Cool little anecdote from Datsyuk on playing in felt boots. There's some wisdom there. In lacrosse, many (or at least some - I see videos frequently) box lacrosse players grow up playing on concrete, with sneakers. Change of direction, sprint speed, agility, etc. are all severely limited by these constraints.
In lax we usually attribute the supremacy of the box lacrosse player's skillset to spacing; they play in tighter quarters and have much less net to shoot at. This is a major factor for sure. But - this anecdote has me thinking that maybe there is some intuitive learning that goes on when you can't rely on your cleats and artificial turf to use speed and agility for gaining an advantage - deception with the stick and eyes and leverage/positioning with the body become the most ready-at-hand tools
After thinking about this for a few hours and hearing from some others that they're struggling to develop deception in their youth players, the way we play in the US has something to do with its lack of appearance. We play on a full 200x85 NHL sheet of ice as soon as 10u (some 8u tournaments are full-ice because there's a market for it). At 10u, all the fastest players skate 'around' the defense. In 12u, the kids that hit puberty first begin to have physical success with speed and strength around the net.
So deception is not 'needed' in those environments. Then when everyone hits puberty and the playing field levels physically, almost nobody has any deception in their game.
The most deceptive players are the 'late bloomers' and physically smaller players because they need it to compete.
Having good 10u players play 12u or mixing ages in practices could help with this (which is already a strategy outside of the US).
Also playing on dull skates or playing with old (less technologically advanced) skates could improve deception like you're getting at with lacrosse players.
Very interesting thought by you and I'm sure I"ll have more thoughts in the coming days.
Yes - the same things can generally be observed in lacrosse. Playing on full fields, in full pads, on full size nets, with adult sized sticks, way too early. Early developers in lax just run through the defense and "power cradle" their way too success. Never can develop into great passers.
It's hard to not pull out the ol' "capitalism" excuse here, but I think there's more to it than that, at least in this case. For example, in the case of mixing ages, I would anticipate resistance to that because of many people's obsession with maximizing and always overloading their athletes; it would be nonsensical to so many parents and players to play with younger kids or 'lesser' kids on purpose, for example.
One great tactic is making boys play with girls - they immediately become afraid of using their typical bulldozer tactics and have to find new ways to solve problems. Girls are afforded the opportunity to whack people and not care as much, lol
Cool little anecdote from Datsyuk on playing in felt boots. There's some wisdom there. In lacrosse, many (or at least some - I see videos frequently) box lacrosse players grow up playing on concrete, with sneakers. Change of direction, sprint speed, agility, etc. are all severely limited by these constraints.
In lax we usually attribute the supremacy of the box lacrosse player's skillset to spacing; they play in tighter quarters and have much less net to shoot at. This is a major factor for sure. But - this anecdote has me thinking that maybe there is some intuitive learning that goes on when you can't rely on your cleats and artificial turf to use speed and agility for gaining an advantage - deception with the stick and eyes and leverage/positioning with the body become the most ready-at-hand tools
This is an incredible insight!!!!
After thinking about this for a few hours and hearing from some others that they're struggling to develop deception in their youth players, the way we play in the US has something to do with its lack of appearance. We play on a full 200x85 NHL sheet of ice as soon as 10u (some 8u tournaments are full-ice because there's a market for it). At 10u, all the fastest players skate 'around' the defense. In 12u, the kids that hit puberty first begin to have physical success with speed and strength around the net.
So deception is not 'needed' in those environments. Then when everyone hits puberty and the playing field levels physically, almost nobody has any deception in their game.
The most deceptive players are the 'late bloomers' and physically smaller players because they need it to compete.
Having good 10u players play 12u or mixing ages in practices could help with this (which is already a strategy outside of the US).
Also playing on dull skates or playing with old (less technologically advanced) skates could improve deception like you're getting at with lacrosse players.
Very interesting thought by you and I'm sure I"ll have more thoughts in the coming days.
If anyone else has ideas, post them here!
Yes - the same things can generally be observed in lacrosse. Playing on full fields, in full pads, on full size nets, with adult sized sticks, way too early. Early developers in lax just run through the defense and "power cradle" their way too success. Never can develop into great passers.
It's hard to not pull out the ol' "capitalism" excuse here, but I think there's more to it than that, at least in this case. For example, in the case of mixing ages, I would anticipate resistance to that because of many people's obsession with maximizing and always overloading their athletes; it would be nonsensical to so many parents and players to play with younger kids or 'lesser' kids on purpose, for example.
One great tactic is making boys play with girls - they immediately become afraid of using their typical bulldozer tactics and have to find new ways to solve problems. Girls are afforded the opportunity to whack people and not care as much, lol