Highlights from Christian Cook's Columns for AllLacrosseAmerica.com
sponsored by Sport Automotive
February 14, 2003

Christian's Answers to Questions that I REALLY like by Gerald Goulder, editor YLUSA.com
On: Pockets; Cleats; Defensive Players Checking; Poke Checks, Foot Speed, Study Tapes of Top Defensmen; The Crease Slide; Improving Your Speed; Playing Defense with A Little Bit of Patience; Beating a Zone Defense.

On Pockets:
Unfortunately, there is no magic answer for fixing your pocket. Every lacrosse player has his own distinct throwing style developed through years of practice. Those individuals tailor their sticks to their individual style. Very good players at the highest level can actually play with any style pocket. Their fundamentals are so good that they can change their throwing motion in minute ways that compensate for the diverse pockets they may be using at any given time. My suggestion to you is to make little changes in your pocket and practice against the wall as often as you can. You will learn to string your own stick, make the necessary changes when things are out of “whack” and you will also improve your fundamentals. I can tell you that your problem most likely lies with the tightness of your shooting strings. Shooting strings are there to change how a pocket throws – whether a pocket has a “lip” or not. Keep trying different things and eventually you will find the right “fit” for your style. In addition, if you are a first year player, the problem may not be with your stick, it may lie in your throwing motion. Work on your fundamentals and accuracy and consistency will come. Best of luck to you.

On Cleats:
Personally, I prefer screw-ins because they make me feel faster.  However, on VERY hard ground I slip a great deal so I have to wear moldeds.  You should really have a pair of each to use for different field conditions. 

On Chosing Your Position in Lacrosse:
Personally, I am biased in favor of becoming a defenseman, but let see if I can put your mind at ease a little bit by shedding some light on these issues.  First of all, it is easier to improve your stick skills while throwing against the wall with a short-stick.  However, that does not necessarily mean that you should play with a short-stick.  Many great defensemen were short-sticks at one point during their career.  I often suggest to younger players (defensemen) that they throw against the wall as much as possible, with both a short and a long-stick.  Regardless of what you’re using, your skills are going to improve.  Secondly, it is difficult to improve at any position while practicing by yourself.  That being said, if you can’t find lacrosse players, then find basketball players.  The more you play basketball, the better a defenseman you will be because it will force you to focus on the right footwork and will improve your speed/quickness while on the court.  It will also help you become a better athlete and your overall conditioning.  If you have great speed and strength, then you are fortunate for you can play any position.  However, you can always get faster and strong.  NEVER stop working hard or you’ll get weak and slow or others will catch up to you.  Remember there are hundreds of kids out there working as hard if not harder than you are – don’t slack off.  Personally, I like the challenge of knowing that I have to play a perfect game to shut-out the great attack man of the world.  You can’t afford to make ANY mistakes on defense – one mistake and equal one goal and can lose the game.  There is not the same kind of pressure on offensive players in my opinion.  The choice is up to you and you have to decide what kind of mentality you have.  I wish you the best of luck regardless of what position you choose to pursue.

On Defensive Players Checking:
the timing of checks is not something that should be drilled in to players – in my opinion. I am sure there are many coaches that would contradict this theory, but it is the way I was taught and has worked for me. Focus 90 percent of your drills on footwork, body positioning, teamwork and 10 percent (or less) on checks. As I say time and again (carrying on what was taught by coach Tierney) a defenseman only needs 3 checks to be a First-Team All-America. Those are the slap, lift and poke. These three checks allow a player to maintain body position while running while at the same time take advantage of the 6 foot long-pole. Checks are something that will come naturally to some players and not to others. I would argue that a player should only start trying checks when they RARELY if EVER get beat to the cage. Checks should be used when an offensive player is fading away from the cage and that will never happen if your players are getting beat (I am not in any way saying that your players get beat at this point!). In addition, some defensemen develop the poor habit of checking an offensive player when they are driving to the cage – that is the one time a defenseman should not check and should focus on body positioning. Finally, when delivering a slap check, one should not pull the stick back at all if possible. A defensive playing should play with the head of their stick 2-4 feet away from the bottom hand or stick of the offensive player – then WITHOUT PULLING BACK, deliver a hard slap and leave it on the stick/hand. You can still deliver a hard check without "cocking." If the stick is pulling back it gives the offensive player 1. time and space to throw a pass or shoot, and; 2. an indication that a check is coming giving them time to protect their stick. However, if the slap is thrown with no warning, chances are good you can catch the offensive player off-guard.

