Shooting in wlax

[DMac]

When I first started watching a little wlax (thanks to ketch's influence) I was surprised, and maybe a little baffled, by the lack of zip on the gal's shots. I wondered if they were holding their sticks right, maybe more holding them with a baseball bat grip rather than a bit looser/softer grip across the palm like a ping pong paddle or tennis racket (or lacrosse stick). I recognized the difference in sticks, but the sticks the girls are using I don't see as being much different than the mlaxers sticks of the 70s-80s. Also recognize the difference in strength (sorry gals, that's just the way it is), but firing a harder shot is a whole lot more about mechanics and leverage than it is strength. Seems to me as if there are a whole lot more girls in wlax today who shoot with better mechanics (shoot like the mlaxers) and are putting some fire on their shots. There's quite a list of girls who could be used as examples, Levy would be one of them. It seems to me as if the girls are driving their shots harder and with more authority than in the not so distant past. I've seen Cuse the most and it's hard to not notice how many of his gals shoot with power, more mlax mechanics, and authority. These girls don't shoot like the gals of yore did (as recently as the 80s-90s), they're firing it.
The sticks and rules changes has made wlax a whole new ball game, much to the chagrin of the purists no doubt. BTB passes and shots, stinging the corner at 90mph...oh my. I never saw any of that on the wlax field at William Smith in the 60s. Might have happened in the eleventh minute but I'd have missed it. But for the skirts, I couldn't take any more than ten minutes of wlax. Wlax has come a long way, baby.
BAN SHORTS.
SKIRTS RULE.
SKIRTS PUT THE W IN WLAX!!!!!!

[laxlover88]

Dmac,
While I think the point of your post is that Women's Lax has evolved in a positive way due to the improved equipment and skill of the players, I am not sure you need to be so dismissive of the many amazing players who paved the way. Go look at some highlights of Jen Adams in her hey-day as just one of the many examples of women who had tremendous skill and were fun to watch. It is true that today's sticks have much greater "hold" which allows for harder shots and more tricky stick work. This combined with the number of girls starting the game at a young age, along with hard work and great coaching have produced the plethora of amazing athletes we are fortunate enough to watch today. The same exact thing can be said about the men's game. Since you mention William Smith I assume you went to Hobart. Would you feel the need to insult Beaver Draffin or Rick Gilbert to make the obvious point that modern men's players are more skilled, shoot harder, and do things that players of yore could not accomplish in the 70's and 80's? I won't even comment on your ridiculous fascination with women's uniforms as your post speaks for itself.

[DMac]

Oh my, 88, how you err in your post, it's as if we speak different languages, live on different planets.

Dmac,
While I think the point of your post is that Women's Lax has evolved in a positive way due to the improved equipment and skill of the players, I am not sure you need to be so dismissive of the many amazing players who paved the way. I had no need to be dismissive and I wasn't. I pretty clearly stated that I'm relatively new to wlax, therefore I intentionally avoided going into past players who so bravely and villiantly paved the way for today's shooters. I can only go as far back as Halle Majorana, Kayla Treanor too. Halle's shot stood out from most at that time. My observation was that many girls were aiming and shooting, as you would a dart, while Halle was firing it like you would a baseball (mechanics). Kayla's stick(work) speaks for itself and she could shoot it pretty hard too. Attributes a lot of her shooting ability and stick niftiness to G. Gait....imagine that. Yes, I do think wlax has evolved in a positive way (it's a whole different game today). Go look at some highlights of Jen Adams in her hey-day as just one of the many examples of women who had tremendous skill and were fun to watch. It is true that today's sticks have much greater "hold" which allows for harder shots and more tricky stick work. This combined with the number of girls starting the game at a young age, along with hard work and great coaching have produced the plethora of amazing athletes we are fortunate enough to watch today. The same exact thing can be said about the men's game. Since you mention William Smith I assume you went to Hobart.Although there were a couple of coaches at Hobart who were interested in my going there, no, I didn't. I had other plans at the time, besides, marks matter. Guess that assume expression is true, eh? I went to a lot of Hobart games as a teen, played at a nearby HS. Would you feel the need to insult Beaver Draffin or Rick Gilbert to make the obvious point that modern men's players are more skilled, shoot harder, and do things that players of yore could not accomplish in the 70's and 80's?Beyond baffling, don't even understand this language. Insult? How you interpret anything in my post as being insulting is beyond me. Different language, different planet. I won't even comment on your ridiculous fascination with women's uniforms as your post speaks for itself.
Ah, think this pretty much explains the different language. Fascination? Preference with women's uniforms would be a little more accurate way of putting it, no? To this casual fan's eye, shorts bring a masculine look to the field (never saw any shorts on the field in the 60s...pretty new thing, eh?) I prefer the more feminine touch to the game. Twist that any way you like, the twisting is between your ears, I'm good.
The only point of the whole post was/is that I'm noticing a difference in both mentality (it's a different and more agressive game today) and mechanics (more m-like from more girls) in the way the girls are shooting at the cage. Sure wasn't intended to be insulting or dismissive of anyone and I don't think it was/is...'cept for you, I guess. Strange goings on between those ears.

BAN SHORTS.
SKIRTS RULE.
SKIRTS PUT THE W IN WLAX!!!!!!

