Lacrosse Drill 2 on 1 Ground Balls to Full Field
In this great drill we received from Coach Cottle from Maryland we get all the elements we are looking for in drills that simulate game scenarios, and focus on competitive ground balls and transition.
It is fun, fast paced, and works on a number of key fundamentals all in the same drill.
This is a full field drill and begins with three Attack and three Defense at each end of the field with Goalies in the cages.
At the Midfield Line we have three lines on each side of the field.
On one side, (in the case of Maryland) two white jersey players and one red jersey player.
On the far sideline at the Midfield line we have the opposite two red jersey players and one white jersey player.
The coach rolls a ground ball out at Midfield.
Now we have a 2V1 ground-ball drill.
If the white jersey players with two of the 2V1 get the ground ball they break immediately to the offensive side of the field, the single player needs to get back and play defense and we play 5V4 transition to a shot.
If the single player, or red jersey in this example, gets the ground ball, he breaks to the offensive end, and we "add one" or two players also breaking from the far side midfield lines so we now have a 5V5 or maybe 6V5 going to the other cage.
The two original players who lost the ground ball to the single player have to hustle back and pick up men and play defense.
Then the coach, or another coach runs the drill again beginning on the other sideline.
This is a fast paced drill that truly emulates a game scenario.
It is also a great drill if you are coaching by yourself because it can feature many coaching points and involves anywhere from 15 to 20 players in each run.
Although many college coaches run this drill, I thought the new twist of adding more than one or two made it extremely interesting.
If you only have 25 players at practice you can run this drill with just two Attack and two Defenders in each end.
It gives the coach a lot of flexibility to run 5V4 or 4V4 or even "add" more to make it interesting and/or different in each run.
In the words of Coach Cottle it makes the players think and react in each scenario.
As with all of our recommended drills this drill is not an entire afternoon of practice.
To keep your kids engaged, limit the duration to 10 minutes or 12-15 at the maximum, and move on.
We are also seeing more and more college coaches keeping a clock on the field so the players know to go hard if there is only two minutes remaining.
If you do not have a field with a clock...
(are you kidding me--Coach Mike?) then keep a horn in your pocket and blow the horn at two minutes to go and at the end of the drill.
It is fun, fast paced, and works on a number of key fundamentals all in the same drill.
This is a full field drill and begins with three Attack and three Defense at each end of the field with Goalies in the cages.
At the Midfield Line we have three lines on each side of the field.
On one side, (in the case of Maryland) two white jersey players and one red jersey player.
On the far sideline at the Midfield line we have the opposite two red jersey players and one white jersey player.
The coach rolls a ground ball out at Midfield.
Now we have a 2V1 ground-ball drill.
If the white jersey players with two of the 2V1 get the ground ball they break immediately to the offensive side of the field, the single player needs to get back and play defense and we play 5V4 transition to a shot.
If the single player, or red jersey in this example, gets the ground ball, he breaks to the offensive end, and we "add one" or two players also breaking from the far side midfield lines so we now have a 5V5 or maybe 6V5 going to the other cage.
The two original players who lost the ground ball to the single player have to hustle back and pick up men and play defense.
Then the coach, or another coach runs the drill again beginning on the other sideline.
This is a fast paced drill that truly emulates a game scenario.
It is also a great drill if you are coaching by yourself because it can feature many coaching points and involves anywhere from 15 to 20 players in each run.
Although many college coaches run this drill, I thought the new twist of adding more than one or two made it extremely interesting.
If you only have 25 players at practice you can run this drill with just two Attack and two Defenders in each end.
It gives the coach a lot of flexibility to run 5V4 or 4V4 or even "add" more to make it interesting and/or different in each run.
In the words of Coach Cottle it makes the players think and react in each scenario.
As with all of our recommended drills this drill is not an entire afternoon of practice.
To keep your kids engaged, limit the duration to 10 minutes or 12-15 at the maximum, and move on.
We are also seeing more and more college coaches keeping a clock on the field so the players know to go hard if there is only two minutes remaining.
If you do not have a field with a clock...
(are you kidding me--Coach Mike?) then keep a horn in your pocket and blow the horn at two minutes to go and at the end of the drill.