Work 3v2 situations in the attack zone. 3 offensive players vs 2 defenders. Coach starts play with a ground ball or pass. Play to a goal, save, clear, or whistle. Variation: Flip it — 2 offensive players vs 3 defenders. Defense clears all saves or takeaways. Add passing requirements.
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Hot Rock
Set up a 20x20 yard box with three offensive players against two defenders. Offense moves and passes within the box, working to keep control of the ball. Defenders work together. One covers the ball, while the other splits the remaining two offensive players to disrupt passing lanes. Play continues as offense tries to maintain possession, and defense tries to create turnovers. Multiple boxes can run simultaneously so all players get turns on offense and defense. Encourage crisp ball movement, smart spacing, and clear communication. Offense should recognize overloads and exploit them, while defense practices teamwork and anticipation. Variations include awarding points for four consecutive passes by offense or interceptions/possession gains by defense to make the drill competitive. Adjust box size or numbers to challenge players further.
2v1
Work 2v1 situations in the attack zone. 2 offensive players vs 1 defender. Coach starts play with a ground ball or pass. Play to a goal, save, clear, or whistle. Variation: Flip it — 1 offensive player vs 2 defenders. Defense clears all saves or takeaways. Add passing requirements.
3v2 Drill
Set three offensive players (Player 1–3) against two defenders (Player 4–5) in the attack zone. Coach starts with a ground ball or pass to offense. Offense works quick passes, sharp cuts, and stick skills to create high-percentage shots. Defenders communicate, slide, and maintain positioning. Play continues until a goal, save, clear, or whistle. Rotate roles to keep all players active.
Static 4v3
This drill starts with 4 offensive players and 3 defenders. The 4 offensive players are set up in a rectangle, the 2 low players are at about GLE and 3 yards off the crease, the top players are about 7 yards above the cage even with the bottom 2 players. The 3 defenders set up in a triangle in the middle of the rectangle. The purpose of this drill is for the defense to work on rotating. Specifically, reading the offense's body language and understanding when a full rotation is necessary, versus being able to hedge and go ball to ball. This is traditionally a box lacrosse drill, but it proves to be quite useful at younger levels to help develop defensive IQ. To make this more a defensive drill, the offense is NOT allowed to move. They must stay static in their spots, but its important to emphasize to the defense that they are not trying to take the ball away, but slow down the offense.
Add Fill
Improve defensive approach, sliding, and filling above GLE. X dodges against D1, who takes away the middle and forces the alley. D2 slides to help and forces the dodger away from the goal. D3 fills from the backside as D1 recovers to the crease or picks up D3's man. Variation: Include attackmen and midfielders for position-specific reps. Increase speed as technique improves. Run from both sides.
4v4 GB to a 5v4 or 5v5
- A line of attack/defense at the 30 - Start with a 4v4 ground ball from the GLE - If attack gets it, they clear to the 30 and one attacker adds to the drill from the attacking line creating at 5v4. - If defense gets it, they clear to the 30 and drop the ball, then one attack and one defense adds to drill creating a 5v5
Dragon Drill
DRAGON DRILL 7 Lines at X Off the field 4 Blue 3 White Starts on a shot Offensive players sprint to midfield Defensive players touch the cone and set up a triangle Goalie clears it to blue White gets in the hole You have to reach midfield to come back into the play Blue runs a 4v3 fast break Reset drill Offense We are focused on spacing Running a proper FAST break Defense Communication Loud and Clear Proper movement it the triangle Recovering from our slides
Full Field Clearing Drill
Setup: Have 2 lines of defense on either side of the goalie, 3 middies near the center circle, and 2 lines of attack on the other side of the field near the elbows. - Ball starts with the goalie for a clear to the 2 low defenders. - The defense that doesn't get the ball is is streaking up the field towards the middle to receive it. - Once they receive it, the midfielders are cutting and asking for it - Once the midfielders receive it, the attackers are staying wide and asking for the ball - Can then get into a slow break to finish Focus on inside outside inside transition