How to Play Lacrosse
Learning how to play lacrosse involves learning defensive and offensive strategies that are used to help win a game. There are two types of defense in lacrosse, and these are man-to-man and zone. Most of the time teams use the man-to-man defense.
In the man-to-man defense, each player on the defense is responsible for one player on the offense. If one defensive player is left behind on a drive, another defensive player must cover for him. This is called a slide--at any moment a defensive player has to be ready to slide over and take on the opponent with the ball. The whole object of the defense is to get the ball away from the opponent and into the hands of its own offense.
Learning how to play lacrosse also involves learning to play different zone defenses. The 3-3 defense will have the area above the goal line divided into six zones. Three defensemen cover the bottom three zones and three midfielders cover the top three zones. Defenders do not go far below the goal line.
In lacrosse, man-to-man is used most because it allows players to steal the ball from the offense and be aggressive in intercepting passes. In learning how to play lacrosse, you will find that the strength of the man-to-man defense is often based on the abilities of the defensemen in terms of their speed, skill, and agility. Teams that don’t have some naturally talented athletes will sometimes play zone to make up for this deficiency.
Many things in lacrosse are similar to basketball and one of those things is the strategy of the offense. For instance, once a team has taken possession of the ball, it may fast break down the field looking for someone to breakaway and score. Then again, if a fast break doesn’t seem do-able, the offense can slow down the ball and literally walk it down the field.
When the offense has the ball they are always going to be looking for that one person who can beat his defenseman and get in position for a good pass. As most goals are scored from directly in front of the zone, the objective is to get someone open in this area to take a shot on goal.
A player on the offense should never be standing still. They should be in constant movement both before and after they have possession of the ball. In the first instance they should be moving to break away from their defenseman to get the ball or get free for a pass, and in the second instance, someone with the ball should keep moving or running at all times. It is this movement that will open up the space for you to make a shot on the goal. If you are unable to get a shot, you should be moving to be free to pass the ball to someone else who getting open.
The strategies of how to play lacrosse are similar to those in basketball and hockey. It is not hard to learn how to play lacrosse and it can be a lot of fun.