Lacrosse Drills: My Favorites

The first attribute that an elite defenseman has is their strength. Rarely do you find a weak and skinny defenseman that is able to cover attackman with a lot of success. Because the job of a defenseman is to stop the opposing team from scoring, at some point you will need to physically stop the offense from doing so. If you are too small or weak to stop an opposing player, odds are you probably will end up on the bench pretty soon. Because strength is so important and does not come naturally to everyone, it is crucial to implement weight lifting into your training. Through weight lifting you will be able to gain muscle and hopefully aggressiveness to your game. I will add in, although Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson may be incredibly strong and buff, I do not think he would make the best lacrosse defenseman. It is very important to keep in mind that more muscle does not always equal better lacrosse player. An elite defenseman has enough strength to be an imposing force on the offense while also being able to run step for step with some of the fastest and quickest attackman in the world.

Athlete in a Ladder

With that being said, footwork is another absolutely crucial aspect of an elite defenseman. Although some attackmen’s plan of attack is to try and run through their defenseman with strength or lean up on them, there are just as many if not more who’s plan is to use their quickness and speed to run around you without even being touched. This is why it is critical to work on your footwork as a defenseman so that no attackmen are able to put you on their highlight reels because they made you fall over. One of my favorite drills for working on footwork is a ladder drill. This is essentially when you lay down a ladder on the ground and do any variation of a shuffle, run, backpedal, or zig zag up and down the ladder, moving your feet as fast as possible through each box. Over time, you will begin to move your feet faster and be able to not look down at the ladder as you move. Then, when you finally get on the field to cover an opposing attackman, their change of direction might not seem as quick as it used to.

There are obviously many more ways to become a better lacrosse player when you are working by yourself, but these are just some of my favorite ways to do so. I do both of these especially in the summertime when I am not with my team and have to train alone for the most part. This makes for a great return to school in the fall to show off how hard everyone worked all summer long!