I just finished my podcast with Colorado State Head Coach Alex Smith and I can’t wait to try this incredibly creative ground ball drill. No wonder he already has an MCLA National Championship as a young head coach, and a few more as a player. The context of the conversation was the evolution of ground ball drills, college coaches seem to be moving to more one-on-one ground balls versus the traditional two against one “Man Ball Drill.” If you have read my articles you know I agree… it is just more game realistic.

Additionally, the focus is a ground ball possession then immediately we “Pass-Pass.” Every NCAA lacrosse coach we have interviewed is huge on this newly emphasized fundamental.

And even though we do a better job of starting more of our lacrosse drills with a ground ball pick up, we encourage quick movement off of the ground ball, we even have ‘token resistance’ ground balls to start even transition drills, there is still a need for players to communicate with each other on ground ball scenarios, especially when there are teammates in close proximity.

I love this lacrosse drill. Coach Smith refers to it as their “3V2 to 4V3 Ground Ball Drill”. It is a very unique drill and actually focuses exclusively on communication, ground balls and ball movement. Actually they run this drill at Colorado State without a cage. It might be a little difficult to explain, so let me do this is stages.

First we need an area of the field to run the drill. You might want to possibly teach the drill or run it the first time with four cones set out to define the area for the players, but keep it relatively large, let’s say 20 yds by 20 yards… Coach Smith runs the drill in an open undefined area, and we will get there, but stay with me here.

Smith became head coach after five years as an assistant to Naumburg and as interim head coach in 2009, he led the Rams to a 7-2 record. In his first full season in 2010, Coach Smith was named the RMLC Conference and MCLA National Coach of the Year after guiding the Rams to a 17-3 season that included an RMLC Championship and national quarterfinal appearance.

In 2012, Smith and the Rams won their fifth MCLA Championship and third straight RMLC Championship on the backs of a 19-2 overall record and an MCLA record-setting defensive performance at the national championship tournament. Through four years, his overall record as head coach is 73-8!!

They also run an awesome camp featuring Coach Smith and his staff, and often players from the Outlaws. It is for players from the 4th grade and up, more info on the Ram Camp can be found at http://csulacrosse.com/ramcamp/.

In the full podcast we start with the unique way they run their club, the fall, winter, and spring practices. We discuss practice plans, his philosophies, a cool dialog on rides and clears (with D Middie subs), some awesome drills including the one you can listen to below, and some concepts that make their Man Up and Man Down so successful.

Audio Preview, ‘Best, Most Unique GB Lacrosse Drill Ever! from Coach Smith This is for all Free Members simply log in… and then check out the corresponding article in our article section,

Here is the article and drawings of this lacrosse drill, Click here

The full podcast with a ton of ideas and drills is available for our Premium Members…

In our recent podcast with Coach Frank Fedorjaka he shared a number of great lacrosse drills designed to improve his team with drills that emulate game scenarios. I was really taken with the amount or detailed thought he puts behind every drill, and how he designs lacrosse drills that work on a number of fundamentals at the same time.

This specific lacrosse drill impressed me and I could not wait to run it in practice. I found it to be incredibly effective reinforcing the basic fundamentals, but in a new way we had not tried before. And that is saying a lot as I am an old coach. In this case, the fundamentals include, ground ball techniques under pressure, “Scoop-Pass-Pass”, quick ball movement, defensive communication and sliding in transition. In addition, the lacrosse drill can be utilized with players of all age groups, and also great for all of us, it can be run on the half field with players of all ages.

Perhaps, it might be easier if I kind of describe it in reverse. The lacrosse drill ultimately is a 4V3, with two players up above the restraining line, Coach Fedorjaka has these offensive players start at the 40 yard line above the box, out towards the sidelines. The additional two offensive players, we had coming in from the end line positioned towards the corners.

After two stints as an assistant coach at Bucknell spanning nearly a decade, Frank Fedorjaka took over as head coach in 2006 when he succeeded longtime mentor Sid Jamieson. Fedorjaka has led the Bison to two of the last four Patriot League regular-season titles, and in 2011 guided the team to its first Patriot League Tournament title and second NCAA Tournament appearance.

