Developing an Offense to Beat a Man-to-Man Defense

with Brooke Eubanks,
University of California-Berkeley Head Women's Lacrosse Coach from 2014 to 2022;
former Stanford University Assistant Women's Lacrosse Coach;
3x member of the Canadian National Team;
scored 12 goals for the 3rd place 2009 World Cup Tournament team

As most coaches know, if you can't score you can't win games, and if you don't have players that are confident with the ball in their sticks in the 8/crease then you don't have confident shooters. Additionally, if you have an offense that is stagnant and not free flowing/thinking then it will be easy to defend.

Brook Eubanks uses a white board to diagram the various aspects of her offense, which helps to clarify points brought up on the field in practice. She breaks down the offense by starting small and building to full field play. She offers up pointers on her offensive philosophy and how to introduce a new offense to your team.

You'll see seven drills in this video. The drills start small, with stick work in specific areas of the offensive end, and progressively build into live 7v7 play.

Developing the Offense - A Philosophy

Coach Eubanks breaks down offensive movement training in stages: stick work, through 2v2 on half, 3v3 behind, and finally to live 7v7. Once the players have gained confidence with their sticks and with where they are supposed to be on the field, then the addition of defense is not as big of a deal.

Eubanks does a great job in practice sessions of reinforcing proper technique and form. During the flow of the drill, Coach Eubanks does a great job of speaking to what could be the natural progression of the drill, such as changing it from a continuous drill to a shooting drill.

Stickwork on the Offensive End

On the offensive end, players need to be able to handle the ball in tight spaces and have a general idea of movement in order to have a successful offense. By breaking things down into segments of the field (behind, right side of the 8, left side of the 8), Eubanks creates a fertile, easy to grasp learning environment. She shows natural progression of the offense, which helps players learn to recognize game-like situation opportunities and learn sound decision -making skills (like drive or pass to an open teammate).

2 v 2 - Half the 8 Meter / 3 v 3 behind

By breaking things down onto half the meter and behind, and incorporating defense, Eubanks' drill makes it more game-like and causes players to start thinking 'outside the box' and make decisions for themselves. It also allows players to see things in a smaller space, which is sometimes easier for the players to learn.

Coach Eubanks does a great job of creating a practice environment to allow skill reinforcement, situation training and 'lacrosse IQ' development so your players will be game-ready the next time they face man defense!

70 minutes. 2018.