Zone Defense with a Rover

with Ricky Fried,
Georgetown University Head Women's Lacrosse Coach;
winningest coach in program history, US Women's National Team Head Coach, 2009-2017;
Coached the US Women's National Team to 3 Gold medals

• in 2013, at the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Cup in Oshawa, Ontario;
• in 2017, at the FIL World Cup in Guildford, England;
• in 2017, at the X World Games in Wroclaw, Poland;

Georgetown University head women's coach Ricky Fried relays his approach to zone defense, including drills and philosophy, in this instructional video. Coach Fried covers approaching attacking players with the ball outside the 8-meter arc, double technique in critical areas of the field, where to drive attacking players, and communication to run a successful zone defense.

Chalk Talk

Fried starts with a chalkboard session centered around his zone defense. You'll learn why you want to force players to specific locations on the field and how your help defense should approach the ball. Learning and mastering these basic concepts will exponentially improve your defense in a short amount of time.

Practice On the Field

Next, Coach Fried discusses how your zone defense should react based on whether the offense has one, two, or three players behind. You'll learn both the "where" and "why" related to player positioning. Using these principles will allow your athletes to understand each other's roles so they can communicate when to hold and/or switch.

One of the best drills Coach Fried covers is a 1v1 drill. In the drill, individual defenders work on the technique required to play within an effective zone defense. Athletes are trained to be aggressive at the 10-meter mark to drive their attacker into a specific area. This is a great drill to evaluate individual defenders' technique (competitive play, footwork, defensive IQ, conditioning) so you can make adjustments in your system.

As a bonus, Fried covers his "Red" and "Black" defensive approaches. In Red, players put pressure on a specific person or spot on the field. Meanwhile, Black focuses specifically on getting the ball out of an opposing athlete's hands. Using the same methodology, you can work out how your defense should react to similar scenarios.

This video will help you learn where each player should be, and why, within a zone defense. You can use these principles to determine for yourself where your athletes should be for any offensive situation you'll see during a game. This will lead to fewer defensive breakdowns and ultimately more turnovers for your team.

106 minutes. 2020.