OFF-SEASON ADVICE

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At the end of every lacrosse season players and parents are challenged with developing a game plan for off-season development. Questions arise as to the most effective steps to take for the player's development, including relatively newer trends relating to whether or not to join a club team as well as the degree of specialization required for consistent improvement. The Pro Lacrosse Camp staff is in a unique situation of being surrounded by the world's best men's and women's players in the game for 2 months out of every year. We work with 15 different coaching staffs each summer consisting of experienced college coaches and college players that have achieved a high level of success. Despite a perceived set of dilemmas players and parents are facing these days, an overwhelming consensus exists among this group on the correct steps to take for an off-season development plan. Let us help you with that by offering this advice...

 

There are 3 parts to any off-season program at any level: stick skills, game experience and strength and conditioning.

 

PART 1- Stick Skills

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Strive for daily wall ball or partner passing, shooting and dodging on goal, and a summer instructional camp. Players should take what they learn at camp and incorporate that into their backyard workouts to keep them fresh and constantly evolving.

 

Suggestions and common mistakes

 

1. Do you have a legitimate plan for success? Coaches often tell players to "get on the wall." Do you live across the street from a school with a wall? Is there a sibling or neighbor that plays lacrosse that is on call 365 days a year to practice when the player is available? Probably not. How is this ever going to happen??? We suggest you purchase a pass-back for the backyard. These can be ordered at most online lacrosse stores and cost about the same as a lacrosse stick.

 

2. Lacrosse balls are reps. If development is for an offensive player and you have a yard conducive to having a lacrosse goal, buy a bucket of 60 balls to go with the goal. Most players will go through their lacrosse career owning just a few lacrosse balls. Their time is spent chasing balls vs developing their shot with lots of reps.

 

3. Time management. Make 20 minutes available each day. A wall-ball workout can still be accomplished daily while in another sport season if you have a pass-back in the backyard and the player can simply step outside for a few minutes.

 

4. Players don't know what they don't know. Once young players reach high school or even junior high and have a couple of years' experience under their belt they are often under the impression they know pretty much all there is to know. The problem with that is players are putting a ceiling on their lacrosse IQ and development. The top coaches in the game with decades of experience are constantly learning from other coaches at camps and clinics and picking up new instructional techniques or learning new drills for different skill sets. The idea that a high school player no longer needs to keep developing their lacrosse IQ at a camp is a mistake. Try to be open minded and willing to continue learning while attending camps. Being "coachable" is what allows players to keep progressing.

 

5. Understanding Instructional Camps vs Game Experience - A lot of players will attend camps that spend most of their time scrimmaging as opposed to player development. Game experience is equally as important as stick skills and is deserving of its own portion of the off-season program. But camps are not the place for this. There are plenty of summer leagues, tournaments and club teams that players can join to play on full-sized fields with real referees with the correct number of players on the field at each position and at the appropriate ability level. Attend an instructional camp that puts the focus on player development, not scrimmaging. Camp coaches should be instructing not refereeing. Pro Lacrosse Camps coaching staffs are exclusively comprised of pro and college coaches and players that place the concentration on instruction rather than watching/officiating scrimmages. At multiple stations per hour, they teach fundamentals and mechanics and provide drills for campers to take away from camp to perfect these skills on their own.

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PART 2- Game Experience

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Players should try to play as many games as they can between lacrosse seasons. Join a game-only summer league, participate in your rec team or high school team's tournament schedule, or join a club team. 

 

Suggestions and common mistakes

 

1. There is no substitute for game experience. The goal for the off-season is to get a lot of playing time in lots of games. Emphasis on coaching and winning should be less than the primary spring lacrosse season. The goal is to get on the field and play. Sitting the bench on a competitive club team is not addressing this off-season objective. Join the league or team that is right for you.

 

2. Try to play when you can vs worrying about the games you miss. Don't stop playing other sports to play summer, fall and winter lacrosse leagues. One game a week or a couple tournaments per off-season can likely work with other sports' schedules. Missing a few off-season lacrosse games should not be a reason not to play the ones you can make. Respect the sport that is in season the way your lacrosse coach would want his or her season respected in the Spring.

 

PART 3- Strength and Conditioning

 

At the youth level this is best accomplished by playing another sport that builds athleticism. High school players can also incorporate weight training.

 

Suggestions and common mistakes

 

1. The athleticism achieved by playing another sport will vastly exceed any weight lifting or cardio program a player plans to accomplish on their own.

 

2. Multi-sport athletes - It has been common knowledge in the lacrosse world for a long time that college coaches want multi-sport athletes. You will become a better lacrosse player by becoming more athletic from playing other sports. This is well understood by college and pro players and coaches. If your youth coach is pushing you to specialize and play only one sport they are either poorly informed on this matter or they are not putting your best interest above their team or league.

 

3. Specialization of playing one sport year-round has led to burn out and a decline in participation rates in youth sports.

 

4. Increased injuries have resulted from one sport specialization. Certain muscle groups are exhausted from year-round play. For example, it is easy to visualize how a baseball pitcher will eventually wear out their throwing arm or shoulder with year-round play concentrated on that one area of the body vs, for example, a cross-training athlete that plays soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and lacrosse in the spring - with the fatigue of each sport diluted to different muscles groups.

 

5. One sport specialization has proven to be the wrong way to go. We encourage players to be a multi-sport athlete...both for betterment of their health and lacrosse career.

 

If you select a Pro Lacrosse Camp as your instructional camp you can be confident you are selecting a camp with the correct focus to satisfy the camp portion of the skills section of a good off-season program.

 

Join us at a Pro Lacrosse Camp this summer to sharpen your skills and take the next step in your lacrosse journey.