Talk: The Secret Weapon
One of the easiest skills to teach players to master is to talk on the field. One of the toughest things to teach players is to have the confidence to speak up and be heard.
From day #1 coaches should encourage players to constantly communicate with each other. If a player can hear a teammate, they don’t have to look for a teammate. Increased communication can make everything work faster on the field. This works on BOTH sides of the ball, offense and defense. Players can have fun talking too much and they can play with their conversations. Have them talk about ANYTHING to start.
USE NAMES: From the beginning, demand that players call each other by name on the field. It’s a small detail, but they will learn to respond quicker.
TALK ONE PASS AHEAD: Don’t wait for a player to need help. Anticipate and ask for the ball, or be ready to defend, one pass ahead of the ball.
USE A CONSISTENT VOCABULARY:
OFFENSE - If a player is open, ask for the ball, if not, do NOT be “The boy who cries wolf!” Have a vocabulary for: Skip Passes (Skip, Through), Passes to the Post, (Diagonal, Dunk, or Post), Quick Adjacent passes (One More). Earlier this season we talked about geography on the field; Up the sideline (Up) or Across the field (Over, Swing It)
DEFENSE - Have a vocabulary for: 1st Slide, 2nd Slide (Pull & Push, In and Out, One & Two) Adjacent help (On the Right, Left), Picks & Switches (Pick on the Left or Right, Get Through, Help, Switch), Turning a player (Turn Him) Forcing a player (Force to Left, Right Down the Side), Cutters, Inside Help (I’m In, Recover)
When players learn to talk, they talk themselves into knowing what they are doing. They can also talk their opponents out of their game.
TripleEDGE Camp and League field staff and coaches practice constantly communicating with the players; hoping to instill the same trait in them. We teach players a vocabulary that will help them be more effective on the field. Our coaches and camp counselors are all current and former college players and coaches who will work closely with each player to help them become better players.
Summer program information and on-line registration is available on our website at www.TripleEDGElax.com.
Encourage your players “Get the Edge” this summer - Register Online now for the TripleEDGE Endless Summer of Lacrosse: Day Camps, Bridgewater Overnight Camp, and Summer League.
Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any assistance in meeting your teams summer lacrosse needs.
Dennis Stewart
Director of Operations
TripleEDGE Lacrosse
703 392-6177
