2-2-2 formation

[Thomson#1]

My coach is pushing us on using the 2-2-2 formation (Because the varsity coaches want the Modified players to do it). So we have 2 mid. up top, 1mid, 1 attack on the crease, and 2 attack GLE spread out.

I personally HATE the 2 people on the crease because it causes for severe congestion (especially at the modified level) and its decreases the ability to get an outside shot off or to push to the inside without have 5 people on you. I talked to my coach about it already and he says he can't do anyting about it because of the varsity coaches wanting it. What do you guys think of this, 2-2-2? Are there any things I can bring up to my coach that would change his mind? Like saying the right thing?

[CTLaxer]

Keep in mind there are two ways to run a 2-2-2. You can run the crease men tight on the crease, close to eachother, or you can spread them apart and have them out away from the front of the goal kind of making a large oval/circle with your formation. Both cases are a 2-2-2 and both cases offer different types of options. Perhaps your coach would be open to whichever one you're not running.

To avoid congestion, and people standing still, I'd suggest working in a motion set or work on picking for the 2 on the crease. I'm not a big fan of the 2-2-2 though, so I don't know too many ways to run it. Hope this helps!

[Torque42]

In your first game its never going to work so he will switch to 1 3 2 or 2 3 3, thats what we do

[lacrosse19]

In your first game its never going to work so he will switch to 1 3 2 or 2 3 3, thats what we do


well maybe your not running it right

[Torque42]

2 2 2 is like a iso kinda play personally i dont like it because there is no crease man but if you have good dodgers and powerful shooters its fin

[The Playmaker]

get the 2 people on the crease to run continuous pick and rolls. one will get open, you will pass it, and they will score.

[Bobsch]

Jack Kaley (NYIT and German National Team coach) runs a great 2-2-2. Even when you know what the offense is all about, it is really hard to stop when the players run it right. They run "bow-tie" pattersn, with one attack dodging up and looking for the feed at the GLE and dropping back and running it to the other side if the feed isn't there. The creasemen start in a high post and pick or seal for each other and drop back and reset if there's no feed. It puts a lot of pressue on the defesenmen playing behind the goal and the sliders. If you play well on the attacks behind the goal and the creasemen, they also have some nice cuts from midfield. They tore us up in the 2003 Amsterdam tournament. The official score was 10-0, but I think the scorers were drunk and lost count.

[Jmalins23]

have the 2 men working the crease opposite where the ball is, like when the ball is with the attackmen at GLE have the 2 crease guys higher up, on the other side, farther away from the ball and cut towards it, and vice versa if the ball is up top

[Eclipse]

The 2-2-2 im used to looks like this

X X


X X


X X
\/

[CTLaxer]

The 2-2-2 im used to looks like this

X X


X X


X X
\/

That's a very strange looking 2-2-2. I've never seen one with the 2 guys at x playing above the goal. What kind of cuts/motions do you guys run from this?

[WoodDuck14]

here is how i've alays run the 222

here is option 1

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/WoodDuck14/the222.jpg

here is # 2

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/WoodDuck14/the222option2.jpg

hope thoses make sense.

[SharkCoach]

Does anyone know more about the Jack Kaley 2-2-2 bowtie offense? He has built a dominant system based on it.

[Bobsch]

If I can figure out a good way to diagram it, I could show you. I'll try to explain it.

If the attack starts behind the goal on the left side, he usually drives through X to the feeding zone on the back right side of the crease (the other attack usually pushes up to the right wing, to make space for his), then takes a step back to free his hands and look for the feed. If the feed isn't there, he drops straight back (if you draw this, this is one half of a bowtie shape). He then drives the opposite way, looking to feed from the from the back left side of the crease. If there is no feed, he drops straight back (completing the bowtie) and dumps it to the other attack (on his right side), who then drives left.

