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I've been criticized by partners and clinicians
for using cross/body check instead of push.
Having said that, here is how I "see things" on the field.
1. Was there reach and opportunity for the contact?
2. Was the contact legal?
3. Did the contact involve shoulder, flank, or hip
as the source?
4. Did the contact involve the crosse and hands?
5. Did the contact involve a single free hand?
When I say "contact" I'm not speaking about brush or jostles but something with some meat in it.
no reach/opportunity ==> illegal check
from behind, low, high ==> illegal check
Free hand ==> push
Crosse + hands ==> crosse check if hands apart
Shoulder &c ==> body check
The only complicated one is this:
crosse+hands together with scooping extra effort
after initial contact
The extra effort makes this a "push" by definition.
Since we wouldn't care unless we
were talking about "an illegal check" I lean toward
the illegal body check because it makes the point about
safety and that lacrosse is not about bashing folks around.
I'm especially hard on "check 'em out of bounds"
situations. Even with the 6 yards, there are too many
ways folks can get hurt on sideline stuff when we can easily
avoid it by playing lacrosse instead of hockey.
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