LINE UP – This term represents the pre-game lining up of starting teams on the field. Each team lines up across from one another, with their left shoulder facing the side of the field being defended. The goalies will stand with his back to the goal he is defending, and the referee will instruct the goalies to meet at mid-field to shake hands. After this the players take their position for the face-off.

MARK UP – Lining up directly next to your opponent on the face-off wing, with the intention of defending the other player and not allowing him to get an easy ground ball.

PLAY UP – Lining up on the offensive half of the face-off wing. The intention of this alignment is to put us in a position to start a fast break opportunity off the face-off.

PLAY DOWN – Lining up on the defensive side of the face-off wing. The intention of this alignment is generally to prevent a fast break by the opponent.

STRONG SIDE – Represents the rake side (left side) of the face-off man or the ball carrier.

WEAK SIDE – Represents the right side of the face-off man or the ball carrier.

 

1-3-2 – This will be our general offensive setup. In this structure there will be 2 Midfielders near the top of the restraining box, and one on the crease. The Attackmen will be set up with one at X (X is the attack position directly behind the goal) and one each on either side of the goal, about 10 yards off the goal pipe and 2 yards above the goal from the GLE. Other common offensive formations from X are 1-4-1 and 2-1-3

CREASE – This is the circular line surrounding the goal, and is intended to protect the goalie. No offensive player is ever allowed inside this area; the result is a change of possession or the negation of score. Defensive players may run through the crease, for example when covering their men, but not if they have possession of the ball.

CUT/POP/V-CUT – The act of making a move on the defender for the purpose of getting open for a pass.   This usually entails stepping toward the defender to make him move one way, then quickly popping away in the opposite direction, at a slant, to create space to easily get open and catch the ball.  

DODGE – This is the act of making as move with the ball. A dodge can be used to simply change direction while in possession of the ball, or to make a move to the goal by attempting to beat your defender.

FEED – The act of passing to an open or cutting teammate for the purpose of assisting on a goal.

GOAL LINE EXTENDED (GLE) – This stands for Goal Line Extended. It’s the theoretical line that extends from the goal line to the sideline.

ISO – Short for isolation, this is the act of intentionally drawing your defender away from the goal with the intent to beat him one-on-one to become a shooter or feeder.

PICK – This is the act of stepping in front of the defender of another player so that your teammate can get open for a pass & shot. As is basketball, a moving pick is a violation.

SHOW – This term is an instruction for the named player or position to get in a better position to receive a pass or to appear to be in position to defend.

X – This represents the area directly behind the goal, and is a common area for attackers to initiate scoring opportunities.

 

“GET IN THE HOLE” – The coach will call this when we’re playing defense in an unsettled situation and he wants all defenders to sprint back to the inside of the restraining box in front of the goal (the hole) and play defense “inside / out”. (See the philosophy section for explanation on “Inside / Out”)

“NUMBER UP” – All defensive players should call out the number of the man they are covering.

“I’VE GOT BALL” – This should always be called out by the defender who is covering the man with the ball.

OFF BALL DEFENDER- These are the defenders closest to the ball carrier, but not defending the ball carrier. If you are an Off Ball Defender, you must be prepared to do two things: TALK (tell the ball defender where you are) and SLIDE (get ready to cover the ball carrier if he beats our defender).

“BACK LEFT”– This should always be called out by the Off Ball Defender who is left of the man covering the ball. “Help Left” should be called repeatedly to ensure the defender of the ball that he has back-up to his left in the event he gets beat.

“BACK RIGHT” – This is the same concept for the Off Ball Defender to the right side of the man covering the ball. Call out “Help Right” repeatedly.

“STICKS UP” - All defenders should play with their sticks in the air blocking passing lanes. The coach will call this if he senses that the defense is playing with sticks facing the ground or at the side.

“CLEAR THE CREASE” – Called out by the goalie and indicates that there is a ground ball in the crease area and all opponents should be physically (and legally) cleared out so that we or the goalie can get possession of the ground ball.

“CUTTERS/CHECK STICKS” – This indicated that someone is making a cut through the crease area with the intent to receive a pass and score. Crease defenders should be ready to check the stick of their opponent when this is called. Stick and body checks are legal if done within 5 yards of the ball without slashing. At the youth level body checks resulting in a player being knocked to the ground are illegal.

“DROP-IN” – You are playing your man too far from the goal. You should back off your man and put yourself in a position to slide and help your teammates.

“HOLD” – The goalie will call this when an offensive player with the ball is getting too close to the goal and is a potential shooter. This call should alert the ball defender to force the ball carrier out of shooting range.

RED “#” – This will be called when the coach wants the man covering the ball to aggressively defend the man with the ball with the intent to take the ball away. The coach will call RED and then the number of the defender guarding the man with the ball. Example: RED 4 (#4 defends his man and the adjacent defenders shut down the outlet passes).  The defenders adjacent (right & left) to the man covering the ball should shut down their men, closely defending them with the intent of keeping them from getting a pass from the man with the ball.

“SLIDE” – This is the act of leaving your man to defend the ball if the defender adjacent to you was covering the ball and has been beat. This term also applies to filling in for a fellow defender who has left his man to play the ball.

“I’M HOT” –This is what the defender should call to indicate he will be making the slide.

“BOX in ONE” – This will be our general man down defense – when we lose a player to a penalty and have a 6 on 5 situation (or worse). We will often have 4 long sticks and 1 short stick on our Man Down Defense. BOX stands for having the 4 long sticks forming a square in front of the crease with a defender in the top Right, Top Left, Bottom Right and Bottom Left positions. ONE stands for having the short stick in the center of the box covering potential cutters and any offensive player standing in the crease area (usually called “String”).

 

“BREAK!” or “CLEAR!” – This is called out by the goalie after a save is made. It should alert all players to break out for an outlet pass now that we have possession.

RIDING – This is the concept of defending the opposing team after they gain possession in their defensive half of the field by a change of possession or after a save by the opponent’s goalie.

CLEARING – This is the concept of getting the ball out of the defensive zone into our offensive half of the field after a change of possession or save by our goalie.

“GET IN THE HOLE!” – The coach will call this when we’re playing defense in an unsettled situation and he wants all defenders to sprint back to the inside of the restraining box (the hole) and play defense “inside / out”. (See the Defensive Philosophy section for explanation on “Inside / Out”)

 

“[I GOT] BALL” – The ball is on the ground and you’re going to go after it.

“[I GOT] MAN” – The ball is on the ground and you are playing the man to give your teammate a better opportunity to get the ground ball.

MAN UP/MAN DOWN – This describes the situation where a team needs to play minus one player for a period of time due to a penalty. Technical fouls are served for 30 seconds and personal fouls one minute. Other infractions such unsportsmanlike conduct or an illegal stick can result in longer penalties the discretion of the official(s).

MIDDIES! – Hearing this indicates that we want to substitute our midfield line. If you are a midfielder, hustle on/off the field.