Katie Woods' Winning Lacrosse: Inside Secrets of a Fast-Paced, Aggressive Zone Offense

with Katie Woods,
3x BIG EAST Coach of the Year Award (2013, 2015 & 2021);
Winningest lacrosse coach in school history with more than 100 wins at the school;
Coached 16 All-BIG EAST First-Team Selection Players;
Coached 7 BIG EAST Players of the Year;
Coached 6 IWLCA Division I All-American Players;
Coached 11 IWLCA All-Region First-Team Selection Players;
American University Head Coach from 2007 to 2011;
2008 Patriot League Coach of the Year

Using a zone offense is a highly effective way to run a potent, fast-paced lacrosse offense. It allows your players to use both their skills and lacrosse IQ to attack a defense without having to run set plays. A good lacrosse zone offense is fast, aggressive and takes advantage of non-stop motion on- and off-the-ball.  

In this highly informative lacrosse coaching video, Katie Woods takes viewers through a progression of eight drills – walking through a productive practice where she teaches the details and coaching points of her successful zone offense. Coach Woods breaks down the best methods for training your offensive players how to read opposing defenses and use the tactics built into the zone offense to attack with the objective of increasing your team’s percentage of high-quality shots on goal.  

Keys To Zone Offense, Stick Warm Ups & Drills

Coach Woods makes the comparison of an effective lacrosse zone offense to a good zone offense in basketball and emphasizes how proper offensive execution creates scoring opportunities while minimizing offensive movement. 

Early on, Woods points out that a successful zone offense is predicated on finding open players via effective ball-movement and creating the appropriate amount of space necessary to stress defenders and form cracks in an opponent’s defense.

Since individual offensive skills are required to build and improve any team’s offense, Woods walks viewers through a series of drills she uses to build her zone offense and reinforce critical zone concepts with her team. The teaching and instruction are effective and interesting to watch, as she begins with simple, small player drills and builds into a progression that leads into 7-player zone offense work. 

Woods shows viewers her favorite stick warmup drill – which features the recurring theme of her practice: ball movement, creating spacing and competition. She then focuses on an attack-versus-defense build-up session, with intentional constraints placed upon the offensive attackers to work on specific attack skills, eliminating obvious tendencies, adding in cutters and teaching each player to understand their roles and responsibilities in the zone offense.

Throughout this video, Woods creates a competitive practice environment and teaching atmosphere by stressing the following: 

a) ball movement through quick passes and how to create options off it, 

b) the importance of simple communication and ‘naming each pass,’ 

c) the impact of playing fast, and, 

d) how to hit the ‘big ball’ to exploit the space created by effective ball movement.

Attack-Vs-Defense Build-Up Drill

Utilizing both a whiteboard and on-the-field demonstrations, Woods showcases her ‘Attack-Vs-Defense Build-Up Drill’ – which focuses on the concepts of playing up numbers, playing down numbers and taking the ball to the cage. This is a good competitive drill which builds on the previous ball movement drill by allowing the ball to get to the cage. The ‘Attack-Vs-Defense Build-Up Drill’ also teaches players how to: 

a) recognize the numbers and fill the spaces accordingly, 

b) take quick shots, 

c) communicate on all passes, 

d) establish fast play through ball movement and how to look backside for the ‘big-ball’ pass.

Throughout this informative, must-see video, viewers will benefit from watching how Woods utilizes effective methods for teaching lacrosse zone offense to her team. Her strategic focus on creating opportunities, while taking advantage of the ‘split-second moments’ to attack and not waiting for the perfect look, will bring options to the table that will help you to take your own lacrosse offense to the next level.

110 minutes, 2022.