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Wells Stanwick Johns Hopkins Lacrosse
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Video: One Handed Lacrosse Goal – The Swami Was Right!

I made a couple of predictions earlier this week, and while you can question my 2012 college national champion picks all you want, my other two predictions are rock solid, and a great example of one of those predictions made its way onto Yotube within hours of my post hitting the ‘net.  One handed lacrosse is here to stay, and we’re only going to see more of it as time goes on!

Wells Stanwick Johns Hopkins Lacrosse
How many one handers can we expect this Stanwick to throw in his career?

My point is not that the one handed shot is new to lacrosse.  As anyone who knows the game well can tell you, the one handed shot had been around for years.  My point is that the newest, lightest sticks and improvements in flex technology (both in the head and shaft) will make one handed lacrosse easier, and therefore more popular, than ever.

I run through the WHY and HOW of one handed lacrosse in This Lacrosse Swami Says: The Future Is Coming!

The only problem with the argument I’ve made is that almost all the players I mention, who play one-handed, are the BEST guys in the world, and the best guys in the world have been doing the one hand thing for quite some time.  So what exactly is NEW about that?  Nothing.

What is new is that younger players are now shooting and passing one handed, and it’s working for them.  The one hand flip pass can be seen in college and high school games across the country right now, and this is a big change from when I was playing the game at these levels, only 10-20 years ago, when that type of play was much rarer, and often vehemently frowned upon by the coaching establishment.

However, the one handed flip pass is now widely accepted, and the one handed shot is well on its way.  Check out this High School game below for proof:

This game was played by the Providence School and I believe, Sandalwood Fletcher, and was played in North Florida.  Neither of these teams are considered to be top level teams in Florida, but I think that only strengthens my point.  Kids at all levels of the game, in every possible place, are learning to play one handed, and many are seeing success.  And they actually look pretty natural doing so.

Watch that high school player score one handed again.  Now watch Blake Miller score one handed for Team USA back in 2007 against Loyola.

Now try to tell me the high school kid didn’t look a little more natural shooting one handed…  I know, I feel crazy just writing that.  Blake Miller is one of the best ever, and the high school player is… well, a high school player.  But he still looks really comfortable shooting one handed, whereas Miller seems as surprised as everyone else that the ball went in.

Miller shot one handed our of pure need and creativity.  The Providence players almost seemed to set his one handed shot up before hand with his dodge.  And it has everything to do with lighter sticks and better ball retention.  It’s worth noting, the player, Morgan had this to say:

I’m the high school player who scored that one hander, and the game was against a school called Sandalwood not Fletcher. Fletcher was the game after that. And our coaches don’t ever tell us to do one handed shots, it was just an in the moment might as well kind of thing.

Interesting.  And I think it reinforces my argument that the changes in stick technology over the last few years have definitely impacted the game, and I think they will continue to impact the game in a major way. He just did it. Off the cuff, no big deal.  Would a player have thought that ten years ago?  No.  The sticks simply didn’t allow for it.

And the change will continue to come with exponential rapidity.  So much so that if I posted something like this in two to three years, the only comment I would probably get is “duh.”

As a coach or a player, will you start adding one handed passing or finishing into your training plan?  Do you use it already?  

Or do you think I’m crazy and have no idea what I’m talking about?

I’m excited to hear what people think about the impending invasion of one handed lacrosse.