Page:Lacrosse- The National Game of Canada (New Edition).djvu/172

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152
DODGING AND CHECKING.

almost every dodge, it is essentially necessary to be able to spin around instantaneously, and should be often practised.

4. Short Stop and Turn.—This is peculiarly Indian, and more an artful evasion than a deliberate dodge. When a checker meets you, instead of dodging, as described, suddenly stop a few feet from him, make a turn to the right flank or rear as the check is coming, and double until safe. Before our present improvement in playing, a pleasant diversion of the Indians was to keep our checkers prancing around them trying to check this dodge; while it was edifying to a philologer to hear the redskin repartee whenever a paleface made frantic strikes at nothing. It is still their best dodge, as few white men can match them in the wiry sort of leg-bail peculiar to it. When a checker is very persistent and dangerous, occasionally wheel around and keep your back to him.

5. Over Head of Checker.—As the checker strikes at your crosse, elude the stroke by a timely avoidance to the right, and before he recovers, carry your crosse upwards and sweep it high over his head, as you run from right to left; reversing the ball and the side of the netting which hold it, and recov-