15 Balls of Transition
Coach Gordon Purdie, Adelphi
I love talking to this unique lacrosse coach. In our most recent podcast we were into a dialog regarding “Transition-Pushing the Ball” lacrosse like they do it at Adelphi, (almost 48 shots per game at the time of the podcast in 2015.) Those that know me can understand my excitement, near and dear to my heart.

Although when you adopt this philosophy you are ‘all in,’ and perhaps need to expect to give up a few goals in transition as well. But I can assure you the players will love to practice and play this way.

Traditionally, I probably spend at least 30-40 minutes in different types of transition drills, from full field, to half field lacrosse drills, to where we “Crunch” the playing space in four or five different ways. But these are all separate drills, not an extended transition game-like drill.

The many drills we feature on the site and use in practice are all designed to simulate mini-snapshots of game scenarios. Perhaps Coach Purdie has put it all together in this ‘total’ lacrosse drill. Before I start, let me also state that Coach Purdie is a huge proponent of short games to one goal in almost every practice, beginning with a face off. Thus, his face off –game simulation is covered there…. This is slightly different.

The first tip for lacrosse coaches in this lacrosse drill from Coach Purdie was to wear a big coat with plenty, plenty of pockets. [private]

At Adelphi they run this in a 10V10 configuration, with the coach in the middle of the field. (we will cover a version of the drill for smaller rosters in a bit) There is a coach in the middle of the field with 15 balls. The whistle blows, we roll a ball anywhere and he fun and action begins.

Rules

1. If we shoot, or if we drop a ball… the whistle blows and coach immediately rolls out the second ball.

2. If the ball rolls out of bounds… whistle blows and we roll another ball.

3. Once the offensive team gets possession in the Box, a 20 second (you might try 30 seconds the first time you run the drill) shot clock is on…then…wait for it, another ball is rolled out, all the way up to 15 Balls using the same players on the field, or switching middies after seven balls.

I ran this drill for the first time yesterday and I was amazed at what we got out of it. However coaches, it takes a little bit of a knack, on where to roll the ball to create different scenarios at each end of the field. Just try and make the ball action go to different players at different ends…

• Speed
• Endurance (huge amount of endurance)
• No Stopping
• Unlimited Opportunities
• LSM’s and Poles carrying and playing offense

It is important to remember we do not stop this lacrosse drill to “coach” or to “educate” just pull a player off the field and have a different coach address any issues. Do not stop the 15 Balls of Transition. But with that being said, we are practicing our “Express Offense” or fundamentals such as “Clearing Out” or our Rides and Clears.

It becomes really fun when the ‘Next’ ball goes to a totally different location of part of the field.

When the ball reached the offensive zone, we yelled out “20 seconds, then 15 seconds,” then counted down the last ten seconds. I love doing lacrosse drill where the clock is on. Most players need to learn exactly what can be accomplished in 15 seconds or 10 seconds, as it is far longer than many players expect. I seen this “short term patience” pay many dividends with our players in key situations in games.

Again, special thanks to our good friends at Krossover for helping to make all this possible, now over 130 hours of full podcasts in the Library.

Check out more transition drills in my Transition Drills eBook…Just Click Here

Small Roster

When I asked Coach Purdie about adapting this fun drill to smaller HS or Rec Rosters, he was quick to suggest moving the goals ten to fifteen yards closer, rather than the option of going with two attack and two poles at each end. The dynamics of three attackmen in fast break or unsettled transition scenarios is one of the huge benefits of this lacrosse drill.

I strongly encourage you to take eight minutes and listen to Coach Purdie share this drill in his own words, Click Here, then go to the Preview for all Free Members, you may need to just log in.

Please give it a try, and share your comments below, or email me, mike@laxcoachmike.com

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