What to Know About Friction in Lacrosse?

Lacrosse players -- like many other sports players -- suffer from various friction injuries. Some of these injuries are avoidable and others aren't, but the friction can be minimized. Most friction injuries occur from the turf, shoes and the chinstrap that's connected to the helmet.
Turf Burn
One of the most painful friction injuries for lacrosse players is turf burn. Lacrosse requires a considerable amount of running and quick turns, which can result in falling and skidding the leg or arm across the turf; this can result in turf burn. Turf burn cannot be avoided; however, the full friction between your body and the turf can be avoided. Decrease the amount of injury obtained from turf burn by wearing elbow pads, gloves and long sleeves. Gloves can also help prevent friction between your hands and the lacrosse stick. Once you have a turf burn, have it treated immediately; turf burn left untreated can become infected.
Foot Friction
Friction blisters can appear almost immediately during or after long bouts of running. Friction blisters appear on the top, bottom or sides of your feet due to the frictional forces between your skin and your sock or shoe. According the Dr. Pribut website, foot blisters are the most common sports injury, and left untreated, they can result in excruciating pain and infection. To prevent friction blisters on your feet, break in your shoes and socks before playing in them, wear properly-fitting shoes and avoid wearing cotton socks. Wearing sweat-reducing socks can help prevent blisters.
Chinstrap Friction
Lacrosse players must wear helmets, which may also contain chinstraps. The friction between chin straps and your chin can result in a friction rash or friction burn. This may become further irritated by shaving. Some lacrosse players as well as players of other sports that utilize chinstraps may develop a condition known as acne mechanica, which is a form of acne that appears where the chinstrap rubs against the chin. The best way to prevent chinstrap friction or to reduce it is to use athletic body lubricant on your chin before putting on the chinstrap.
Considerations
If you've developed a rash, blisters or burn from friction on any part of the body, treat it appropriately using over-the-counter, wound-healing medications such as first aid ointments or creams. However, if the troublesome area is causing pain, or if it is too extensive to be treated using over-the-counter medications, see your physician for treatment to prevent infection.

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Lacrosse Basics for Absolute Beginners

Playing lacrosse develops a child's sense of accomplishment, discipline and teamwork, but the optimal age for beginning these lessons varies by child. Certain physiological developments indicate a child's readiness for learning lacrosse-related skills such as stick work and passing. However, the right age for playing lacrosse requires additional maturity-related traits such as a willingness to follow instructions and work as a member of a team. The optimal age for starting lacrosse differs by child and waiting for indications of readiness helps ensure a positive lacrosse experience.
Physical Development
Starting lacrosse at the right age means meeting basic physical characteristics necessary for playing. Unlike soccer or swimming, playing lacrosse requires sufficient coordination and gross motor skills to run while simultaneously maneuvering the stick. This level of coordination doesn't occur for most children until third or fourth grade, says Chuck Jaffee, editor of the New England Lacrosse Journal. Additionally, boys who begin playing lacrosse must also have enough strength and coordination to also continue running while being hit with their opponents' lacrosse sticks.
Understanding Teamwork
Until a child is old enough to understand and appreciate the value of team work, starting lacrosse, or any team sport, is pointless. A child must have enough maturity and self-awareness to understand her role as a team member such that she's willing to pass the ball and use her teammates' skills. By age 7 or 8, most children begin understanding these subtleties, according to MayoClinic.com. However, cognitive understanding is only part of starting lacrosse.
Ready to Work Hard
Before starting lacrosse, a child must be old enough to commit herself during practices and drills, not just games. Many young children enjoy a sport or activity because it's fun and their friends do it with them. When starting lacrosse, a child must recognize that playing the sport requires hard work, which isn't always fun. The conditioning and strategy preparation of playing lacrosse differs from the skills-based youth lacrosse programs, where practice time involves "fun" technique games and ball handling drills. Some precocious children develop this motivation at age 7, but most are closer to 10 or 11 years of age. Pushing a child to work hard before she wants to encourages loss of interest and burnout.
Listening to Rules
For young children, the rules of lacrosse can seem inconvenient and arbitrary. Yet, a child must have the maturity to accept and respect the rules of lacrosse before playing. For example, the boy who is old enough to understand when hitting opposing team members with his stick is acceptable has an advantage over the younger boy who sees this play as an opportunity to pummel other kids without consequence. Some children respect and accept game rules when they're 8, others are 9 or 10 years of age.
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Posted in: Lacrosse

