Jailbreak lacrosse drill
This is a great drill to work 6V6 on transition, ball movement, and team defense in a fun, fast-paced drill. A special thank you to Albany Head Coach Scott Marr !! I heard him talk about the drill in our podcast interview and our kids did it in a week. They loved it, and it improves many key transition skills or what he called building “Anticipation” on both sides of the ball. This is a great exercise for players of all ages.
Very often, we as coaches have a tendency to work in “even” situations in a kind of static midfield setting. I might even call it a bit boring, but I want to offend you at the beginning of the article. This drill is more like a game (emulating game-like situations is central to all of our drills) in that, although it is a 6V6 drill, it begins in a transitional environment and includes finding the ball, ground rounds, transition offense, and defense. of Transition. and it’s a great way to include lots of players in the run, reconnaissance, and conditioning.
It’s basically a 6V6 drill that starts at the midfield line. Six offensive players are lined up in front of the offensive side or cage and “behind” them are six defensive players. Coach Marr makes his defenders start with their heads down so they are not initially aware of where the coach has rolled or thrown the ball. In fact, we had our defenders facing the coach, rather than the cage, so their backs were turned to the action.
From the midfield line, the coach throws or rolls the ball to the offensive side. All offensive players go into action with the toss or whistle. Offensive players must first locate the ball. Then, when an offensive player lifts the ground ball, the others must identify the appropriate passing lanes or open spaces. Coach Marr has his players drive or pass an open man, and they immediately start the offense towards the cage.
From the midfield line, about 3 yards behind the offensive players, the defensive players also turn and run with the toss or whistle. Potentially one of the defensive players may think they can chase the ground ball before the offense identifies the location, however the drill is designed so that the defense first runs to the “hole” and then very quickly identifies who is covering. who, with strong communication.
Coach Marr talks a lot about anticipation, as both offensive and defensive players need to not only think fast, but perhaps most importantly, think fast as a unit. All of this exercise is quick and designed to get you to the cage quickly. Then the players on the field return from outside the action area to the midfield area, while another group of 6V6s are ready to start immediately. We typically run ours in maximum sessions of 30-40 seconds or less and immediately put the next group into action.
One tip that worked best for us (we like quick practices) was to have the next group lined up immediately after the first 6V6 group is in play, so things keep moving forward quickly. This is not the time to talk or get bored.
We also have fun adding some nuances to the exercise. First of all, we look for a quick pass or two to shoot. If the throw from a pass is not there, we immediately have the offensive unit go to a 2-2-2 or 1-4-1, or my favorite, identify a matchup where we have shorty on shorty and “Reverse” to “X “and play. This is also done all in the 30-40 second range (or less!).
In games, these kinds of hectic and unstable “jailbreak” scenarios are where we often find the mismatch we wanted. But we have to find it quickly as a team and possibly exploit it before the defense can change or line up the way they want to be aligned. But it really is difficult to train this from the bench. Therefore, this exercise can also be great for teaching players and getting players to think about and identify matchmaking opportunities through an “investment” or a “set.”
When the offense does a great job of recognizing or creating space in an unstable situation, make sure they are recognized. When the defense does a great job sticking together in the shaky, fast-paced 30 seconds, make sure they are recognized too. We also recommend not hitting this exercise to death and keeping the entire exercise to a duration of 7-12 minutes to keep kids interested and engaged.