Side Diamond Wheel
A 4-man wheel on the side in man-up offense forces the defense to rotate, communicate, and cover multiple moving players, increasing the chances of a missed slide or an open shooter. The constant movement creates better passing angles, skip lanes, and shooting opportunities, making it harder for the defense to stay organized and react in time.
Follow Curl Crease Pick
This inbound play forces the defense to react to multiple moving pieces, creating a high-percentage shot opportunity off a well-timed pick while maintaining spacing and ball movement. With built-in secondary options—like a backdoor cut, outside shot, or crease slip—it keeps defenders guessing and maximizes scoring chances.
Pull and Reverse
A 2-2-2 man-up play uses precise ball movement and synchronized off-ball rotations to force defensive adjustments, creating gaps for cutters and wide-open shooters. The structure ensures constant offensive options, with built-in resets that maintain spacing and pressure on the defense.
Double Triangles High & Low
Running a man-up offense with a midfield triangle rotating together and an attack triangle rotating together forces the defense to constantly adjust, creating natural overloads, 2v1 situations, and open passing lanes. This structure maintains spacing, facilitates quick ball movement, and naturally generates picks and seals, making it easier to exploit defensive breakdowns for high-percentage scoring opportunities.
About the 2-2-2 Offensive formation
The 2-2-2 offense in men's lacrosse is a balanced and versatile setup with two players up top, two on the crease, and two behind the goal, creating space and opportunities through coordinated motion and teamwork. By leveraging dodging, effective off-ball movement, and seamless transitions into other formations, this strategy puts constant pressure on defenses, generating high-percentage scoring chances.
1-4-1 to 2-2-2 Transition: Disrupting Defenses and Elevating Scoring Opportunities
Transitioning from a 1-4-1 to a 2-2-2 open offense confuses defensive slide packages by removing players from the crease, making it harder for defenders to anticipate responsibilities. This shift also positions all offensive players as scoring threats above GLE, maximizing space and creating diverse shooting options.
Executing the Pairs Offense
Unleash the potential of the pairs offense to elevate your lacrosse game with coordinated, high-impact plays. Learn how this strategy simplifies teamwork while creating dynamic scoring opportunities.
3 Groups of 2 From Top to Bottom
Take your basic 2-2-2 set and envision in 3 sets of 2's. The goal is to have each set of two working together as a team within the team. The thinking here is that it is easier to get in sync with one other person rather than 5 others.
Clear and fill offensive philisophy
This is an offensive scheme that can be the foundation of an offense at every level. With all the plays and schemes I have seen I have come back to doing this so many times. I figured if my guys could completely master this concept, combined with 2-3 killer plays, I am good to go. This can also be used as a man up scheme too. This premise can also be applied to other sets as shown in a 1-4-1.
Rotating Motion Box offense with 2 men in the crease
The 1-4-1 Rotating Motion Box offensive scheme is great for dodgers as it creates space. It makes it very easy to bring the top two defenders into the crease which creates good matchups on the perimeter. Keep in mind that strong takeaway defenders HATE being trapped on the crease as they want to play the ball to be more proactive in creating a turnover. These aggressive and now pent up strong defensemen have a tendency to slide very early leaving the crease men open.
Pyramid Dodge out of a 2-2-2 set
Dodging from a pyramid formation can work out of any set. I created this out of a 2-2-2 for now because I think that is the most smooth transition as I illustrate in the article. But if you have a talented player you want to dodge with the ball while dictating who is sliding and where they are sliding from this is for you.
Dual Triangle Dodge out of a 2-2-2 set
This can be used as a play or an offensive philosophy for your team using the premise of motion. The basic principle is that the two triangles function together in order to create space for the dodger and complicate the slides making it more difficult for the defense to help.