A Lacrosse Weekend 12.5.20

Welcome to "A Lacrosse Weekend" my weekly compilation of thoughts, ideas, stories, myths, truths, about the great game of lacrosse. I hope you enjoy it! 

Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast

Bobby Benson, long time John's Hopkins Offensive Coordinator, is simply one of the most erudite lacrosse coaches on the planet and you will get a glimpse into the way he thinks about the game in this podcast!  A 3x All-American for the Jays, Benson is one of two JHU players ever to lead his team in goals all four years!  Bobby was an assistant and Offensive Coordinator to coach Pietramala for 14 years, was a part of the '07 national championship team with Paul Rabil and Stephen Peyser, and has produced consistently excellent offenses in Division I in terms 6v6 and Extra Man Offense.  

We discuss Bobby's lacrosse journey, his mentors, his philosophy on offense, extra man, Zone offense, player development and recruiting.  I especially loved his concepts on motion offense where JHU literally didn't have a "Set" or any scripted motions.

Click here to listen to this podcast!

Bobby Benson Joins JM3!

We also discuss Bobby's exciting next chapter: joining me and JM3 Sports to work with JM3 Athletes, JM3 Coaches, and work to create the deepest, richest instructional lacrosse content on the internet!

I'm thrilled to have Bobby on board to help the JM3 Athletes because he will provide world class lacrosse expertise, knowledge, and perspective for both individual and team play.  Our main focus in the JM3 Athlete Program is to help our players learn the game and be the best possible prospect through our Backyard Curriculum and Zoom calls.  Bobby will also be able to provide great incredible College Lacrosse Recruiting advice as well as the critical advocacy with an unmatched network of relationships in the sport.  (Check out this blog on how College Recruiting Advocacy really works!)

In the JM3 Coach Program Bobby and I will work directly with a coaching staff helping them with everything from prepping and planning for a season, to practice planning, player and scheme self scout, opponent scout, adjustments and installation.  This program which includes access to all JM3 Coaches Training content and a one hour Zoom call per week where we share a screen, watch film and dive into the inner workings of the team.  In many ways coaching is problem solving and the more you can surround yourself with experience, the better!  How great will it be to have Bobby pull out and share with you a look he used to score an OT winner in '07 that helps you win your championship!?

World class content creation in the form of blogs, podcasts, webinars, videos, has been a huge passion of mine and I am so excited to have Bobby joining me!  Bobby will be a Co-Host for the Virtual Lacrosse Summit January 11-14 and is helping create a phenomenal line up of speakers.  Bobby will also have a huge impact on the Coaches Training Program where he will produce webinars, Host "Live Trainings" and be available for "Office Hours"

Coaching Youth Lacrosse

On the newly revamped JM3 Sports Youtube Channel, we have begun to add content for youth lacrosse coaches, and there's a lot more to come! If you're looking for a simple installation progression for a youth 1-4-1 offense, look no further.  Two years ago I installed and filmed this video at a 7th grade practice in Denver for Coach Brendan Bowler, son of the late great Rocky Point Coach Mike Bowler.  Brendan is one of the best youth coaches Colorado and was also on my staff at Mountain Vista HS in 2017 where we became great friends.  I think you will enjoy this simple install of the parts of the whole and also teach the context of how the defense will play it!  Enjoy!

Grant Ament vs Cornell

In our JM3 Athlete Program I work with a bunch of "X" attackmen and I like to show them, as my friend and former teammate Bernie Buonanno says,  "what great looks like" and there is no better way than to show them film of Grant Ament.  This "Assessment" is similar to what JM3 editors do for our JM3 Athletes, showing all the significant "With ball" touches in the game as well as "Off ball" actions that we can study on our Zoom calls.

A few things we learn from Ament in this film:

• The value of being Physical dodger and a repertoire of post moves, hesitations and fakes (see the Jump Shot Hitch on the first clip!
• More Hesitations: Ament is constantly using a change of speed to beat his man.  Just when he's getting jammed up with physicality, he gets past his man with a stop and go.
• Under Split:  I love the way he uses this technique to split under the stick of the pole, allowing him to make his break closer to his man
• Underhand Feeding angles allow him to feed and pass under the sticks of defenders
• Setting his man up to use picks, and Inviting them over the top like in the Hang up 2man webinar 
• When he gets a step, he cuts his man off and uses "Hostage Dribble" technique
• The Penn State Offense has tons of seals and slips that create wide open players!

 JM3 Athlete Highlight Video

If you want to see what skill looks like, watch this video!  I have seen this kid use everyone of these moves in pick up game film over the past 15 months!  Pretty Awesome!

Bobby Benson on College Lacrosse Recruiting

Here is an excerpt from my podcast with Coach Benson in which we talk about recruiting and what kids should focus on as he heads down to Coach Pietramala's Five Star camp with the top 2023's in the nation.  

Speed Training

When I work with JM3 Athletes, we focus on helping players be the best they can be.  If you want to simplify this model, here it is: play pick up games, review the film, and time your 10 yard sprints.  See the video below: a friend of mine bought the Brower Timing System for his two young boys and they have become obsessed with getting faster!  Here's why it works: you can't get faster unless you run your fastest (it's neurological) and you can't know if you're running your fastest unless you time yourself down to the 100th of a second.  Listen to this Mike Boyle Podcast on Speed for more information on this program!  

As Mike Boyle says, "If you're not timing your sprints, it's not speed training."

Women's Lacrosse Buckeye Look

I want to show you a slick 2man game look from the JM3 Youtube Channel that you can easily integrate into your offense!  I first saw this look in a men's game in 2014 when Jesse King and Ohio State took on the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins at Homewood field.  King is a Canadian box player and Coach Meyers dreamed up an incredible pass down pick down / Flip combination for him! 

Fast forward to 2019, I was in my first year coaching girls lacrosse at ThunderRidge HS, and I installed the Buckeye Look with my team.  We had a ton of success running it, so I shared the concept with my good friend Scotty Hiller at Northwestern.  The Wildcats, who also run a ton of 2man game. ran the Buckeye to perfection in the Big 10 Championship Game (The Pigeon Game), ironically  at Homewood Field.  

You're going to love this look!

Have a great weekend!