Here we go again with the Face Off

[xxxxxxx]

Heard from a very reliable source that the Rules Committee is seriously considering banning the moto grip and not letting players take a knee with a vote coming shortly after Memorial Day. The rules boys can't help themselves and to make such a drastic change with no testing is par for the course with these guys. Today's face off men have been training their whole lives for a specific skill and these geniuses want to change it significantly with no data. You can't make this stuff up.

[CU77]

Ugh. Horrible.

[Laxxal22]

They're like Spaulding Smails and picking his nose - just can't help themselves. Who is on the Rules Committee?

[wgdsr]

please post all their names.
i will find their email addresses.

[xxxxxxx]

I believe this is the current committee:

https://web1.ncaa.org/committees/commit ... =MLACRULES

[DMac]

However it's evolved, the lacrosse world has let the face off get completely out of control. I like the face off, think it adds a great element to the game as well as bringing a unique and different stick skill. A stick skill shouldn't include picking the ball up with a tongs like grip on the ball and lifting it with a plunger like motion though. Don't care how FOGOs grip the stick, don't care if they have a knee up or down, only care that when the whistle blows the ball comes into play. Two guys clamping the ball down and circling in a wrestling match of sorts shouldn't happen on a lacrosse field. Clamp and scrape...it's about quickness, not who the better wrestler is. Doesn't surprise me that the rules committee is looking at the face off again, they sure as hell need to make a decision and stick with it though.
My suggestion would be that FOGOs use wooden sticks only.
Grip it whatever way you want. You can squat or kneel too.

[DocBarrister]

However it's evolved, the lacrosse world has let the face off get completely out of control. I like the face off, think it adds a great element to the game as well as bringing a unique and different stick skill. A stick skill shouldn't include picking the ball up with a tongs like grip on the ball and lifting it with a plunger like motion though. Don't care how FOGOs grip the stick, don't care if they have a knee up or down, only care that when the whistle blows the ball comes into play. Two guys clamping the ball down and circling in a wrestling match of sorts shouldn't happen on a lacrosse field. Clamp and scrape...it's about quickness, not who the better wrestler is. Doesn't surprise me that the rules committee is looking at the face off again, they sure as hell need to make a decision and stick with it though.
My suggestion would be that FOGOs use wooden sticks only.
Grip it whatever way you want. You can squat or kneel too.

Doesn’t matter how they change the rules. Elite faceoff specialists will find a way to dominate. The rules may change who dominates and how (style), but there will always be some group of faceoff specialists who will dominate.

So there is no purpose for all of these rule changes. Just leave the rules alone and let the players play.

DocBarrister

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Simple change: set it up as a duel. Each specialist five yards from the ball. No long stick. Blow whistle. Good luck.

[QuakerSouth]

Heh heh heh. Like it!

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Saves the refs from having to watch everything. Including grips, early start, etc. As long as you both are behind your lines and the ball is in place, be prepared for a whistle at any moment.

The key skill then becomes getting a ground ball.

Not all this specialized stick, clamping stuff.

[Catbird]

They will adapt. Can't believe I am looking at people who have been watching lacrosse for more than a handful of years complaining about doing away with the motorcycle grip. Good riddance! What has gone on the last 13 years since about Alex Smith's time has been a slow legalization of withholding the ball for extended amounts of time.

Chris Cercy didn't need a motorcycle grip to dominate. Faceoffs used to be about getting the ball out from the X fast to a spot where you could or your teammate could get to it first. It used to be TAUGHT that putting your knee on the ground put you at a disadvantage.

[DMac]

However it's evolved, the lacrosse world has let the face off get completely out of control. I like the face off, think it adds a great element to the game as well as bringing a unique and different stick skill. A stick skill shouldn't include picking the ball up with a tongs like grip on the ball and lifting it with a plunger like motion though. Don't care how FOGOs grip the stick, don't care if they have a knee up or down, only care that when the whistle blows the ball comes into play. Two guys clamping the ball down and circling in a wrestling match of sorts shouldn't happen on a lacrosse field. Clamp and scrape...it's about quickness, not who the better wrestler is. Doesn't surprise me that the rules committee is looking at the face off again, they sure as hell need to make a decision and stick with it though.
My suggestion would be that FOGOs use wooden sticks only.
Grip it whatever way you want. You can squat or kneel too.

Doesn’t matter how they change the rules. Elite faceoff specialists will find a way to dominate. The rules may change who dominates and how (style), but there will always be some group of faceoff specialists who will dominate.

So there is no purpose for all of these rule changes. Just leave the rules alone and let the players play.

DocBarrister

I never suggested that he who masters the skill the best wouldn't still dominate regardless of how the face off is done. It always comes back to the sticks, it's not the grip or whether your knee is on or off the ground, it's how the stick can be manipulated so as to pick the ball up like picking a meatball out of a bowl with tongs. Shouldn't happen, period. What also shouldn't happen is clamping the ball and holding. One of the two, or both, is happening when we get the circle dance/wrestling match at the face off X. No way the ball should be at one spot on the ground with two players sticks on it without moving for as long as we see in many face offs. The ball should be directed instantly when the whistle blows, should not be in the same spot 3, 5, 7 seconds later with two guys holding it there. I would guess that's why the rules committee is yet again looking at the face off.

[spartanslynx]

If you go the route of not wanting clamps, why can't you change the set-up of sticks to be sidewall against sidewall so the front of the stick faces the ground?

Then you won't have time to clamp

[youthathletics]

A simple change is to have their stacks lay flat on the ground, not cocked and loaded perpendicular to the ground. This still provides a 1v1 battle, no advantage/disadvantage by being a bit early or neutral zone infraction, makes seeing an early move much simpler.

EDIT: sorry spartanslynx, I just saw your post after I typed mine up, I hadnt' read the entire thread yet. I agree with you, and expanded a bit further.

[Surfs_Up]

The PLL Rules resolve a lot of the issues some people think there are with current face offs. No reason to remove the knee or moto grip. The face off is a skill and technique and adds an exciting game changing element to every possession and game. You always have a chance to come back and win when behind with an Elite FOGO.

The more we get away from that, the more Lacrosse becomes soccer. Soccer is boring and just plains sucks.

BTW, goalies are too good. Every goalie has to wear an eye patch moving forward.

Quit picking on Face-offs

[youthathletics]

little argument there.....I just think the end goal, as with officiating 101, is that the advantage/disadvantage element is minimized. If they can come to agreement that it truly is a neutral battle, leave it alone.

[wgdsr]

little argument there.....I just think the end goal, as with officiating 101, is that the advantage/disadvantage element is minimized. If they can come to agreement that it truly is a neutral battle, leave it alone.

what advantage/disadvantage? who has which?

[palaxoff]

Just a guess, but anyone else think fiddling with the faceoff is more a TV thing then a sport thing? I have talked to enough non lax people who have watched games of TV. The face off seem to be the thing they have most trouble understanding, When 1 team dominates they think it gets to be it unfair. They don't seem real excited about "wrestling match" part of it either.

[Surfs_Up]

I personally find the face off as the most exciting part of the game. The camera zooms in, the 2 guys are battling 1-1 gladiator style. THe rest of the game is just a bunch of guys throwing a ball around with a stick.

[DMac]

If that's what you want to see why not just watch wrestling that's not interrupted by a bunch of guys just throwing the ball around?