Girls Lacrosse - what do you concentrate on?

[NewLaxCoach]

I also posted this in the Coaches Forum:

I am a first time girls lacrosse coach with no lacrosse experience. I volunteered to coach a 3/4 grade and 5/6 grade team otherwise there would be no teams. I have a former boys coach helping me but he is learning on the fly too because the rules for boys and girls are different.

What do you feel are the most important points to concentrate on? I have never sat through a girls youth game but I could only imagine that it probably looks more like a field hockey game since the ball is probably on the ground a lot. We have been working hard on cradling, ground balls, talking and partner passing. This week we are incorporating simple cuts on offense and how to play defense.

But what about simple plays, clear outs, zone defense? We have a two pass rule for the 5/6 grade - when we get possession should I have them make their passes around midfield when pressure should be less and then send our better players up the field and try to go one-on-one? I don't know what to expect from other teams. Is it going to look like a kindergarten soccer game where every kid is trying to get the ball or should I expect more from these girls?

Any experiences, plays or ideas that work for you that you could share would be greatly appreciated. We have three more practices before our first game.

[g04L13 iNSANiTY]

I would try scrimmaging to see what you need to work on. Also, have you worked on dodging yet? If not, set up dodging shuttle lines.

[marleydog]

congrats! i've been there and still am :-) i did play the boys game for a number of years so that certainly helps

here's my suggestions...

get a girls stick for yourself. do NOT coach with a boys stick. you will have unreasonable expectations of what can be done

get a beginners book asap - janine tucker has a good one

get a hold of the rule book for your age groups, read it and realize that you will be learning ion the fly still. it's ok

watch a HS game, a college game, a middle school game, and your own age groups. the difference will astound

in this order i'd put the focus on...

ground balls - no covering, running through it etc.
throwing/shooting/passing
catching

most girls will not be able to cradle in the younger ages. they just can't, accept it and move on

advanced stuff like zones and what not? forget it. no point unless you have the other skills down. teach man to man D - footwork and stick on stick, maybe how to double if they can grasp it. teach them spacing and motion on offense. or it will look like an aquarium with girls running in a slow jog around the crease. still probably will anyway

find some kids that will play goalie. and not just the slow unathletic kid either. mentally they need to understand they will be scored on. make sure they aren't afraid of the ball. find someone that will spend some time with them every practice on just the basics

clearing... 2 or three kids will understand this concept. for your sake i hope its a mid and a goalie LOL!

if you do nothing but make it fun, and give them as many touches as possible (don't focus on the L's... lines laps lectures) and give them as many game like situations you will be better than 99% of the other coaches out there.

good luck!

[NewLaxCoach]

teach them spacing and motion on offense. or it will look like an aquarium with girls running in a slow jog around the crease. still probably will anyway


When we have run 4 vs. 4 drills - this is exactly what it looks like

[marleydog]

that's one of the benefits of seeing the age group differences. it really doesn't look like the lacrosse you know or expect at these ages.

i'd probably use 4v3 instead (prolly without a goalie) to start. let them score and have some success. you can even go 4v2 if you have to. slowly add defenders

we have a pretty good team of 4rth 5th grade girls and some get these things, some don't. no worries

also forgot to mention that i'm not a huge fan of elimination games as a standard. ie ground ball queen, score and stay on... stuff like that. as an occasional thing, most definately. but, i've seen coaches run these games over and over and over through practices. the result? the same kids are eliminated right off the bat and don't get the reps they need.

kudda.com will give you some decent drills as well

[g04L13 iNSANiTY]

Forgot to mention a drill that might help

Divide your team in half and have one team line up on one sideline and the other team on the opposing sideline

Send the first person in line for each team out and have them play one on one until someone scores

Send the next person out from the scorers team and play 2 on 1 until someone scores

Again, send the next person out from the scorer's team

When a team reaches eight people on the field, start going back down to one


This teaches how to defend different situations and helps with passing

[marleydog]

won't it just typically end up at 8v1? that one person is going to have some issues after the 5th attacker is added :-)

[g04L13 iNSANiTY]

Well no because the 1 could score on the 2 v 1 and make it 2 v 2 and so on and if theres no goalies its easy to score and if there are goalies, clearing makes it easy to create fast breaks to even it out

[laxobcession]

Definitly work on ground balls and catching.

When working on ground balls remind them to bend at their waists AND their knees. Many beginner and even high school girls just bend their waists which takes more time, usually leads to pushing the ball, and is very inaccurate. By bending at the waist and knees it allows the player to be at a better level with the ball = improved ground balls.

With catching for beginners work on "soft hands" and the way they recieve the ball. Catching it gently is the key.

[versatileplayer]

well i started playing womens lacrosse just this past season. We worked alot on craddling and we played zone. For younger kids, my preference would probally to teach man on man. Do ALOT of ground ball exercizes and partner passing. Tell them that it's not that important to win, as it is to have fun. (Kids this age shouldn't worry about that) The team that i play on this year, had a perfect zero game win last year and they didn't care because they had tons of fun. This year we won a few with dedication and heart. Just try to develope those things and you will have a great team =]

[laxabunga11]

I might say some stuff that may be a little repetative.
Your expectations of the girls shouldn't be ridiculously high seeing as most of them are probably just starting.

DEFINITELY do ground balls, cradling, and passing.
Before they learn to dodge, they need to be able to keep control of the ball.

A drill for GBs is this:

Have the girls line up holding their sticks out in front of them so that they make a sort of bridge. [with the head of their stick on the ground & holding the bottom in their hand]

One girl at a time will go under each of the other girls' sticks while picking up a ground ball at each girl.

This should help them get low on the ground balls so that they're not shoving their stick into the ground.

Passing:

Wall ball.

Find a brick wall or you can buy a rebounder.

Line the girls along the wall & just have them practice on the wall/rebounder.

Partner passing is good too.

Cradling

Ear to nose.
Ear to nose.

Try to teach them vertical cradle.

That's what our coaches kept emphasizing.

If you have the stick hanging out while you cradle, it'll probably be checked out of the stick.


You can put the girls in a line about stick length apart.
One girl at a time has to cradle & dodge while they weave through the girls.
The girls standing in line can check, emphasizing the vericle cradle to make sure you're protecting your stick.

[NewLaxCoach]

Thanks for all of the advice - I've used a little of everyone's ideas. Kept things simple and fun this season. Results as of today (with three games in next three days left to play): 3/4 grade team is 5-1 and the 5/6 grade team is 6-2-1. I couldn't he happier with the progress the girls have made this season and I'm looking forward to the future.