A Lacrosse weekend 11.13.21

Welcome to "A Lacrosse Weekend" my weekly compilation of thoughts, ideas, stories, myths, truths, about the great game of lacrosse. I hope you enjoy it!   

If you are a men's or women's lacrosse player, coach, or parent, I think you will love the weekly content, videos, and analysis!

Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcast

Scotty Marr, Head Coach University of Albany: Scotty is one of my favorite people in the sport and it was a blast to have this conversation about a myriad of topics: his practice set lists (lots of Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam!),  thoughts on the power of box lacrosse and how it shapes Canadian and Native lacrosse players, the brilliance of Blaze Riorden and that UAlbany, known for it's scoring, could be known as "Goalie U" with three players in the PLL, and finally a great discussion on what Coach Marr is looking for in recruiting.  I think you will love this podcast, click here to listen!

The Power of Postures

Statement: Your defender and the defense as a group will try to defend literally every move you make when you have the ball.

Therefore, you have two choices: One, don't use deception, project what you're doing, when you're doing it, and where you're going, etc which will give your opponent their best chance to guard you or two, use deception, and trick your defender into guarding your fakes, which will distract them and throw off their timing of guarding what you're actually doing.

Seems like a no brainer.  Use deception!

One of the best ways to be more deceptive and keep the defense off balance is to understand how to leverage different postures in your game.  When I watch film with my JM3 Athletes, we learn how different postures elicit responses from the defense.  Postures will cause defenders to advance or retreat, to lift or lower their sticks, to stare at the ball or scramble to find their man, to name a few.  

Last week's blog focused on "Directional Posture" which is a concept that integrates into all the other postures.  Click here to read that blog post.

This week I want to focus on what I call   "Double Threat" Position which is a dodging posture and an incredibly powerful tool.

Double Threat Position is a squared up, low cradle (arms hanging) bent at the waist, jabbing posture, (very similar to attacking off the dribble in basketball with a slow approach, dribbling between your legs trying to shift the defender's weight)  that causes the on ball defender to slow down their approach, dig in, get low (mirror your posture) and get ready to cross check a dodger.  One interesting nuance to this position is your bent at the waist posture can allow you to play closer to your man or and create space without being checked because the defender can't check you in the head.

Experiment on your pet: If you suddenly jump into this posture while you're playing with your dog, he will immediately drop into his Doggie Double Threat, posture, no different than the defenders you can do this to!

Double Threat buys time for a player to see and read the play, wait for a pick, wait for space to clear, and look to feed open teammates.  This dodge threatening posture will alter and slow down your man's approach because they know they're susceptible to being attacked and it looks like you're going to attack.  If a defender over approaches you in this posture, you will blow by them with your most athletic "ready to explode" position.

I named this position "Double Threat" because while it is a dodging posture, but feeding from the Double Threat Position is sick because everyone assumes you're dodging, sticks go down and off ball defenders stare at you.  Lever feeds, BTB's and Backhand Feeds can all occur from fake dodging position. 

Double Threat is key in 2man games because it allows you to slow down, engage and read the defenders involved and make the appropriate decision based on how the defense is playing the pic: Are they switching or are they staying?  Are they going over or under the pick?

Double Threat Posture can set up shots too!  If you see your defender picking you up soft and near or in shooting range, instead of showing your hand and immediately winding up, you can feign a dodge, dig your man in, and then jump into a shooting posture and hammer a screen shot!

Jabbing is critical skill that most players don't do in lacrosse because they rarely slow down enough to jab their man.  Jabbing shifts a defender's weight in the direction of the jab.  If you jab and pause, the defender has to shift their weight back to center.  At this moment, their feet are in cement.

Proximity: this posture is useless if you are too far away from your defender.  You can't jab somebody if you're 5+ yards away from them and create a response.  Ideally, your distance is 6-10 inches outside of the reach of their cross check, eliminating their cushion. 

Off Ball: Double Threat works exactly the same in off ball situations!  In 2man game, your cutting posture engages the switch and can freeze your own man allowing you to read and influence the play!

Watch this AWESOME 9:39 minute video for everything you need to know about the power of The  Double Threat Position!

Most if not all of these skills from the video above is taught in detail in our new training program the JM3 Sports' Backyard Curriculum.

We have received great feedback for this program and it can be done with small groups. Game changer.... right in your back yard!

Check it out [CLICK HERE]

Mindset Skill of the Week: Hurdles to Clarity