The creasemen start in a tandem high post. If the feeder is driving so he can pass it from the back right side of the crease, the right side creaseman (looking from the goal) sets the pick. The other drives his man off the pick. If there is no feed, they both drop straight back and reset. If you draw this, it is half of the other bowtie. When the attack then drives the opposite way, the same man who set the first pick sets the pick on the other side. If the pick isn't there, they drop straight back and reset again, completing the bowtie.

If the defenders on the crease are switching, they don't pick the other guy's man. Instead, they seal their own man. The other creaseman then pops up from the seal.

The key is having attacks that are threats as dodgers, as well as feeders. The creasemen always have to worry about who is hot and sliding. The creasemen are good at getting open after you slide from the crease.

They also mix it up with backdoor sneaks to the other attack. Or they run the bowties, and then start having the attacks drive towards the opposite side of the goal than you expect.

If you try to go with adjacent slides and bring a middie down to slide on the dodger from X, they cut with the middie in or rotate 90 degrees so it looks like a 1-4-1 for a while.

[jimd619]

I agree with the writer who suggested that they are not taking full advantage of the 2-2-2. I personally love 1-4-1, but also I subscribe to changing up formations to keep the defense thinking about anything but the ball. Think about the positives. Easy feeds from X, opportunity to screen those outside shots, and don't forget you can pick for the outside middies. Plus if you exchange who is on the crease, the defenders have to pay attention to you. I stress to my team the 2-2-2 is a drive and dump formation. But if crease players are sufficiently active, there is a good chance a drive from behind or above will result in a 1vs1 shot because the slide can't come as his attention is diverted. Key is if the double does come, work on what ball carrier should do with the ball.

[3rdPersonPlural]

1X___________________2X


...........3X....4X....................
5X............V.............6X.........


This is a very slick motion offense that uses a 2-2-2 formation

1x has the ball, and passes to 2x.

1x sprints to where 4x is (near the crease to the keeper's right)

4x sprints to 5x, GLE about halfway between the crease and the restraining box.

5x sprints up to where 1x just left (these three motions happen simultaneously) and looks for a pass from 2x.

2x passes to 5x (now 1x) and 2,3, and 6 repeat that 1, 4, and 5 just did.

This offense works well when playing against an aggressive, but not too well disciplined defense. Once defenders start to anticipate and try to make something happen, back doors open up all over the place.

This offense also is a great way for a team with just a few good scorers to get these guys lots of good looks.

How do you score?

There's lots of natural activity on the crease, which results in lots of picks and rolls and almost always results in a screened keeper. Once the defenders get 'trained' in what to expect. They'll either get lazy or get aggressive and try to jump the gun. This opens up the door for dodgers and back door cutbacks.

[901TNlax3]

yeah my team ran a two two two.....its hard at first but once you get it its easy to confuse the D......the two guys on the crease just have to keep picking and re picking to get open...and the attack just gotta get in a good feeding area and you pretty much got a goal if its a good feed and the man is open

[Torque42]

ours is like an isolation play, we have 2 x men 2 wing men and 2 men up top, its is effective when going around b.c you will probobly catch the poles back and make some good cuts

[The Hitman]

My experience may be on a lower level than most of you as I coach youth teams (6th grade) but I went to the 2-2-2 to start because I had a handful of folks that weren't great ball-handlers. They could catch, cut, shoot, etc, but I found those folks would get stripped on the outside, but until they improved those skills, they could still contribute in the middle.

I agree with the congestion a little, but if the middle 2 start far away from the ball and work together for picks, cuts, etc, it's much more effective.

[lax4life6]

yeah i hate the 2-2-2 also. whenever you drive to the middle you get a slide guy and one defender can cover both crease guys so you get doubled and still have no one to pass to

[jimd619]

Lax4Life, sounds like the problem you have is the crease guys don't split. The high crease player (I assume his D is the slide) should slide out to space vacated by the D and be open for a shot. You want to create the one D covers 2 players, but they must move to take advantage of that. Other thing I tell my guys is to swing the ball around X. Again, splitting the Crease D. There are a couple options involving picking or just breaking to each post. You are right, the 2-2-2 is a drive and dump formation, as opposed to the 1-4-1 where the extra space gives drivers a better chance for a shot from the drive.

