2013 Pittsburgh Clinics: Practice
Implementation and Skill Building
First Questions, First
1. What level team are you? Youth? Middle School? High
School?
Youth: Youth coaches are the real money earners in the coaching
profession. Your practices need to be the perfect combination of fun and
instructional. The emphasis should be on skills—stickwork, groundball
drills—and small-field games. Lacrosse is lacrosse no matter what size field
you play on. NO LONGSTICKS UNTIL KIDS ARE AT LEAST 13.
Middle School: This is where you begin to have serious lacrosse players.
The conceptual side of the sport becomes more important. Skills have been
mastered, now it’s time to think outside the helmet.
High School: Coaching at the secondary school varsity level should be
approached with the same organizational intensity as college coaching (if
not more). You are preparing with winning games in mind, and you’re
adjusting your plans depending on performance. At the JV level, you are
trying to mirror what is done at the varsity level, while also understanding
skill limitations.
2. Why Plan? Why not just wing it (my players do half the
time anyway)?
You have no other choice: In some ways, practice, is all you have as a
coach. By the time games roll around, it’s too late. Games are won during
the week.
Order in the court, order on the field: Good teams are disciplined teams.
Discipline comes from the coach and the coach’s preparation. A good
practice plan establishes order and organization. Every team’s game-day
performance is a referendum on their practice performance.
With knowledge comes confidence: Preparation breeds confidence. Luck
is where opportunity meets preparation.
Efficiency…breeds efficiency. Don’t waste time in your practices!
Believe it or not: Players want, even crave, organization. Provide it for
them.
3. What are your goals? For the day? For the week? How
about the season?
Building Blocks: A practice plan, like the team it represents, is a fluid,
organic creature. Your last game, win or lose, will dictate your emphasis in
your next practice.
Be Goal Oriented: Identify macro and micro goals for your players (goals
for a season, goals for a week, goals for a specific practice). 65%
EMO/EMD, # Ground-balls per game, goals per game, etc…
Be Progressional: Start small. Think from micro to macro, or if you think
macro, start micro. Small sided, small field, small numbers.
Each practice should generally have a specific goal in mind: All drills will
be tailored towards that end. All drills need not be specifically related to
this, but any time you’re addressing your team directly in a “concept”
based talk, have it be related to your core goal.
4. Scheduling? How does this help/hurt me?
What time does practice start? Is your start time close to the end of the
school day? Is it late at night? Are players driving in? Busing in?
Carpooling? Parents driving them? Recognize and consider your players
“life” realities and plan for them (and how they’re going to effect what you
try to do at practice).
Assume…there’s almost always a fifteen-minute, post-school, post-day,
post-arrival hangover. Recognize that your players are going to be sluggish
at first and figure out how you want to deal with this so it doesn’t make
you completely crazy. My advice: HIT ‘EM HARD EARLY!
5. Pacing…A lacrosse coach’s version of poetry—there is a mix of science,
feel and rhythm to it.
The Wave Concept: managing your action, intensity, instruction and play as
a series of waves with highs and lows.
Things to be aware of… When do you instruct? When do you up the pace?
When do you sense attention waning?
Balance…your high intensity, “fun” drills with your instructional segments.
Make you instructional segments brief and manageable. Small units.
A good way to manage pacing is: THE WAVE CONCEPT
Don’t assume your players have attention spans beyond five minutes (at
best). Make sure that your drills and instruction—and how the two are
dispersed throughout your practice—take into account the fact that kids
get bored, BORED, BORED. Pacing is the key to any
good practice. For you AND your players.
6. How are you going to organize your players? How do you
balance the desire to help beginners with wanting to push
your team to develop.
Strike a balance: You don’t want to hold back your skilled players, nor do
you want to put your weaker players in positions where they are clearly
behind in their skills. At the same time you want to make sure your weaker
players are being pushed and your stronger players are understanding how
“TEAM” means having to provide leadership and guidance to
younger/weaker players.
Use Stations/Groups Where Possible: Anytime you can divide the players
into smaller groups where they’re working with like-skilled players.
Assume the players know where they stand: If you know whether a kid is
strong or weak, chances are they do as well.
Remind these players that the goal is always to
get better. Improvement. Improvement.
7. How much variation do my plans/drills need?
•
You need just enough variation to keep players on their toes
• Some familiarity is good, you want consistency and to be able to move
from drill to drill without too much explanation. Too much familiarity is
bad.
• Always be on the look-out for new stick-work drills (we have
thousands)
• Some methods feel old and routine because they work—there’s just
no way around it!
• Name ALL of your drills… so that your players know what drill is
coming next and can get into it quickly. This will aid in overall efficiency and
will allow your players to feel a greater sense of
personal accountability and involvement.
Some Final Thoughts On Your
Practice Goals and Planning
(The really important things!)
