A Lacrosse Weekend 2.22.20
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!
Phi-Lacrosse-ophy Podcasts
Chris Bates, Head Coach of the PLL Archers and former Head Coach at Princeton and Drexel joined me in an an awesome interview! Batesy is one of the best dudes around and it came through loud and clear as we talked about his lacrosse journey as a player and a coach right up to his current position of coaching at Episcopal Academy and his two sons for the past four years! We go deep on the origins of the "Pairs" offense which was born of a phone call in August 2006. Now it's the most popular offense in Division I (and maybe the hardest to guard!). We talk PLL Archers and a little bit about some of his best players: Tom Schreiber, Will Manny, and Marcus Holman. I hope you enjoy it! Click here to listen to the Chris Bates Pod!
In Season Podcast with PLL Chaos Head Coach, Andy Towers. Each week AT and I break down his media poll top 20 and it's a blast! Spending time with Andy is a treat because of his insights, his candor, and because he's one of the funniest dudes on the planet! I hope you give it a listen! We try to have it out on Mondays 5pm ET each week! Click here to listen to the In Season Podcast!
Inside the 8 Podcast with Michigan Head Coach, Hannah Nielsen. Each week on Tuesdays Colleen Magarity and I do a podcast that is all-things women's lacrosse. If you don't know Colleen, you will love her! She's the best: a great coach and mentor (to my daughter), won 3 National Championships at Northwestern where she was an All-American, coached at Colorado for 4 years at the inception of the DI program and is now the Head Coach at Penn Charter School and Director of HHH Girls Lacrosse.
Colleen and I LOVE talking lacrosse and our podcast conversations are pretty much the same as the lax conversations we've been having for years! If you're a coach or a player you will love the deep dive into some of the best match ups of the week in college lacrosse and talk players, skills, and strategy! If you are a parent, you'll love the segment we do each week on College Lacrosse Recruiting. Finally, we invite guests on the show! This week we had a great chat with Colleen's bestie and Michigan Head Coach Hannah Nielsen, where she discusses the tough match up with USC, some Zone Offense concepts, and the importance of Riding! Click here to listen to the Inside the 8 Podcast.
The Best Way To Help Your Children Get Sick At Lacrosse
Below is a video of my friend Tom Collard with his 2nd grade son playing a little "Bus Stop Ball!" What could be better than spending a few minutes in the morning before school with your boy while he learns how to score on you as the goalie!? To me, shooting on an empty net is like doing 1v1's versus cones... can help a little, but will never teach you the FEEL of shooting, finishing, and manipulating a goalie!
Tom is a Brown grad and we played together last summer in Lake Placid for Brown State, where we took home the Championship! We have reconnected on a much deeper level since Tom (2nd grade/4th grade coach), Freddy Testa (7th grade coach), Paul Lyle (6th grade coach) and Marc Moreau (HS varsity coach) hired me and JM3 Sports to consult with their Rumson Fairhaven lacrosse program. On a weekly basis, we plan, problem solve, watch film, and study the development of their players and coaches. I can tell you that working with programs like this is awesome! This particular gig is super interesting because of the different ages these guys are coaching! Stay tuned, we are doing some really cool things and creating some amazing content for coaches, parents, and kids!
JM3 Program Consulting
For coaches of all levels who are interested in a deeper dive and a more hands on approach than simply access to the JM3 Coaches Training content I have created a Master Class type consulting arrangement. I currently have space for 1-2 more clients. For more information, please shoot me an email at [email protected]
Cornell Offense
Cornell runs one of the most interesting offenses in Division I lacrosse. The Big Red's off-ball movement, especially the way the cut with their short sticks, is unmatched. Check the video below!
A midfielder imitates with what seems like a typical Duke Blue Devil Motion
- 132 (counting from behind)
- Righty Alley Dodge
- Lefty Wing Clear through
- Crease Pop (follow)
- Backside righty Wing cuts in and pops high
- Other midfielder out top, who would usually sit in the "Float" spot, gets under the backside righty wing and finds the seam!
First, this look works because the Alley Dodge draws a slide from the Towson crease midfielder which puts the defense in slide, rotate and recover mode. Defenses see this "Duke 132 Dodge, Follow Float, pop the crease" look all the time and probably wouldn't have had difficulty covering it EXCEPT Cornell tweaked this motion in the most clever way!
Jon Donville, the Minto Cup MVP and great Canadian midfielder from Cornell scores this goal because when his man helps in, getting ready to rotate to the throw back, he slips down the backside underneath the backside attackman and his man into a lane that midfielders don't usually occupy and caught the defense off guard! Sweet play design!
Have a great weekend!