A Lacrosse Weekend 4.18.20
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!
Virtual Lacrosse Summit
What a week of learning! One of my favorite things to do is to continue to "Sharpen the Saw" and Q2 VLS once again did the trick. Below is a list of what I got from these talks!
Monday 4/13
Tom Mariano, Head Coach Pace University and MLL Bayhawks: I love Tommy's Keep Away Drill Called the Rondo Drill, where there are two 10x10 boxes, one with a 4v2 and the other with a 5v2, where the offense tries to move the ball with in and between boxes. The 5v2 box opens up a great "Wall Pass" option. I love this drill!
Kelly Amonte-Hiller, Head Coach Northwestern: The Wildcats have made a phenomenal improvement in their shooting percentage over the past few years with a commitment to shot selection and working on shooting ON GOALIES! NU has three goalies on the roster and employs two men's goalies from the club team as managers, which give the 'Cats a chance to shoot on live goalies. Total game changer!
Jana Drummond, Associate Head Coach UMass: Jana's presentation on 2v2 Defense was centered around defending 2man game. My big take away from this webinar was her emphasis on pressure! Specifically ball pressure and double teams. This attacking and dictating style of defense is fun and effective!
Colleen Magarity, Head Coach Penn Charter, Director HHH Lacrosse: Colleen is as good of a coach as you will find at any level. Her combination of expertise and her mindset is incredible. She inspires toughness while being fun, discipline and high expectations with empathy. The drills, skills and concepts in this webinar are a part-whole build up to running pressure man to man defense in women's lacrosse.
Gerry Byrne, Head Coach Harvard: I am a self proclaimed disciple of Gerry Byrne and I use every opportunity to learn from him. Like a proud father, Gerry broke down defensive clips from the PLL Whipsnakes vs Redwoods championship game in which there were six of his former players: Matt Landis, Eddy Glazener, Garrett Epple, Jon Sexton, Sergio Perkovic and Jack Near. Gerry's attention to detail and the way he breaks down film is second to none! The concept that I loved was the way GB described Glazener's "exit" from an on ball role to an off ball help role. You can steal time from the offense with a great exit!
Tuesday 4/14
Selena Lasota, Northwestern 2019 1st Team AA and Tewaaraton Finalist: I find Selena's journey fascinating: growing up the daughter of a fisherman in a remote part of Vancouver Island, BC, Lasota learned lacrosse primarily in the backyard and playing boys box lacrosse. Her game shows it! The way she plays "Free" and with her backyard/box lacrosse instincts are quite apparent!
Kayla Treanor, Assistant Coach Boston College, Team USA: This webinar gives viewers an inside look at KT's game! With a highlight video of some of Kayla's all time great plays, she breaks down her though process, her techniques, and how she learned the game! I love KT's combo of her KT split, her post ups, her fakes and the way she shoots around screens and behind the back.
Check out this video of the KT Split!
Dave Kotowski, Founder Team Elevate Lacrosse: Dave K was my college roommate and has become a leader in the world of girls lacrosse. It's fascinating to hear his take on the effects of COVID-19 on college lacrosse recruiting.
Eddie Comeau, Head Coach Georgia Swarm: The ABC's of Indoor Offense is the title of Eddies talk which is backed by an amazing reel of clips from Swarm games with the likes of Lyle Thompson, Miles Thompson, Randy Staats, Shane Jackson and Zack Miller. The simplicity of of box concepts is on display with these world class players. You will love the "Spin Seal!" Here's an example!
Jamie Munro, JM3 Sports: The Penn State Offense is one of my favorite all time webinars! I love the way Jeff Tambroni has installed this offense and the way it has evolved. You will love the X's and O's, but the drills are even better! Here's a preview!
Wednesday 4/15
JP Brazel, Defensive Coordinator and Goalie Coach, Stony Brook University: JP's breakdown of "What went wrong" is a look at the goals allowed in a 11-10 overtime win versus Brown. The analysis of each play, what happened and what SBU could have done differently, as well as a goalie analysis is a fascinating way to learn lacrosse!
Tim McCormack, Head Coach Arizona State: Playing Free is the title of this presentation which was extremely powerful. A model for giving your team power to make decisions and the drills that build it up! You will love the Keep Away and "Three Square" games!
Andrew Baxter, Head Coach Fairfield University: AB's presentation on Transition Offense and Defense was marvelous! Simple and smart with GREAT drills! "Finishing your cut" is a concept Coach Baxter emphasized which resonated with me big time! This is worth watching!
Jim Stagnitta, Head Coach PLL Whipsnakes: this presentation is a fascinating look at how to Coach "Capacity over Capability." Jim's new leadership development company called Prodromos has created an amazing combination of theory and practicality. You will be able to implement specifics into your teams culture development plan and practices!
Kylie Ohlmiller, NCAA All-Time scoring leader, Team USA: This fascinating webinar is based on the eight athletes that most impacted Kylie's mentality, her game, and provided her with inspiration: Kobe Bryant, Rob Pannell, Jen Adams, Steph Curry, Katrina Dowd, Mikey Powell, Abby Wambach and Michele Tumulo.
Kevin Corrigan, Head Coach Notre Dame: Kevin's talk on Riding and Clearing is a masterpiece. I'm telling you this: nobody is better at the full field game of men's lacrosse than KC. The way he teaches communication, basic principles, and the drills he uses are phenomenal. Here's my breakdown of one of the drills KC discusses.
Thursday 4/16
Marie McCool, Team USA, 1st Team All-America North Carolina: this player breakdown is some of Marie's best highlights combined with her personality and articulation of what she's doing, why she's doing it, and how she learned it! You will love the drills she provided from her dad filming her too! Here's a sweet highlight video!
Justin Tuma, Defensive Coordinator High Point University: Justin's topic was Adding Personality to your Defense in which he details how HPU uses pressure, double teams and zone to mix into their defense, which resulted in a few of the biggest wins in DI lacrosse!
John Galloway, Head Coach Jacksonville University: Coach Galloway took a deep dive into practice planning that was phenomenal! Learn how to create consistency, themes, and an identity for your team as well as how this type of disciplined planning will help you win games!
Steve Brundage, Offensive Coordinator Hobart College: Brundy's talk on early offense was off the charts! It is so simple, yet so awesome! If you watched their Syracuse game, you will remember how fast and how smart they played! This is a must watch webinar! I love the way they Center the ball, hold their wings, exchange a midfielder with an attackman, and continue to attack from transition, through subbing and right into 6v6! Watch the highlights from the Hobart / Cuse game and you will see what he's talking about!
Pat Myers, Head Coach Lafayette College: The Life of the Shot Clock was the topic, and the presentation in typical Pat Myers fashion was very well thought out! You will love this webinar and the way coach Myers looks at the game.
Jamie Munro, JM3 Sports: "Hang up 2man, a New Paradigm" is what I would consider my Mona Lisa of webinars. A concept of looking and teaching 2man game that is so simple it's scary! Learning how to control your man and the switch, how to take advantage of the defense going under picks, and finally, the sickest concept of them all: Inviting your man over a pick! I'm not just pumping this webinar up! It's off the charts good!
The video below is a perfect example controlling your man and the switch (and the goalie!).
Have a great weekend!