Understanding Shooting Space in Women’s Lacrosse: Key Rules and Tactics
Shooting Space: Defenders must give attackers enough space to shoot safely. Violating this results in a free position shot.
Shooting Space in Women’s Lacrosse: Key Points
• Purpose: Ensures player safety by preventing dangerous shots with defenders in the path.
• Criteria: Applies when the ball is in the critical scoring area, the shooter has intent to score, and a defender is in the shooting lane.
• Defensive Action: Defenders must approach attackers at an angle and can block with their stick, but not enter the shooting lane unless they are within one stick length of the shooter.
Detailed Explanation:
Purpose: The shooting space rule prioritizes safety by preventing dangerous play. If a defender is standing in the shooting lane, it creates a high-risk situation for injury, as shots in lacrosse are fast and powerful. Women’s lacrosse rules aim to avoid such dangers, considering that women’s lacrosse players have less protective gear than in men’s lacrosse.
Criteria: A shooting space violation can only occur when the ball is in the critical scoring area, typically within the 12-meter arc. The attacker must show intent to shoot for the rule to apply. Finally, a defender must be within the shooting lane, which is the triangular space extending from the attacker to both sides of the goal circle.
How Defenders Should Act: A defender cannot run into the shooting space or place themselves directly between the shooter and the goal unless they are actively marking an attacker. If a defender enters the shooting space and is not within one stick length of the attacker, the referee will stop play and award the attacker an 8-meter free position shot. Defenders should instead aim to approach from an angle and put their stick in the shooting lane to challenge the shot without violating the rule.
Penalty for Violation: When a shooting space violation is called, the attacker is awarded an 8-meter free position shot, and the defender must move 4 meters behind the attacker to allow the play to continue safely.
Additional Tip for Coaches: Teach defenders to identify when they are potentially in shooting space and how to adjust their positioning to avoid unnecessary fouls while still defending effectively. Understanding this rule can greatly reduce penalties and improve defensive play.
