Instructional Video of the Week: The Dodging Middie with Kyle Harrison

Some good advice from LXM Pro middie Kyle Harrison on dodging.

Instructional Video of the Week: Shoot off Defenders Hip

Midfield tips from Pete Poillon. Using a defender to hide the stick on a shot. Good dodging tips as well.

Mikey Powell's Tips on Dodging

#22 Mikey Powell

By Craig Haley

The hardest player for a lacrosse defenseman to stop is the one coming straight at him full speed.

Imagine when that player is Mikey Powell, the legendary attackman/midfielder.

Defensemen often face this predicament against the Major League Lacrosse All-Star because he is so skilled at lacrosse dodges, which get him free to take shots or make passes.

“My job on every lacrosse team that I’ve ever been on has been to be the main dodger,” Powell says. “An offense can’t be successful unless one of the guys knows how to dodge.”

What makes Mikey Powell so outstanding at dodges is his ability to make every one look the same, including the split dodge, face dodge and roll dodge. A defenseman usually is left to pick his poison and Powell has left many in his wake throughout his career. A four-time first-team All-American at Syracuse, he has filled the nets for the Boston Cannons in MLL.

Powell’s lacrosse tips for dodges is to use explosive speed on the approach to a defensemen and to make the dodge happen at what he calls the “break point.” This is the spot in front of the defenseman where his lacrosse stick would end if he held it out in front of himself.  This timing is critical. The defenseman will be able to drop step if the dodge is performed too far away and he can check with his stick if the dodge is done too closely.

Powell’s favorite move is the split dodge. With this move, the offensive player will fake in one direction, hoping to bait the defenseman into overcommitting that way. The offensive player will hold his lacrosse stick up by his head – to protect the ball from a check – plant with his outside foot, then step with his inside foot and head in the opposite direction while bringing the lacrosse stick across his body and switching his hands on the stick. He could have a shot as he gets past the defenseman.

“A lot of players will do stutter steps and things like that,” Powell says.  “I like to just be real crisp with it.”

#0 Mikey Powell with the Boston Cannons of the MLL

A face dodge looks like a shot at the start and is similar to the split dodge. Unlike the split dodge, though, the offensive player doesn’t switch the stick in his hands. He will swing the stick across his face and tuck it against his shoulder to prevent the defenseman from going for the head of the stick.

“Once I get by him, obviously I have him beat,” Powell says. “This is gonna be tough for him to get back in the play, so I’m gonna finish it.”

No lacrosse dodge protects the stick (and ball) better than the roll dodge. Mikey Powell likes to make this move from behind the goal to set up teammates.

With the roll dodge, the offensive player will fake the defenseman into committing one way, plant his inside foot and then spin around and away from his opponent. It’s important for the dodger to protect his lacrosse stick on the spin and not expose the ball to the defenseman.

“The whole time, my stick is always out in front of me,” Powell says. “I always have a visual on my stick, I’m always looking at it and I know the ball is always in there.”

Instructional Video of the Week: Split Dodge with Johnny Christmas

Instructional Video of the Week: Brendan Mundorf Dodging from X

Nice instructional video featuring Brendan Mundorf dodging from X. Video is specific to dodging from X but the tips here are great advice for both attack and midfield dodging from anywhere on the field. Check it out:

Developing Your Dodging

Article from Inside Lacrosse featuring Brendan Mundorf

Brendan Mundorf #2

Brendan Mundorf is one of the most feared dodgers in the world. He's scored with incredible consistency over his six years with the MLL's Denver Outlaws, and without ever canning a two-point shot, he's approaching 250 career points — so you know he can get to the cage. The STX athlete is also getting his camp company Mundorf Lacrosse rolling, and here he is perfecting his method of teaching players how to dodge.

01: When to Dodge
I always want to start a dodge off of ball movement or when my defender is approaching me; the faster or more out of control he's running at me, the more comfortable I am to start my dodge. By the same measure,  I like to always have my feet moving when I catch the ball or any other time pre-dodge — essentially, I don't want to go to the cage if I'm standing still and my defender has his body into me.

Typically, the best time to attack from X is after a middie has made a strong dodge down the alley and worked it behind because my defender' going to be coming down from his help position on goal line extended and the rest of the defense is recovering off of a slide. As a result, it's usually best to go for the backside pipe because the frontside is crowded by the dodger and the defenders who stepped up to turn him back.

02: How to Dodge
At my first step, I picture a straight line between my feet and where on the field I want to release the shot. Then I attack my defender, going straight at him, and take one hard step to the front side pipe causing the defender to drop step turning his hips and shoulders in one direction. Once he does that, I make my move, like a split dodge here, and I aim for his back shoulder and run through it.

The benefit of dodging a moving defenseman is that it's easier to get him to choose one direction. After the move, keep running at the defenseman to take away his checking ability.

03: Stick Protection and Hand Placement

Mundorf dodging

One thing that separates the best players like Ned Crotty is an ability to get their shot off even when they're covered. Two things that are important in being able to do that are stick protection and hand placement in releasing your shot. Protecting your stick is something that develops, and the best way to do it is to practice dodging over and over until you have confidence in knowing how to hold your stick.  I focus on keeping my hands totally across my body and my stickside elbow tight to my chest so the defender can't get a lift.

This plays perfectly into getting a well-disguised shot off.  Keeping my hands low, I work on turning the corner, rotating my body and releasing around my defender. A great way to practice this is by putting a trashcan at five-and-five, dodging at full speed to the edge of it then shooting around it.