Offense

Concepts, Drills and Techniques for successMatt Holtz

Head CoachUniversity of Detroit-Mercy

About Me

• Born and Raised in Michigan• Attended Detroit Catholic Central (’92)• Attended Michigan State (’96)• Began as Asst. Coach in ’97• Became Head Coach of MSU Club in

2005• 17 Club All Americans during that time• 2007 CCLA Coach of the year• Hired at UDM in September of 2007

University of Detroit-Mercy

• The University of Detroit is a private Jesuit University on the North Side of Detroit

• It was founded in 1877 by the Jesuit Brothers

• UofD Merged with Mercy College in 1990

• It is the Largest private Catholic University in Michigan

• Enrollment of about 6,000

Detroit Titans

• The University of Detroit sponsors 19 varsity level Division I sports and competes primarily in the Horizon League

• Notable former coaches include Dick Vitale

• The university has recently reinvigorated their dedication to athletics with the hiring of our new AD, Keri Gaither, and with an infusion of funds to add additional sports

Detroit Titan Lacrosse

• Beginning in ’08-’09 the Titans will compete in both Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse

• We did not have a club program previously• The Men are applying to enter the Great

Western Lacrosse League (OSU, ND, Denver, USAFA, Bellarmine, Quinnipiac)

• UDM is putting their money where their mouth is.

My Coaching Style

• Coach to the players you have, not to the players you want– If you have a ton of great middies then don’t

base your offense around your attack and vice versa

• Work Hard and stay disciplined– It’s very difficult to score while man down

When do goals happen?

• Goals happen in several ways

• Turnovers

• Mistakes by the defense/goal tender

• Great individual offensive efforts

• Odd man situations (fast breaks, loose balls, man-up etc)

Turnovers

• These are situations that can sometimes be created– A great ride– A stolen clearing pass

• More often then not these are out of our control

Defensive Mistakes

• Defender trips

• Defender goes for an “all or nothing” check

• Goalie misses an easy save

• Goalie drops a ball in his own net

Great Individual Efforts

• These are fun plays to watch but….– We don’t always have great individual

players– A good defense can stop a single great

player most of the time

Odd man situations

• Manup

• Fast Breaks

• Ground balls in your offensive end

• The defense sliding to a dodger– Dodging is the most important part of this

offense

Keys to Dodging

• The first rule of this offense is “When a player dodges, he dodges to score.”– If the ball carrier is out of scoring position and is not

moving towards a scoring position then a good defense will not slide to that player

• If a player beats his man and a slide does not come then take a shot.

• If a player dodges but does not beat his man he must know to reset the offense

• One of the hardest things to do in Lacrosse is to play shortstick defense – Take advantage of that

Improve your opportunities to score

• First and foremost, you have to beat a defender

• Make slides long

• Change up who the sliders are

• Occupy slides

• The ball moves faster than any man can

Making slides long

• Identify the sliding scheme - adjacent or crease slides– For adjacent slides – spread out– For crease slides – put your crease player

opposite the dodger

• Make the slider decide between sliding and covering his man – Never let him do both

During the dodge

• Each player has a job to do:– Ball carrier/initiator/dodger– Shot backup– Fast Break Prevention– Slide occupation– Shooters– Feeders– Outlets

If a slide comes

• If a player dodges to score and beats his man and a slide comes he must move the ball quickly to an open man

• Who will be open:– The man the slide came from (if there is no

second slide)– The man at X– Any player that works to get open

Lets look at a typical dodge with a slide.

• M1 starts with the ball

• A1 will cut thru to give a driving space down the “Alley”

• M3 will make the slide as long as possible by setting up on the opposite pipe.

• M2 is a “free safety”• A2 and A3 have to

be ready to backup shots

• A3 is also an outlet

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4D5

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4D5

What have we accomplished?

• We have created dodging space

• We have changed which player is the first “slide”

• We have created a long slide

• Now the dodger can dodge to the goal

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4

D5

What to do now• If no one slides –

Shoot• If D2 Slides – Get

the ball to the X-man on a sneak

• If D6 slides, roll A1 up, and and get him the ball

• If D3 slides, work the ball through X and reverse the field

• First we show if D2 Slides

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4

D5

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4

D5

Other options

• D3 Slides

• A1 has to occupy D6

• M3 has to get into position to score

• Work the ball thru X to M3

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6

D1D3

D2

D4

D5

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6

D1D3

D2

D4

D5

Other options

• If D6 slides, roll back and get A1 the ball

M1

M3

A2

M2

A1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4

D5

Other options

• If there is a second slide work the ball thru X to the back side. This is what will happen against most good defenses

M1

M3

A3

M2

A1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4

D5

You can drive from the attack wing

• Similar rules apply

A1

M3

A2

M2 M1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4D5

A1

M3

A2

M2 M1

A3

D6D1D3

D2

D4D5

What do all the options have in common?

• “Following slides”– Many people call it “following a slide.” This

implies going directly with the man– I prefer to teach people to step into a

passing lane and shooting lane

Multiple formations

• You can run these rules out of many formations

• 2-3-1

• M1 Starts with the ball

A1

M3

A2

M2

M1

A3

D6

D1D3

D2

D4

D5

Important Skills

• Dodging

• Fast Ball Movement

• Slide recognition

• Shooting

Drills for these skills

• Any passing drills

• 1 v 1

• Dodging to shooting on the run

• Slide recognition

• 4v4 “special” drill

• Over the net shooting drill

• Fake Drill

Passing Drills

• There are many out there– Line drills

• Add a center man

– Weave passing– Star passing– Six line passing

A1

M3

A2 M2

M1

A3

Passing Drills

• The most important things about passing drills– Proper technique

• Practicing bad technique only makes you better at those bad techniques

– Put passes on a line• Soft passes don’t get the job done

1v1s

• 1v1’s are important enough to practice every day

• Again, practice properly– Don’t let players just run around – They have to be driving with a purpose– Drive from a distance– Mix up points of initiation

Dodge to shooting on the run

• Defender puts on “token” defense• Players make sure the shoot with proper

technique– Extend your arms– Hide your stick– Shoot overhand or 3/4

• Shoot on goalies– Gets goalies extra shots– It’s more realistic

Slide Recognition

• The ball handler starts top right or left with his back to the cage

• Setup 4 offensive players each with a defender– One at X– One on the Crease– One up top– One on the wing

Slide Recognition

• The coach picks a slider and blows the whistle

• The sliding player slides to the ball handler as he turns around

• The ball handler must recognize where the slide is coming from and get the ball to them

• The defense must rotate and the ball must get moved quickly to a shooter

A1

M3

M2BC

A4

D1D3

D2

D4

4v4

• Starts with a 1v1 up top

• Three other pairs of players– Two on the crease– One at X

• The ball carrier drives to beat his man

• When the defense slides work the offense we just setup

M3

M2

BC

A4

D3

D2

D4

DM

Summary

• Drive to score

• Draw the slide or shoot

• Get the defense moving

• Reverse the field

Questions?