I started this sport just over 1 year ago and I was instantly hooked, even though for the first month I couldn’t cradle and run with the ball. There is something about the game that is addictive, I couldn’t get enough of it. At a glance if you aren’t training or playing wall ball it might seem that your addiction hits a dead end. Wrong!
I am here to fuel your addiction. There are plenty of ways to further your understanding of the game and get an insight to what is happening in the Lacrosse World, you just have to know where to look.
Since the sport is predominantly played in the States and Canada it can be hard to know where to start looking. The key is to find the right websites with good quality advice and tips.
Now, for UK or European players one of the best sites available that has helped me out a lot is laxforums.co.uk. It is a UK based community and is the best place to find out about the rules of the game, player experiences, UK tournaments and buying and selling gear (my favourite section). Basically in short, if something slightly lacrosse related is happening in the UK it will find its way on to this site.
There are a few more websites that hold a copious amount of information. They do apply slightly more to the United States, however, it’s all the same game at the heart of it. Below is a brief overview of the sites.
Major League Lacrosse – The highest form of field lacrosse is played in this league, whilst the site is very US specific it gives a great idea of what is going on.
Inside Lacrosse – This is THE lacrosse magazine, tips on how to play the game, gear and updates on the Pro leagues, College and High school can all be found here. It is a brilliant resource with articles from All-American’s and previous NCAA and MLL players. It also has a great gear section to keep you up to date on the latest and greatest.
LaxAllStars – I love this site. Everything they do is to further the game. They aim to get it growing all over the world. The articles they post have the fun of lacrosse at the centre of them making it really enjoyable to learn about the sport. There are some awesome gear reviews as well from custom head dyes to string tips (keep your eyes posted here for more on stringing soon).
So far I have covered the online literature for lacrosse, but a great way to gain some sort of match experience without having to have years worth of matches under your belt is to watch the game. If you watch footage from high school all the way up to the pro leagues you’ll begin to understand how the best in the game got to where they are.
Of course I can’t forget to mention the importance of tutorial videos. I have practiced various techniques from these to help my game and some of the colleges post videos of drills they do which could help any coaches out there.
Youtube is your friend. In fact, it’s everybody’s friend and subscribing to the right pages and checking out their videos is a great way to improve your game if you can’t get outside and play. Here are what I think are the best channels to subscribe to.
1. LaxAllStars – From stick tricks to game highlights they have it all.
2. TheLacrosseNetwork – Quite possibly my favourite channel not only because they have such good content but they also cover the LXM Pro games. A brilliant way to watch entire matches this channel deserves your attention.
3. uslacrosse8 – With player interviews from before and after various matches you can really get into the game from their perspective.
4. InsideLacrosseTV – The guys at Inside Lacrosse bring you videos to support their website.
5. LAXnews – is a great channel for keeping up to date with the MLL.
These are superb places to start and once you know what kind of players you like to watch don’t forget to give them a search too. I found I really enjoyed learning about face offs from Chris Eck and Greg Gurenlian which lead me to EcksFactorLacrosse and GregGurenlian.
This should help those of you new to the sport find your feet online. Try to watch as many matches as possible and, don’t forget to practice.
So remember, no matter where you are in the world you can always stay clued up and connected.