[TeXaSLaX14]

Our coach always tells our crease men to be low and away meaning if the top left middie has the ball the crease men should be low and to the left of the crease this giving the middie room down the ally to dodge and shoot. Also if they are in a crease sliding defense this formation is essential because you can pull your crease people far from the ball making the first slide a very long one.. does that make sense?

[jimd619]

TexaslaX, makes perfect sense. That is exactly right. Only twist comes from my being old school. I like two sets of countvailing movements. Your man drives down left. Crease A and B start low and away as you say. Lets say A is on post and B a couple yards above him. How about A using B as a pick and swinging about over center beyond where the middie drove. That way if the middie gets no shot, and assuming D stays in to slide, A may well be open say 10 yards above, either for a pass from a turnaway move from the middie, or if the middie dumps to attack, attack might find A for a feed. Again, always move to vacated space, and always with the ball look to swing from one side to the other. Or like basketball, drive deep and kick the ball out. But mostly remember, if you move during a drive, the D has to figure out where to go.

[Glaxer]

you can solve any congestion problems by keeping the crease away from the ball. If the ball is at X the men on the crease stay high. I f the ball is high the crease stayes low. If the ball is right the crease is left etc. This creates room to cut off the picks on the crease and to draw and dump.

[WHEELAX2]

the way to prevent congestion is to properly train the crease guys to be opposite the ball.

[malax31]

not a big fan of the 2-2-2. we tried putting it in as our offense the other year, and it didnt work. it relies on precision passing and catching. we run a 3-3, with one on ball cutter and one off ball cutter and it works great when we get our behinds moving and cut

[i live 4 lax]

the 2-2-2 is mainly for cuts

[laxman 9990]

the 2-2-2 is mainly for cuts

yeah we ran this, i and i got tired of it. it worked great until we played a team with good defense who knew how to slide. its mainly for cutting and feeding.

[Bobsch]

It can actually work well for dodging, too. If your attacks working from behind the goal are just as good at dodging as feeding, the defensive creasemen will have to worry about both sliding and covering their men. Good dodgers open up the feeds, good feeders open up the dodges.

[Coach_S]

If your crease players are getting played by a single defender then they are not cutting properly. Assuming that you are running a stacked crease, the top defender (nearest restraining line) will probably slide and the backside defender will slide up as the cold slide. At this point the back crease player needs to run a high-c cut with some help from a pick/seal, The midfielder who is dodging needs to keep his head up to dump or skip it to the attack in the X area. Just mirror the movement if you dodge from behind the cage.

[MHSLaxCoach]

Try learning the Deleware version of the 2-2-2. There are alot of throw backs, roll backs, rotation of both attack and midfield triangles and picks on the crease. There was a presentation on it at either the IMLCA or US Lax convention.

[LaxerN9]

i agree with Thompson#1. Two people on the crease really clogs everything up. I am one of those people on the crease and it sucks. Since our middes stay tight to me on crease its like i have his defender and mine on me. And even i do get open or someone goes to the goal they instantly have around five people on him. On person on the crease is great. I can get so open by myself and it lets everyone else get better chances to go to the goal. The 2-2-2 offense basically sucks

[CTLaxer]

I managed to talk with an former NYIT player about the 2-2-2 they use, it might be helpful to some: http://network.laxpower.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=323098#315545

[MDUBlax]

i love our 2 2 2 we run. its more about our middies though because we drive down the lanes and the crease men pick each others defenders and pop out where the top middie just was and look for the pass and rip. or since we do have kinda fast middies up top we also sweep a lot and usually can beat the defenders its just about if we have a good enough angle for a shot.