Coaching Theories...need help from all you coaching vets

[VTLaxFan]

okay, the situation is I am going to be a assistant for a 5-6 team, I am freshman in HS, i am helping coach for my old coach from youth, who is coaching the 7-8 team. The head coach for 5-6 team has no lax expierience for coaching, but knows his way around the sport. Over this past winter, I have developed some theories about how to teach kids how to play and what to do, I am probably out in left field, but I thought these things would work. So youth coaches or any coaches out there help me out..... These are the things I would use as a coach.
1) No set positions other than goalie, in addition to no poles, because these kids are still pretty small. Because of no poles, have kids rotate positions on the field, i.e. attack changes to mid, mid to attack, that kind of thing, to save legs.
2) Have kids practice not switching hands sometimes when they try and get around somebody, i.e. canadians, instead of the American way. But after wards practice changing hands as an escape route from getting stripped. I think that not switch hands all the time makes stick skills like canadians, rather than stick protection skills, i.e. americans.
3) Have a box and field mixed offense. I mean by this have an offense that can score well either way, the american way, by scoring though dodging and such, and the canadian way, by quick passes, picks, rolls, and cuts.

Tell me what you think of this, and if you have any ideas, tips, or comments, Please PM me, I am all ears.

[WHEELAX2]

My first impression is that you might be over-thinking a bit. Kids this age can barely catch and pass, let alone run offenses and defenses. I would suggest spending most of practice working on basic catching, throwing, and shooting drills.

As far as telling them not to switch hands: they are already pretty inept in the stick handling area, so they will probably not be able to switch hands easliy. I would say that if they can and want to switch hands, the more power to them. At this age you can not restrict game-development.

Here's what I would suggest for practices:


30% of practice playing wall ball
15% of practice working on catching and throwing with partners or in groups
15% of practice working on individual ground ball skills
5% of practice working on pressured ground ball situations
20% of practice working on defensive skills
5% of practice working on shooting
10% of practice working on ball movement drills (i.e. 2 on 1 draw and dump drills)


Granted, I don't know the actual skill level of your kids, but you'd be serving them well to hammer home the basics and not confuse them. Later in their lacrosse careers, they may be questioning their new coaches instructions that probably contradict what you are teaching them (i.e. not switching hands, etc...)

I also don't mind you allowing the kids to switch positions; that's not a bad ides.


and.... to gain stick skills like Canadians, these kids would have to actually play box lacrosse. there's a huge misconception of why Canadians have such good stick skills... They have such great stick skills because they play 100% of the game under a lot of pressure, they shoot on much smaller goals, and their game centers heavily around the pick and roll. However, on some level, playing with only your dominant hand does make you a touch better, but it severely restricts you in the field game. In the box game, there's no time to switch hands; there simply isn't enough room; therefore, switching hands is not necessary.


I would say: keep it fun, and focus on the simple fundamentals.

[OldPtboBoy]

I have to agree with Wheelax2, build the base strong and you will be able to take them higher. Many skills half learned will never defeat one solid skill mastered. If they are that young I'd concentrate on 30 percent passing, 30 percent shooting, 30 percent defense with proper footwork and ten percent new or original offensive/defensive sets. Teach them the new material at the start of practice. At the end of the hour they aren't as capable of retaining info.

[GriffsDad]

I agree with the ideas stated in that just work the fundamentals- I might even cut out shooting in the beginning since, technically, passing is shooting just not as hard.

How many times a week will you practice? For how long? And then decide before each practice what you want to work on. If its a two hour practice, spend the first 10mins talking about what you did in the last practice because there's no way kids that age will remember everything and then add one new thing per practice. By the end of the season the kids will be much more knowledgeable. Sometimes coaches try and teach too much in the first week (Like me when I started) and not only to the kids not retain it, but you lose focus on the fundamentals- especially when you are trying to show kids how to ride when they don't even know what a restraining line is.

[CTLaxer]

With kids that age it's also important to include at least one "fun" drill in each practice. Also, try to make as many drills as you can into a competition involving as many kids as possible, that'll keep them focused on what's going on.

[LALAXMAN]

With kids that age it's also important to include at least one "fun" drill in each practice. Also, try to make as many drills as you can into a competition involving as many kids as possible, that'll keep them focused on what's going on.

