time to do the reading, but that might be a subject for another time.

ROCK ON

Having said all that I have said, I do also very much approve of the individual player practice of working a lot on the act of shooting. Hard, accurate shots will score more goals in real life than shots off cage and ones measured by speed guns, etc.  I would have to say that to hear most players tell it there is nothing more important to practice than shooting and the act of shooting.  I agree with some part of this, at least the part that includes a bunch of other individual skills set aside to work on during that personal work-to-improve time as well.  It is never really all about the shooting.  It is so often about the shot you create, and that involves so much more overall passion for painting the “he shoots, he scores” picture for yourself as a player.

SHOOTING FOR DUMMIES

The thing that drives me a little crazy is when players focus on shooting practice in what I might consider the ‘wrong’ way to approach the practicing.  So often they stand around in front of the goal, randomly spaced, probably without gloves on their hands, etc., and they just shoot at the goal and from wherever.  How often can a player stand and shoot?  For that matter, how often does he get a good chance to wind up for the big high hard one or whatever?  My estimation is, “not much”, and so what bothers me is how few players understand that the idea is to try and simulate as much as possible things that might or will happen in the game.  A player never really shoots without all of his equipment on in a game, and the same holds true for standing still.  Pretty much in lacrosse when you stand still and shoot you will end up lit up like a Christmas tree if you can even get the shot off prior to that final eventuality. 

Another part of paying attention and using extra shooting time to actually improve is to shoot from places that are generally good shooting spots, and maybe even more than that, spots that are good places for certain individuals to shoot from.  As a coach I want them to shoot from places that sort of evolve and become ‘their’ own personal shooting spots, as in a place that the player is good at getting to and from where said player is capable of getting off a good, quick, effective shot.

It is more or less scientifically proven that inside of 12 yards away from the goal, speed of shot doesn’t really count for much.  Inside that area the goalie basically cannot react before the ball either hits him or goes by.  I take and use this as very good information when I coach shooting.

When practicing shooting it is key to find smoothness and rhythm in the motion start to finish.  Of course accuracy is key as well.  So often players refuse to sort of slow things down to get them working right when they rehearse.  I believe that if you do that, and THAT is to take the time to slow it down and get it right, and if you implant the proper muscle memory for yourself by slowing it down to where it becomes really comfortable to physically do, then later, when you need to ‘slow the moment down’ by doing the physical act more quickly under greater duress, your body will respond and ‘step up’ to that moment. 

So often I see a player practice shooting, and if he misses, then on the next one he will change nothing mechanically, but he might try to shoot it even harder the next time, and predictably, he will often miss the goal or the spot again, and again, and even again.  You cannot fix a problem by doing the thing that failed over and over the same way over and over.  You must implement real change to make change and this is something I so often see players not get.  They so often think that if you just do “it” harder or faster that the problem will be fixed.  NOT!

So, for shooting practice in general I advocate several things besides just having a lot of balls, and in fact maybe the fewer balls the better if you are working with one or two players only. 

Unless it’s off-season or whatever, I say don’t shoot without at least gloves on.  Make it real as you can from the get go.  Work always on moving in some way, shape, or form as you shoot.  Work on getting good shooting position before you even catch the ball for shots so the release is quick with maximum snap or power.  Most importantly, know the difference between good shots that have a chance of scoring and ones that have no angle or are too far away by one step or whatever.  Even in practice try to never take a shot that might become some kind of easy save or ‘popcorn’ for the opposing goalie.

If a player practices good shots that he is capable of executing successfully in a real game, the chances of him recreating that situation in a game are far greater I think.  That seems like a pretty easy assumption for me to make as a coach.  It is not pretzel logic at work, but rather the act of simplification bent toward the realization of the dream (to score goals).

A LITTLE TECHNIQUE IS GOOD

In my mind shooting is indeed different from the throwing and passing of the ball.  It is important for the mind and body to keep it together when it realizes that we are now really about to take a shot.  This is no time to panic, and that might be the first fundamental aspect of taking a good shot anyway.  I am still generally amused and amazed when I see a player miss the goal by a distance greater than how far he was from the goal when he shot, but I see it all too often. It is not just the bad pocket, but rather it is definable to me as a panicky response to a big moment and not a well-coached, rational pro-activity that can help the team.

PLACEMENT

The old axiom is that the outside shots, ones farther than 12 yards or so should be bounce shots only.  This obviously is widely thought for a reason.  Success comes easier for many players on bounce shots.  For one thing the bottom half of a goal tender’s body opens far more goal to a shooter than his upper body.  I suggest but I never tell players how or even where to shoot the ball.  In general I advocate not shooting unless the player can actually see the net behind the goalie. 

If you are simply looking for the place on the goalie that is hardest for him to cover it would surely be his off-hip, the one on the opposite side from his stick.

LOOK

So often players who catch a feed from another, or find themselves one on one with the goalie at very close range shoot the ball too quickly and often right into the goalie’s stick, allowing him to make that “great” save.  The shooter and the feeder must work to create the moment where the shooter can catch, step, look, and put the ball to the net that he sees.  This is indeed something that can be practiced in many different ways by a player or players during their overtime work.

WHAT’S YOUR ANGLE?

Most coaches like overhand or ¾ overhand shots.  There is a reason.  If a player shoots overhand, when he ‘misses’ a little he won’t miss, not really, because the ball can go low or high, but if he points the stick at the goal, it can’t miss from side to side.  Therefore, more good things can happen for the shooter than bad, including back-ups and rebounds.  When a player shoots sidearm as so many do nowadays, he can miss all over the place and that almost limits the number of things that put pressure on the defense.  Many players have the stick in good position with the ball near the helmet where it is safe, especially when they are in close, but then they have to drop it down to sidearm in search of a harder shot or whatever.  For me this sidearm thing is a tool, but as a constant practice dropping the stick is folly.  The stick becomes easier for a defender to check, and feeding takes more room and time that way, too, so to me it is limiting if done too much.

At the same time I never yell at my players for taking underhanded, back handed, or even behind-the-back shots, and that is really true if it is the right shot for the moment and or the angle.  In fact, if you are 100% successful in scoring I have pretty much no hard and fast rules.  Otherwise prepare for the wrath.  I do like my fundamentals. 

Yes I do stick to some guidelines that don’t seem to change for me much over the years.  The goal is still 6’ x 6’ and the goalies would seem to be better than ever.  Shooters need to use the knowledge of the ages, yes, but the “Air Gait” thing sure was cool when it showed up about 20 years ago, too.  I like innovation to ‘the system’.   Of course not everyone can execute the leaping goal scoring thing.  

To finish shots, players need to end up facing the goal as much as possible under the circumstances.  I like the baseball pitcher analogy, and the way they finish their motion.  If you can, try to actually project your body trying to throw itself into the goal as much as possible (but do stay OUT of the crease). 

When you are close to the goal, I like the idea of using the top hand on the stick to ‘punch’ the ball past a goalie, a jab, not a haymaker.

Shooting is ultimately the way a team pressure’s a defense.  It is how a team becomes dangerous.  It is how a team can create fear and doubt in their opponent.  Yes, it is fun to take shots on the goal, but part of that fun must be purposeful if you really want to score.