| Picks and Team Play | ||
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| Activities | ||
| Player Passing w/ Picks w/ Mike Hungerford (Farmingdale HS) - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
| 4v3 Keep Away w/ Nations - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
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| Full Field Riding and Clearing - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
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| Offensive Skill Session - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
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| Defensive Skill Session - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
| 4v3 w/ Picks & Slips - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
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| 32 Wing - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
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| 3v3 Two Sides - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
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| 6v6 Situational Scrimmage - Link to Drill | Set Up | Focus Points |
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Please Note:The practice is designed to bring value across multiple age and skill levels at the high school & collegiate 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.
At the High School and Collegiate levels, systems should live within the principles. Sets and formations provide structure and spacing, while the underlying principles ensure the team stays balanced, connected, and able to play together as one unit.
*If you don’t have the time for pre-practice, you can incorporate those skill session into practice
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., “Play A gets 2 points for an assist”), 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.
A great passing drill to work on 2-3 player game with nations looks
Put players in groups of 7, and play 4v3. The offense is working to complete a nations pass. What that means, is every ball carry gets initiated with a pick. The ball carrier must find a perimeter teammate coming off the pick to pass to, and then we want to try and pass to the original picker flashing in the middle. The defense must be sliding and recovering, talking through picks, and protecting the middle Nations look.
This full-field, continuous drill gives both sides of the ball live reps within your team’s clearing and riding systems. Start with the goalie and clearing unit working through your Ladder Clear (Or another system if that’s what you prefer), while the riding team applies your core riding principles at full speed. Once the clearing team successfully crosses the midfield line and establishes an offensive possession, the coach blows the whistle to create a dead-ball situation. The ball immediately starts going the opposite direction, with the units transitioning into their new riding and clearing responsibilities. There are no shots or goals unless the coach calls for live offense—the emphasis is on clearing, riding, communication, decision-making, and getting organized in transition.
The drill can easily be adjusted to prepare for specific opponents or reinforce different concepts. Have your clearing group work against different looks such as a 10-man ride, zone ride, or aggressive pressure, or challenge your riding unit against stack clears, traditional ladder clears, or other opponent-specific formations. Coaches can also emphasize transition substitutions, forcing players to recognize when and where to sub without sacrificing field balance. Keeping the drill moving continuously creates realistic conditioning while giving players repeated opportunities to recognize, communicate, and solve full-field situations.
A great shooting and inside finishing drill designed by Jim Mitchell of Princeton Lacrosse
Put a line on GLE and another with balls about 10 yards away above it. Add a defender in front of the GLE player. Start with a pass down and pick down, but we are slipping behind the the defender. The passes must be deceptive as the defender is trying to intercept/knock down the pass. Once pass inside is completed, player will execute a finish inside
Make the defense unpredictable. Offense doesn’t know the coverage.
Defense can:
A great 2-player game drill originally designed by Jim Mitchell of Princeton Lacrosse
Put 2 attack and 2 defense low on the crease. Add another offense on the high crease and high center, along with a 3rd defender. The drill starts with a pick up top, and trying to create an advantage. From there you play out out the 4v3 until a dead ball occurs or a goal is scored.
Make the defense unpredictable. Offense doesn’t know the coverage.
Defense can:
Summary
A fun quick 3v2 drill that focuses on traction play and quick finishes inside
Tags
Split the field in Half using cones and put 3 offensive lines and 2 defensive lines on the wing. The drill starts with coaching rolling a ball in to the offense, and they play 3v2 on one half of the field. The play should be quick, and once finished, those 5 players will flow over to the other wing waiting. Continue new groups until all are finished, and then repeat the same play from the opposite wing
Make the defense unpredictable. Offense doesn’t know the coverage.
Defense can:
A small area game that works on the 2 & 3 player game and specific action designed by Jim Mitchell of Princeton Lacrosse
On both sides of the field, put offense and defense personnel. You will play 3v3 on side until a dead ball, and then the opposite side will play. Here are the rules:
This drill puts players into real game situations where score, time, possession, and personnel dictate how they should play.
live 6v6 and choose a specific scenario before each possession, adjusting the clock, score, or numbers to create different problems—such as short-time EMO/MDD, protecting a lead, needing a goal, or killing the clock. Allow players to communicate and solve the situation with limited coaching, then quickly reset with a new scenario.