Drills and Variations from Coach Toomey from Loyola
4V4 – x3

I learned so much talking to Coach Toomey, Head Coach from Loyola, as I love his ability to make adjustments during a game, and he has certainly built a team that is capable of beating any lacrosse team on any given Saturday. In this drill he adds some new twists to his 4V4 drills, he calls it 4V4×3. If you want to hear him describe this drill in his own words, just click on the sample button in his podcast in the ‘Interview’ section of the site.

In this drill he is going to run four offensive players and four defensive players. He generally starts with two Attack, two close Defense, two Middies on offense, and either two Middies or a Middie and a Long Stick on defense.

Each group stays on the field for three quick variations of the drill, this is where it starts to get interesting… each set [private] designed to a specific teaching and coaching situation and team offensive skill set.

First Time Through

The players on offense and defense quickly take the field, and as they are running on the field, the Coach throws out a ball to an area of the field, or rolls the ball out to an area of the field, and the drill is live with the offense taking it to the cage in a pure unsettled situation. They quickly move the ball to a shot on goal and focus on two passes to a shot. Defensive variations can be to press, or not press adjacent.

The coaching point, or Focus: attacking the cage off of a ground ball, and the defense matching up, and being prepared to slide in an unsettled situation.

Second Time Through

The same players stay on the field, for the second repletion of this series of 4V4 sequences. The offensive players quickly run to formation. In this case it is a “Y” type formation, with an offensive Middie up top outside the box, an offensive Middie in the crease, and two Attack players outside on the goal line extended.

The ball starts up top, outside the box with the Middie. Focus One: to make the offensive Middie go where the defense wants him to go, in most cases with the stick on the ‘high’ side trying to force him to the alley. Focus Two: to practice driving hard and dictating the offense from up top.

The Middie up top drives and the drill begins. In the case of Loyola, Focus Three: the slide, or the ‘Hot’ defensive player guarding the Middie in the Crease, as well as the second slide. And again the possession is a very quick ten to fifteen seconds.

Third Time Through

In the third repetition the players now run to a new formation. It is again a ‘Y’ type formation (reversed), only this time, the Attack player is at ‘X’, the second Attack player is in the crease, and the two offensive Middies are high up top outside the box. Focus One: driving the offense from behind, attacking the crease and defensively then forcing the Attack player out and away when he reaches GLE.

Focus Two: not only the ‘hot’ slide from the crease in this case, but the second slide, most often down from a defensive Middie who was originally covering one of the offensive middies up top, while the final defensive Middie covers two.

Of course this drill can be run with any combination of short sticks and poles, as well as more Middies or more Attack, or even against four poles, or variations on both end of the field, just to keep it interesting and changing. Thus keeping the players engaged and focused.

Another variation might be to force the Goalie and Defense to clear past midfield on the third repetition, or another variation, if the offense throws the ball away, they are done and the next group comes in while they do push-ups or the like…

Another interesting variation (for those of us who love to ‘Invert’) is to run the drill sequences using Middies behind, and the Attack players up top. Cool eh?

Coaching Variations

In the interview, Coach Toomey recommended another interesting technique I had never heard before. At some point, possibly once or twice in practice, the Coach will call a time out. The time out is a very quick 20-30 seconds. In this case the coach brings in the offensive players and designs a very specific play for the players to implement in the drill.

I thought this was genius. So many times I have called a timeout in a game with seconds left and drawn up a unique play, only to watch things not go as planned. In this case, we are actually practicing the drawing up of a unique play, and the players adjusting to it. It makes so much sense… that is why he is a great DI Coach, and I your humble correspondent….

Coach Mike

Charley Toomey, who is entering his seventh season as a collegiate head coach, (click to hear his 4V4 x3 Drill) has put his stamp on the Loyola men’s lacrosse program as a disciplined, tough, skillful unit that competes at the highest level.

Under his direction, the Greyhounds have won at least a share of two of the last three ECAC Championships and reached the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons. Since Toomey took over as Loyola’s head coach before the 2006 season, the Greyhounds lead the ECAC with 28 conference victories, amassing a 28-7 record during that stretch. He has been involved in 10 of the 16 NCAA D-I Tournament appearances in program history – three as a player, five as an assistant coach and two as a head coach. Toomey is also currently a member of the NCAA National Lacrosse Committee.

In the ‘Preview’ you will hear Coach Toomey describe his 4V4 x3 Drill, offering some great unique coaching opportunities out of the popular 4V4 drill that accomplishes so much. You can also read my article in the drill in the ‘Article’ Section of the site.

Audio Preview

Coach Richie Meade Head Coach (click to listen to preview sample) at Navy, is clearly a Dean of today’s NCAA Coaches.

One of the most successful coaches in NCAA history, Richie Meade, 20 years as a Head Coach including 16 seasons at Navy, is one of the most sought after coaches in the game today. Well known for being synonymous with leadership and discipline, what you may not know is that he played at North Carolina, Coached as an Assistant at Duke, North Carolina, Army and University of Baltimore as a Head Coach. He is a member of the USA Boxing Foundation Board of Trustees, a tenured full professor in the Naval Academy Physical Education Department, and president of the Intercollegiate Men’s College Lacrosse Coaches Association. (IMLCA)

in the podcast we learn about leadership, trust throwing and catching fundamentals and some great ideas for drill. The sampler is on a great 6V6 drill, the “Mineola Drill,” also featured in the article section with detail and ideas.

