[
YOUR EDGE] coaches 5 Practice Planning Keys
You spend countless hours with your team. Make the most of them.
In the past few issues, I have written in this space about ways to get your players and yourself prepared for the season. Now it’s April, and you’re in the throes of it. You have already logged countless hours on the field with your team. Are you making the most of them? How you spend that time with your players will directly impact their successes on the field. Hall of Fame UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said, “Activity, to produce
results, must be meticulously planned. Otherwise it is no different than kids just running around on the school yard.” Planning out your daily practices can be one of the most
effective teaching tools you have. Think about this: Prior to the technological era of smartphones and GPS, how did people travel to places they had never been before? They had a map.
A well-devised practice plan is nothing more than a map to take your team where you and they want to go during the journey of their season.
Make sure on a daily basis you consider the following five premises of a successful practice plan: • Variety. • • • •
Balance team and individual play. Disguise conditioning.
Progression from simple to more difficult skills. Lots of balls.
Incorporating these five items — along with good up-front communication with players about what they will be doing, why they are doing it and summarizing what they did — can make practices more productive.
US Lacrosse has several templates available to help you plan out your practices to maximize your time and the athletes’ fun, as well as our Mobile Coach app to help you find new and exciting drills. Visit
uslacrosse.org/cep.
Men’s Drill 3-on-2 Full Field
Objective: Improve clearing and running the field. Transition play requires ball movement and vision. This drill allows players to move the ball down the field and then drop back in a ride to cover the breaks and improve field sense and vision.
Directions
• M1, M2 and M3 start behind their own goal and attack as a 3-on-2.
• The last of these middies to touch the ball is out. He rejoins the lines for his team behind the far goal where he originated.
• The two remaining middies drop back and become D6 and D7 on the defending end of a 3-on-2.
• After the possession, three new middies break from behind to start a new 3-on-2 series.
• All players play all positions. Long sticks become attackers, attackers play defense and so on.
70 LACROSSE MAGAZINE April 2013>> x x D D x
Objective: To work on transitioning the ball down the field in an unsettled situation.
x D D D
x x
D D Directions x
• Set up the field with lines of players at the corner of each restraining line.
• Start with a 3-on-2 at one end.
• After a shot or turnover, make an outlet pass to one of the lines.
• One defender joins the two new players going the other way.
Variations: Make it a 4-on-3 or move the goals closer together for younger players.
• Two of the three original attackers stay on to play defense on the next possession.
• This drill disguises conditioning.
Variations: Keep score to make it more competitive. You can also increase the number of players on the field.
TJ Buchanan is the coaching education content manager for
US Lacrosse. For more on the US Lacrosse Coaching Education Program, visit
uslacrosse.org/cep.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
A3 A
A M1
Women’s Drill 11-Man Continuous 3-on-2
M M
M M
M4
M5
M6 M7
M6
M M
M M
M2
D1 D2
A2 A
A M3
A1 A
A
x
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84