On Poke Checks, Foot Speed and Studying Film of Top Defensemen:
I would first suggest that you concentrate more on your feet and less on your poke checks. Although a poke check is a good, fairly benign check that doesn’t often get you in trouble, some people throw so many that it hurts their footspeed – that may be happening to you. Great defensemen have several things in common and to be honest, footspeed is not ALWAYS one of them. There are plenty of great defensemen who simply had great “footwork” while not having great “footspeed.” There is a distinct difference between the two. I find that while there are some very good young defensemen (just out of school), most of the remarkable defensemen are older. This is due to the fact that they have more experience and know the game better. By virtue of knowing the game, they can anticipate the moves of their offensive counterpart and always understand the flow of the game. That is absolutely vital if you are to take the next step in your evolution as a player.
I was fortunate enough to have fairly quick feet and good footspeed, but I will also be the first to admit that my footwork is not nearly as clean and deliberate as many other defensemen like McCabe, Voelker, Jackson, Detomasso and some others. Great footwork comes with practice, both on the field and in the film room. It is the result of knowing and understanding the game and the tendencies of your opponent as well as your teammates. Jump rope, do speed drills, concentrate on your footwork first and foremost in practice – then step into the film room and watch tape of the greats. These will help you take the next step.

On the Crease Slide:
First, if you are standing on the crease and are the slide man, the first thing you should do it play “ball-side” of your man. If you play on the other side of your opponent you will not be able to make a clean slide and may be caught up.
Second, slide early and not late. If you slide late, it is a waste and you aren’t doing your job. It is always better to err on the early side of sliding. How early you slide will rest on several factors. You need to know your teammate who is playing defense, how good the individual opponent is at dodging and what type of stance your defense is in. If you are playing an aggressive sliding defense and there is a fast player dodging, and your midfielder is slow playing defense, then you will want to slide extremely early, while if you are playing a passive defense and the dodger is slow while your midfielder is an excellent defensive player, then you may want to “fake-slide.” Your coach should have specific directions for you.
Third, I don’t think you should slide across the top to help a midfielder unless it is specifically designated by your coach as a double or something else. Along those lines, whenever you slide, the most important thing to remember is to “break-down.” Too many players go for the big hit and get beat by a quick face dodge or split. Slide, break down early and try to poke check the man in the chest. Furthermore, slide to where the man is going, not to where he is.

On Improving Your Speed:
First of all, just straight ahead speed isn’t the most important thing. You want to be dynamic and to focus on your “functional speed.” It won’t matter if you run a 4.3 if you can’t translate it to quickness and speed on the field. Most strength and conditioning coaches will tell you that if you improve both your strength and your flexibility – greater speed will follow. The thinking is that the longer your range of motion, the more you can use the power in your legs/arms/torso, etc. to accelerate. The New Jersey Pride of the MLL have worked with Duane Carlisle and he has helped many of our players improve their 40 times and their functional speed, as well as their strength. I would highly recommend contacting Duane or reading his website to develop some specific exercises for you (http://lightningfast.homeip.net/).

On Playing Defense with A Little Bit of Patience:
There are many young defensemen who expend too much energy and try far too hard to check constantly. It is not necessary to use your stick all that much when playing defense. First of all, if you have trouble playing an attackman who likes to roll, you should be patient and employ a “drop-step.” The “drop-step” is used a great deal while playing defense in basketball and allows you to maintain space when a player changes direction against you. Be patient, use the drop-step and you should be fine. With respect to players who throw a great deal of fakes, focus on their body. If you are having trouble with players that employ fakes, it means you are concentrating too much of your energy on their stick – just worry about their body. Second, you do not need to constantly check the offensive player – just worry about using the “lift” or “poke” when the opposing playing is preparing to throw a pass or shoot. Otherwise, you should maintain good body position and wait. Defense is a game of angles and you’ll notice that the greatest defensemen in the world are often a little older – that is because they have the experience to know when to go after attackmen and when to wait and be smart. You have to be smart and only go after another player at the right time. I would suggest using the “lift” check a great deal – it is the easiest and most underutilized of all defensive checks. You do not need to take the ball away as a defenseman; you just need to neutralize your attackman. The “lift” check enables you to continue moving your feet while providing a high probability that you’ll be able to disrupt the throwing motion of the opposing player.

On Beating a Zone Defense:
The way to beat a zone defense is to make the players in the zone rotate to cover your offensive players. If you do not make any of the defensemen commit, it is very easy to play zone against any type of offense. I would suggest using numerous cutters – forcing the zone to cover each on in turn, eventually leading to an open cutter. You may also overload a side of the zone, but you have to be careful to find a balance between your players. In other words, if your offensive players are too close together, then the zone can cover 2 with 1 – and it is easy to play. If your offensive players are too spread, they won’t draw any defensemen and again, it will be easy to play. Any type of motion offense and continues to open up the middle of the zone or that forces the perimeter players to rotate will easily beat a zone.