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Guest Article: Coach Sweeney, Build the Fort! -Special Special Thanks to Coach Sweeney from Curry College!!!!! from laxcoachmike!
As any coach will tell you, staying up-to-date with the latest and greatest practice plans and drills often consists of picking up what you like from other coaches and leaving the rest on the shelf. Some may cheerfully call this “stealing”, but I like to think of it as renting. This drill is one that was rented somewhere along the way from longtime Andover (MA) High School Coach Puglisi. We have used it at every stop, at every level, and hope to “return” it to the lacrosse community by sharing it. We call it “Build the Fort”:
This is a high energy, team drill we do at Curry College to improve our defensive situational awareness, among many other things. Typically, we run it at the end of practice to add some competition between our Offense and Defense groups – a “heart” drill as Coach Janczyk would call it.
We start the drill with six offensive players lined up in any formation inside the restraining box. There is a line of defenders on the wing outside the box, and a goalie in the net. The coach is located outside the top of the box with a bucket of balls, and will serve as the start/stop to each repetition by blowing a whistle when a ball is “dead” and throwing a pass in to an offensive player to start the next rep.
One defender will come from the line for the first rep, to play a 6v1! After the ball is played out (goal, missed shot, save, turnover, out of the box…) a second defender will sprint in, and the coach will start a new ball for a 6v2. Again, after the second ball is played out the Defense line will add one immediately as the rep ends, preparing for a 6v3. It builds up in this fashion to a 6v6. After that rep ends, the coach starts taking out defenders in the order that they entered the drill. So, the defender who played in the 6v1 is the first to exit, and so on. It carries on this way until we reach another 6v1, which ends the rep for that group. A fresh six offensive players are put in, and we go again.
Essentially, the six offensive players have 11 chances to score, and each defensive player gets six opportunities to deny (in various “numbers” scenarios). Score is kept simply: goals are points for the Offense and non-goals are points for the Defense. Whichever group has the best of eleven wins that repetition. In the early stages, reps are generally quick, but they will naturally lengthen out as the odd man situations change, and vice versa.
This drill reinforces defensive recognition of numbers and proper formation adjustments needed to “survive” playing shorthanded. We look for our goalies to be major communicators of what the situation is (i.e. “63” = 6v3) and the formation we should be in (“I”, “triangle”, “box”…). The defenders should be constantly communicating as the reps change quickly. We tell them “If you are quiet, you are wrong!” There is a tremendous amount of rotating in the odd man situations, so focusing on the basics of keeping sticks up, forcing extra passes, and managing space is crucial.
Offensively, we generally do not script much in this drill, but if they want to set up an EMO play or a 6v6 look when the situation arises, we certainly allow it. The emphasis for them is to move the ball efficiently and take advantage of their strengths, especially early on. We keep score and play for some sort of carrot at the end of practice.
It is great to see the intensity pick up when the Defense makes a very shorthanded stop, or if the Offense scores 6v6. Beyond improving lacrosse skill and IQ, we find that by drilling in a lot of quick momentum changes in a short time, it conditions players’ emotions to be level throughout, which is a great way to build focus on “the next rep”. If the Offense is stopped in a 6v2 situation, they do not have time to sulk, point fingers, or make the dreaded “palms up” pose, because the next ball is coming in right away and the Fort is Building against them! On the flip side, the Defense cannot celebrate a non-goal, because eventually their strength will fade and they must rely on fundamentals and awareness.
In closing, again, must give credit where credit is due: not only to Coach Puglisi for this drill, but to laxcoachmike.com for providing an incredible source of insight and information, especially for young coaches looking to rent some wisdom.
January 14th, 2016 at 2:01 pm
Great Job Coach Sweeney! I love this drill idea and will definitely be “renting” it from you! If there is anyone who knows anything about playing lacrosse with “Heart” its Coach Sweeney. Thanks again! – The Miz