Seeing & Playing vs Pressure

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Seeing & Playing vs Pressure

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
  1. 3v1 Box Passing
  2. 3v2 Tempo Keep Away
  3. 22 Slide Drill
  4. 4v4 + X
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 gudaicne 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

3v1 Box Passing Preview
  • Moving your feet with and without the ball
  • Good passing and catching mechanics
  • Defense keep stick up in passing lanes
3v2 Tempo Keep Away - Link to Drill Set Up Focus Points

Adjust this Drill for Young Players and make the game space larger

3v2 Tempo Keep Away Preview
  • Defense – Always play the ball and backside zone, constantly rotating
  • Offense – Move your feet to get and open passing lanes. Touch passes, cants cradle and run!
22 Slide Drill - Link to Drill Set Up Focus Points

A great drill to work on transition play and reading the opponent slides & double teams

Set Up

Create a small area playing space, in this video we are using the restraining box on 1 side of the field. We have split the field in half with cones, so players get some form of visual on where to be defensively and offensively off ball. We have the white team going 1 direction and the dark team going the opposite, so everyone played both offense and defense. To start, put an offensive and defensive player on the crease. The drill initiates with a 1v1 dodge from the high wing, if you want to give your offensive player a little advantage, that works just fine. They will run down the alley, and the defender will slide off the crease to double team. The offensive player off ball should show their stick, call for the ball, and if they need to, step to the pass to catch and finish! The two players on the crease will move up to the opposite wing and the two players who ran down the alley, will now move to the crease area

Coaching Points & Principles

Progressions

  • Put 2 players on the crease, and offense has to read where the slide comes from

  • Run hard down the alley like you are trying to score in transition!
  • When the double team comes, make sure to get the pass off while your hands are free, or bounce to get your hands free
  • Crease offense, should move to a passing lane for their teammate to get a clear path and reduce knockdowns
  • Shooting! Nice hard overhand shots through the net!
4v4 + X - Link to Drill Set Up Focus Points

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

4v4 + X Preview
  • 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.

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

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 gudaicne 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 →

3v2 Tempo Keep Away

Adjust this Drill for Young Players and make the game space larger

Set Up

Create a box using cones, about 5-8 yards away (Smaller the box, harder the drill for offense). Put 2 defensive players inside and 3 offensive players on the perimeter. The offense must play keep away from the defense and can’t hold on to the ball for more than 1 second. The defense must always be playing the ball, the game moves fast so its a great drill and workout for conditioning purposes too!

Coaching Points & Principles

  • Defense – Always play the ball and backside zone, constantly rotating
  • Offense – Move your feet to get and open passing lanes. Touch passes, cants cradle and run!

Progressions

  • Make the box smaller or larger depending on your skill level
  • Play 4v3

 

View Drill Page →

22 Slide Drill

Summary

A great drill to work on transition play and reading the opponent slides & double teams

Set Up

Create a small area playing space, in this video we are using the restraining box on 1 side of the field. We have split the field in half with cones, so players get some form of visual on where to be defensively and offensively off ball. We have the white team going 1 direction and the dark team going the opposite, so everyone played both offense and defense. To start, put an offensive and defensive player on the crease. The drill initiates with a 1v1 dodge from the high wing, if you want to give your offensive player a little advantage, that works just fine. They will run down the alley, and the defender will slide off the crease to double team. The offensive player off ball should show their stick, call for the ball, and if they need to, step to the pass to catch and finish! The two players on the crease will move up to the opposite wing and the two players who ran down the alley, will now move to the crease area

Coaching Points & Principles

  • Run hard down the alley like you are trying to score in transition!
  • When the double team comes, make sure to get the pass off while your hands are free, or bounce to get your hands free
  • Crease offense, should move to a passing lane for their teammate to get a clear path and reduce knockdowns
  • Shooting! Nice hard overhand shots through the net!

Progressions

  • Put 2 players on the crease, and offense has to read where the slide comes from

View Drill Page →

4v4 + X

4v4 + X Preview

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 Game3-Player Game3v34v45v5AdvancedAnticipation & RecognitionCollegeCommunicationDecision MakingDefense Slide & RecoveryGame - Live PlayHigh SchoolIntermediateLacrosse IQMen’s LacrosseOff Ball Defensive PlayOff Ball Offensive PlayOffense & Defense PrinciplesOffense Spacing PrinciplesSmall Area GamesSmall Area GamesTeam Systems & Conceptual PlayU10U12U14

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