fencing & lacrosse

[hscoach]

My son's lacrosse coach just told me that fencing has been mentioned several times in the lacrosse forum. laxpower.com. Are there others out there who play lacrosse & fence?

[fencergal33]

I played lacrosse in high school....but that was quite few years ago. I didn't live in an area that had fencing though, so maybe that's why I went with lacrosse.....not very similar though....hmmmmm.

[pancavalier41]

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but here is my story. I played a high level of soccer in high school and I was trying to get ready for college scholarships. My club team brought over a strength and conditioning "coach" from Ukraine. At that time my legs were still a bit weak and he suggested (in a terrible eastern european accent) "You want make leg strong, you must make fencing" So I went to my local club and did all the footwork and thought to myself, stick a weapon in my hand and this could be fun. So I started fencing basically for strength in the legs....which will lead to lacrosse. When I was working on my master's degree in sports medicine in VA I had a grad assistantship at a small school which has an amazing lacrosse program, and it just so happened that the head lax coach's son was my roommate. He;d see me every so often in the weight room or running, and constantly commented that "you have the legs for lacrosse, why dont you switch."

So....that is my guess on this matter. I may be completely wrong, but it does shed some insight. Fencing is amazing, from a scientific and biomechanic standpoint, for cross training for many sports. From a strength and conditioning standpoint, it improves balance, footwork, coordination, and works on strength, plyometrics and conditioning....all of these are basic components of sports like soccer and lacrosse.

Those are my 2 cents. If you care to comment or debate I'd be glad to.

Cheers,
Nick

[vigia]

Maybe the players on the Lacrosse team want some sabre training so that they can be more effective when they are hacking and slashing with their sticks. Think about it -- Lacrosse with parry-riposte checks!

[hscoach]

I played lacrosse in high school and college and have coached lacrosse. I now coach fencing. In both sports we did plenty of footwork drills and eye coordination drills. Like the person on the lacrosse website said the movement in saber from parry 3 to 4 and back is the same as the cradle in lacrosse.

[germanguy]

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[Waterfowl]

I played lacrosse for a year, and never really got into it, however agree that fencing is quite a workout.