Tips To Make Better Your Dominant Hand in Lacrosse

In lacrosse, your dominant hand, typically the right, goes to the upper half of the stick, with the other hand holding the butt of the stick near your waist. You want to get your nondominant hand, be it left or right, as close as possible to your dominant hand in terms of skill and comfort with cradling, passing, shooting and catching the ball. In lacrosse, the ambidextrous advantage helps you produce a “quick stick” shot with element of surprise and to dodge through defenders to the goal.
Step 1
Perform everyday tasks with your left hand -- brush your teeth, opening doors, writing and eating -- to increase your comfort. Carry your lacrosse stick to practice in your nondominant hand.
Step 2
Stand up to 8 yards from a wall and pass to yourself for hundreds of repetitions with your weaker hand. Just throw the ball against the wall and catch the rebound. Aim for what would be your teammates’ chest and head, recommends coach Becky Swissler in “Winning Lacrosse for Girls.” Continue for a total of 30 minutes with varying passes, trying to work mostly with your nondominant hand.
Step 3
Set up 10 cones each 5 yards apart in a line. Run through the cones switching hands at each cone. For the purposes of this exercise, cradle the ball as you start out by resting the fingertips of your weaker hand uppermost on the stick. Bring your stick toward your right shoulder. Swap hands, maintaining your grip angle on the stick. Focus on working on your left hand equally with your right. Work on switching smoothly so that you don’t lose the ball out of the pocket.
Step 4
Force yourself during drills to cradle, shoot, pass and pick up ground balls with your left or nondominant hand to increase your power and precision. Cradle for five minutes with your weaker hand before you cradle for five minutes with your strong hand.
Step 5
Play a multi-goal game for two teams of six players each, suggested by the American Sport Education Program in “Coaching Youth Lacrosse.” Create four gates, each 5 yards across, within a playing area 30 yards square. You can score going in either direction through the gate. Count one point for each time a teammate passes the ball through a gate and allow the team to keep the ball. Count two points if a pair of teammates pass and receive the ball through the gate, each using the nondominant hand.
Step 6
Ask the coach if the entire team can switch to its nondominant hand for two minutes during scrimmages.

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Posted in: Lacrosse

5 Things to Know About Box Lacrosse

1. Playing Inside the Box
Box lacrosse, also known as indoor lacrosse, takes place on indoor hockey rinks. Officials replace the ice with artificial turf with markings similar to an outdoor lacrosse field and leave the walls and glass from hockey games up. This playing area is the "box" and all areas within it are inbounds. This version of lacrosse provides rinks with business when the hockey season is over.
2. Making the Change
Box lacrosse differs from outdoor or field lacrosse in a number of ways. A box lacrosse team fields six players at a time with five on the turf and one goalie, while field lacrosse plays ten men at a time, one also playing goalie. The indoor version allows all players to go anywhere on the field while their outdoor counterparts must remain in areas specific to their positions. The players in an indoor game must all have the same size lacrosse sticks, while the defenders in field lacrosse sometimes use longer shafts. Another very noticeable difference is the use of a 30-second shot clock in box lacrosse to keep the game moving. If the offense doesn't shoot within 30 seconds, they lose possession of the ball. There's no such shot clock in field lacrosse.
3. Staying the Same
In most other respects, the indoor and outdoor versions of lacrosse are very similar. Both require players to use the same lacrosse skills to pass, catch, cradle and shoot the ball. They also both begin each period and restarts after goals with a face-off in the middle of the field. Penalties for various offenses, resulting in players sitting in the penalty box for one to two minutes of game time are another similarity of both games. Finally, both indoor and outdoor lacrosse go to sudden death overtime if regulation time ends in a tie and both versions.
4. Going Pro
In Canada and the United States, the National Lacrosse League (NLL) plays a version of professional box lacrosse. This league has a regular schedule of 16 games before going into its playoffs and championship game. The season consists of weekend games from December to April. One key difference between games in the NLL and traditional box lacrosse is in the length of the game. Box lacrosse originally has three 20-minute periods just like hockey, but the NLL plays four 15-minute quarters like field lacrosse.
5. Getting Into Your Own Box
Box lacrosse is very popular across North America where the professional NLL plays. You can find many local indoor lacrosse leagues at all levels and for men and women alike throughout the U.S. Many areas offer indoor lacrosse leagues during the winter months to help their outdoor lacrosse players work on game skills and stay in shape during the off-season. If you want to find a program nearby, call your local indoor ice skating or hockey center to see if they use their facilities for box lacrosse leagues.

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Lacrosse Rules for Beginners

Lacrosse is considered the first sport in America, believed to originate in the 1400s among Native Americans. Teams in those days would have hundreds--or even a thousand--players on a field that could be up to several miles in length. These days, there are 12 players per side in the women's leagues and 10 per side in the men's leagues for regular lacrosse, and six players per side for the version called "box lacrosse," which is typically played in ice hockey arenas.
Players
In box lacrosse, each team has 17 players in uniform but has a roster of 23 players. Six players take the field per team, including the goalie. Substitutions are freely allowed, but a substitute cannot enter the field until the person she is replacing comes into the team's substitution zone.
Sticks and Goals
Box lacrosse players use standard lacrosse sticks that are 40 to 46 inches in length. Goalies are allowed to use the wider-mouthed goaltender's stick. The goal in box lacrosse is smaller than that in regular lacrosse, measuring 4 by 4 feet instead of 6 by 6 feet.
Time Frame
Indoor box lacrosse is played in four 15-minute periods. Each team can utilize two 45-second timeouts in each half. The shot clock is 30 seconds. This version is especially popular in Canada. In regular lacrosse, periods last 20 minutes.
Tie Score
In the event of a tie score at the end of the four periods, there's a sudden-death overtime. Each overtime goes for five minutes--or until a goal gets scored as indicated in sudden death.

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Posted in: Lacrosse