Separating the men from the boys
Carry, carry, carry, dodge 1, dodge 2, dodge 3 - get hammered or throw a weak pass or bad angle shot, turn it over.
Is this your youth offense? MS Offense? JV Offense?
I scout two to three youth , JV, or Varsity games a week from March to May. I can't tell you how many times I've had the pleasure to see the above mentioned play what seems like a thousand times.
I even heard coaches talk about running drills to teach kids how "to beat a double team”.
The worst scenario is when a kid executes the "ball hog triple team goal", I've seen coaches pat them on the back and throw some congratulatory high fives. The parents (who I love dearly) always reinforce these plays with a chorus of cheers.
Remember the line "stop the insanity?” That applies here.
After observing this as a lacrosse coach for over a decade, I have made teaching players to move the rock one of my top priorities lately.
Here are a couple of quick tips and drills to get it done.
1/ 5 SECOND RULE
If you run alot of O vs. D drills, (6v6,5v5, 4v4, etc) put in the 5 second rule. i.e. in a full field drill or scrimmage, make any player holding the ball more than 5 seconds a violation. Blow the whistle and start a new ball anywhere on the field. This keeps the play moving and gives you an opportunity to work on clears, transition, crease GB's, any number of scenarios simply by blowing the whistle and restarting. If you are trying to break down a serious ball hog, award possession to the other team in a free clear scenario. It won't be long until everyone is telling him "MOVE THE BALL".
2/ 30 SECOND DRILL
Get into a skeleton offense and time how many touches a team can make on the clock.
You can do two teams of 6, 3 teams of 4, even for teams of 3.
The 4's can get into a box or diamond, the 3's can get into triangles. They key here is to make it a competition with losers doing sprints,push ups or crunches, etc. The point is to make 2 teams of the same amount of kids work against the clock and each other.
The biggest difference I,ve noticed between experienced teams and ones who are not is not only the stick skills, but the speed in which they move the ball. Allowing your kids to move slow lazy passes around the perimeter is not helping them. Establish a tempo and make it a goal to greatly increase the speed in which they move the ball. If any of you have ever seen a DI team live, you know what I mean. Their speed of ball movement is unreal.
Staying under control is paramount, make sure they stay under control.
3/ I TOLD YOU SO DEMO.
Get in colors. Put 4 defenders in the hole. Put 6 offensive guys in the circle offense or a formation of your choice. Instruct the O to get 20 touches with no intention of attacking the cage. After you count 20, bring all 10 players in tight.The D guys will be gasping for air. Show the offense what happens when you control the ball and move it quickly.
Another demo is to take the most feared long sticks on the team and run them in an intense footwork or conditioning drill. Get them good and gassed. Now run fresh offensive guys against them 1 v 1. They will be easily dodged and scored on.
Coaches can talk all day about wearing them (the D) down, or yell "move the ball around." Unless we actually show them why, youth players don't get it.
next post we’ll have some more on ball movement...
Is this your youth offense? MS Offense? JV Offense?
I scout two to three youth , JV, or Varsity games a week from March to May. I can't tell you how many times I've had the pleasure to see the above mentioned play what seems like a thousand times.
I even heard coaches talk about running drills to teach kids how "to beat a double team”.
The worst scenario is when a kid executes the "ball hog triple team goal", I've seen coaches pat them on the back and throw some congratulatory high fives. The parents (who I love dearly) always reinforce these plays with a chorus of cheers.
Remember the line "stop the insanity?” That applies here.
After observing this as a lacrosse coach for over a decade, I have made teaching players to move the rock one of my top priorities lately.
Here are a couple of quick tips and drills to get it done.
1/ 5 SECOND RULE
If you run alot of O vs. D drills, (6v6,5v5, 4v4, etc) put in the 5 second rule. i.e. in a full field drill or scrimmage, make any player holding the ball more than 5 seconds a violation. Blow the whistle and start a new ball anywhere on the field. This keeps the play moving and gives you an opportunity to work on clears, transition, crease GB's, any number of scenarios simply by blowing the whistle and restarting. If you are trying to break down a serious ball hog, award possession to the other team in a free clear scenario. It won't be long until everyone is telling him "MOVE THE BALL".
2/ 30 SECOND DRILL
Get into a skeleton offense and time how many touches a team can make on the clock.
You can do two teams of 6, 3 teams of 4, even for teams of 3.
The 4's can get into a box or diamond, the 3's can get into triangles. They key here is to make it a competition with losers doing sprints,push ups or crunches, etc. The point is to make 2 teams of the same amount of kids work against the clock and each other.
The biggest difference I,ve noticed between experienced teams and ones who are not is not only the stick skills, but the speed in which they move the ball. Allowing your kids to move slow lazy passes around the perimeter is not helping them. Establish a tempo and make it a goal to greatly increase the speed in which they move the ball. If any of you have ever seen a DI team live, you know what I mean. Their speed of ball movement is unreal.
Staying under control is paramount, make sure they stay under control.
3/ I TOLD YOU SO DEMO.
Get in colors. Put 4 defenders in the hole. Put 6 offensive guys in the circle offense or a formation of your choice. Instruct the O to get 20 touches with no intention of attacking the cage. After you count 20, bring all 10 players in tight.The D guys will be gasping for air. Show the offense what happens when you control the ball and move it quickly.
Another demo is to take the most feared long sticks on the team and run them in an intense footwork or conditioning drill. Get them good and gassed. Now run fresh offensive guys against them 1 v 1. They will be easily dodged and scored on.
Coaches can talk all day about wearing them (the D) down, or yell "move the ball around." Unless we actually show them why, youth players don't get it.
next post we’ll have some more on ball movement...
posted by 313 LACROSSE at
9:40 AM