[LuvLax]

Ah, think this pretty much explains the different language. Fascination? Preference with women's uniforms would be a little more accurate way of putting it, no? To this casual fan's eye, shorts bring a masculine look to the field (never saw any shorts on the field in the 60s...pretty new thing, eh?) I prefer the more feminine touch to the game. Twist that any way you like, the twisting is between your ears, I'm good.
The only point of the whole post was/is that I'm noticing a difference in both mentality (it's a different and more agressive game today) and mechanics (more m-like from more girls) in the way the girls are shooting at the cage. Sure wasn't intended to be insulting or dismissive of anyone and I don't think it was/is...'cept for you, I guess. Strange goings on between those ears. [/color]

BAN SHORTS.
SKIRTS RULE.
SKIRTS PUT THE W IN WLAX!!!!!!
[/quote]

Pretty new thing? Northwestern started wearing shorts in 2008 and reeled off 7 NCs. If you aren't fascinated, why the large all CAPS BAN SHORTS as your sig. We get it, you dig the skirts. But to call for a ban is ridiculous.

If you care to educate yourself........

https://www.winnerslacrosse.org/blog/la ... ens-skirts

[wlaxnut]

Pretty new thing? Northwestern started wearing shorts in 2008 and reeled off 7 NCs.

If you care to educate yourself........

Northwestern won 5 straight national championships from 2005-2009.
Maryland beat NU in 2010.
NU then won 2 straight in 2011, 2012.

https://www.ncaa.com/history/lacrosse-women/d1

[DMac]

Ah, think this pretty much explains the different language. Fascination? Preference with women's uniforms would be a little more accurate way of putting it, no? To this casual fan's eye, shorts bring a masculine look to the field (never saw any shorts on the field in the 60s...pretty new thing, eh?) I prefer the more feminine touch to the game. Twist that any way you like, the twisting is between your ears, I'm good.
The only point of the whole post was/is that I'm noticing a difference in both mentality (it's a different and more agressive game today) and mechanics (more m-like from more girls) in the way the girls are shooting at the cage. Sure wasn't intended to be insulting or dismissive of anyone and I don't think it was/is...'cept for you, I guess. Strange goings on between those ears. [/color]

BAN SHORTS.
SKIRTS RULE.
SKIRTS PUT THE W IN WLAX!!!!!!

LuvLax wrote
Pretty new thing? Northwestern started wearing shorts in 2008 and reeled off 7 NCs. If you aren't fascinated, why the large all CAPS BAN SHORTS as your sig. We get it, you dig the skirts. But to call for a ban is ridiculous.

If you care to educate yourself........

https://www.winnerslacrosse.org/blog/la ... ens-skirts

Y'all sure to seem to bit a bit touchy about the subject, think you should try to bring a little sense of humor with you when you come out to play. I'm no more fascinated by the wlaxers uniforms than you are, the caps were just for the humor part, but you fail to see that...as does 88. Relatively speaking, yeah I'd say it's a new thing (how long gals been playing lax in skirts?), and most of the teams I see still wear skirts. Guess it's a matter of preference Some would call it a fascination, but that sounds more like something from a Norm Crosby routine to me.

Thanks for the education.
The article:
"I can't tell you the amount of times newcomers to the sport go to watch the game on TV or look at pictures and they ask "Why do the girls wear skirts?". This question has been discussed several times and has now grown to be a debate of shorts vs. skirts.
So there is a debate, must be others have made mention as well....they have a fascination with the unis too?


In fact, this debate came up so much in our locker room, that during our 2012 season I wrote an entire research paper for my Women and Sports class I was taking. I later shortened many of my findings and thoughts into a blog for Lacrosse Magazine which you can read here.

The short answer to why women's lacrosse players wear shorts is tradition. Since the beginning, women have worn kilts, skirts, or skorts. Isn't that all an oymoron? That was until Northwestern University broke the mold and began to wear shorts in 2008. They went on to dominate the lacrosse field, earning seven consecutive NCAA titles. I'm not saying here that shorts are equivalent to excellence, but I was so curious why so many friends and teammates were opposed to the notion of shorts.
Agree, shorts played no part in the run. Says again there that I don't stand alone in opposing shorts...just sayin'.
The most fantastic goal in the run?
Gotta love that Dowd girl.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxPFh6F74mo

Here's an excerpt from my previous blog about where I attribute that resistance to:

"The perception of how a typical female athlete should look and dress in society brings forth great controversy. The "norms" by which female athletes typically conform to seem very paradoxical. In the United States, men, especially in the media, dominate sports. Some women who choose to participate in sports are automatically deemed too masculine because of the male domination in sports. Society's acceptance of women in the sporting world follows only when the athlete's femininity becomes enhanced. The enhancement of an athlete's femininity proves to bring publication and recognition in the media. The enhancing behaviors include wearing makeup or wearing slimmer clothing while in competition.
Sounds a bit like Anna Kournikova....minus the slimmer clothing part.

Now, I'll try not to throw too much theory at you, but it is interesting to see how it lines up with this issue. It's not hard to notice that beauty is sometimes portrayed over athletic ability in different aspects of the media, one of the reasons I feel that girls are resistant to the change."

It is all very interesting to learn and discuss. There are more teams at each level every year deciding to play with shorts, which is exciting to see.

I hope now you know a little more about the issue, and why all our WINNERS girls rock shorts on game day!

There's a lot of over thinking the room going on there. I like the skirts look more than the shorts look on a wlax field. It's really no deeper than that. If wearing shorts is empowering to the gals it's all good, wear the shorts. I hope many feel empowed wearing a skirt too.

BAN SHORTS.
SKIRTS RULE.
SKIRTS PUT THE W IN W LAX!!!!!
small letters = no fascination?

[Nigel]

+.01 (since we're going small)