CT, I completely agree with that concept. We could practice cradling for hours and not get the improvement I see with one 10 minute game of "Fox & Farmer." Having an objective (other than just performing a specific task) seems to make it much more concrete and easy to learn.

That said, it's a struggle to come up with game-based training/drills. I wonder if you or the other coaches have any lax games you can share?

[spenny]

i'm not familiar with fox and farmer, is it like sharks and minnows?

[LALAXMAN]

i'm not familiar with fox and farmer, is it like sharks and minnows?

It's a similar concept. Have all the kids except one tuck pinnies into their shorts, hanging out. Make a box and have each kid with a stick and ball. They are the foxes. The one kid (or coach) without a pinnie is the farmer. He discards his stick and gloves and tries to pull the tails (pinnies) from the others. Anyone who loses a pinnie, drops the ball, or steps out of the box is out for that round. Last one alive becomes the farmer for the next round.

It's fun and good for cradling and spacing. Also, if you have the kids tuck the pinnies into the front of the shorts, it teaches the kids to keep their body between the defender and the stick/ball.

[spenny]

just to clarify: they arent wearing the pinneys, they are just tucked into the shorts like flags for flag football.

thats awesome, thanks.

[LALAXMAN]

just to clarify: they arent wearing the pinneys, they are just tucked into the shorts like flags for flag football.

That's right.

I'm also using Sharks & Minnows, Clean Your Room, and "The Butt Drill" which is 1 on 1 ground balls starting from a back to back (butt to butt) position. Can anyone recommend any other fun games to play with the kids?

[picknroll]

Are we talking about 5/6 years old or 5th/6th graders?

[lw210coach]

vtlaxfan, first I applaud you at giving back to the sport and your community at your age. I am also new to coaching lacrosse (2 years, year round).

I am 42 yrs old and have either played or coached most of my life some type of sport. I can't think of anything more important in youth coaching than "positive enforcement". Make sure you tell them when they do well and congraulate them often, and always be constructive when you are correcting them.

I also agree with wheelax2.

[pvlax02]

I started coaching the same time you did in a youth league with the same age group, so i know exactly where your coming from.

To start, get the basics down first. IE passing, gb's, and cradling down before you do anything else. If you dont get this down pat before the season starts, your going to be in trouble. I speak from experience and its very frustrating as a coach and to players when you see you kids play well and then lose games because of bad passes and kids not being able to cradle. It is really important to stress this stuff alot.

Once they have mastered them, then start to add dodges in the mix. Definitely have them switch hands on the dodges which require it. If kids are having a hard time getting the dodges down, have them literally walk through the entire dodge and talk out what they need to do. This allows them get a better picture of what needs to be done for each dodge.

Footwork, footwork, footwork. This is an all important skill which is over looked by a lot of coaches. Especially at this age where theyre are no poles, kids need to learn how to move their feet. You can do box drills which require kids to break down and slide. Latter drills, in which kids just put their sticks on the ground and weave in and out of them. Below i put a pic of what I do during my preason for my kids(sorry for the notes):
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6363/day1practicegk1.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=day1practicegk1.jpg)

Line drills are a great way to incorporate all of the basic skills the kid are going to need to know. After they have gotten pretty good at them, you can add a defender in the mix to make kids dodge and also practice footwork.

For an offense, dont come up with or use really complicated plays. Use a pretty basic offense and get things moving. I used 2 or 3 plays the entire year and they worked pretty well. Granted if you have a very talented group of boys, try more complex plays and see how it goes.

On defense, i dont know if your allowed full contact or not, but my kids were.(im guessing your kids are 5-6 grade, but if not then my program doesnt allow it either). Concentrate on poke and slap checks. Always have kids poke on their opponents hands. Its really effective way to dislodge the ball. Slap checks are great as well, but your going to need to teach stick control to prevent kids from "chopping lumber" and costing you penalties during the season.

As a coach, plan out what you are going to do. Dont just show up and think of stuff on the spot. A lot of time is wasted doing this and can make your practices disorganized. A website which has a lot a good stuff is kudda.com

I hope this helps you out some and best of luck during the season.

[VTLaxFan]

Thank you everybody more than you know. Just to clear up some things. These kids are in 5th and 6th grade, and have played at least one year, some more, I have seen some of these kids, and they have picked up some things, but still many fundamentals. thanks agian
-VT

[jmsaway]

Can someone expalin sharks and minnows?

