Page:Lacrosse- The National Game of Canada (New Edition).djvu/144

124 to a man of your side, the sooner the ball gets to him the better; and if a swift throw will facilitate that end better than a slow, by all means throw swift. In throwing to goal, however, we wish to correct a delusion, and that is, that "swift shots are more likely to win games than slow." We have lost more games by the latter, and believe it to be the experience of every goal-keeper, white and red. Slow balls at cricket are harder to time. Most batsmen like fast bowling. If only swift balls took wickets, where would be the bowling fame of George Parr? In goal we find swift shots easier to time and stop than slow, because they do not deviate as much from the original line, and are not as likely to slip. Of course, if a goal-keeper is afraid of them, swift balls will soon knock him end-ways. Curved balls get any speed they may have, from the altitude from which they fall and the distance they were thrown, and their speed cannot be regulated to ensure accuracy.

If either the ball or the netting of the crosse are wet, the throw is easier accelerated, though velocity is mainly regulated by the force put into the