Man up Man down skill builder

This is a great drill to test who should be on man and man down as it forces fast ball movement under pressure.  It also forces the defense to work as a unit and rotate to the ball.

Even if the players are not on man up it is a great drill for offensive stick work and defensive hustle and communication.

The Drill:

• 5 offensive players around the perimeter with 3 defensive players in the center.

  • If your offense is moving the ball with ease, you can put 4 defensive players in the center.

  • If your offense is young and has difficulty passing you can consider 2 players in the center.

• Offense players can not move other than using proper footwork to make a good pass. 

• Defense can do whatever they have to do within lacrosse rules to get the ball on the ground. Therefore if the offense holds it too long the defense could go after them.

• The defense should NEVER allow any skip passes

• The offense has 30 seconds to not lose the ball or has to complete a certain amount of passes..

• If the ball drops, the last offensive player who touched the ball goes in the middle and a player from the middle who was playing defense can now go to the perimeter.

There is a lot you can do, for example you can put an extra offensive player in the middle telling the defense that he should never catch the ball, forcing them to sluff in off the ball.   Regardless, the premise should remain the same. Teach the offensive players to get it in and out of their sticks quickly and the defense players to work as a unit and rotate accordingly.