Practice Planning 101 - Lacrosse

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Practice Planning-101
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As a coach, it’s your job to have your finger on the pulse of your team at all times. You should guide your
program in the direction that best suits it’s needs and always be willing to digress if needed. Practice plans
are your number one weapon against disorganization, unproductive practices, and regression in your
overall progress within the team. You also need to be aware of your team’s overall needs at all times so that
your practice plans reflect and cater to those needs.


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The Method A practice plan can be your best friend...or your worst enemy. Your job is to learn how to create
effective practice plans for your team, while at the same time, not being restricted by them to a
point that you miss vital teaching points and/or opportunities along the way. Whether you prefer

to the to create “skeleton plans”, where you can plug in curriculum as you go, or, a minute by minute
schedule for each session; you need to have some type of “plan”. No matter your method
however, you need to be aware of your team’s needs at all times so that your practice plans

Madness reflect and cater to those needs.


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So where do you start?


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The Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Model
PHYSICAL LITERACY ACTIVE FOR LIFE

Active Learning to Training to Training to Training
FUNdamentals
Start Train Train Compete to Win
(Ages 0-6) (Girls 6-8) (Girls 8-11) (Girls 11-15) (Girls 15-21+/-) (Girls 18+)
(Boys 6-9) (Boys 9-12) (Boys 12-16) (Boys 16-23+/-) (Boys 19+)
The Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model was developed based on the research of the
Canadian Sport Centres LTAD expert group. It’s a framework for an optimal training, competition
and recovery schedule for each stage of athletic development; and coaches who engage in the
model and it’s practices are more likely to produce athletes who reach their full athletic potential.
(Athletics Canada: Long Term Athlete Development)
The LTAD model is broken down into seven (7) different categories for an athlete to progress
through during their athletic development. We’ve outlined the seven categories by using the
definitions from Canadian Sport for Life. (www.canadiansportforlife.ca)

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Learning to Training to Training to Training
FUNdamentals
Train Train Compete to Win
Active
Start

Stage I: Active Start (ages 0-6)
From ages 0-6 years, children need to be
introduced to unstructured active play that
incorporates a variety of body movements.
Children this age need to develop the ABCs
of movement – Agility, Balance,
Coordination and Speed. The ABCs are
essential for developing fundamental
movement skills, and fundamental
movement skills will later provide the
foundation for fundamental sport skills.
Together, fundamental movement skills
and fundamental sport skills form the basis
of physical literacy.

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Active Learning to Training to Training to Training
Start Train Train Compete to Win
FUNdamentals

Stage II: FUNdamentals
(female 6-8, male 6-9)
During the this stage children should
develop fundamental movement
skills, including the ABCs of Agility,
Balance, Coordination and Speed.
Children should participate in a fun
and challenging multi-sport
environment. Children should be
exposed to a variety of sports and
physical activities throughout the
year, developing their interests and
motivation while avoiding the danger
of burnout through premature
specialization.

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Active Training to Training to Training
FUNdamentals
Start Learning to Train Compete to Win
Stage III: Learn to Train Train
(female 8-11, male 9-12)
During this stage children should be
converting their fundamental movement
skills into fundamental sport skills. This stage
is “The Golden Age of Learning” for specific
sport skills. It may be tempting to specialize at
this age through excessive single sport
training or early position specialization in
team sports. This should be avoided in most
sports. As well, a greater amount of time
should be spent training and practicing skills
than competing. Inappropriate or premature
specialization can be detrimental to later
stages of athlete development if the child is
playing a late specialization sport. Premature
specialization promotes one-sided
development and increases the likelihood of
injury and burnout.


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Active Learning to Training to Training
FUNdamentals
Start Train Training to Compete to Win
Stage IV: Train to Train Train
(girls 11-15, boys 12-16)

During this stage young athletes need
to build an aerobic base and
consolidate their sport- specific skills.
Towards the end of the stage, they
need to focus on strength and the
anaerobic alactic energy system.
Increased training hours are needed
at this stage to develop each athlete’s
long-term potential. The ages that
define the Train to Train stage are
based on the approximate onset and
end of the adolescent growth spurt.
This period is generally defined as
ages 11 to 15 years for females and 12
to 16 years for males.

