Page:Lacrosse- The National Game of Canada (New Edition).djvu/146

126 The average long throw with the regulation crosse is about 120 yards, but our crack throwers average 140, and several have thrown from 100 to 190 yards. The pale-face throws farther than the red-skin.

If you must make a long shot, do not make it too high. High throws in Lacrosse are as ineffective as high hits in cricket, and we know the latter make low averages. Twenty feet high is a good height for general throwing; but it will be remembered, of course, that the same law of gravitation in long shots applies to long throws, and the farther you want to send the ball the greater must be its elevation. It is too common, though, to make high throws for the sake of show and individual applause; and once men go to work to please spectators, without consulting the first principles of scientific play, then all chance of improvement ends.

"The shortest distance between two points is straight out." Apply this rule to every long throw. Supposing you throw to one of your side who has one or two opponents in his vicinity, you evidently want him to get it with impunity. Now, the higher throw, the more time is lost in the ascent and descent,