Fedorjaka became only the second head coach in Bucknell lacrosse history, following in the footsteps of Jamieson, the Bucknell Hall of Famer who founded the varsity lacrosse program in 1968.

In 2009 Fedorjaka was named Patriot League Coach of the Year for the first time after leading the Bison to a perfect 6-0 conference record and the Patriot League regular-season title. His team made it to the championship game for the second year in a row, this time dropping a one-goal heartbreaker to Navy.

Known throughout his career as one of the college game’s best defensive minds, Fedorjaka’s teams annually rank among the national leaders in scoring defense, man-down defense and riding efficiency. Fedorjaka rejoined the Bucknell lacrosse family after serving as head coach at Franklin & Marshall for five years.

Fedorjaka served as an assistant coach at Bucknell for the 1992 and 1993 seasons before going to F&M.
In 1995 Fedorjaka was named the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association’s Division III Coach of the Year, after leading the Diplomats to a 12-3 record and an NCAA playoff berth. In addition to his responsibilities as men’s lacrosse coach, Fedorjaka also served as an assistant coach in football and women’s soccer during his tenure at F&M.

Also while at F&M Fedorjaka served as the Chair to the Southern ECAC Lacrosse Committee in 1997 and 1998. He served on the USILA National Ranking Committee and NCAA Advisory Committee for Division III lacrosse.

A 1989 graduate of Hobart College, Fedorjaka was a starting long-stick midfielder on three NCAA Division III national championship teams. He was also a three-year starter at wide receiver for the Statesman football team, earning All-America honors in 1988. The Rochester, N.Y., native was named Hobart’s Athlete of the Year in 1989. During his career at Hobart, he held all reception records and remained the school’s all-time leading receiver until 2004. Fedorjaka began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for two years at Springfield College (Mass.).

In the full podcast we cover many of the practice philosophies that have contributed the Bucknell success story. From warm ups, to stick skills to an emphasis on 3V2 and 4v3, Coach shares his ideas – all incorporating the defensive philosophies that have built this into such a highly respected lacrosse program.

In the Preview sample below for all of our free members, Coach Fedorjaka reviews their awesome take on a 4V3 Lacrosse Drill, beginning with a contested ground ball, into “Scoop-Pass-Pass” in his words, and finally into a fast repetition 4V3… We also have an article in our article section on this drill. I could not to try it, and our guys loved it!

We also feature this in my article on the drill with a drawing, just click here…

Audio Preview, ‘Contested Ground Balls to 4V3… from Coach Fedorjaka This is for all Free Members simply log in… and then check out the corresponding article in our article section,

The full podcast with a ton of ideas and drills is available for our Premium Members…

McCabe’s 2012 team was a young outfit that jelled late in the season, winning four of its final five games to finish as the conference runner-up. Along the way, W&L knocked off third-seeded Hampden-Sydney and second-seeded Roanoke in the conference tournament.

In his third season, McCabe led the Generals to a 16-4 overall record, including a 4-2 ODAC mark. W&L captured the ODAC Championship with a 15-14 overtime win over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Roanoke and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Gettysburg. The Generals finished the season ranked sixth nationally and McCabe was selected as the ODAC Coach of the Year.

McCabe’s 2011 and 2008 teams both earned the No. 2 seed in the ODAC tournament and during his tenure, W&L has continued to play one of the toughest schedules in Division III.

McCabe was no stranger to W&L lacrosse upon arriving in the summer of 2006. He had previously served as an assistant lacrosse and football coach for the Generals from 1998-2001. During his three seasons with the lacrosse team, the Generals posted a 43-5 (.896) overall record and a 17-1 mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference while achieving a No. 1 National Ranking in 1999 and 2001.

Additionally, W&L won two ODAC Championships and participated in the NCAA Tournament twice, advancing to the semifinals in 2000.

After a successful run with the Generals, McCabe left for Hamilton College in January of 2002, steering the Continentals to a 54-18 (.750) overall record. His 2003 team finished the season with a school-record 15 wins (15-3), claimed the Liberty League title and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. For his efforts, McCabe was named the Liberty League Coach of the Year and USILA Division III National Coach of the Year. McCabe and his staff were also selected the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year following an 11-3 season in 2006. In his five seasons, McCabe mentored seven Continentals to USILA All-America accolades.