Things you MUST have…
1) BALLS. BALLS. BALLS. BALLS. And more BALLS. Spend whatever money
you have available to your program on balls. Don’t EVER buy
rebounders. Kids can find brick walls. Use that money to buy BALLS. At
the end of practice be an absolute tyrant about your BALL HUNTS.
Every ball is not a ball it is an opportunity to get better.
2) Whistles. Don’t ever come to practice without one. Keep extras in your
car for your idiot coaches who always forget.
3) Cones. Kids are attracted to orange cones. No one knows why, it’s a
mystery of biology and science. Put cones down all over the place.
4) STOP WATCH. I run all of my practices off a stop watch. I time passing
drills, stick drills. A clock counting down creates a sense of urgency
that keeps players focused.
5) Did I mention BALLS?
Last but certainly not least…
The Practice Template…
Today’s Practice: Stickwork,
Stickwork, and More
Stickwork. Oh…and fun.
The Basic Components I have:
•
Dynamic Warm-up, Stick-work
•
Fun Game Segments: Ground-Balls Games, Relay Race
•
Concept Specific Drills (Offensively and Defensively)
•
Small Field Transition Games
•
3v3s, 4v4s
•
Numbers Recognition Drills
•
Full Field Scrimmage/Game
•
6v6 Half Field Drills
The Plan:
The Drills:
1. Squirrels and Nuts
Explanation:
This is an up-tempo game to get kids excited and engaged with practice.
The goal is to get kids running/moving, while at the same time working on
basic ground ball skills
The rules: Each player gets a cone in the circle. This cone is their “tree”. The
coach tosses a bunch of balls into the center of the circle. These are,
obviously, “the nuts”. On the whistle each kid runs into the center of the
circle and tries to grab a “nut”. Players may only take 1 at a time and
cannot throw them or “sweep” them back to their tree. Anyone caught
doing this will be sent to squirrel prison. As soon as all the balls are
collected, players can “poach” from other trees, but they MAY NOT poach
from the tree on either side of their own. They can poach from anyone else
around the circle. Coaches should set their watch for a prescribed amount
of time depending on how many balls there are. PLAYERS MAY “POKE” or
“LIFT” ANYONE WITH A BALL IN TEHIR STICK.
THERE IS NO “DEFENDING” of TREES!
Set Up
Squirrels and Nuts
Execution
Obviously thisSquirrels
guy is not and Nuts
doing what he’s supposed to
but as coaches we all know
there will be at least one kid
who is clueless as to the idea
behind the drill, so we are
trying to be as “authentic”
as possible here.
2. Partner Passing
Set Up
Partner Passing: Set Up
Execution
Partner Passing: Set Up
Key Points/Things to Remember
Turn shoulders: Always have the front (lead) shoulder pointed at the
target. You never want your hips facing your partner.
Butt End Laser Pointer: Wherever the butt end of the stick is pointing
THAT’S where the pass will go. Point at target.
Stick Parallel to the Ground: You players have a tendency to push from 45
degrees rather than “push”/”pull” the full 180.
Slide the top-hand to the plastic when catching: It’s easier to control the
stick and teaches players to put their top hand where the ball is. Improves
eye/hand coordination. As they improve this can change.
Don’t snap at the ball: Give with it. Catch it like an egg, water-balloon,
piece of kryptonite, etc.
Focus on the pass: This is most important.
3. Sumos
Set Up
Sumo Ground Balls
Execution
Sumo Ground Balls
4. Gladiator Ground Balls
Set Up
Gladiator Groundballs
Execution
Gladiator Groundballs
The player who comes up
with the ball and throws it
back to the coach remains
“Gladiator” and the other
two return to the line and
two new challengers step up.
4 consecutive wins = a
Gladiator nickname (basically
add “imus” or “aximus” to
any regular name:
Chrisimus…Mikesimus)
5. Cops and Robbers
Explanation:
This is another up-tempo game to get kids excited and engaged with
practice.
The goal is to get kids moving with a ball in their stick outside of the
normal realm of lacrosse play. We are trying to get kids to move with their
“heads up” so they can see traffic and what’s around them. We are also
trying to get kids comfortable RUNNING with the ball in their stick and
eluding defenders in a more “instinctive” way.
The rules: Each player gets a ball and puts it in their stick EXCEPT the 3 cops
who get rid of their sticks and stand in the center of the box back to back.
The players with balls (aka The Robbers) then spread out around the
playing area and prepare to play. On the whistle the “Cops” chase the
robbers. All they have to do is tag them and they go to jail. If the players
running drop the ball on their own, they also go to jail. The coach will have
his stop watch going until the last robber is tagged
at which point the game ends and the coach then
announces how long it took to cops to capture
all the robbers. Best time wins.
Set Up
Cops and Robbers
Execution
Cops and Robbers
6. Moves From X
Set Up
Attack Moves From X
Execution
This drill is set up for a right to
left split (at the first cone),
into a roll-dodge (at the
second), into a right-handed
attack-dodge. At the island,
coaches can determine what
sort of move they want
attackers to use: hard topside,
inside roll, ? Dodge, rocker,
etcetera.
