Box Lacrosse 4-on-4 Pick & Roll Pregame Practice Drill
We got this great drill from Pro Defender Bill O'Brien at NLL training camp this week. He told us how they like to play a lot of freestyle 4-on-4 to get the ball moving and get some contact in practice and before games.
Photo Credit: Bill O'Brien and Coyote Magic Action Shots/Larry Palumbo
Bill O'Brien (New England Blackwolves/Onandaga Redhawks) put up some great video from training camp on Facebook this week. He does so many great fundamentals all put together. He makes body-position defense and communication look so easy. Here you get to see it at the pro level: Click here to watch the video.
Box Lacrosse is a 5-on-5 format, just like basketball and ice hockey. (Not counting the Goalies) 4-on-4 gives your players a little extra space to Dodge and work the "Two-Man" Game. Plus it gives the Defense space to work on Picks and "Switches", Slides, ground balls, etc.
Basically, it's just a scrimmage. O'Brien said the best thing they do at Blackwolves training camp is scrimmage all the time. Box coaches are much more likely to put their kids in game situations and let them figure out "how to play!"
You can also do this with your field lacrosse team when you get outside in the Spring! Your players will love working hard in this 4-on-4 "practice game" on offense and defense!
HERE'S THE DRILL:
Figure 1.) Set up your players in two pairs on either side of the floor. Ideally you would have the "Righties" on the right side of the floor (Blue 1 and 2) when looking out from the Goal or Goalie, and the "Lefties" on the other side of the floor (Blue 3 and 4).
RELATED DRILLS & PLAYS:
- Box Lacrosse Star Passing & Shooting Drill: This is one of the most common pregame warm-up drills we see Box Lacrosse teams using all over the world.
- Box Lacrosse Pass-Up, Pick Up Offense: Try this simple variation of Pass Down, Pick Down, using the Two-Man Game to open up even more scoring opportunities.
- Box Lacrosse Man-Up Pick & Roll Up Top: We saw this great Box Play from Mark Matthews and Team Canada at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships this year. So we thought we better cover it!
- Simple Box/Field Man-Up 3-on-2 Up Top: Use this simple Man-Up play with your Box or Field team against the top two corners of the typical "Box and One [in the Middle]" Man-Down Defense.
