Getting Buff from Home

In the game of lacrosse you rely on your entire body to generate power, everything from your legs, your upper body, your core, and your arms. You dont have to go to gym and throw around big weights to become strong and powerful. There are simple exercises you can do around the house to increase your strength. Spend 20 minutes before school performing these workouts and you will see the difference in no time.


Push-Ups (20 reps)
Push-Ups are not just for your chest, they are great for strengthening your back, arms, chest, and core. It is probably one of the best no weight exercises you can do. Everyone thinks they know how to do a pushup, but do you really?

Squat Jumps (10 reps)

This exercise is great for you leg and core strength and explosion. Watch the first video below on how to a correct squat but the exercise doesn't end there. Watch the second video to see how to explode out of your stance and land softly in the same position. The absolute most important thing here is form!

Underhand Pull Ups (10 reps or as many as you can do)
The video says it all. The best upper body work out possible. Remember not to swing or wiggle, slowly lower yourself down and pull straight up.

Forearm Hammer Curl (15 reps each hand)
Your form arms are essential when it comes to having follow through power on your shot. The forearm hammer curl does not require a lot of weight or time, but will have a huge effect.

Traditional Sit up (20 reps)
The core is one of the most important muscle groups when it comes to power. Its in your core that all your power from your legs is transferred, combined and channeled through your arms. The Sit up is the perfect exercise to target the abdominals and the core, but like the Pushup not many people know exactly how to do them correctly. Watch the video below for the perfect Sit up technique.

The repetition are meant as a starting point. If they get to easy, challenge yourself by first trying to do another set of all the exercises, then maybe add another 5 to 10 repetition. In all these workout push yourself to do them all correctly, have good form and complete every repetition. And of course remember to have your Wheaties and a good balanced breakfast before school.

Shape Up!

Lacrosse is the fastest game on two feet so you need to be fit to play. While running long distance is a great work out it doesn't get you in the kind of conditioning you need for lacrosse. Lacrosse is a game of sprints where you must have short bursts of speed continuously. So sprints, and lots of them, are the key to getting into good lacrosse shape.

When training, try to avoid doing your running of pavement, concrete, or even gym floors, the repetitive pounding wears on your joints; traditional grass or turf are the best to train on. The best way to start is to mark off 20 yards. Whether you use cones or a pair of gloves it doesn't matter, as long as you mark off a start and a finish. When you do run your sprints its important to finish the sprint. Don’t run up to the finish point, run through it. You should stop another 5 yards past the finish line. Since it is such a short distance this should be an explosive, all out sprint from beginning to end.

Before you start set a goal of how many consecutive sprints you think you can do. Don’t be over ambitious but also don’t underachieve. Whatever you think you can realistically think you can do add one on too and that is your goal. Working out is all about pushing your limits. Throughout this training you should ALWAYS BE MOVING. When you finish a sprint, turn around walk back to the finish line and jog to the start line to go again. And when you finish whatever you do, don’t bend over; stand up tall and catch your breath.

As you practice more and more your endurance will increase and so will your speed. Hopefully your goals will get higher and higher too. When ten 20 yard sprints become easy, move it back to 30 yards and try again. Unfortunately, getting into shape isn’t like riding a bike, it doesn’t stick with you. If you don’t run for long enough you will lose all your progress. So it is extremely important to stay on top of your conditioning. When spring comes around and your opponents are sucking wind, you ll be glad you put in the time.

Boston Cannons Finally Break Through

Finally. After 11 straight playoff qualifications for the Boston Cannons, the franchise finally hoisted their first Steinfeld Trophy as Major League Lacrosse Championship this past August. The whole team and especially their super caliber leader, Paul Rabil, were ecstatic about the victory,


 “This victory was just a great cumulative team effort." Paul Rabil told MLL.com after the win, "You know I’ve been asked in years past about the Cannons breaking through [in the playoffs], and how the team has had some unfortunate finishes but that’s really a credit to the talents of the rest of the league. There are great players on all the teams and the Cannons have just come up short. But the way this team played in the present is such a great testament to the effort of everyone on the team.”


The Cannons had a magical season starting off 6-1 and then caped off their championship campaign with 5 straight victories. The whole team contributes their success to the passion and close nit family feel of the organization. What ever they are doing in Boston, it is working.


It seems extremely appropriate that the Boston Cannons won this year of all years. It wasn't two years ago that 4 teams folded, including two teams that played int the leagues 2001 inaugural season. WIth the loss of the Philadelphia Barrage, New Jersey Pride, Los Angeles Rip Tide, and the San Francisco Dragons the league was left with only 6 teams. So it seemed fitting that this year The Boston Cannons, one of the few original franchises left, won the championship. A symbol of the longevity and potential of the league.


Despite the past troubles the league has had, the future looks promising. This past December Commissioner David Gross announced a confirmed plan for two more expansion teams in 2012. One in Charlotte, North Carolina and Columbus, Ohio, both cities with quickly growing Lacrosse markets. With national growing interest, international television cover on ESPN, and an extremely competetive and diverse league the MLL has a lot to look forward too. And all of us as fans should be excited for the ride!

