Groundballs & Re-Attacking

Groundballs & Re-Attacking
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	Activities 1v1 Sideline Gorundballs 33 GO! 44 Go Small Sided Game Scoop & Chase Unsettled
1v1 Sideline Gorundballs - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
A good ground ball drill that works in tight spaces and vs pressure Set Up Put your players in groups of 5 or 6 on the restraint box wing, facing sideline. Have a coach roll the ball in so it stays within the sideline. Its a live 1v1 and the first player in line has the advantage and must get possession without going out of bounds, and successfully get the ball back to the line they startd Coaching Points & principles		Ground Balls – Get in a good body position to shield the trailing defender ti get possession Hand Coordination – If the ball is too close to sideline, player must use stick or feet to move the ball to space so they can secure it
33 GO! - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
A fun drill to do with your attack and defense working on playing fast and transition! Set Up Put 3 attack and 3 defense behind the cage. Coach rolls a lice ground ball in, if the ATTACK win, they go right to the cage as fast as they can, looking for quick shots or passes to get scoring opportunities. If the DEFENSE wins ground ball, they will clear it to coach, recover back into the hole, and coach give the attack the ball to play offense. Try and give the attack the ball while the defense is recovering so it’s a little chaos. Progressions Set up on the wings Play 2v2 or 4v4		Give the Defense 1 Point for a Clear and/or a Stop Give the offense 1 point for goals Use a shot clock to keep pace fast!
44 Go Small Sided Game - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
This team drill works on ground balls and building fast play into live situations Set Up Set up two lines of each team color on both wings. A live ground ball is rolled into the middle, and the team that wins possession immediately goes on offense in a 4v4 scenario. The emphasis is on competing hard for the ground ball, then pushing quickly to goal. If the defense slows down the break, players should shift to core principles—movement off-ball, creating space, and playing together on both sides of the ball.
Scoop & Chase Unsettled - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
A fun game that works on small area and then full team offense and defense Set Up If you can, give your defense and attack different color tanks that the team. Here we are using green pennies for the attack, and red pinnies for the defense. They will always hold their positions. The midfield will then be split up into their normal tank colors, so they are split black and blue. The drill starts with either group (A or M) and coach rolls a live 3v3 out. They will play until either the offense scores there is a turnover (Defense clear to coach up top, or shot clock violation). Once that rep finishes, the M up top have a live 3v3 GB (You can change the numbers depending on how many you want on offense). Whoever wins that GB, is on offense, and go play 6v6 until another dead ball. Restart the drill, but give the first GB battle to the opposite group Coaching Points & Principles Progressions If you want to take away the live GB, give the ball to the offense to start, good for some younger groups that puts a bigger emphasis on the transition play		Ground Ball Battles – Need to find the first GB and look to score or clear the ball fast Transition – Playing quick and finding those advantages Defensive Matchups and communication

Jump to a Section

1v1 Sideline Gorundballs
33 GO!
44 Go Small Sided Game
Scoop & Chase Unsettled

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.

1v1 Sideline Gorundballs

Set Up

Put your players in groups of 5 or 6 on the restraint box wing, facing sideline. Have a coach roll the ball in so it stays within the sideline. Its a live 1v1 and the first player in line has the advantage and must get possession without going out of bounds, and successfully get the ball back to the line they startd

Coaching Points & principles

Ground Balls – Get in a good body position to shield the trailing defender ti get possession
Hand Coordination – If the ball is too close to sideline, player must use stick or feet to move the ball to space so they can secure it

Tags

Foundational Skills Ground Ball Battles Ground Balls Men’s Lacrosse U10 U12 U14

View Drill Page →

33 GO!

Set Up

Put 3 attack and 3 defense behind the cage. Coach rolls a lice ground ball in, if the ATTACK win, they go right to the cage as fast as they can, looking for quick shots or passes to get scoring opportunities. If the DEFENSE wins ground ball, they will clear it to coach, recover back into the hole, and coach give the attack the ball to play offense. Try and give the attack the ball while the defense is recovering so it’s a little chaos.

Give the Defense 1 Point for a Clear and/or a Stop
Give the offense 1 point for goals
Use a shot clock to keep pace fast!

Progressions

Set up on the wings
Play 2v2 or 4v4

Tags

Anticipation & Recognition Attack Decision Making Game - Live Play Ground Ball Battles Ground Balls Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Midfield Small Area Games Small Area Games Transition U10 U12 U14

View Drill Page →

44 Go Small Sided Game

Set Up

Set up two lines of each team color on both wings. A live ground ball is rolled into the middle, and the team that wins possession immediately goes on offense in a 4v4 scenario. The emphasis is on competing hard for the ground ball, then pushing quickly to goal. If the defense slows down the break, players should shift to core principles—movement off-ball, creating space, and playing together on both sides of the ball.

Tags

4v4 Anticipation & Recognition Beginner Communication Game - Live Play Ground Ball Battles Ground Balls Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games U10 U12 U14 U8

View Drill Page →

Scoop & Chase Unsettled

Set Up

If you can, give your defense and attack different color tanks that the team. Here we are using green pennies for the attack, and red pinnies for the defense. They will always hold their positions.

The midfield will then be split up into their normal tank colors, so they are split black and blue.

The drill starts with either group (A or M) and coach rolls a live 3v3 out. They will play until either the offense scores there is a turnover (Defense clear to coach up top, or shot clock violation). Once that rep finishes, the M up top have a live 3v3 GB (You can change the numbers depending on how many you want on offense). Whoever wins that GB, is on offense, and go play 6v6 until another dead ball. Restart the drill, but give the first GB battle to the opposite group

Coaching Points & Principles

Ground Ball Battles – Need to find the first GB and look to score or clear the ball fast
Transition – Playing quick and finding those advantages
Defensive Matchups and communication

Progressions

If you want to take away the live GB, give the ball to the offense to start, good for some younger groups that puts a bigger emphasis on the transition play

Tags

Advanced Beginner College Game - Live Play High School Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Small Area Games Small Area Games Team Systems & Conceptual Play Transition U10 U12 U14 U8

View Drill Page →