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Active Learning to Training to Training
FUNdamentals Training to to Win
Start Train Train
Compete
Stage V: Train to Compete
(female 15-21,male 16-23)
In this stage athletes choose one sport in which
they will train to excel. Athletes will train to
solidify their sport-specific and position-specific
skills and all of their physical capacities. These
athletes are aiming to compete in national and
international events. At the Train to Compete
stage of LTAD, this is where competition
becomes “serious.” Athletes enter this stage if
they have chosen to specialize in one sport and
excel at the highest level of competition
possible. Athletes need to commit to high-
volume and high-intensity training throughout
the year. Instruction in topics such as nutrition,
sport psychology, recovery and regeneration,
injury prevention, and injury management also
become very important. Formal competition
becomes more prominent in annual periodized
training, competition and recovery plans, and
includes major national and international events.

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Active Learning to Training to Training to
FUNdamentals
Start Train Train Compete Training
Stage VI: Train to Compete
to Win
(female 15-21,male 16-23)
This stage is the final stage of the LTAD high-
performance stream. Medals and podium
performances are the primary focus. In the
Train to Win stage of LTAD, athletes with
identified talent pursue high-intensity training
to win international events. They are now
full-time athletes.


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Stage VII: Active for Life
(any age participant)
In this stage, athletes and participants
enjoy lifelong participation in a variety of
competitive and recreational
opportunities in sport and physical
activity. This stage can be entered at any
age, beginning with developing physical
literacy in infancy, and evolves to being
Competitive for Life and/or Fit for Life
through all phases of adulthood.
In this stage, no one is pursuing Olympic
or open World Championship glory. Some
athletes in Competitive for Life are still
involved in very high-performance
competition that is not leading to the
Olympics or World Cups while others are
pursuing sport and physical activity for
fitness and health, all for personal
satisfaction.

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ArchLevel 7 Factors of Effective Planning
Document
Your Planning
Identify the
Review Needs of Your
Team

Outline Your Establish
Session Objectives

Consider Your Consider Your
Facilities and
Resources Schedule

We have identified 7 different factors of effective practice planning to use as a form of “blueprint”
for coaches. These factors identify different pieces of the process along the way and will assist you
in developing your plans and models for the future.

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1. Document Your Planning
Whether you’re a yellow legal pad junkie, a
notecard fanatic, or a spread sheet guru...you
need to document your planning. We’re not just
talking about the final product either;
document everything. Ideas for drills, specific
messages you want to convey to your players,
and even station positioning layouts for fields
are all things that you should record in some
form or fashion. One of the best gifts a coach
can give themselves on a daily basis is an ever
growing collection of notes and scribbles that
they can constantly reference throughout their
careers. So don’t just rely on your good ol’
memory...DOCUMENT!

DOCUMENT…DOCUMENT…DOCUMENT!

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2. Identify the Needs of Your Team
Before trying to fill your schedule with the latest
drills you found on YouTube, or trying to design
the “ultimate conditioning” workout for the end
of practice, you need to figure out what it is
your team NEEDS from any practice. Previous
game reviews, identified team weaknesses, or
even personal goals should all play a part in
deciding how to go about deigning your
practice. Bottom line: know what your team
NEEDS...then design your practice around those
needs.

WHAT DOES YOUR TEAM NEED?

