Planning Game-Like Practices: Full & Half-Field Drills, Stick Handling & Transition Drills

with Brendan Dawson,
The Haverford School Head Boys Lacrosse Coach / Assistant Athletic Director;
former Haverford College Head Men's Coach;
2018 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year;
former Widener University Head Men's Coach;
2x Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year (2014, 2016);
former Aurora University Head Men's Coach;
2010 Midwest Lacrosse Conference Coach of the Year;
as a player, helped lead Salisbury University to Division III National Championships in 2003 and 2004 when he served as team captain

The Haverford School Head Coach, Brendan Dawson, is no stranger to having his players ready to compete at the highest level. Dawson explains in-depth how to organize your practices, utilize your coaching staff to develop positional skills, and incorporate a multitude of drills to reinforce fundamental concepts during training sessions. Coach Dawson's step-by-step approach describes how he and his staff develop their players to make game-time decisions, read and react appropriately, and most importantly, create perennial powerhouse performers in a practice setting.

Planning Practices

Coach Dawson walks through a sample practice plan that covers topics such as tailoring practice and drill duration to the needs of your team in season, skill development by position, and repeating concepts in different ways to maintain high levels of intensity and focus while keeping players fresh. He also discusses the art of managing halftime meetings and calling timeouts to teach staff and players alike how to get organized, regroup, and relay information to one another in an efficient and timely manner.

The sample practice plan covers pre-practice, daily improvement, transition, halftime/timeouts, half-field scenarios, half-field scrimmage, full-field scrimmage, and a scramble drill. It truly touches on almost everything you'd want to address during your own practices.

Coach Dawson's structured approach to organizing practice prepares coaching staffs to be on the same page while creating multiple opportunities for players to learn fundamental concepts both technically and tactically though communication and drill selection. Players are challenged to "Play in the Grey" and coaches are encouraged to get creative in their presentation of concepts and scenarios.

Stick Handling & Transition

You'll receive ideas for a variety of drills to improve your players' stick handling and transition skills. Coach Dawson explains high level drills for the following situations:

• Full field passing and catching that incorporates hidden conditioning
• Ground ball drills that are fun and competitive
• Shooting drills that simulate offense
• Fast break drills that work on clearing and offensive positioning

All of these exercises aim to cut down on the amount of players standing around and create a high-energy, winning environment.

Take the guesswork out of practice planning and take your team to the next level with this video from Coach Dawson!

76 minutes. 2021.