The Lax All Stars Fireside Chat

Princeton was the first lacrosse team I ever cared about. If Ryan Boyle didn’t feed BJ Prager in overtime to win the 2001 title game against Syracuse, I might have become a long stick middie with no personality.

It is with great pleasure that I present the next installment of The Lax All Stars Fireside Chat series featuring California native, Alex Capretta.

412: What was this summer like for the team after Coach Tierney and Coach Metz made their decisions?

Capretta: Well, for starters, what was expected to be a hardworking offseason following a solid year immediately turned into one of uncertainty. Once Coach Tierney left, everyone thought Metz would be our new head coach. Then we heard Metz didn’t take the job, which resulted in more confusion and uncertainty. At this point, rumors were flying left and right. One day Mike Murphy was our new head coach, the next day it was Ben DeLuca, and so on. Finally, Coach Bates took the job, which was a relief. I had been talking to Coach Tierney a little bit during this whole process and he had nothing but great things to say about Coach Bates, so it was reassuring that we landed a great coach. Also, there was a lot of reassurance when we heard Coach Raymond was coming back (he recruited the current sophomore class, as well as coached the current junior and senior classes).

412: How has fall ball under Coach Bates been different?

Capretta: Our practices are at a higher pace and shorter, and we are getting into great shape as a result. Players are stepping up their game because the practice atmosphere is ideal for full-speed play, which always leads to better lacrosse.

412: What are the expectations for the spring?

Capretta: Every player comes to Princeton to win. Coach Bates wants the same goal, but he stresses winning as a team and playing for each other.

412: How are you adjusting to the new heads?

Capretta: I really like the Razer X right now. I want to try the Evo X6 and the new Evo 2.0 before I make a final decision on which stick to play with. I don’t really notice the difference when I play anymore, but stringing them is very different.

412: What kind of an impact do you think they will make on the game?

Capretta: Face-offs seem to be the only difference right now due to the increase in width of the stick. I think, if anything, the new heads are an advantage for offensive players because they allow for larger pockets. I haven’t seen anything that gives the defense an advantage.

412: It seems every team has one or two kids on their team can string sticks. You’re one of those guys for Princeton. For many kids in non traditional areas, stringing and maintaining a quality pocket is a huge challenge. How did get interested in stringing a stick?

Capretta: My friend Thomas Mattimore who plays at Dartmouth was good at stringing in middle school (and still is), and it seemed to give him an edge at the time, so I got into it. It really takes a while to understand the nuances of stringing that make a difference, such as degree of tightness, preparation of mesh before you string, maintaining/changing a pocket while you’re playing with it, etc. I wasn’t good at stringing until 2 years or so after I started. If there is one thing I would tell beginning stringers, it would be that practice makes perfect. You’ll never be good at stringing if you don’t understand why a pocket has no whip, how you can change it, etc. This knowledge comes from practice and reptition.

Capretta's personal stick as seen above

412: What kind of advantages does that stringing knowledge provide? Should every lacrosse player know how to string their own sticks?

If someone else strung my sticks, and I didn’t like them, I would have to go to him to change them until they worked. The beauty of knowing why a pocket throws a certain way helps me find different ways to string the type of pocket I like, as well as maintain and change the pocket until it fits my style perfectly. I don’t think every laxer needs to know how to string his own stick, but I think understanding simple concepts like which strings to tighten/loosen if your stick has too much whip is important.

412: For someone on a budget, what’s the best way to improve their stringing ability?

Buy a stringing kit ($15-20) with directions, follow the manual, and repeat. Changing something each time is helpful as well. For example, try going through two mesh holes between sidewall gaps for 1 or 2 segments after only using 1 mesh hole on all segments.

Capretta strung this for a teammate

412: How fast is the game progressing in California?

Capretta: Stupid fast…more and more kids are playing year round, and more and more kids are playing on club teams in the offseason. Once the knowledge and tradition of good lacrosse completely reaches the players, California will be considered a hotbed for lacrosse because the athletic talent is already there. This will take a while though; baseball is still the main spring sport and football is taken very seriously.

412: How did being from California impact your recruiting experience? Did you everfeel like you might not have a chance to go to an elite D1 program?

Capretta: I had to go to the coaches, as opposed to the east coast players, who would play regular high school games with college coaches present. I was fortunate enough to play on the West Coast Starz the fall of my junior year, which played in Maryland in front of every D1 college program. That summer, I played at Jake Reed’s Blue Chip and Top 205. My high school coaches and the directors of the Starz Lacrosse Club were very helpful in writing letters and reaching out on my (and my teammates’) behalf. I always felt like I had a chance to go to an elite D1 program, but that chance was based on how hard I worked and how much I extended myself to the coaches of the colleges I liked. I really put in the time in researching the process, writing to coaches, and meeting with them before it was too late. On a funnier note, when I was a freshman, my high school coached laughed at me when I told him I wanted to play Princeton Lacrosse and said, “You better be one smart kid.”

Thanks to Alex. Best of luck to him and the Tigers in 2010.

FSU Glove Mock Ups, your favorite?

These shorts from Lax World could have been the best short of ALL TIME, what’s the fatal flaw?

Notes

• Shouldn’t these guys be studying?
• holy
• 412 Lax 1 year anniversary is 10ish weeks away, be prepared for a limited edition clothing to commemorate the occasion
• Tiesto is performing in Minnesota….. Reason #25309 We’ll be relocating the 412 Lax offices ASAP (HE’S NOT COMING TO PITTSBURGH EVER, not even if there was a fire)
• Yes we watch The Hills, this post show analysis is why: Holly Montag gets plastered at Brent Bolthouse’s Photo Exhibit. Plus 11 for leaving even Spencer speechless, and Plus 2 more for Holly’s classic drunk-girl line: “Like, I feel like every second of my life is the greatest second of my life!”
• Bonus reason why we watch The Hills, some girl said to me “You’re my Justin Bobby”