[spenny]

sharks and minnows, the little kids LOVE this.
you elect "sharks" who tag "minnows" who try and run to the other side of the field while cradling. after being tagged minnows become sharks, the ones that make it across without being tagged or dropping the ball, then go again, now with more sharks.
(usually width, not length)

[picknroll]

Don't underestimate 6th graders. I coach an A level 6th grade team. Our league uses 62" long sticks. Many of the players play year round and have very good stick skills. Last night's practice included the following: inside rolls from X, quick stick drills feeding from GLE, wing play from face-offs, clears, adjacent sliding, 2v1 ground ball (man/ball), and finishing with West Genny. The capacity for learning from 6th graders will surprise you, but of course they've got to be proficient in throwing and catching. If you have 6th graders that are serious players/athletes and have played for several years you can do a lot with them.

As far as switching hands I would absolutely teach that. Roll away from an aggressive V hold. Attack from up top with a hard split dodge. These are fundamental things for offensive players that will differentiate your player from their opponents. A 5th or 6th grader that goes both ways is deadly ... and I know that they can become proficient. Over half of my team of 6th graders can go left and right.

I totally agree with pvlax02 about the footwork. The absolute worst thing in youth lacrosse is to see your D guy standing there flat footed swinging away at the head of the ball carrier's stick. The defender either gets beat or he draws a slash. Shuffle, poke, drop step - drill that into them constantly. Pull them off the field and correct them if they're out there swinging flat footed. Drives me insane. Put quick guys at D. The slow guy can't keep up and will end up hacking away to try to compensate.

Lastly work on transitions and unsettled situations a lot. You'll score more goals on fast breaks or on turnovers than your settled half-field offense. I think a big mistake in youth lacrosse is to spend too much time working through 6v6 half field sets and plays. I spend practice time with half field 6v6, but I also give equal practice time to fast breaks, face offs, rides, and clears.

[HVlaxa7]

sharks and minnows, the little kids LOVE this.
you elect "sharks" who tag "minnows" who try and run to the other side of the field while cradling. after being tagged minnows become sharks, the ones that make it across without being tagged or dropping the ball, then go again, now with more sharks.
(usually width, not length)
is one side running to the other side with a ball and the the other team was to play defense and knock the ball out?

[heidter 13]

all great advice...very helpful, can you explain the "clean your room drill" please? thank-you

also if anyone has any simple drills/fun games for younger kids just starting out that would be great!

[LALAXMAN]

"Clean Your Room" is a good drill for the younger kids.

Divide team on two sides of the field. Players lie on their backs ("sleeping"), while coaches distribute lots of balls around the field. On signal, players jump up and scoop ground balls and roll (not throw) them onto the other side. Continue for a minute or so, then count which team has cleaned their room the best. Only balls remaining on the fied count.

One thing about this drill, it's a blast for them and is good for getting a lot of repetitions at scooping, but you will need to have already taught the kids good ground ball form. My favorite drill for that is just to make a line and put the ball on the ground with a coach holding it down under his stick (in a light clamp). In order to scoop it successfully, the player will have to not only get low, but also keep moving through the ball. Coach can adjust pressure based on the skill level of the player. It's not as much fun, but it's great for teaching the fundamentals: get low and keep your feet moving.

[Farley6]

2) Have kids practice not switching hands sometimes when they try and get around somebody, i.e. canadians, instead of the American way. But after wards practice changing hands as an escape route from getting stripped. I think that not switch hands all the time makes stick skills like canadians, rather than stick protection skills, i.e. americans.

You have gotten some great advice from these guys, but here are my 2 cents. When you are coaching young kids, have them change hands as much as possible, it is so much easier to learn when you are young as opposed to when you are older and it is a chore. And, if you are playing field, you need to be able to switch hands regularly, its not box- its a different skill set.
Aside from that, make the year as fun as possible. have clear rules and let everyone play. At their age, your job is teaching them to enjoy the game, and hopefully that will mature into a love of the game when they are older.

[Beafly]

"The Butt Drill" which is 1 on 1 ground balls starting from a back to back (butt to butt) position.

We always called these Gladiator Ground Balls.


For defense I think the most important thing you can drive home is playing the hips and hands not the stick.