For more information on their great lacrosse camps, including recruiting camps and team camps, visit, www.playgreatlacrosse.com

In the full podcast for Premium Members we cover, Coach McCabes practice plans and philosophies. There are some awesome drills in the full podcast, Scrapping ground Balls, Build Up Lacrosse Drills, Player Learning Styles, Ground Ball Work, and their emphasis on the Riding Game.

In the “Preview Sample” below, for all Free Members we listen to Coach McCabe describe an awesome twist, or rather a number of twists on a traditional NCAA Lacrosse Full Field Drill, we are calling it, 1V1 Ground Balls to 4V4 with a ton of variations!!

We also feature this in my article on the drill with a number of variations and drawings, click here

Audio Preview, ‘1V1 Ground balls to 4V4 and much more… from Coach McCabe This is for all Free Members simply log in… and then check out the corresponding article in our article section,

The full podcast with a ton of ideas and drills is available for our Premium Members…

In the recent podcast with Coach McCabe from W&L he shared some great new looks on a traditional full field ground ball drill. All NCAA Lacrosse programs run this type of lacrosse drill, but in this case we received some awesome variations that you can run – even on a half field with smaller rosters. I think you are going to love this one.

To set up the concept, most colleges have 40+ man rosters and run this drill weekly. They start with a 2V1 ground ball at the sideline at the midfield line, with three attack and three defenders in each box, if the “Two Men” get the ground ball it is a 5V4 break to the offensive end. If the “One Man” gets the ground ball he breaks to his (opposite) offensive end, with the other two players from the initial ground ball trailing, while we bring in another player from the other side of the midfield, thus a 5V5 if the ball is going that direction after the possession. It is a strong ground ball lacrosse drill that features a 5V4 if it goes one way and a 5V5 if it goes the other way. It is a great drill — but to run it correctly for eight to ten minutes, requires a larger roster.

One of the many unique things about Coach McCabe is the fact that he started as a high school coach and truly understands how we try to modify college lacrosse drills for many of our member coaches that do not have 40 man rosters.

Former two-time Bears’ lacrosse captain Lars Tiffany ‘90 returned to his alma mater as head men’s lacrosse coach in the summer of 2006, and has returned the program to national prominence with Ivy League titles in 2008 and 2010, and an NCAA Championship berth in 2009. Tiffany was named the New England Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2009 while leading his team to the number one ranking in New England each year.

Since taking over the Brown program four years ago, Tiffany has transformed a team that was winless in the Ivy League in 2006 into one of the preeminent teams in the Ivy League and the nation.

Tiffany guided Brown to its second Ivy League Championship in the last three years in 2010, while also earning a berth in the first ever Ivy League Playoffs.

In 2009, Tiffany coached Brown to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997, before falling in overtime to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA First Round. His 2009 team posted a 12-4 record, just one win short of the school record, and were ranked as high as eighth nationally during the season, finishing the season as the 11th ranked squad in the nation. Tiffany has posted 23 wins over the last two years.

In the short time he’s been the Bears’ head coach, Tiffany has refocused Brown’s players to improve their level of dedication and commitment to the program. He stresses individual development with the players, while enabling his men to make a major commitment to the community. In addition, Tiffany has re-energized Brown’s alumni base and upgraded the Brown schedule.

Tiffany came to Brown from Stony Brook, where he was the head lacrosse coach in 2005 and 2006.

A 1990 graduate of Brown, Tiffany was a two-time team captain and starter on defense for three years under Dom Starsia, now the head coach at Virginia. A Biology concentrator, Tiffany played on two Brown teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament (1987 & 1990). He was the Cliff Stevenson Award winner as Co-MVP of the Brown team that captured its first-ever NCAA playoff victory in 1990 (12-9 vs. UMass). Tiffany capped his career by playing in the North-South Senior All-Star game.

For more information on their great lacrosse camps, including recruiting camps and team camps, visit, www.brownlacrossecamps.com

In the full podcast for Premium Members we cover, “The Get There!” Drill, one of the best day-before-a-game drills I have seen, 1V1’s and 2V2’s, their specific station work including the 1V1 Ground Ball from the Alley – right into a 3V2, The Gauntlet Drill, some interesting twists on 4V4 work, and an informative dialog on Man Up and Man Down.

