A Lacrosse Weekend 2.29.20
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!
Thinking Back to Leap Year 2016
Happy Leap Year everyone! With an extended February almost over and daylight savings time right around the corner, it finally feels like lacrosse season! Every time there's a Leap Year, it makes me think back four years. Last Leap Year was 2016, my two older kids were Juniors in HS and we were dealing with the tragic loss of the Mountain Vista lacrosse coach, Dr Jake Herman, who was a mentor and great friend to so many. Hard to believe it's been four years both because it seems so long ago and because time is flying by! Jake Herman and I became very close coaching Vista Lacrosse together and he was an incredibly positive force on the lives of my children as well as so many other kids. We miss you Jake!
A Lacrosse Wall of Pics
last week I finally got my wish! My very own lacrosse office at home! Thanks to my wife Sara for signing off on the concept and making it happen! I've been cranking away at this digital lacrosse endeavor for the past few years, spending. endless hours. creating. content: Blogs, podcasts, webinars, video analysis, etc, but it never felt quite right. Now it does! I love my new lacrosse office!
Women's Lacrosse Podcast
This week on the Inside the 8 Podcast we were joined by North Carolina Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator, Katrina Dowd. Each week on Tuesdays Colleen Magarity and I do a podcast that is all-things women's lacrosse. If you don't know Colleen, you will love her! She's the best: a great coach and mentor (to my daughter!), won 3 National Championships at Northwestern where she was an All-American, coached at Colorado for 4 years at the inception of the DI program and is now the Head Coach at Penn Charter School and Director of HHH Girls Lacrosse.
Colleen and I LOVE talking lacrosse and our podcast conversations are pretty much the same as the lax conversations we've been having for years! If you're a coach or a player you will love the deep dive into some of the best match ups of the week in college lacrosse where we analyze players, skills, and strategy! If you are a parent, you'll love the segment we do each week on College Lacrosse Recruiting. Finally, we invite guests on the show! This week we had a great chat with Colleen's former teammate and all time great lacrosse player/coach Katrina "Trixie" Dowd. Listening to Katrina talk about skills development, how to use your imagination, and her overall passion for the game is awesome! I hope you enjoy it!
JM3 Program Consulting
I'm excited to announce a new consulting program for Coaches who want a 1 on 1 opportunity to work with me on things like: player development, practice planning, problem solving, watching film, as well as building game plans. The JM3 Coaches Training Program content is an incredible resource, but the opportunity to work hands on with coaches and programs is awesome! I currently work with boys HS coaches, girls HS coaches, DI women's lacrosse and youth organizations. I currently have space for 1-2 more clients. For more information, please shoot me an email at [email protected].
One Hand Pump Fake
I talk all the time about the value of Backhand Pumps as one of the best, most effective fakes to use when you're going underneath, to buy a little time and space by freezing potential help defenders. The One Hand pump, illustrated by Devon Buckshot below, is pretty much the same thing as a Backhand pump, but just done with one hand, or the equivalent of the bottom hand on the stick. The part of this video that is super interesting to me is that it looks like Buckshot uses a variation of a hook move where his off hand is sealing the defender behind him. It definitely looks like a ward, but it was right in front of an official. Let me know if you have any thoughts about this!
A Sick Women's Lacrosse Look
Watch this video and you will see one of my favorite 2man looks! This video is from the Women's Lacrosse Coaches Training Program. If this kind of thing interests you, you will love the content I've created! Enjoy the Buckeye Look!
Faking Below GLE To Set up a Fade Shot
Check out UVA attackman Matt Moore and his crippling move from last Tuesday night against High Point. He got inside the cushion/stick length of the defender in a 2man game situation, Short Cut the pick to his left, and created great separation. Many times when you get a great step on your defender it's hard to turn the corner of the crease because of both the speed and the defender in pursuit. Executing a Fade Shot AKA Step Off Shot as well as an Up The Hashes Jump Shot are excellent solutions in this circumstance because you can get a hands free shot off with enough angle to score and not even subject yourself to being run over! What Moore did that was interesting was he pumped a shot just before the goal line and it pulled the goalie off the pipe, giving him the nearside pipe. I teach pumping multiple times before GLE when coming around tight, but this application of pumping before a Fade Shot is pretty nice!
Reverse V Hold
Last year during my epic RV trip to 12 Different Division I Lacrosse schools, I learned a ton of skills, drills, concepts, and X's and O's, .... you name it! One of the things I saw several programs working on is what Then Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator and now Harvard Head Coach, Gerry Byrne calls the Reverse "V" Hold. If you watch carefully, you will see this technique used all over college lacrosse by right handed short stick defenders versus a left handed dodger. This technique truly is a hold and will actually stop a dodger in his tracks. Below is a video of ND working on the Reverse V Hold!
Have a Great Weekend!