Kinda new to face offs, and was wondering...

[FO46]

Hey guys, Right now I'm a starting middie and face off guy for a club team in California, but I'm still kinda learning the art of the face off. I usually prefer quickness over strength, but its always a challenge when I'm against a guy who likes to drive me off the ball, or is bigger and stronger than me. Every time i get a full clamp, sometimes the other player will either literally role over on top of my arms and i cant do anything. Also sometimes when I win the clamp, the other player will duck his head and just run me over leaving the ball at the "x" for the wingman to grab. what should i work on to counter these moves?

[laserlite]

if you are getting the clamp but then losing control or getting pushed off the x you need to get the ball out faster. A lot of new FO guys win the clamp but hesitiate to pop the ball loose. Win the clamp and get the ball moving fast. If you find the other guys are bulling you over try to learn a pinch and pop move or simply push the ball out in front of you( forward ) and let them fall past you as you move to the ball.

[clutchfoff21]

Try and put the ball out faster. Behind or in front. They can't hit what isn't there

[wclax3]

where in CA are you from? Im from CA also

[FO46]

Im from yuba city, our team name is chiatku... its north of sacramento (: and thanks for the tips guys, im definatly going to start practicing pinch and pops, but would it be a hold if the guy rolls on top of my arms?

[bvlax]

Haha hey chiatku. I'm up at BV. Too bad you guys aren't CIF yet. Regardless, it would be an illegal procedure if he stays there. But he shouldn't get the chance. When he charges, he's leaving the ball there for you to clamp free, so just pop it out quick after the clamp. But, if you know he's gonna hit you, just rake it out, don't worry about the clamp. But that's only if you know for sure.

[FO46]

Sick, are you ncjla (: ? and ok ill definatly start practicing that (:

[bvlax]

Nah we're CIF. NCJLA is the club organization. They won't let us play club teams either.

A few good videos: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWW8guU1k6M&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P265ttBGBk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWW8guU1k6M&feature=related

The second one is great, Chris Eck was/is awesome. Look at the other tutorials he has. And the third one is Cantabene, another fogo great. His hand positioning tips are really good (except I like over-under grip instead of moto.)

Some other tips - tape the top of your head covering the plastic of your stick and long enough so your whole hand can grip the taped part. This is so you can grab the plastic without the refs knowing and so you can grip your stick better. Also, I've found that your left hand works best about 8 inches down from the top of your stick. Put tape there for your left hand, same as before. And, like Cantabene says, keep the stick in your fingers and thumb for the quickest movements. Keeping the stick in your palm locks and limits your wrist movement.

And most of the videos on the right are pretty good too. The really good ones almost all say the same thing though. Just avoid the one where the guy is crouched like a frog. Definitely don't want to do that, haha.

[FO46]

Thanks bro, anthony kelly's video seemed a little to basic for me, i get the basic clamps, jam, and laser... but now im just trying to work on a little more "advanced stuff" like pinch and pops, driving my bottom hand at a 45 degree angle, and stepping... but the other videos were great (: And yup i ALWAYS tape my head so so the reffs can see im touching the plastic, since i use motocross (:

[FO46]

Oh yea, my stance is IDENTICAL to alex smith's... moto grip, right foot points to ball, getting low, and my hands are a little less than shoulder width apart... i used to stager my feet so far and put so much weight on my stick last year with a regular grip (i was a rookie ) but alex smith's stance and grip seems to work best for me (: