LYDECKER, LACROSSE COACH, FINDS INCREASING INTEREST IN GAME DUE TO GREAT INNOVATIONS

The following article, dealing with the development of lacrosse, was written especially for the Crimson by Irving Lydecker, coach of the lacrosse team. Coach Lydecker, a star player while at Syracuse College, is not only extremely well versed in the game, but has also had great opportunity to observe the development of the game in this country.

Why lacrosse, the aboriginal game of the American continent has only recently emerged from the murk of the past to be the leading non-professional spring sport, has been asked many times. The answer is that lacrosse had to be remade, and it took time. It needed feasibility in its mechanics. It could not be too expensive to support. Its dangerous features had to be eliminated, and as a college sport, it had to be made capable of being learned with a considerable degree of expertness in a reasonable length of time, that is, in two or three years.

Great Changes in Game

The students of lacrosse made out of the game, originally a gruesome and dangerous contest, the modern popular sport. The ancient Indian war game was a relic of pure savagery. The players often died from exhaustion, due to frenzied exertion, and the wounds they inflicted upon each other in order to make more keen their interest in the play. The goal posts were miles apart. One side attacked, and the other defended. Aside from this, there was no strategy involved; victory depended purely upon the individual endurance, courage, and stamina of the players.

The modern game of lacrosse does not resemble the original game in many respects. It has been confined to a field about the size of that used in football. The number of men has been limited to 12 on each side, and these men have definite positions, and an exact purpose in every play, just as in football or basketball. The dangerous features of the sport have been eliminated by the use of padding and helmets. Fatal injury to players has been done away with as much as in any other game. In fact, while there are still a good many small injuries, that, from the spectator's standpoint, appear sufficient to send a player to his happy hunting ground, probably no sport has sustained so few serious accidents.

New Features Speed it Up

The game has to equal for speed and endurance, and the development of these features has probably done more to attract the public interest than anything else. Always a fast game, the shortening and improvement of the lacrosse stick made it still faster. The original stick was little more than a flat net on a long handle, and to control the ball with it was little short of marvelous. The modern mentors of the game saw that a shorter stick with a deeper webbing would make for quicker, castle and more accurate handling of the ball. It would prevent a slowing up of the game by eliminating so much dropping of the ball, common in the earlier days. Also, the shorter stick would permit the players to get the ball into action more rapidly when passing from ore to the other.

Thus, in making the stick more feasible for the player, opportunity for a development of a finer technique was given. The beautiful stick handling of the modern game is one of the most attractive features of lacrosse, as well as being one of the most difficult departments of the game. It takes from two to three years for a player to acquire the ability to handle his stick with facility, and to catch and throw the ball with speed and assurance. Teams clever enough to keep the ball in their possession, have a big advantage over players who are inferior in this respect. In fact, it has been so certain in the past that a team would drop the ball every few minutes of play, that until very recently, the coaches of club teams instructed their men to pursue a waiting game, expecting to profit by the errors of the opposing team.

Offside Rule Gives Open Play

The "offside" rule, one of the most recent big changes in the lacrosse rules, has resulted in making the game extremely open, so that everything that happens can be plainly seen by the spectators. This rule, which keeps three men from either team always in each half of the field on both attack and defense, has done away with the old concentration of the entire team around a goal, which destroyed opportunities for finesse and strategy.

The introduction of the helmet, shoulder pad, and other protective garb, has made it possible for the players to take more chances than was possible when they went upon the field with their heads and bodies unprotected from the onslaught of swinging lacrosse sticks. In addition, the exact rules which now define body checking have brought about more daring play. The check in lacrosse is equivalent to the tackle in football, save that it differs in technique. Yet it is no less spectacular, and puts into lacrosse the same smash of physical contact so enjoyed by the spectators.

Length of Halves Reduced

These changes in the sport, along with the greatly faster game, brought about such demands on the man in the way of endurance, that it became necessary to reduce the halves to 30 minutes each. When the halves were 45 minutes, as in the old game, the swift pace invariably told, and the game slowed down as it neared its close. Today, the whole game is played at lightning speed, and the greatest thrills are found in the last moments of a close fought game.

The improvement of technique, and the development of strategy have made possible more definite and accurate plays. Complicated formations, intended to deceive opponents and draw their men away from their proper places and otherwise disconcert them, are now possible.

The game of lacrosse in England has had a slight development in over 40 years. The rapid development of the game in this country has covered a much shorter term, and the styles of play in the two countries have become very different. The visit of the Oxford-Cambridge team gave us a chance to note the two different styles of play, and to adopt or pass by any features which may or may not appeal to the American experts