Practice Plan: Ball Control & Tempo

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Open Field Space Cradling with Escapes
Triangle Passing Progressions
Restart Game
4v4 + X
Play 6v6

Phase 2: Sustain & Re-Attack: Players will emphasizes on Maintaining advantages and extend possessions. This is the heart of the Train to Train phase. Players must learn how to continue attacking once the first action doesn’t immediately score.

Week 4 Practice / 75 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

5 Minutes

Open Field Space Cradling with Escapes

Set Up

Use a designated area on the field or use cones to create one, that the players must stay inside of. Every player has a ball, and on coaches whistle, they will start running around 50% speed. They must keep their head up and make an escape dodge every time they meet another player inside the circle. If you want to make it a game, players will leave the are if they drop the ball, or run out of bounds. The last player standing wins! Add a coach in for light defense to make it more challenging

Coaching Points and Principles

Cradling and Ball Control! Keep the stick protected
HEAD UP! See where you are running, don’t run into another teammate
Use both strong and weak hands

Progressions

Use more constraints, specific dodging styles
Add in defenders and coaches for light pressure
Make field smaller to make it more challenging or larger to make it easier

Triangle Passing Progressions

Set Up

Put your players in groups of 3 and spread out around field. They will get into a triangle shape about 10 yards away. They are just going to pass the ball around the triangle trying to catch it loaded, and pass it quickly with the next teammate calling “1 MORE”. Add in a 2nd ball so they have to react quicker after they make a pass

Coaching Points & Principles

Stickwork – getting comfortable catching and passing quickly – try to catch it loaded
Communication – Make sure they yell “1 more” so their teammate knows to pass

Progressions

String the triangle to 5 yards so they have to pass quicker
Add a 3rd ball

Restart Game

A game that forces the offense to find quick advantages off restarts and the defense to communicate and get into proper positioning

Set Up

On half field, play 4v4. Give the offense a 15 second shot clock. Play until one of the following happens

Shot/Goal
Goalie Save/Def Clear
Defensive Clear

Once one of this has happened, coach blows the whistle and rolls a new ball in to the offense into a random area. The Defense must get back into the house/hole area to protect the goal, and the offense must move quick to find scoring opportunities.

Coaching Points & Principles

Fast restart – Offense should try and take advantage of a defense that is spread out, and attack open space to get them to slide/rotate
Defensive communication – Off restarts, they need to match up and make sure they are supporting for help/slides
Play 4v3 for the youngest players so there is always an advantage

4v3 4v4 Advanced Beginner College Decision Making Game - Live Play High School Intermediate Lacrosse IQ Men’s Lacrosse Off Ball Defensive Play Off Ball Offensive Play Small Area Games Small Area Games Transition U10 U12 U14 Women’s Lacrosse

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4v4 + X

A great unsettled small area game designed by Jim Mitchell of Princeton Lacrosse

Set Up

Play 4v4 above GLE, and add a player at X on offense. The X player can only transfer the ball, they cannot dodge or shoot, but the defense must play them when they receive the ball. That will create an unsettle situation above GLE as the players move the ball through X

Coaching Point and Principles

Offense – Get them to dominos and find the advantage. Work the 2-3 player game above GLE
Defense – Communicate, protect the house, and slide/recover efficiently.

2-Player Game 3-Player Game 3v3 4v4 5v5 Advanced Anticipation & Recognition College Communication Decision Making Defense Slide & Recovery Game - Live Play High School Intermediate Lacrosse IQ Men’s Lacrosse Off Ball Defensive Play Off Ball Offensive Play Offense & Defense Principles Offense Spacing Principles Small Area Games Small Area Games Team Systems & Conceptual Play U10 U12 U14

View Drill Page →

Play 6v6

Play a live 6v6 Scrimmage and let kids play

Optional Constraints:

Ball must go through X before offense can score. If the defense takes this away as strategy, you can carry through X, but that will be the adjustment
2 points for every goal started with ball reversal
2 points for defense if they intercept any passes or knock Dows