There are some very important things to remember while facing-off, other than the face-off skills themselves. Obviously, not everything about facing-off can be written in such a short article, but these are some of the points that are important to remember.

The center midfielder should be the leader of the face-off. The two wingmen should follow the directions of the center man and of the coaches. The face-off man is not alone in his decisions about where the wingmen should position themselves and in which direction they should run. The center man should also be in constant contact with the coaches. The coaches might be able to tell the face-off man something he had missed or show him a pattern that the other team has developed.

The center man should be thinking and revising what he has been doing to win the face-offs. He should be continually asking himself how he is going to keep winning or how he will change to win more and he must always be reflecting on what he is doing and seeing. The great face off leader should always be posing the question, "how can I change to become better?"

Some of the factors that a face-off man should be considering are:

• The skill of the person he is facing

• His skill as a face-off man

• The skill of his wingmen and the skill of the other team's wingmen.

Overall, the most important thing to look at is who is winning today? This is very important because even the best of face-off men will have a bad day once in a while.

All these factors are continually changing and should be constantly monitored by the coaches and the face-off men. Some of the best face-off men don't have the best skills, but they have learned how to read the opponents and change effectively.

If, as a center man, you know that the other team is going to win the clamp you should let your wingmen know, so they can be prepared to defend. Also informing the coaches of any losing streaks is a good idea.