Open Practice: Day 1 - Breaking Down a Successful Practice

with Cindy Timchal,
U.S. Naval Academy Head Women's Lacrosse Coach;
2017 NCAA Final Four - 8x National Championship Coach at Maryland (seven consecutive),
2x National Coach of the Year, 400 career victories;
all-time winningest coach in Division I Lacrosse history

Legendary coach Cindy Timchal has done it all during more than 35 seasons as a head coach. With nearly 500 career wins, she's the all-time wins leader in Division I women's lacrosse. During the 2017 season, the United States Naval Academy Women's Lacrosse team grabbed headlines by completing an 18-5 season, capped by a trip to the NCAA Final Four.

Step into the locker room, and onto the field, as Timchal and her team prepare for the opening weekend of the 2017 season. Coach Timchal, and her assistant coaches, lead you through a series of fast-paced offensive and defensive skill drills, including a look into their ride. Experience the flow and progression of a top-level NCAA Division I practice.

As most coaches know, the energy that you start a practice with is going to carry you through the rest of the practice. In this video, Timchal provides several drills that demand good footwork and stick work that are the building blocks to having a successful practice. Additionally, with the addition of the shot clock to the women's game, the utilization of the ride has become more important. This video breaks down the ride into teachable segments.

Focus in High-Intensity, Chaotic Situations

Learn to add chaos into your warm-up to quickly focus your team into a practice mindset. Timchal and her staff jump right into things with a high-chaos version of shuttles. See how this drill requires her team to quickly focus on the task at hand. The Circle Shuttle drill allows you to get more creative than just a basic shuttle with a large amount of chaos going on around them. The drill can be adapted to fit your team's skill level and incorporates many key components of off-ball movement

Watch as they transition into a small-area drill that builds on this intensity and adds in a team play component. These drills will improve your players' hand speed and allow them to understand pressure in tight spaces.

Offense and Defense Training

Join the assistant coaches as they each take an end of the field and work with their respective offensive and defensive squads. Offensively, learn how to attack the goal by understanding how cutting angles and timing can greatly improve the odds of getting the "hands free" for a quality scoring opportunity. Defensively, see how awareness and communication play a key role in making the attack feel uncomfortable, even in a man-up situation.

The 3v3 Clutch drill is a great drill to segwayfrom your stick work drills into your 7v7, half or full field drills. The 3v3 Clutch drill helps to inspire a competitive streak in players and can be manipulated to fit the needs of your practice; i.e. making it a defensive man down situation, etc.

The Falcon Ride

With the inclusion of the shot clock in the women's game, having a team that knows how to ride effectively is important to finding success. Timchal takes you through the concepts of the 'Falcon Ride,' from walk-through to game speed, showing the teamwork, communication, and effort required to make it successful. See how to emphasize these points as the ride is put into practice under a game situation.

If you want an inside look into a high-performing/high-caliber Division I practice, this invite into Cindy Timchal's program at Navy is a fantastic opportunity!

85 minutes. 2017.