Attack Moves From X
7. “5 on a Die” Shooting
5 on a Die Shooting: Set Up
•Set-up
This is a great drill for teaching middies how to shoot on the run. There are
a number of variations that can be used in the same drill set up (with slight
adjustments). We will use 2 of them here. A split shooting drill and a
split/roll-back (Sproll) shooting drill.
1)Set up five cones in the shape of 5 on your basic set of dice. Two up top,
two low, one in the middle.
2)A line of players starts at each top cone.
3)A set of balls is placed at each cone.
“5 on a Die” Set Up #1: Alley Shooting
5 on a Die Shooting: Set Up #1
5 on a Die Shooting: Execution
•Execution
1) This drill is designed to get two players two shots simultaneously. A player from the
front of each line picks up a ball and places his stick to his inside hand. He then
dodges at the cone in the center and splits (switching to his outside hand).
2) At the next cone the player should shoot using the proper overhand technique.
Hands and arms back, overhand, hips swiveling through the shot, finishing in the hip
pocket.
3) After the player has shot he returns to the back of the next line. Players should
switch lines.
4) The goal is to get as many reps as possible, so as soon as the first two shooters are
splitting, the next shooters should be starting their dodge.
**If you have a goalie in the cage only one shooter can shoot at a time.
Again, this drill is about
reps. Don’t have too
much space, don’t lag.
Go, go, go. Stay on them.
Switch lines after every
shot. Middies must be
threats righty and lefty.
5 on a Die Shooting: Set Up #1
“5 on a Die” Set Up #2: Split Roll
(Sprolls)
5 on a Die Shooting: Set Up
•Set-up
1) Set up for this version of the drill is exactly the same except the base
cones are set up a little wider.
2) The assumption here is that the defense has done a good job pushing
the middie into the alley but has over committed to the front of the
dodger, allowing a roll back to the center of the field for a time and
room shot.
Note the wider set up on
the base cones.
5 on a Die Shooting: Split Rolls (Sprolls)
5 on a Die Shooting: Set Up
•Execution
1) Execution here is identical to the first version except when the players reach the
shooting cones, they will stop, plant hard as if executing a roll-dodge.
2) On the roll dodge players should switch hands. ALWAYS lead with the stick out of the
dodge (watch for trail checks). If players fail to do this, coaches can step into the drill
and throw trail checks to reinforce good habits.
3) After executing the roll dodge, players should either use a jump stop to set their feet
in order to execute a time and room shot, or shoot on the run.
**If players opt to shoot on the run, they shouldn’t run all the way through the center
of the defense. The shot should be taken with in one or two steps of the roll in order
to avoid additional slides.
The “Sproll” is a split-roll,
combination dodge. The
assumption here is that the
middie has been flushed into
the alley (by good defense) and
must now try to roll back. This
can be either a time and room
shot, or a shot on the run,
depending on the situation.
5 on a Die Shooting: Split Rolls (Sprolls)
8. Sideline 2v1 GBs (To Goal)
Explanation:
This is a small field (full-field) 3v3 drill that is designed to get kids playing in
a scrimmage type atmosphere while in smaller numbers.
The 2v1 ground ball will turn into a 3v3 with six players on the field going
to goal. The 3v3—the bedrock of any 6v6 offense—is highlighted in this
drill. For younger players this allows them to create better spacing while at
the same time running up and down the field.
For older more advanced players the triangle concepts begin to come into
play. As always in any offensive scenario the keys are balance and spacing.
This is also a good way to begin to teach players the concept of positions
and jobs. By encouraging players to make sure someone defends the
“heart” or their own goal, you will begin to cut down on the “pack”, “ballfollowing” mentality that is common to young players.
Set Up
Sideline 2v1 GBS (To Goal)
Execution
Sideline 2v1 GBS (To Goal)
Youth Practices Final Thoughts
•FUN…FUN…FUN…FUN!
The biggest thing with players at the youth level is to get them moving
and having fun playing the sport of lacrosse. Obviously fundamentals are
important to teach at this point, and we want to spend as much time as
possible emphasizing good habits, but don’t be afraid to create new and
different games that take lacrosse out of the normal context and force
kids out of the routine of practice.
Use terminology that kids can relate to (laser pointers, gladiator
groundballs, cops and robbers).
Additional Information…
The Locker Room: This is a portion of our Trilogy website that is loaded with additional coaching
resources, including a full slate of webinars, man up plays, nutritional information, and other
lacrosse based concepts.
www.trilogylacrosse.com/locker-room
Summer Camps: Trilogy Lacrosse runs the best Overnight Summer Camps by utilizing Curriculum like
this to build out a week full of learning and fun for players in grades 1-11.
www.trilogylacrosse.com/camps2013
Pittsburgh PA Overnight: June 17-21
Pittsburgh Youth Day Camp: June 18-21