A Lacrosse Weekend 10.17.20
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
Manhattan Head Coach, Drew Kelleher, This podcast was a blast because Drew Kelleher is one of the best guys in the game. Sharp and cutting edge, Drew is fun and has a great sense of humor. We became friends back when he was first at BU, before they even had a team. He would join us at multiple 3d events where he would recruit and coach and we talked a lot of lacrosse. I think you will love the conversation around how he teaches dodging. The ability to draw slides to generate offense is key and in a rebuilding situation like Manhattan, it was critical that they could breakdown match ups. Listen to the technique Drew teaches! Click here for the Drew Kelleher podcast!
JM3 Sports YouTube Channel
I'm excited to announce that we are in the process of revamping our JM3 Sports YouTube Channel with tons of great videos! Over the past three years I have created an enormous amount of content that is lives behind the paywall of my Men's and Women's JM3 Coaches Training Program. I have decided to release some of my favorite videos, webinars, and breakdowns on the JM3 Sports YouTube channel to give people a taste of what the JM3 Coaching Content is like! Be sure to subscribe so you get notifications when we add new content, which will be every week!
Newly Added Videos!
Teaching Box Lacrosse: this 28 minute webinar will teach you the key concepts, skills and drills for creating an effective box lacrosse learning environment. Check out what youth lacrosse players from from Coquitlam and Delta, BC look like in both games and practices! It's awesome and I think you'll love this!
The Big-Little Skip Survivor Drill: This drill is easily one of my favorites of all time! It's a 4v4 drill where we learn how to attack and defend in Big-Little situations. Critical concepts like slide decisions, communication, recovery, and the next round of slides when the ball kicks up top are covered in this drill! It's a staple!
Clearing 101: This white board explanation of clearing will answer all the questions you might have about how to teach clearing. Beginning with the goalie and base defenders, we will explain how to install three different clears: 34, Diamond, and Open. Further, I show you how to these clears work against the most common rides.
Man up offense 101: this video explains the basics of Extra Man Offense showing you and your players: the passes, the shots, the fakes, the movements, the motions, and the drills for high level man up offense! You will love this video!
Installing a 1-3-2 Offense: A 20 minute video where you will learn how to install the "Greatest motion offense!" I show you the dodges, the passes, the movements, the variations and the drills for how to install a 132 Dodge/Follow/Float offense with simple ways to create the ultimate variability!
Austin Staats 2017 Minto Cup Breakdown: Austin Staats is one of the best lacrosse players in the world and I can tell you I learned one of the most important lessons about "Control" from watching him in the 2017 Minto. From this Minto I learned the value of the Double Threat Position which forever changed how I coach.
Tehoka Nanticoke 2017 Minto Cup Breakdown One of the most exciting and creative players in college lacrosse, you will see where he gets his creativity when you watch this breakdown!
Eddy Glazener Defensive Breakdown
This past Wednesday night I did a webinar with PLL Redwoods defender Eddy Glazener breaking down the Redwoods-Whipsnakes overtime game from the PLL Championship Series. Listening to Glazener talk defense is like listening to a genius. Stay tuned, we will make this webinar available soon!
The Underhand Hitch
I love this technique because it allows a dodger to hesitate and fake shots while keeping their stick tucked and protected even while being physical with a defender or cutting a defender off. Connor Fields is a master of this move and you can see in the video below how he baits Garrett Epple into going over his head using his underhand hitch technique. Once you have gained position or leverage on your man, the hitches will cause both your defender to try and make a last ditch play as well as cause the off ball defenders to reach the same way.
Check out the videos from our pick up games this past summer with JM3 Athletes where Underhand Hitches were used regularly. This technique is usually reserved for box lacrosse players, but if you play enough pick up, you will have chances to learn this amazing skill in context!
JM3 Athlete Program
I have to say, I love working with my JM3 Athletes. I never get sick of watching and talking lacrosse with motivated and engaged players. I work with boys and girls from middle school through college and the results have been awesome. One of the biggest things I've noticed in my JM3 Athletes is how much more confidently and assertively they play. I call it Free Play Poise and it's a game changer. While most kids are repping out skills that they will never use in games, my JM3 Athletes are learning how to play implicitly, gaining fluency in real time and doing it in Free Play environments that allow them to process the game in context make decisions to use skills even if they seem risky.
Here's a recent video from one of my athletes at the 1% Showcase where he was All-Star Game MVP. The skills and creativity he's using is a trademark of JM3 Athletes.
If you are interested in the JM3 Athlete program, email me at [email protected] . I do not have any openings right now, but I'm planning on opening enrollment in the middle of November and will begin interviews around that time.
Women's Lacrosse Drill
4v4 Sides Three Pass:
- Boundaries: playing on one side of the field, the offense can use the whole 12 on their natural side and no farther than the backside "Tangent." (The Tangent is the imaginary 90 line through the side of the crease)
- Each team plays offense and defense like half court hoops
- Must complete three passes before shooting
- Defense gets 2 points for a double team
- Offense gets one point for a goal
This game is a hybrid between keep away and a small sided game that I love for multiple reasons:
- The Keep Away environment creates ball pressure and off ball pressure through denying passes, which forces the offense to move off ball, get open, and possess the ball under pressure.
- On ball and off ball 2man games begin to happen naturally the more the players cope with this environment.
- The three pass rule with pressure also makes this game more challenging for the offense. It is too easy to score in a 4v4 situation and often times one player will dodge and score with no ball movement.
- Why the Natural Side: learning to operate on one side is a magical way of teaching the difficult spacing necessary in women's lacrosse. If an offense can comfortably run 2man, 3man and 4man looks on one side with Nations and Spain type looks, it will be a major advantage in 7v7!
- Once the offense has completed three passes, the defense does not pressure off ball players and looks to help, slide, and collapse with team defense.
I hope you love this drill!
If you want more information on the Women's Lacrosse JM3 Coaches Training Program click the link and get access to the riches women's lax content treasure trove on the internet!
Have a great weekend!