Practice Plan: Playing with Pressure

Jump to a Section

Empty the Box Relay Game
Fill the Box Relay Game
Double Escapes
Tight 1v1
Zombie Tag

Phase 1: Explore & Discover – Focus Points being cradling, ball control, and seeing field space

Week 2 Practice / 60 Minute Session

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.

Theme Description This practice is designed for young players to gain confidence with player with more pressure. We build it into small area games where they can learn how to get open, get their hands free, and feel confident to play vs an opponent and or the pressure of a time constraint

Empty the Box Relay Game

A great Ground ball relay game that gets the kids moving and competing at practice

Set Up

Put your players into 2 teams, with teammates across from each other. Add cones in the middle of both lines, and place the same number of balls for each team inside. The game starts with the first player in line, running to get a ground ball, and carrying it top their teammates across. Once they tag, the next teammate goes. Continue until the first team to secure all the balls win!

Coaching Points & Principles

Ground balls – Accelerate through!
Teamwork – Hustle!

Progressions

Combine with “Fill The box Game” for quick and easy set up

View Drill Page →

Fill the Box Relay Game

A great Ground ball relay game that gets the kids moving and competing at practice

Set Up

Put your players into 2 teams, with teammates across from each other. Add cones in the middle of both lines, and give 1 ball for every player in each line. The game starts with the first player in line, scooping a ground ball, running and carrying it to the inside box, and drop the ball (The ball must stay inside int he box), they will continue running to tag their next teammate to repeat. Continue until the first team to fill their box with balls wins!

Coaching Points & Principles

Ground balls – Accelerate through!
Teamwork – Hustle!

Progressions

Combine with “Fill The box Game” for quick and easy set up

Ball Control & Cradling Beginner Foundational Skills Ground Balls Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games U10 U8 Women’s Lacrosse

View Drill Page →

Double Escapes

Set Up

Put a line of players with balls on the sideline. Put a coach 5 yards away and a cone 10 yards away. The player will start with a ball and dodge past coach. We want them to read the stick of the defender to execute the right movement. Once they get past coach, they will run to the 10 yard cone, throw the ball to coach, and coach will leave a ground ball just ahead. We want to make sure we place the ball close to coach, because we want them escaping right out of the ground ball. They will get past coach, and give to next player in line

Coaching Points and Principles

Initial Dodge – read coaches body/stick. At the youth level, we like to teach that if the defenders stick is pointed at you, roll dodge. If the defenders stick is flat on their hips, split or jab step
Second escape – This is a quick escape, players but read and react quickly once they get the ball

Progressions

Put more pressure on the dodges
Make space smaller so its more difficult

Tight 1v1

Set Up

Put an offense and defense player in play. They start with the offense shielding stick with body, leaning into the defender. The defense leans back with hands/stick on hip on opponent. On whistle, the offense player attacks the goal, and does so by feeling the weight/positon of the defender, and attacking the opposite.

Coaching Points & Principles

Stick Protection!
Use Body to feel the pressure angle from defender.. roll dodges and top side drives will work but find the natural escape
Defense work on recovery angles
Do this drill from all areas of the field

Progressions

Have players start with small separation, so the defense must approach.

Zombie Tag

Set Up

Create a small area using cones or lines on the field for boundaries. Every player will have a ball and there will be a coach(s) inside the play area as the zombies. On the whistle, the players will start running with their ball in the play are and coaches will walk around like zombies. if a player gets tagged by a coach or runs outside the playing area, they will freeze in place. Their teammates can unfreeze them, but rolling a ball through their legs, and scooping a ground ball. Continue for 5-10 minutes, and the kids will have a great run!

Coaching Points and Principles

Ball Control and Awareness – Keep your head up, stay away from zombies, and don’t run out of bounds!
Communicate – Help unfreeze your teammates

Progressions

Make field smaller so its more challenging or larges for less experienced players