Summer Time, Livin's Easy

Summer lacrosse is some of the most fun lacrosse, all day tournaments, 4 games a day,

picnicing for every meal, camps with your teammates, and crazy uniforms. It is also a great time

to work on your skills and to really improve your game, take advantage of all the free time and

great weather. But just playing for your summer club team on the weekend, game after game,

does not count as practicing. Those are games where you can see the improvement in your

shot or maybe try the move you have been working on all spring. The key though is to not be

sitting on your couch all your summer. Games, tournaments, and camps are chances for you to

display and hone your new skills not practice them. With that said put on your craziest lax

penny, nicest golf shorts, highest nike socks, some sweet shades and enjoy the summer.

Under Armour: Protecting Their Secrets.

UA Website

Under Armour, the sports apparal company that started by creating warm weather gear for lacrosse teams of Maryland, has finally announced the development of their own lacrosse equipment line, complete with protective gear and sticks. But just like their slogan "We Must Protect this House", the details for their products are very slim. Other than a few leaked pictures by our friend over at laxunation.com and a small posting on the Under Armour website nothing is known. And while there is no apparent release date we will all have to just wait for the highly anticipated launch.

UA Spectre Glove

UA Control Shafts

UA Demolish Head

Crooked Arrows

All sports have their great movie to call their own. Football has Rudy, Remember the Titan, Any Given Sunday. Basketball has Hoosiers and of course Space Jam, Hockey has Miracle and Mighty Ducks, and Baseball has too many too count. Finally Lacrosse fans everywhere will have our own movie.


Crooked Arrows, expected to release next spring, is the story of a Native American High School Lacrosse team rekindling their  love for the game while challenging the Elite of East Coast Prep School Lacrosse. This traditional underdog story incorporates the spirit of the game with the modern backdrop of High School lacrosse. The movie will be directed by Mitchell Peck who just completed the extremely successful and action packed Priest 3D.


Last week finished the really cool auditions. Peck and his crew traveled to Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut, all hot bed lacrosse states to enlist the help of budding high school lacrosse stars for a chance to be in this feature film. Over a thousand nation wide talents have already tried out.


The timing of this movie could not be more perfect, it is currently coming in the wake of MTV Teen Wolf. A TV series about a teenage Wearwolf, lacrosse replaces the cliche back story of high school football with California's premier High School Program. The sport will not be an undertone in Crooked Arrow, however but the full blown focus. This additional publicity for the sport comes at a time where proffesional and collegiate lacrosse are gaining national attention, interest and attendence. Denver Universities sucess this year in the NCAA tournament proves the growth of the sport nation wide. With lacrosse's new spot in Hollywood who knows where lacrosse will end up.


Cooked Arrows Official Website

1,000th View!

This week Lil' Laxers blog had its 1,000th view, a great accomplish in such a short period of time. Thank you for your support and please continue to read and follow Lil' Laxers. Also remember to follow Lil' Laxers on Facebook as well as either a google, yahoo or twitter subscriber right here on the website.

Lil' Laxers is also pleased to announce the new Lil' Laxers mobile offering a modified web page for improved and easier reading and browsing on all of your mobile gadgets.

Just Meshin' Around

You have so many option when it comes to stringing your stick. The biggest decision though is deciding which material you want to use. There are so many different variations of mesh, traditional and other creative creations, all with their own advantages and disadvantages.


Mesh

10 Diamond Mesh

Lacrosse mesh is simply a nylon woven web. It is the least expensive stringing material, but also the easiest to work with and to play with. The durability and reliability make the material of choice for most beginners and players in difficult weather. Even with in the Mesh category there are numerous choices. The number of diamonds refers to how many diamonds the mesh forms across the mesh. The more diamonds the closer nit the mesh. Some players choose 10 diamond mesh for that reason, they feel that the smaller holes gives more grip and control on the ball. Others feel the exact opposite and pick Monster Mesh. Some people even choose Micro Mesh, or 20 diamond mesh. If you choose 10 diamond you then have the option between soft and hard mesh. Hard mesh gives your strength, consistency, and durability where soft mesh gives flexibility.

6 Diamond-Monster Mesh

20 Diamond- Micro Mesh

Traditional

Traditional Stringing

Traditional stringing is the combination of vertical leather strings interweaved with nylons. The name says it all, this is the original way of stringing, minus the animal gut! Apart from looking really cool, Traditional lacing gives you the most natural feel as a ball handler. A well strung Traditional stick will though perfect every time. Although beware they often have whip just because of the nature of the strings. However, what traditional lacing gains in ball control it loses in convenience. Traditional's biggest short coming is its inconsisency. Since the leather will warp or shrink in any climate or moisture there is not much dependency to be had in a traditionally strung stick. Because of the inconsistency and difficulty level, these sticks are not recommended for beginners. 

There is no one correct way to string a lacrosse stick. You can combine materials, blend traditional methods and new methods, or just make it up as you go. Here are some awesome pictures of creative stringing.