In the “Preview Sample” below, for all Free Members we listen to Coach Tiffany go through this unique drill that begins with 1V1 Ground Balls in the Alley, and then immediately into a 3V2…I loved it!! This great lacrosse drill is also featured in the ‘Article’ section of the site, click here to read the article

Audio Preview, ‘1V1 Ground balls to 3V2,’ from Coach Tiffany This is for all Free Members simply log in… and then check out the corresponding article in our article section,

Click here to read the article

The full podcast with a ton of ideas and drills is available for our Premium Members…

I am always looking for ways to integrate ground balls into fast lacrosse drills. We always coach ground ball-pass-pass, pick up the ball and move it immediately. But finding good lacrosse drills that really emphasize this key element to transition lacrosse are tough to find, especially if we do not have a huge roster for full field drills. In the most recent podcast with one of my favorite coaches, Lars Tiffany, we got a great lacrosse drill. It is applicable for all age groups, and can be run as a station, or in the half field. And we are moving more towards 1V1 ground ball drills as opposed to the traditional “Man or Ball” calls with 2V1 ground balls because I believe more often than not we are competing one against one in game scenarios for ground balls.

In this drill, we begin in the alley. Two players are going to compete for a ground ball. We also have an attackman (I use a line of just two or three) behind the cage at ‘X’, and an offensive middie up top above the box (I use a line of just two or three). We also add a defender which we position just slightly above the crease.

Guest Article Coach Austin Ford, Westerville North, Ohio

Faceoffs and wing play generally don’t get that much attention in practice, yet if you have a great group to control the X, you can control the game. This drill is great if you don’t have a lot of time in your practice plan for working on face-offs specifically. It builds on wing play, communication, ground balls, as well as creates a fast break drill every single rep – both sides of the field.

1) We start with our face-off guys at the center X (you can have 2-3 in a rotation.. in two faceoffs, out one). We have one line of middies / LSMs on either wing. In this case one line of yellow pinnies and the other in maroon. You need to assign either wing line to attack their own goal (i.e. yellow mids go to yellow attack goal, maroon mids to maroon attack goal). We have attack and defense set up for a fast break at either end of the field. The coach is at the X to run the faceoff, along with a supply of balls. If you have a full team, you can set this drill up so that all of your Varsity attack/D/Mids are at one end, and JV can be at the other.

2) We start each rep with a faceoff. The coach will make the “down, set, whistle”, and the face-off mids will begin their battle, and work on placing the ball where they want it to pop out. At this point, wing players from either side will come in, hustling for the ground ball. The wing player who wins the initial ground ball immediately goes towards his goal, and starts a fast break. Since we are aiming to get as many reps as possible, the coach will roll a ball out to the wing player who did NOT win a ground ball, and he will attack his end of the field, looking to start a fast break.

3) In this drill, we play to a goal, or a clear. There is no set time limit, but the play is blown dead if there are is no immediate move to the goal (or say 3 passes and no goal), the ball is dropped, or a player goes behind X, the coach blows the play dead. If the goalie makes the save, we have the defense clear back to the midline.

4) We are focusing on making the offense run a quick fast break.

For younger teams or smaller rosters:

1) Use only half of the field and attack one goal. All mids will wear the same colored pinny of the attack and whoever wins will look to run a fast break.

Extra Options:
1) Designate “chase” mids and position them closer in on the wing from either side. These mids will go 2-3 seconds after the middie who won the initial ball, and 2-3 seconds after the coach has rolled out the second one. This simulates the urgency of being chased for a fast break.

2) Designate that every 4th or 5th faceoff, the faceoff mids will take the ball down to create their own fast break.

We have received many many emails asking us to get Coach on the site, and I am so glad he agreed…

Torpey came to HPU after two seasons as associate head coach at Darmouth and five seasons at the University of Denver.

“Jon Torpey is an incredible coach who gives instant credibility to the High Point University men’s lacrosse program,” said HPU Athletic Director Craig Keilitz after Torpey was hired. “He has a proven record of on-field success as both a coach and player. Just as important, Jon really understands the off-field aspects of coaching, including recruiting high-character student-athletes who will excel athletically and academically and will represent HPU in a positive way on campus and in the community.”

