Lacrosse Drill, Dartmouth 2V1 Swing Drill

In our recent interview with Dartmouth Head Lacrosse Coach, Andy Towers, he shared some really great insights on lacrosse practice plans and some great lacrosse drills. I loved his ‘Swing Drill’ which he suggested came from Coach Torpey, and may originally have been a ‘Box’ Lacrosse Drill. Not only is it a popular lacrosse drill at Dartmouth, but I recommend it as a great lacrosse drill for youth and younger teams as well.

Clearly, this drill meets all of our criteria, emulates game scenarios, fast paced and fun for the lacrosse players. I love the way the lacrosse drill gives lacrosse coaches options to keep the basics in place, yet offers so much flexibility that we can stay with this drill a couple of times a week, yet make it different every day, another one of our key criteria for a great drill. I will describe the drill in its base form, then we can discuss options and competitiveness as we move forward.

Coach described the drill in a basic 2V1 format. We begin the lacrosse drill by breaking the team into two groups, in this case, white jerseys and green jerseys. One of the things I liked about the drill is that at Dartmouth, both, the poles play in the offensive lines and the ‘shorties’ play in the defensive lines. And we have a Goalie in the cage. Both teams have Attack, Poles, and Middies on each team. We have two offensive players, in this case, on one side of the Box if you will. On the other side of the field we have a line of defense players.

In some proximity to the offensive players, we place a cone by each offensive player. They then will then need to circle that cone to begin. In the area in front of the crease — we also place a couple of cones, around five yards or so in front of the crease. Coach starts his drill with a carry by the first offensive player. If you have youth players, and you may consider adding a line for a pass, that will add additional touches, and keep another line of kids engaged in a line. But in most cases the college coaches want players to move or quickly bang the ball two passes off every ground ball, so to be consistent with that philosophy, Coach starts with a ‘carry’.

On the whistle, the first offensive player carries the ball around the closest cone to him, while the second offensive player is also going around the other cone closest to him. On the whistle, the defender needs to sprint across the field into the ‘Time and Room’ area, touch one of those cones with his stick, get set up, and begin to play. And from there we play a very quick 2V1 sequence. Then after five to six minutes you will switch green to offense and white to defense.

The offensive players are focused on looking up, spacing, trying to force a draw, and keeping passing lanes clear. The defensive players are focusing on forcing a pass, but not out too far, recovery, and getting their sticks in a position to deny the passing lane. It is basic enough lacrosse drill for youth players, yet very effective.

Options

1. Now with the same format we could very easily make this a 3V2 lacrosse drill (also good for youth players) or even a 4V3 with the appropriate cones on the field.

2. We can run this drill from the alleys the way we described above, or run it from bottom to top, or top to bottom.

3. We could start our poles from anywhere, where the next slide might be coming from, GLE, or adjacent high, or even behind.

4. We can move the cones they need to circle to different areas, circle a little higher or circle a little lower. I am not sure putting one at X works, as we want to emulate a game scenario, and in a 2V1 on one side of the cage, we do not want a player at X.

5. Coach Towers runs the drill with the cones the defensive player needs to touch a little higher, they touch and then ‘back peddle’ into the area in front of the crease.

Competition

A huge part of Coach Towers’ practice philosophy is competition in almost every drill. In this case, they would keep score between the white and the green. Of course, a goal is a point, a stop, take-a-way or save might be a point for the defensive team.

Immediately following the drill the losing team lines up on the sideline, and needs to run from the sideline to the far sideline, and back again. Coach takes out his timer, they have 18 seconds at Dartmouth to go from one side to the other. If any players fail to make in the 18-second (which Coach Towers describes at about 90%) deadline, they need to go again with a 20 second deadline. At my age I am really glad I do not play at Dartmouth, it would take a calendar to time me.

If you are coaching really young players, U13 and below, I might recommend skipping the competitive part of rewards and penalties, after all them having fun and more time for ‘touches’ is best.

We ran this drill the other night and the kids loved it. Keep it quick and fast paced. We actually put lines on both sides in the alleys and then ran one side and then the other, very fast…

Love to hear your thoughts, mike @laxcoachmike.com.

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