Our Top 5 College Drills of 2020

As we wrap up 2020, I wanted to make one last blog post in our Coaches Corner. To state the obvious, this has been a tough year on so many levels for so many people, families, teams, businesses, nations & beyond.

However, as I sit here and reflect, there are certainly bright spots. There are things that I have learned about myself as a person, a player and a coach. I have observed the strength of the lacrosse community and seen it come together. From Coach Through Cancel, to Lax Film Study, Coach Munro and so many more members of the community providing content and teaching in different forms, players and coaches who embraced the challenges and kept working found ways to get better and stay connected to the game they love.

I connected with many great coaches, learned new drills and built new relationships. Below are 5 college drills that I picked up in 2020 through friends, peers, and social media which I learned from, will implement, and are solid all around drills.

5. Denver’s 321 Groundball Drill - I loved this for multiple reasons. Competitions, groundball scrapping, and multiple situations played out quickly. Every player getting a shot to finish a rep on a live goalie is a great bonus especially when some players might go through a 2v1 drill and never shoot!

4. Delaware’s 4v3 Keep Away - I received this from Coach Wilkes early quarantine and thought it was spectacular. Using the women’s draw circle as boundaries, 4v3 keep away was great for spacing, sharp stick work, and some tough conditioning for the defenders. It’s a dynamic way to work on stick work & teach the nuances of passing angles and passing lanes for offensive and defensive players!

3. Lafayette’s Dodging Tree - Coach Bieda at Lafayette shared this with us and I was a huge fan. I’ve sometimes struggled to produce high rep redodging drills where players can effectively rep out skills. Providing this “Zig Zag” format to work on pump fakes, look backs, bounces, hesitations and more (see FCL’s Redodge Series) is great for individual skill work for early fall/early preseason. Though it’s on air, it’s great for letting players take a step back and letting their redodges DEVELOP, as I often see players rushing through the move when they are less comfortable. Even D1 players need to build their fundamental base.

2. Michigan’s “Beilein Drill” - Coach Justin Turri sent this to me and it was exciting. They derived this drill from a Michigan hoops practice and I thought the amount of touches and high paced nature of the drill was highly effective. It reminds me of grabbing a rebound, kicking to an outlet and sprinting up the court. The hidden conditioning when you get your players to run HARD is a great way to be effective with practice planning. Throw the timer on, set your lines up, and let the boys and girls RUN!

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