Ball Movement and Flow | Lacrosse Drive

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Activity 1: Chaos Keep Away
Activity 2: Double Box Passing
Activity 3: Flip it Game
Activity 4 - 4v3 Through X
Activity 5 - Small Field Build Up Game

Please Note: The practice is designed to bring value across multiple age levels. You can use this as a foundation to build and develop your own practice. With that being said, we highly encourage you to adjust the drills based on your team’s age and skill levels. Lacrosse Drive should always be used as a starting point — you can make drills easier or harder by changing the constraints.

To make a drill easier, you might Increase the playing area, reduce the number of defenders or rules, add time or space to make decisions

To make a drill harder, you might: Shrink the field or add boundaries, add defenders or touch restrictions (e.g., “one-pass before shooting”), or Limit time or space to force faster decisions

Small adjustments to field size, player numbers, and rules can significantly change the challenge level while maintaining the same core learning goal.

Practice Theme & Objective:
Developing team rhythm through continuous ball movement, communication, and purposeful off-ball action. The focus is teaching players how to keep the game flowing — reading space, anticipating passes, and connecting decisions to movement. Players learn to maintain tempo, create passing lanes, and transition fluidly between offense and defense without the game breaking down. Every drill encourages scanning, spacing, and making quick, confident plays under light pressure.

8 Minutes

Activity 1: Chaos Keep Away

This game will get the kids warmed up and work on ball control and ball movment!

Set Up

Create a small area playing field and split players into 2 teams. Both teams at opposite end of the fields, and lacrosse balls to the middle of the field. I usually like to you 1/2 balls to players.. so if there are 20 total players, use 10 balls. On the whistle, the players will run in trying to get a ball. Once they gain possession, they must run away and escape the defenders staying in the playing area. The team with the most balls at the end of 1 minute wins that round

Rules

Players can pass to teammates to escape pressure and maintain possession
If they go out of bounds with a ball, turnover to defending player
Players without the ball, can pressure to take away and flip a possession
The team who possesses the most balls after 1 minute, wins

Coaching Points & Principles

Groundballs! Winn the ground ball battles
Stick control & cradling with the ball vs pressure
Teamwork, don’t be afraid to pass to open teammates to maintain possessions

Tags

Ball Control (with the ball)Beginner Game - Live Play Ground Ball Battles Ground Balls Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games U10 U12 U14 U8

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Activity 2: Double Box Passing

We want to work on a passing and ball control drill that feels like game environment with perimeter passes coupled with short/quick passes

Set Up

Set this passing drill up anywhere around the field, in the video we are using with the box area. Put 6 cones around the outside permitter and 4 cones inside. Split players into two groups and organize them in each box. Players on the inside will work together, and the players on outside will work together. The outside like will be stepping to their teammate with the ball, receive a pass, and roll away and change hands. They will then run towards the next cone teammate. The inside line, players will pop out, catch, rollaway and change hands, and make pass to teammate. For instance, if the ball is moving clockwise, players would catch with their right hand, roll away, put stick in their left hand, and make a pass to their teammate. Do each direction for 2-3 minutes, and then switch the inside lines with outside lines.

Coaching Points & Principles

Make sure players are catching with their OUTSIDE hand and switching to make the pass
Communication, calling for passes
Emphasize getting the ball out of your stick quick!

Challenges:

see how many times the players can move the ball around the perimeter in 1 minute.

Tags

Advanced Attack Ball Control (with the ball)Block - On Air (no opponent)College Communication Defense High School Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Midfield Passing Stick Control (without the ball)Team Passing

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10 Minutes

Activity 3: Flip it Game

Offenser should emphasize finding the 2v1 advantage and making the best decision, and defense to work on playing with a player down and supporting the protection of the house!

This is a great drill for recognition and build up into different situations for the players

SET UP

Put players into two teams (dark and light) Set up 2 lines of players right about the restraining line. In each line the colors are alternating, and its mirrored in the other line. Coach picks a color to start on defense (Say Dark), and put in crease. The first two lights player get a ball from coach and play 2 v 1. Once the play ends, the 2 next players come in, but are now dark.. and dark is on 3v2 offense, and 2 light are now on defense (roles changes). Continue drill until 5 v 5 finishes, then restart, and flip who starts on defense.

PRINCIPLES & COACHING POINTS

Recognition, switching from O to D every play.
Defense – Understand taking away the space and playing man down zone approach. One player on ball, others back protecting the house.
Try to let every rep be 10 seconds max.

3v2 4v3 5v4 Anticipation & Recognition Box Lacrosse Fundamental Team Offense & Defense Game - Live Play Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games U10 U12 U14

Tags

3v2 4v3 5v4 Anticipation & Recognition Box Lacrosse Fundamental Team Offense & Defense Game - Live Play Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games U10 U12 U14

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15 Minutes

Activity 4 - 4v3 Through X

This drill will work on moving the ball quickly on offense, changing fields to find quick scoring opportunities

Set Up

Split the field up in half, and put 4 offensive and 3 defensive players on the field. The offense starts with the ball, and must move the ball through X and play on the opposite side of the field. Once there is a dead ball, coach rolls a new ball in and the offense must move the ball back through X to the side they stared pin, and play until a dead ball

Coaching Points & Principles

Move the ball quick!
Work on finding space off ball
Fine the 2v1, always an advantage for offense
Defense must communicate and play zone/man down mentality

Progressions

Play all even
Add in more constraints like emphasizes using picks

Tags

4v3 Advanced College Decision Making Game - Live Play High School Intermediate Lacrosse IQ Man Down Men’s Lacrosse Passing Small Area Games Small Area Games Transition

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Activity 5 - Small Field Build Up Game

Finish with a fun scrimmage like game that incorporates uneven and all-even scenarios

Set Up

Set up a small fair area field, we’re using the restraining box area here and put two attack and 2 defense in on each end. Set up midfielders at the midline on their defense end lined up in a single file line. The game is going start with one team have an advantage so we’re giving the dark team the ball first they go down and play three on two. Once the play ends a new offensive player from the defensive team will come in on the wing. The offensive midfielder will stay on the field and get back and play defense and there will be transition other way going 3v3. Same thing, play till the whistle and then a new player will come on and then we’ll go back down the other way 4V3. We are building this up until I get to 5v5. One team will have advantage for every rep, one team will play all even every rep. Once you finish the 5V5, start a new round and give the other team the chance to start the ball and have an advantage every rep.

Coaching Points & Principles

Transition play – recognize all even or advantages
If playing with advantage, find the 2v1 and try to get a shot off quick
If playing all even, focus on creating advantages by clearing space, dodging, drawing slides, etc..

Progressions

Add a shot clock
Play full field

Tags

3v2 3v3 4v3 4v4 5v4 5v5 Advanced Game - Live Play Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games Transition U12 U14

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