Torpey has quickly built a reputation as one of the best young lacrosse coaches in the nation. He was still playing professional lacrosse when he was named assistant coach at Denver in July 2004. In 2006 when he was 28 years old, Torpey was named associate head coach at Denver, becoming the youngest Div. I coach in that position. At 32 years old, Torpey became one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA Div. I when he joined High Point University.

At Dartmouth, Torpey assisted in all aspects of the program, including recruiting all over the United States and Canada. He was responsible for monitoring educational progress and organizing successful fundraising efforts. As defensive coordinator, he coached the 2010 Big Green to the third-lowest goals against in the Ivy League and led the team to the second-best penalty-killing percentage in the league. The highlight of the season was holding No. 6 Cornell to six goals in an 8-6 win at Gillette Stadium. The Big Red eventually made it to the NCAA Final Four.

Torpey was a member of the University of Denver lacrosse staff from 2004-09, helping build the Pioneers’ program into a national contender in an area of the country that wasn’t typically known for lacrosse. In Torpey’s second season of 2006, he was instrumental in helping Denver to a 12-5 overall record and 5-0 league record, its first outright Great Western Lacrosse League title and its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. Torpey was elevated to associate head coach following that season.

Denver made its second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 and earned a No. 11 postseason national ranking, the best in team history. While Torpey was on staff, Denver posted a 47-32 overall record and a 17-8 Great Western Lacrosse League record.

Prior to Denver, Torpey coached three seasons at Goucher College and one at Denison University, both members of NCAA Div. III. He coached Goucher’s scoring defense from being unranked to No. 13 in the country in three seasons. He helped coach the 2001 Denison squad to the NCAA Div. III Final Four.

Torpey played collegiate lacrosse at Ohio State under head coach Joe Breschi, who is now the head coach at North Carolina. A defenseman, Torpey was a three-year captain and was named Street and Smith All-American as a senior. In his junior year, Torpey helped lead the Buckeyes to a 10-3 record, the team’s highest win total in over a decade, and its first-ever Great Western Lacrosse League title. He was a three-time Big Ten All-Academic selection, a four-year Scholar-Athlete Award winner and a finalist for the Big Ten Medal of Honor and the Corwin A. Fergus Award for athletic and academic achievement.

“I think High Point University has made an outstanding choice in hiring Jon Torpey,” said Breschi. “He is the first and only player I have coached who was a captain as a sophomore. It shows his leadership and ability to rally guys around him as well as his tenacity as a player. As a coach, he has gained the respect of the lacrosse community. He will do an amazing job to bring High Point University to the national level with his ability to coach and recruit and his knowledge of the game. I’m thrilled about this hire.”

As a professional player, Torpey was part of championship teams in both the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse. He played with the NLL’s Philadelphia Wings, Colorado Mammoth and Columbus Landsharks, winning a world title with the Mammoth in 2006. In the MLL, Torpey played for the Philadelphia Barrage team that won the championship in 2004 as well as the Denver Outlaws.

Torpey earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Ohio State in 2000 and earned a master’s degree in education and sports administration from Goucher in 2003.

For more information on Lacrosse camps, visit www.highpointpanthers.com, then Mens Lacrosse, and on the far right hand side, click, ‘Additional Links’ and then Mens Lacrosse Camps, please also visit, www.cuttingedgelacrosse.com, for more camps and opportunities for your players to learn directly from Coach Torpey,

For the Premium Members, the full podcast is laced with some interesting insights on how to run lacrosse practices… from stickwork to drills, and how Coach Torpey customizes his drills to areas of identified needs… we cover 4V4, Transition drills , 6V6, Riding and Clearing and his use of ‘Build Up’ Lacrosse Drills…

In the ‘Preview’ for all Free Members, we offer some advanced thoughts on a twist on 4V4 designed to prepare defenses for multiple slide and recovery actions in the same drill… and you can read in more detail my article on this configuration, click here

Audio Preview, ‘4V4 with Defensive Focus for the Long Haul Drill’ from Coach Torpey This is for all Free Members simply log in… and then check out the corresponding article in our article section,

Click here to read the article

The full podcast with a ton of ideas and drills is available for our Premium Members…