Lacrosse success “Triangle”There are no shortcuts!

Skill Experience/ attitude

Athleticism

Live / Breath / Promote Lacrosse• Watch games on TV and go to games as much as possible

– Watch critically- how do college players move?, throw?, catch?, shoot? Play defense?

• Read about the players, their stories and the game • Hound the US Lacrosse website and read / watch / apply training tips. The

website is very good. • Pick a favorite Team, go to their website, and follow them • Attend player development camps – assist at Learn to Play clinics

– Lax camps are a great way to immerse yourself in lax for a few days straight, meet kids your age that are also trying to develop, see skills taught from a potentially different, new or better perspective

• Be an advocate for the game in your schools – i.e. Do a school project on lacrosse, talk about the game, etc.

• Invite a classmate to a practice or game– Guests are always welcome at practice to check out the sport

• Wear your jerseys on game day at school • Get friends / teammates together for informal pick-up games

• Great way to try new skills without feeling like you are being “evaluated” by a coach

Skill

• Skill:– Stickwork

• Arnold Palmer- “Practice does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect”

• Reinforcing fundamentals through repetition• Rule of 10,000

– It takes 10,000 repetitions to truly master a skill» 10,000 throws and catches with each hand» 10,000 overhand shots, side arm shots, dodges, etc

– That is a ton of practice!

• Coaches have provided the fundamentals– Up to the kids to put in the time / work

Skill (con’t)• Stickwork

– Always practice with gloves on – Wall ball tips

• Spend 20 minutes a day working throwing, catching, stick handling with both your strong and weak hands – There are infinite routines but all should involve throwing the ball to a specific spot on the wall and

catching it cleanly.– http://www.simplylacrosse.com/wall-ball.html has numerous wall ball routines and most importantly

warns against using vinyl siding as the “wall” (yes, this is in to protect me from damage liability)

– Shooting improvement• Best way to improve your shooting is to take a sleeve of balls (10-12) and go hit the goal. • This works best with a partner, that way one person can shoot and one can shag misses. Also,

partners can feed each other to work on shooting on the move• Concentrate on the fundamentals for each shot type you are practicing- whether a “time and

room” outside shot, a running “jump shot” or shooting in tight- like a quick stick– Once the mechanics of the shot are in place, the speed will come- especially if the fitness routine is

followed– Shooting mechanics can be found in 100’s of videos on YouTube– During shooting practice, always pick a spot- don’t be content with just getting the ball inside the 6x6-

remember, there will be a goalie in there trying to keep your name out of the paper!

Experience / Attitude• Different, but related• Grouped together because both are intangible • Experience: best way to get experience is simply to play / absorb as

much lacrosse as you can• Attitude: as I said in the front slide- there are no short cuts

– Good attitudes are linked to an athletes understanding that improvement is a continuous improvement process that takes: self-critical evaluation, clear and achievable goals, and acceptance that the journey will not always be smooth

• A positive attitude from a player IS contagious and will go a long way with coaches– A negative attitude is equally contagious and will move even a skilled

player down the depth chart very quicklyWrite down and track both short and long range goals!

Hold yourself accountable to reaching those goals

• For a lacrosse player athleticism is the right balance of endurance, speed, agility and strength.

• That balance is based on the position played– For instance, a goalie should concentrate on building

agility and speed- endurance is not as important– Midfielders need to have a true balance of all

• Endurance to move up and down the field• Speed to either set up a fast break, or cut one off• Agility to separate from defenders • Strength to both give and take checks

Athleticism

Endurance• Endurance: ability to do the same motion over a long period of time

– For instance long distance running– Endurance is a function of the ability to efficiently move oxygen to the

working muscle groups (function of heart and lung capacity) and the muscles strength to execute contraction and elongation over long periods of time

• Best way to improve endurance is to do exercises which raise your heart rate into the optimal zone (60-80% of max heartrate- which is 220 – age) for long periods of time.– For instance, a 15 year old max heartrate is 205 beats per minute (BPM)

(220-15).– This boy will improve his endurance when he increases his heart rate to

123- 164 BPM for 15-20 minutes continuously• Simple way to check heart rate is take your pulse at the neck for 10

secs and multiply by 6.

Speed

• Speed is the measure of how fast one moves from one point to another– Speed is normally considered a “straight line”

measurement– Speed is a function of technique, muscle strength

and efficiency of muscular “fast twitch” fibers.– Speed is normally improved through combining

fast twitch muscle exercises (box jumps, explosive squats, jump rope, etc) with technique improvement.

Agility

• Agility is the ability to rapidly change directions and accelerate to top speed in the new “vector”– Agility is probably the most important of lacrosse

traits especially for attack-men and defensemen– Agility exercises combine fast twitch muscle

stimulation with direction changes• Ladders, shuttle runs, lateral box jumps

Plyometrics are the best exercises I have seen to improve speed and agility

Strength• Strength is the ability to exert force through your

muscles• Upper body strength is critical in shooting,

passing, delivering checks• Lower body strength is important in shooting

(Ever see the thighs and calves on Paul Rabil?- huge!) and to maintain a strong base

• Strength is improved by imparting resistance on specific muscle groups through a range of motion.

Strength is the critical enabler to speed and agility

• Thanks Coach, but I knew all that!• Problem is with the gazillion exercises available on the

internet, which ones should my son be doing?!

• I recommend 45 – 60 minutes of combined endurance, speed and agility training 3-4 times a week.

• Premise of the work out- get your heart-rate up through endurance work and keep it up through speed, agility and strength regimen. – You know your heartrate is in the target range if you can talk

while exercising – but it takes effort.

Solution

Recommended Program

• 5 minutes of dynamic stretching to get warmed up (high thigh raises, butt kicks, goose steps, lunges, side lunges, groin stretches)

• 15 minutes of jogging / increase as endurance improves• 3 sets each of push ups, dips, pull ups, box jumps, 1

minute of jump rope, sit ups– Keep your heart rate up by minimizing time between sets (no

more than 1 minute rest between sets)– Keeping your heart rate up through the course of the work

out will allow you to improve endurance, while building power and strength needed for speed and agility.

Get a partner- Studies reveal groups of people are much more likely to continue an exercise program that those who try on their own

Additional Info• It will take about 6 weeks for your body to get over the exercise “shock” and

for performance improvements to be realized• In about 12 weeks, you will see a noticeable change in your body and in your

performance— If you stick with it! • This website is one of the best I have found for exercises – (

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/PowerExercises.html) and any of the jumping routines will improve speed and agility. Adding variety to your workout will keep things fresh and this muscle confusion principle is what P90X is based on. Keep the same formula, though, 15 minutes of endurance (running) followed by 30-45 minutes of strength – related exercises, minimizing time between exercises

• There is no scientific evidence which shows this type of workout will have any negative impact on your sons nature body maturity– No, - this won’t stunt your sons growth!

• Getting stronger, faster, and more agile will greatly improve your lacrosse effectiveness- especially at this age level.

Summary

• Moving up the performance pyramid takes dedication- but the results are worth it!– Set achievable goals– Stay disciplined in your approach– Balance fitness drills, focused stickwork drills and

informal pickup games– And most importantly……………………….

Put down that game controller and pick up your stick!

If you have questions about anything in here, shoot me an e-mail or give me a call