Build up to 2 on the crease.
The 1-4-1 is one of my favorite offensive formations. Its a great zone buster and if executed correctly, a real bear to defend.
The question is can a JV or middle school run it? Here are some tips to give it a try.
My experience on running offenses at this level has been good, bad, and ugly.
Lets set up some guide lines and progressions.
I am a strong follower of practicing in progressions. i.e. starting with 1v1s, then 2v1, 2v2, etc. Building up.
The same hold true in teaching youth lacrosse players offense.
1. Make sure you can run a zero on the crease Offense first. (circle)
Does your team understand the concept of moving the ball around the “horn”? I like to start teaching offense in the circle or wheel offense. Passes are shorter, you have 2 behind, and its also a great way to start any other formation, by going to the wheel first. Drills can include running a skeleton offense (no D) or 6 on 3 or 4 first to help get the ball moving. Use 2 “teams” of 6 offensive players, say black vs. white. With a stopwatch see how many touches a team can get in 30 seconds. Teach catching on the outside shoulder, rolling away from pressure to pass, and moving to throw and catch. Have the 2nd “team’ step in for the next 30. Teach tempo, not rushing. “be quick but don’t hurry” is one of my sayings.
2. Next put 1 on the crease and see if we can execute with 5 on the perimeter. The passes get a little longer now around the horn and we can teach basic crease positioning, and exchanging players on the crease. The 231 set is the most common using a middie as your crease man, or you can run a 312 with an attack on the crease. I like having 3 mids topside in youth lacrosse, because of the excessive turn overs. If we have 3 mids topside when (not if, WHEN) we cough up the ball, at least you can defend transition better from this set. Again run a bunch of skeleton to teach quick ball movement, and to get them used to moving it at least 7 or 8 times around the horn before a dodge, picks, or cuts happen.
3. Finally, if you have personnel that can handle it, go to a 2on the crease look. Now we have a new dynamic. The passes are much longer around the diamond, and with only 4 players on the outside, it may be difficult to achieve. The biggest challenge for this formation, is it is MANDATORY that players move to every pass and move to every throw. I do a drill that uses 8 cones to show them where they need to move to catch the ball and a second cone to show them where they need to move to throw a pass. This concept is NON-NEGOTIABLE. Pick the kids that understand this concept.
One drill I stole from Virginia that is very helpful. Set up 4 lines in a diamond formation. The lines should include offensive players, its not important what position goes where. Start with a ton of extra balls in each line. The ball should be passed to the adjacent line by the first player in line. Then he simply goes to the back of the line. The player in the next line catches the ball and moves it adjacent as well. Add a second ball as soon as they understand the drill. The trick to this drill, is the passes should be as hard as the players can throw while maintaining control. (no wind up shots, just hard passes). Be prepared, balls will be flying and kids in line need to be ready or stay back. At first this will seem to be a disastrous drill, but over time they will begin to catch “hot” passes and deliver some “heat”. Of course this is not what we want to do in games, but if they get used to catching and throwing frozen ropes, they will merely need to take down the tempo a bit to execute a sharp pass in games. Variations include changing direction of the ball, making players move 5 yards to throw and back 5 yards past the line to catch. You can also have them fill the lines they throw to to add some cardio.
I will be adding some more ideas on offense on my next post.
if you need details of drills on pdf email me at gpselect@gmail.com
coach B
The question is can a JV or middle school run it? Here are some tips to give it a try.
My experience on running offenses at this level has been good, bad, and ugly.
Lets set up some guide lines and progressions.
I am a strong follower of practicing in progressions. i.e. starting with 1v1s, then 2v1, 2v2, etc. Building up.
The same hold true in teaching youth lacrosse players offense.
1. Make sure you can run a zero on the crease Offense first. (circle)
Does your team understand the concept of moving the ball around the “horn”? I like to start teaching offense in the circle or wheel offense. Passes are shorter, you have 2 behind, and its also a great way to start any other formation, by going to the wheel first. Drills can include running a skeleton offense (no D) or 6 on 3 or 4 first to help get the ball moving. Use 2 “teams” of 6 offensive players, say black vs. white. With a stopwatch see how many touches a team can get in 30 seconds. Teach catching on the outside shoulder, rolling away from pressure to pass, and moving to throw and catch. Have the 2nd “team’ step in for the next 30. Teach tempo, not rushing. “be quick but don’t hurry” is one of my sayings.
2. Next put 1 on the crease and see if we can execute with 5 on the perimeter. The passes get a little longer now around the horn and we can teach basic crease positioning, and exchanging players on the crease. The 231 set is the most common using a middie as your crease man, or you can run a 312 with an attack on the crease. I like having 3 mids topside in youth lacrosse, because of the excessive turn overs. If we have 3 mids topside when (not if, WHEN) we cough up the ball, at least you can defend transition better from this set. Again run a bunch of skeleton to teach quick ball movement, and to get them used to moving it at least 7 or 8 times around the horn before a dodge, picks, or cuts happen.
3. Finally, if you have personnel that can handle it, go to a 2on the crease look. Now we have a new dynamic. The passes are much longer around the diamond, and with only 4 players on the outside, it may be difficult to achieve. The biggest challenge for this formation, is it is MANDATORY that players move to every pass and move to every throw. I do a drill that uses 8 cones to show them where they need to move to catch the ball and a second cone to show them where they need to move to throw a pass. This concept is NON-NEGOTIABLE. Pick the kids that understand this concept.
One drill I stole from Virginia that is very helpful. Set up 4 lines in a diamond formation. The lines should include offensive players, its not important what position goes where. Start with a ton of extra balls in each line. The ball should be passed to the adjacent line by the first player in line. Then he simply goes to the back of the line. The player in the next line catches the ball and moves it adjacent as well. Add a second ball as soon as they understand the drill. The trick to this drill, is the passes should be as hard as the players can throw while maintaining control. (no wind up shots, just hard passes). Be prepared, balls will be flying and kids in line need to be ready or stay back. At first this will seem to be a disastrous drill, but over time they will begin to catch “hot” passes and deliver some “heat”. Of course this is not what we want to do in games, but if they get used to catching and throwing frozen ropes, they will merely need to take down the tempo a bit to execute a sharp pass in games. Variations include changing direction of the ball, making players move 5 yards to throw and back 5 yards past the line to catch. You can also have them fill the lines they throw to to add some cardio.
I will be adding some more ideas on offense on my next post.
if you need details of drills on pdf email me at gpselect@gmail.com
coach B
posted by 313 LACROSSE at
1:50 PM
