Offensive Sets, Motion and Plays

Coach Scott Tucker presents a brilliantly explained motion offense for women's lacrosse that can be easily implemented at any level. Using a whiteboard presentation and on-field demonstration, he shares strategies that are useful at all coaching levels.

Coach Tucker believes in teaching offense first and then working backwards by designing drills that support the key movements of the offense. The drills can also be customized to address any specific issues players might have in successfully executing the movements of the offensive set.

By exposing players to your offense first, they will begin to approach all of their drills and scrimmages with the key points of the offense in mind.

Motion Sets
Coach Tucker shows two triangle sets that are designed to attack the goal up the middle of the field and can be run from both the left and the right. Within the triangle sets there can be set plays designed to create a specific match up. Coach Tucker calls them screen plays. The screen plays shown are designed to isolate a specific player to achieve a more favorable match up. Proper identification of this mismatch allows you to effectively charge to the goal and score.

The diamond set utilizes a stack - three attacks working in close proximity - to help confuse defensive coverage. Other than the use of the stack, the diamond set is similar to the triangle set. The diamond set provides the valuable option of feeding the stack for scoring opportunities if the middies cannot get clear of coverage.

Drills
All of Coach Tucker's drills can be modified to facilitate the learning of offensive sets. Drills include:

• Dodging Drill - Trains players to come off the defender so they can create space to take a good shot. Players can effectively practice attacking where the defenders outside foot would be if they were guarding you above the 8-meter arc.
• Top Dodges - This dodging drill mimics the movements of the diamond set and can be customized as needed. You can change where the pass comes from or where the dodge is initiated. You can even make this into a 2-on-2 drill.
• U.S. Double Team Drill - This drill, which uses all defensive and offensive players, is useful in teaching how to break doubles. It can also be used defensively to establish doubles.
• Pressure Cutting Drill - As shown, this drill feeds from behind the goal line to a cutter at the top of the eight-meter arc who is being defended.

In addition to teaching the motion offense, Coach Tucker discusses the possible actions that a defense might take when facing this type of offense. Therefore, he also provides a template to create a defense that can be taught to correctly respond to the looks shown in this offense.

The progression shown in this video will simplify the installation of this effective motion offense for you and your team!

94 minutes. 2015.