Lacrosse Tip   | Tagged: Fundamental Skills

Presented by Mike Petrella, Staff

Games vs. Film

How to watch?

Anyone that has played a sport will at one time have to watch games or the film of games. Depending what you are watching determines how you watch it. Watching games on TV vs. watching games on film to break down yourself or an opponent require different viewing techniques. This blog will concentrate on how to watch a game on TV. The next blog will detail how to watch film of your practices or games.

TV games

One of things a goalie needs to be aware of is that it can be hard to concentrate when watching a game on TV because of the play-by-play announcer and analyst. Their jobs are to describe the live action as it happens and then give a 15-30 second analysis on why something happened, what was good or bad, and to educate the viewer on the finer details of the game. They may have played the game, but chances are the play-by-play announcer didn’t and the analyst did at some level. That being said, rarely did either play more than one position on the field.

How to “watch” a TV game

TV networks present games as a way to attract viewers and expose sports to as many people as possible. This is done with one real goal in mind… collecting money from the organizations that advertise during the breaks. This leads the networks to show many angles, unique aspects of the specific game, replays, analysis, human interest stories, and other things to keep the viewers engaged. Watching a game on live TV isn’t a productive way to learn the finer points of the game or break down the action. In my opinion, watch the live game as a fan, and record it for later to break down what you can from it; chances are you will not get much information from a TV game.

How to “watch” a film

Game film is something most everyone knows about from experience or from movies, TV shows, and sports programming. Film is usually taken from high above the field. There are no close ups, replays or play-by-play. In football, coaches like the “all 22” angle. The “all 22” is a view of all 22 players on the field so they can see what the offense and defense are doing and how they are reacting to each other. For lacrosse games, I like the half field view. Looking at the half of the field that the offense is playing in gives the “all 10 or 11” view of the game. It gives players and coaches the same things football coaches want to see, but with a close view of the action. Don’t watch film as if it were a TV game. Pay close attention to your particular position: attack, middie, defender, or goalie. If you play attack watch what the defense does off ball so you can look at their tendencies for slides, doubles, or crashes. For goalies, watch how the offense plays off ball to determine where they like to get shots off, how the pick, if they use stacks etc.

Why watch

Watching a game on TV has a different feel and outcome than watching film. Watch TV games to enjoy the game, hang out with friends (virtually with COVID), cheer on your team, and tease your friends that root for the other team. Watch film to learn about your opponent, improve your game if the film isn’t of your team, and study the sport. While TV games and film are very different, both are fun and valuable in becoming the best lacrosse player in you.

Check out more lacrosse tips and elevate your game for the upcoming season!