Lax Talk: Field Manual of Lacrosse Terms
Volume 1
Hey Lax-Rat, want to sound like you know what you’re talking about? Here’s the slang you’ll need on the lacrosse field:
Ankle Breaker: A split dodge or any extremely quick turn.
Around the World: A high-to-low shot achieved by wrapping the stick around the back and over the shoulder. Similar to the ‘Behind the Back’ shot.
Assist: A pass to a shooter that results in a goal.
Backbreaker: Trick shot where the stick is swung up and over the helmet, full arc, until the stick slaps the buttocks sending the ball between the legs.
Backdoor: When an offensive player sneaks behind the defenders unnoticed to receive a feed pass for an easy score.
Bait: When the goalie feigns a weakness to draw a shot they anticipate and easily block.
Black Hole: A player that never passes AKA ball hog.
Bomb: When the goalie lobs the ball across the field to his or her offense.
Cage: The goal. Also called the ‘cooker,’ among other things.
Canadian Egg Roll: A shot, usually performed on the crease, where the shooter receives a pass while facing away from the goal, and in one downward, arcing motion, shoots the ball low and behind themselves.
Carry the Pizza: When a player runs down the field with the ball in the crosse’s pocket, holding the crosse far out in front by the base with one hand, arm fully extended. Also referred to as ‘Walking the Dog.’
Clamp: A face-off move where the player pushes their stick over the top of the ball to gain control.
Cradling: Rocking the pocket back and forth by rolling the shaft to create inertia while running at top speed, thus securing the ball in the pocket.
D-Pole: A defender’s stick.
Dive: A shot made illegal in high school and college lacrosse where the shooter dives into the crease, shooting mid-air, without touching the ground, goal, or goaltender before the balls crosses the goal plane.
Egg Hunt: The after-practice routine of finding the balls that went missing.
EMO: Extra Man Offense refers to when one team is outnumbering the other because the latter has one or more players in the penalty box.
Face Dodge: Maneuver performed when the ball carrier goes head-to-head with a defender. The carrier feigns one way with feet and stick head before cutting in the opposite direction while moving the pocket across the face to establish protection from checks.
Fish: An unskilled defender who is easy to bypass.
Fool’s Goal: A shot that hits the net without entering the goal, giving the appearance of a score.
Gliman Clear: When the goalie launches the ball down the field to no one in particular.
Goose: Flipping a groundball to a teammate without actually taking possession.
Helicopter: When a stick gets checked so hard it goes spinning through the air.
High-to-Low: A shot taken up high that ends low.
Hoover: A player that is very good at recovering ground balls.
Hugging the Pipe: When a goalie almost completely closes off the side of the goal being shot at.
Indian Pick Up: Fancy way to pick up a ground ball by rolling the top inside of the scoop over the ball, getting it moving, and then turning the head underneath the ball scooping it up.
Lazer: A very hard shot, stick to net. Also called a ‘Frozen Rope.’
Lift Check: A check with the stick positioned underneath the carriers’ stick or arms and jerked upward to disrupt ball control.
Low-to-High: An underhand shot that hits high in the net. Also called a ‘Riser.’
Stay tuned for Volume 2.
