Progressive Drills for Building the 2-2-2 Offense

As one of the winningest active coaches in the country, Jim Stagnitta's success has come from his ability to be efficient on the offensive end of the field with the 2-2-2 Offense. The 2-2-2 allows you to maximize the ability of all your players, breaking them into three separate groups to attack as a unit behind the goal, in the crease and up top.

In this on-field video, Coach Stagnitta shows you his progression for building his 2-2-2 offense. This easy-to-follow progression works the team as three groups before bringing it all together.

Warm-up Drills
Learn warm-up drills that will get your entire team involved (including the goalies). These fast paced drills move up and down the field to simulate an unsettled situation. This is an excellent drill that combines a number of line drills with one full-field drill that lets you see the entire field at once.

In addition, Stagnitta runs his players through a 2-man Shooting Drill. This is a two-part drill that puts players in dodge and shoot situations they will find themselves in in a 2-2-2 offense:

Part 1) works the behind the net and up top players. The focus is to work together to balance the field and shorten the pass lanes. This teaches the players to follow, throw the ball against pressure, dodge hard and understand spacing.
Part 2) works with the players inside focusing on timing of cuts, spacing and finishing from the inside (sealing, quick release).

Building a 2-2-2 Offense
The warm up drills take Stagnitta into his 5 Drills for Building the 2-2-2 Offense. These drills help build the offensive system of play, but also work your defensive play. The drills are shown live on the field with his team as Coach Stagnitta talks you through the drills and the principles for the offense.

• DRILL 1 - Live 2-on-2: Step one of breaking down the 2-2-2. This drill takes the shooting drill to the next level - having the the high and low players work together as a unit. Focuses on keeping the offense balanced with proper spacing between the two players, setting and using three types of picks and dodging hard and quick to create a lane or a shot. This allows you to work on two spots - the high and low, as well as defense - on one side of the field.
• DRILL 2 - Live 4-on-4: (Perimeter Balance): The next step in building the 2-2-2 is putting the top and bottom players together so each group understands what the other is doing when they are attacking. This drill focuses on balancing the perimeter, spacing (opening up) and reading the dodge. Here, you incorporate slides and reads, which forces your offensive units to adjust accordingly. Also, in a 2-2-2 the passing lanes can be long, so this drill helps the offense close those lanes to make easier, safer passes.
• DRILL 3 - Live 4-on-4 (Inside Crease): Here you start live crease play by adding the two midfielders to the two attackmen. Working on the two attackmen and their three pick options, the two middies focus on sealing their man and popping outside, creating opportunity for the inside (that may open up shots for the attackmen behind). The drill also works on timing, cutting and reading the lanes.
• DRILL 4 - Survivor Drill: This drill places all four corners and the inside players together to focus on inside play. This drill is great at breaking down inside play and helping the perimeter players find open teammates inside. This also teaches the inside players where to set themselves based on ball movement on the outside. Finally, it forces the inside players to handle the ball in "tough" situations, and trains them to move with a purpose, opening dodging lanes and taking away the defensive slides.
• DRILL 5 - Live 6-on-6: The final drill pulls all three two-man games together with a live defense, allowing you to rotate your team from offense and defense. This drill also helps develop the push-pull offensive concepts used to balance the field, all in a game-like setting.

The 2-2-2 Offense is not a scripted offense - a lot of things can happen depending on how the defense reacts or what happens when you first dodge. By incorporating these progressive drills through the two-man games it allows your players to read and practice many different situations so they'll be ready to execute during game time.

57 minutes. 2010.