A Lacrosse Weekend 1.21.23
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!
If you are a men's or women's lacrosse player, coach, or parent, I think you will love the weekly content, videos, and analysis.
Lacrosse, A Passing Game
One of the trademarks of a good player or a good team is their ability and propensity to move the ball. To be a great player one must be a great passer. Being a great passer doesn't just mean being a great feeder, it also means knowing when to move the ball on to the next player for the sake of team offense. Ball movement is critical to great team offense:
- spreads the defense out
- creates difficult approaches
- Creates new roles and responsibilities
- Allows the offense to capitalize on advantages
- Assisted shots score at a higher rate than unassisted shots
One of the biggest struggles most coaches will have when trying to get their team to be a great passing team is the pockets their players use are not conducive to passing. Most players prefer a pocket that allows them to retain the ball rather than pass the ball: a low pockets, big bags and or a lot of "whip" in their stick. These pockets allow a player to take a check and not be stripped and shoot (a little) harder, but the trade off is that they can't pass or shoot with accuracy or quick release. Kids are literally trading points for ball security! The fact is most kids wouldn't get stripped with a quick release pocket. Further, if kids got out the radar guy, they would find only a couple miles per hour increase with their big whip stick, whereas there is an immediately noticeable improvement with accuracy and quick release when they tighten up their pockets!
Creating a Passing Culture
One of the most important things a coach can do is create a great passing culture through the emphasis on being a great passing team and the drills you run. This video from a webinar I created a few years ago called "Four Coaching Secrets For a Great Season" explains how a coach can create a "Passing Culture"
- Passing and catching on the run at speed
- Crank Passing
- One Cradle
- Claremont Rules
- "One More"
- Emphasize Hockey Assists
- Ground Ball Offense
A Breakdown of Every Pass Imaginable!
This video from the JM3 YouTube Channel breaks down all the passes every player needs in their repertoire!!
Listen to more of the Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast with Jamie Munro >>> www.PHILACROSSEOPHY.com <<<
Dodge and Dump To X with Inside Hand
I caught the end of the 3rd quarter and 4th quarter of a USA vs Canada "Friendly" (a couple years ago) and although it wasn't a high scoring affair, it was fun to watch! The US prevailed in the end, but the young Canadian squad made up of mostly college kids competed at a remarkable level. Impressive was their patience and game management. The Canucks knew they had to slow the ball down (and international rules allow this) and they had the disciple to this, but they also had the skill to withstand pressure from some of the best defensemen and athletes in the world.
The Canadians didn't "Run by their man" as most coaches would say, but they were able to generate offense through one of a few ways: 2man game, re-dodging, posting up, and waiting for a US defender to try to take it away.
Watch this clip of how Jeff Teat beats his man 1v1 with a series of moves. This is a perfect example of manipulating and controlling both his defender and the slide. Teat operates in his Double Threat posture, staying as close as possible to his man without allowing him to cross check, his "Open up" to a feeding posture both serves as a hesitation move with an underneath angle and a means to get the slider back to his man.
The pass to X is a never taught, counterintuitive, but incredibly effective technique. Check out this tweet from Joe Keegan of the PLL media team. Joe knows I believe a pass to X with the inside hand opens up more opportunities than a pass to X with the outside hand because it causes defenders to commit to the slide longer. Watch the video and look how Teat generates full commitment from three players on this dodge and dump!
Here's another example of a player utilizing this technique. One of the keys is of course to be able to get a good step on your defender that you can turn the corner and get the stick to your inside hand. When a player is on his natural side, he can usually either roll back topside or get underneath to his strong hand as it's hard for a defender to take away both.
Also, notice that this player uses the Slide Dodge Technique, which allows a dodger to crowd his defender, reduce the defender's cushion, and more easily turn the corner. This is one of the reasons I love the Slide Dodge
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An Interesting Catch-22 in Leadership,
By Mikey Thompson, Head Coach Christopher Newport University
In 2022 we hosted two Virtual lacrosse Summits with over 30 webinars in men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, box lacrosse and more!
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Have a great weekend!