How to Play Lacrosse
These are skills that even the best players in the world work on, day in and day out. The thing about lacrosse is, the better you get at it, the more fun it becomes to play. If you can give yourself a strong foundation in all these basic fundamentals, then you will be well on your way to becoming a great player!
Position Specific Concepts
In lacrosse, there are four different positions: attack, midfield, defense, and goalie. In a game, there are three attackmen, three midfielders, three defensemen, and one goalie on the field for each team. It is important for beginners to try out all positions to see which one they like the best. This will also give them […]
Beginner Stick Work
Having good stick work in lacrosse or “having a good stick” is the single most important skill with which to measure a beginner’s progress. Lacrosse is a skill and finesse game. It is a game that gets more fun as one’s stick skills improve. We believe that when teaching beginners, coaches should find creative ways […]
Goalie Saves
The most important job for the goalie is to save the ball. The first thing that a coach has to do is get his goalie to see the ball. Many young goalies move too soon. As a coach, you can distinguish many of your goalies’ bad habits by faking shots at them during warm-ups.
Attack – Two Man Games
Another position-specific concept for attackmen at the intermediate level is two-man games. Two-man games are moves that two attackmen can use to beat two defensemen.
Position-Specific Drills
Just as with any other sport or skill, in lacrosse, you can always work hard and keep getting better. The lacrosse tips and drills in this section are for players looking to take their game to the next level.
Goalie Stance
Goalie is the one position that coaches struggle to teach because they have never played before. Some coaches try to make the goalie position more complicated than it really is. They turn it into a complex set of rules, like a golf pro teaching the perfect swing. The bottom line for goalies at any level […]
Goalie Positioning
There are many conflicting theories on where a goalie should stand in the goal to be most effective. It is our position that goalies should play an extremely shallow arc or very close to the goal line. The lacrosse goal is six feet by six feet and lacrosse goalies do not wear many pads. Therefore, […]
Goalie Communication
One of the most important jobs of a goalie is to communicate with his defense. There are some basic calls that a goalie should know and his defense should understand at the intermediate level. When making these calls, the goalie needs to be loud and commanding as he is the quarterback or captain of the […]
Midfield
At the intermediate level, the best athletes should be used at the midfield. The key qualities of good midfielders are the abilities to run up and down the field, to pick up groundballs, to shoot from the outside, and to play strong man-to-man defense. The athlete that plays midfield is strong, fast, and has good […]
Attack – Dodging
At the intermediate level, the best three or four scorers and ball handlers should be put at the attack position. Attackmen need to be able to control the tempo of the game offensively and take care of the ball. Players who want to play attack at this level should be good cradlers, should be able […]
On-Ball Defense
As discussed before, on-ball play is when a defender is covering the man with the ball. Playing one-on-one for a defender is much like playing one-on-one for a midfielder. The main goal is to prevent the ball carrier from getting to the top side, or to the middle of the field.
Off-Ball Defense
Off-ball defense or covering a man who does not have the ball, is one of the least understood aspects in youth lacrosse. Youth defensemen either stay right on their man and pay no attention to team defense or they stare at the ball and pay no attention to the man that they are covering. They […]
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