Checking Long Poles

[jpfathead]

I play in defense in the southern leagues and have found in several games that midfielders and attackers are generally unable to check D poles. this is mostly because people are more concerned with hitting the 6 foot stick instead of stopping the runner. have other people seen anything like this or is it just in the mids league?

[mandy]

yes it's called stick chasing, and attack men are particularly prone to chasing sticks - if you see defenders (or goalies) with good stick skills they can often beat a number of players as they stick chase them

[london6]

whilst i'm not going to claim any sort of skills, i've found this to be true too. obviously this is not a blanket suggestion, and there is a plethora of short sticks with fantastic checking skills, but it seems that a lot of players do end up making big out of control swings towards poles which frequently miss and create openings to be passed. just my two cents.

[Dave254023]

It does happen in lower leagues as peeps sacrifice body position and actual a solid punch check (to slow the running pole) for one "hail-mary" or "Conan" check. Come to Bath this weekend to watch how shorties should do it!

[pikey]

Dont worry it dosnt just happen in the lower leagues iv been playing in long island new york all summer and even at the high levels here the attackmen still chase the sticks of d poles. Iv sat down a lot of good d men this summer just because i play a lot of body and they just try running through u thinking u will just chase the stick!

[wickybrook]

Come to Bath this weekend to watch how shorties should do it!???