Up and down the west coast parents are being suddenly introduced to the sport of Lacrosse (LAX). A relatively new sport to the masses, LAX has been around sense the 1600’s. Creativity of the sport is credited to the North American Indian and is considered to be America’s original sport. However, in the past 8 years has lacrosse become popular on the west coast. With the introduction of such a new sport chances are good parents have never played it or even attempted to pick up a stick and throw the ball around. The introduction of a new sport to our youth can present many problems to a parent, primarily the problem of sport introduction. Most parents introduce their child to a sport through basic interaction, they will go out to the park and play catch with a baseball, throw a football around, or shoot some baskets. Our goal in our 4 part Lacrosse introduction series is to introduce the sport of Lacrosse and its primary skills.

Lacrosse is a fast paced sport with many physical challenges. Lacrosse is a sport played with a stick. The stick is called the crosse and each athlete desiring LAX particpation must master crosse (stick) usage to throw, catch, scoop and shoot the ball. In part one of the four part series Youth Fitness Magazine will introduce the proper throwing technqiues used in Lacrosse.

The first issue that must be determined for throwing is which hand is the top hand on the stick. The top hand is the hand closest to the net on the stick, generally placed in the middle of the stick for throwing. This hand is usually your dominant hand the same one you would throw a baseball with. When asked about throwing a majority of LAX coaches suggest it is very similar to throwing a baseball. Coach Danny Koltz of Santa Fe Christian High School in San Diego, CA states “throwing a LAX ball is just like throwing a baseball. Get your arms back, hand above your ear, elbows up, step to your target with the opposite foot and snap the wrist at follow through.” The coach believes that if a kid can throw a baseball, then they can throw a lacrosse ball. Koltz suggestion is that a player needs to be able to throw with only one hand on the stick first, the top hand. “The most important part of throwing is being able to throw with the top hand (hand highest on the stick). You throw with the top hand, the bottom hand is just guiding.”