Playing with Advantages

Playing with Advantages
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 3v1 Box Passing Station 1: 2v1 Groundballs Station 2: Groundball Shooting 32 Break Small Area Game
3v1 Box Passing - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
A great pre-practice drill to work on team passing Set Up Create a box using 4 cones, about 10 yards apart. Place 3 offensive players on the outside and 1 defender in the middle. The offense must stay outside the box, while the defender stays inside. They play keep away, and the cones are used as guidance for the off ball teammates to move to proper passing lanes. If the defender steals the ball or bad pass occurs, swap with the offense player! Coaching Points & Principles Progressions Add a defender in to play 3v2		Moving your feet with and without the ball Good passing and catching mechanics Defense keep stick up in passing lanes
Station 1: 2v1 Groundballs - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
A ground ball drill that works on playing with pressure and moving the ball quickly Set Up Put players in groups of 6 or 9, and have the 2 outside lines be offense, middle line is defense. Coach rolls a live GB into play: If the offense wins, defender must play the ball, and offense needs to make 3 passes If the defense wins, they run away from pressure and pass back to coach Coaching Points & Principles		Ground Balls – Accelerate through, start teaching “Ball” and “Man” Playing vs pressure, defense always pressure the ball or runs away from pressure Passing and movement – offense must move into passing lanes to connect 3 passes
Station 2: Groundball Shooting - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
A basic groundball & shooting drill to work on quicker releases! Set Up Set the players up in a line about 10-12 yards from the goal. Add a cone about 5 yards away from coach, which will be the point they need to shoot at. Coach holds a stick out that the player must run under, scoop a ground ball, and then get loaded to take a shot Coaching Points & Principles		Groundballs – get Low and accelerate through! Get loaded quickly after, and try and shoot before the cone Shooting – change planes, aim for columns!
32 Break Small Area Game - Link to Drill	Set Up	Focus Points
A fun & fast paced transition game for youth players that helps build game IQ! Set Up Create a small field area game, using the retraining area or cones. Put 2 attack and 1 defense on each end, and midfielders lined up on the sideline. A coach with balls, will roll a live ground ball in, and players will play a live game. In this game, there will always be a 3v2 on each side, so the offense has the advantage. When there is a dead ball, coach can roll a new contested ball in, or start a new group! Coaching Points & Principles Progressions Play 4v3, set up 2 midfielders of each team If you don’t have goalies, turn the goals upside down to make it harder to score		Offense – Find the advantage! play fast by finding an open teammate to get the best shot! Defense – Communicate, play zone like where you need too pressure the ball with backside support to play the next pass

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3v1 Box Passing
Station 1: 2v1 Groundballs
Station 2: Groundball Shooting
32 Break Small Area 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.

3v1 Box Passing

A great pre-practice drill to work on team passing

Set Up

Create a box using 4 cones, about 10 yards apart. Place 3 offensive players on the outside and 1 defender in the middle. The offense must stay outside the box, while the defender stays inside. They play keep away, and the cones are used as guidance for the off ball teammates to move to proper passing lanes. If the defender steals the ball or bad pass occurs, swap with the offense player!

Coaching Points & Principles

Moving your feet with and without the ball
Good passing and catching mechanics
Defense keep stick up in passing lanes

Progressions

Add a defender in to play 3v2

View Drill Page →

Station 1: 2v1 Groundballs

A ground ball drill that works on playing with pressure and moving the ball quickly

Set Up

Put players in groups of 6 or 9, and have the 2 outside lines be offense, middle line is defense. Coach rolls a live GB into play:

If the offense wins, defender must play the ball, and offense needs to make 3 passes
If the defense wins, they run away from pressure and pass back to coach

Coaching Points & Principles

Ground Balls – Accelerate through, start teaching “Ball” and “Man”
Playing vs pressure, defense always pressure the ball or runs away from pressure
Passing and movement – offense must move into passing lanes to connect 3 passes

2v1 Advanced Anticipation & Recognition Beginner Box Lacrosse College Decision Making Foundational Skills Ground Ball Battles Ground Balls High School Intermediate Men’s Lacrosse Passing U10 U12 U14 Women’s Lacrosse

View Drill Page →

Station 2: Groundball Shooting

A basic groundball & shooting drill to work on quicker releases!

Set Up

Set the players up in a line about 10-12 yards from the goal. Add a cone about 5 yards away from coach, which will be the point they need to shoot at. Coach holds a stick out that the player must run under, scoop a ground ball, and then get loaded to take a shot

Coaching Points & Principles

Groundballs – get Low and accelerate through!
Get loaded quickly after, and try and shoot before the cone
Shooting – change planes, aim for columns!

Block - On Air (no opponent)Foundational Skills Ground Balls Guided - Token Opponent Shooting Step Down Shooting U10 U12 U8 Women’s Lacrosse

View Drill Page →

32 Break Small Area Game

A fun & fast paced transition game for youth players that helps build game IQ!

Set Up

Create a small field area game, using the retraining area or cones. Put 2 attack and 1 defense on each end, and midfielders lined up on the sideline. A coach with balls, will roll a live ground ball in, and players will play a live game. In this game, there will always be a 3v2 on each side, so the offense has the advantage. When there is a dead ball, coach can roll a new contested ball in, or start a new group!

Coaching Points & Principles

Offense – Find the advantage! play fast by finding an open teammate to get the best shot!
Defense – Communicate, play zone like where you need too pressure the ball with backside support to play the next pass

Progressions

Play 4v3, set up 2 midfielders of each team
If you don’t have goalies, turn the goals upside down to make it harder to score

3v2 Advanced Anticipation & Recognition Attack Decision Making Defense Defense Slide & Recovery Game - Live Play High School Intermediate Lacrosse IQ Midfield Small Area Games Small Area Games Team Systems & Conceptual Play Transition U10 U12 U14 U8 Women’s Lacrosse

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