Great for lacrosse coaches, lacrosse practice.
Audio Preview

Coach Richie Meade, Navy, and The Mineola Drill

As a coach do you need to work on your 6V6? For most coaches this means 18 players stand around bored on the sidelines while coaches get frustrated watching a monotonous half field scrimmage for what seems like hours or days at a time.

This is a great alternative we heard from legendary Coach Richie Meade from the Naval Academy. This begins

In our recent interview with Coach Urick from Georgetown we spent almost a half hour simply discussing shooting skills and shooting strategies. And I was quick to realize how we as lacrosse coaches possibly not only do not spend as much time on lacrosse shooting in our practice as we should, but perhaps more importantly we are not providing incentives and tools for our kids to focus on lacrosse shooting in non-practice time, in the appropriate way.

Non-Team Practice Time on Shooting

The most well known shooters, guys like Paul Rabil and Kyle Harrison (and many others) share a unique character trait,

Coach Dave Urick Head Coach (click to listen to preview sample) at Georgetown, is clearly one of the top coaches in NCAA lacrosse. His overall coaching record is 322-111, his record at Georgetown is 200-81. He is a former Intercollegiate Lacrosse Coach of the Year, former Head Coach Team USA, named to four different Hall of Fames, Coached Hobart to ten consecutive NCAA DIII titles, and is the current Chair of the USA Team Coaches Selection Committee.

In this interview, he discusses, how critical up tempo practices are to his program. We also spend a lot of time talking about lacrosse shooting from the work ethic of shooting to speed and accuracy, Man Up keys to success, and the positive impact of putting players under pressure in practice. Great for lacrosse coaches, lacrosse practice, and shooting concepts.

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Coach Mike Daly (Click here to listen to the sample) Head Lacrosse Coach at Tufts, DIII 2010 National Champions (20-1 in 2010) shares his philosophies and practice concepts that resulted in a National Championship. I think all lacrosse fans at every level were truly impressed with this team over Championship Weekend. Coach Daly is a two-time NESCAC Coach of the Year, has over 100 NCAA victories in just twelve seasons, and a unique philosophy on coaching today student athletes. This is a great interview with a great lacrosse coach with real tools to improve your lacrosse practice!

In the podcast,

A different look at opening your practice…
Tempo, Organization and Timing, not templates…
Key Defensive Drills
His Tools for Developing Leadership
His theory on allowing players to not only face, but learn and overcome adversity
The Now Infamous–Mini-Game Series
Competition in every drill
Giving back… a unique Mission Project, Cradles to Crayons

There is a lot here, enjoy! My article on his great ideas for defensive drills, especially his unique twist on them is in the Article Section of our site, check it out….

Audio Preview

In the ‘Interview’ section of our site, you can hear Coach Daly take you through these two drills in his own words in the preview section, it is about five minutes or so.

4 V 3 Defense Box Drill

Many of us run a variation of this drill with our defensive players, as a 3V2 or 4V3. The drill is a basic four man box of offensive players, with three defenders inside the box. When a pass is made the players slide to cover adjacent players, and hopefully move or react in unison with each pass. The box has cones typically 15 to 18 yards apart.

The thing I love about Coach Daly’s version is

Coach Ryan (Click here to listen to the sample) Head Lacrosse Coach at Mercyhurst is certainly one of the top young coaches in the game today. He has a 95-29 won loss record and a .772 winning percentage in DII including 33-9 over the last three seasons. He is a two-time USILA DII Coach of the Year and quick to share the concepts, lacrosse drills, and his areas of change over 12 seasons that have led to his success. This is a great interview with a great lacrosse coach with real tools to improve your lacrosse practice!

In the podcast,

Shooting Drills
Transition Drills from even and 5V4
Rabbit Conditioning Drill
6v6 Concepts w three second possessions
Interesting drills w your defensive players

There is a lot here, enjoy! My article on the 4V4 Lock on to Transition Drill is in the Article Section of our site, check it out….

Audio Preview

Coach Ryan Mercyhurst 4V4 Lock On to Transition Drill

I loved our recent podcast with Coach Ryan from Mercyhurst. I think all lacrosse coaches are always looking for new ways to engage players, find lacrosse drills that emulate game situations, and reinforce a number of key skills in each drill. And of course getting a lot of touches is also key. You can listen to Coach Ryan describe this drill in his own words in our podcast section, find his interview, and click on the ‘preview.’

In this drill, Coach Ryan (who gave some of the credit to Coach Kerwick) has taken a basic 4V4 Drill, and turned into so much more. The drill starts with a pass from the coach to an open offensive player, as a basic 4V4 but the defensive players are trying to ‘lock on’ and deny access to the ball. This forces the offensive players to pick away from the ball, V Cut in and out in an attempt to get open.

The coach then throws the ball to an open (presumably moving)