A Lacrosse Weekend 7.2.22
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.
Spain Looks
I talk a lot about Spain Looks in my blogs lately and that's because they are very useful to create a stimulus for the offense when a 2man game isn't generating the advantage you're hoping for! Sometimes the defense is successful versus your 2man games due to poor timing, pressure, spacing, bad reads by the offense or a lack of deception. Mixing in a quick pick for the picker can create an easy goal!
Below are a couple examples of Spain Looks:
Here are a couple awesome examples of Spain Looks from a couple weeks ago at out JM3 Girls Training Camp in Denver!
3v3 + Feeder Keep Away Drill
We experimented with this Keep Away variation at our JM3 Colorado Girls Training Camp a few weeks ago in Denver and it helped our girls learn how to easily transition from a Ram Screen to a Spain look.
Drill Set up
- Feeder starts with the ball while the off ball defenders of the 3v3 deny passes
- Off ball players in the 3v3 work together to get open. This is a great opportunity to learn how to seal your own man and communicate to a teammate to use your seal.
- When the ball gets to a player in the 3v3 the defense is no longer denying passes should mix up two coverages: Switch the pick or pressure and fight over the pick,
- When the ball gets to a player in the 3v3 we are looking for a Ram Screen, which is an off ball pick before an on ball pick
- After the Ram, we taught the girls to pick for the picker which is known as Spain.
Watch the video below and you will see clips in chronological order as the girls began to learn how to think quickly, communicate, read the defense and each other all while handling the ball under pressure. This drill is a phenomenal way for players to learn a vast amount of concepts!
One thing you will notice is the Spain Slip is usually what will be most open! When you pick for the picker, there is often a successful switch to the cutter, but there is rarely a successful switch to the picker because the on ball picker's defender, who is being picked, is still wrapped up in the on ball action and that switch / stay scenario.
Youth Lacrosse Man Down Defense
Last week I coached a JM3 2028 National Team up in Vail and it gave me the opportunity to figure out how to teach all facets of team lacrosse to a bunch of 12 year olds over the course of a tourney, building their understanding and knowledge half by half, game by game and using pre game meetings and film clips to explain our game plans for 6v6,, EMO/EMD, transition, Rides/Clears and face offs.
Today's blog explains simple yet effective way to shut down the most common Extra Man Offense you will encounter at the youth level. Most teams in middle school and below will run a 1-3-2 (one behind) because most youth man down defenses play a box and one and it's pretty easy to draw and dump from behind, creating a 3v2 on the wing. If the X man draws the base defender, very often the wing will get a shot. If the X defender throws it a little bit earlier to the wing and the base defender plays that pass, the X man can sneak. Of course the defense can and should rotate, but at the youth level, over and over again we see this EMO look successfully scoring goals.
This defense I call "Terp" because the University of Maryland played our 132 like this in 2001 at the inaugural Denver Pioneer Face Off Classic. It's basically a string from the crease to X when the ball goes back there, allowing the wings to play the wings and skip passes while one top defender to cover the crease and the other one splits two. This completely eliminates the easy look most youth EMO's are looking for. then, once the ball is in front of the net, it's 5v5 with the box and one matching up perfectly (just watch for a sneak!).
Give it a shot!
If you have questions on youth coaching feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or subscribe to the JM3 Coaches Training Program (CTP) check out the CTP here
If you want to learn more about all of these concepts check out our Youth Lacrosse Program and the Coaches Training Program.
JM3 SPORTS uses the FreeLap speed timing system with our Athletes along with Tony Hollers Atomic Speed Workout and the results are phenomenal!
Start seeing speed gains in weeks! Get your FreeLap speed timer >>>CLICK HERE <<<
If you want to get Tony Holler's Speed Training for Lacrosse go to this link >>> CLICK HERE <<<
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If you want to learn a more in-depth approach to all of the drills in this blog check out our premium content. Thousands of athletes, parents, coaches, and programs are subscribed to one of our memberships and have joined the JM3 community to take their lacrosse skills and IQ to an entirely new level.
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JM3 Interns Needed
Here at JM3 Sports we are opening up a hiring process for interns for social media, editing, content creation, and videography. We are extremely excited about the JM3 team and mission and are expanding to serve even more athletes and programs. We need your help!
Email me at jmunro@jm3sports if you have the skills and would like to become a part of our team.
Social Media Interns:
JM3 Sports is looking for a social media team that will help run the day to day operations of all of JM3 social media - Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, Facebook
Editing Intern:
JM3 Sports is looking for editors that:
-Can recognize relevant lacrosse plays on offense and defense in both boys and girls lacrosse
-Can identify and keep track of a player or players throughout a game
-Are able to screen record on their computer and have general knowledge of how to use Imovie
-Are able to communicate through text/phone effectively
-Can watch multiple lacrosse games in a day on same day/1 day notice
Highlight Video Editing Intern:
JM3 Sports is looking for editors that:
-Have a computer that can screen record/download games
-Have Imovie or another video editing software
-Have general knowledge about Imovie or other video editing software
-Can format title slides
-Can identify which clips are better than others and organize them from best to worst
-Can use freeze frames and arrows/circles to identify players
-Can communicate effectively through email and text message
Get your Highlight Video Produced by JM3 Sports!
Go to www.laxhighlightvideo.com
Check out this Awesome Video we produced!
Have a great weekend!