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What’s the Need?
Example Problem #1:
Players keep traveling to where ever the ball is on the field and have trouble “keeping
space”, or staying balanced while on offense.
Your Need = Staying Balanced on Field
Possible Causes:
1. Lack of general “lacrosse IQ” in terms of what their personal role is on the field.
2. Weak field awareness in regards to other players within their offensive unit.
3. Over anxious and feeling that they personally “need to make the play” to carry the
team forward.
Sample Solution:
∙ Plan to incorporate “skeleton sets” into your practice. Remove all defensive players
and have your offense set up in whatever formation you want to work on. Have the
players work on their rotations, ball movement, off-ball movement, and more without
any defenders involved. This will serve as a great visual aid for your players to
remember as it will be VERY apparent when they are “heavy” (more players on one
side of the field than the other) since they will be the only players involved.

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Skeleton Sets
X
Set-Up:
Have your offensive players set up in
which ever formation you would like to
work on. This should be done without M M
any defensive players on the field.

Purpose:
By removing all defensive players you M
will give the offense an opportunity to
see the field in regards to their A A
individual positioning. This visual aid will
assist in their understanding of how the
field needs to be kept “balanced” by A
each player “filling space” throughout
the field. (i.e. it’s easier to see empty
field when they are the only ones DM D D DM D DM
involved.)

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What’s the Need?
Example Problem #2:
Defensively your team tends to get beat to the inside from up top without much effort
from the offense.
Your Need = Ability to channel your opposition to the outside lanes while on defense
Possible Causes:
1. Lack of general “lacrosse IQ” in terms of what their personal role is on the field.
2. Poor body positioning by defensive player.
3. Lack of individual athleticism from defenders.
Sample Solution:
∙ Isolate and develop the player’s defensive body positioning by using the “English
Channel” drill. This will put players in a situation that will allow them to see the direct
relation and consequences to both “good” and “bad” positioning. By creating a 1v1
situation in restricted field space, you will be able to show the defensive player how
“channeling” the offense, and using angles to their advantage, will vastly improve their
individual performance; thereby improving the team’s.


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The “English Channel”
Set-Up:
Set up cones to create an “alley” of sorts. Have 1 O
offensive player (“O) and 1 defensive player
(“O”) go 1v1 within the area. If the offense gets
to the end of the alley with the ball; they win. If
the defense causes a dropped ball or forces “O”
outside the cones; they win. Have the defensive D
player focus on setting up “inside” to show the
ball carrier the outside alley. Stress the concept
of “splitting the field in half” by having the “D”
imagine the invisible dotted line in the diagram
to the right. This will assist in spacial and
positioning awareness.

Purpose:
Develop defensive body positioning and increase
field awareness. This drill directly applies to field
positioning within a defensive unit and is a great
foundation to build from with individual and
team defensive concepts.


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3. Establish Objectives
What do you want to have accomplished by the
end of a practice? What concepts do you want
your team to understand by the end of the first
week of pre-season? What mental state do you
want your players to be in going into the off-
season? These are all examples of the questions
you should be asking yourself while setting your
objectives for practices and seasonal
programming. They will serve as your guide to
how to design your training program
throughout the year.

WHAT ARE YOUR OVERALL OBJECTIVES?

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4. Consider Your Schedule
When it comes to labeling one factor as your
“number one” to consider...this one would
more than likely be the one. We use the word
“schedule” in this situation to encompass
everything from how long your practice is that
you are planning, to where you are in your
season at the time (i.e. pre-season, off-season,
post-season, etc.). Planning a curriculum for a 1
hour practice is very different from a 2 hour
practice. Likewise, a practice plan for a pre-
season session would look very different to one
during the 3rd week of regular season
competition. You need to consider these
aspects and more in regards to your schedule
when creating your practice plans.

WHERE ARE YOU IN THE “BIG PICTURE”?

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Breaking It Down

Season
Month
Week
Day
Practice

How Does Each Piece Fit Together?

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Season
Month
Week
Day
Practice


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5. Consider Your Facilities/Resources
If you plan 2 hours of full field drills for a practice
where you only have half a field to work
with...you'll find yourself doing the pre-practice
scramble while your team is doing their warm ups
to come up with a new plan. Always be aware and
knowledgeable about what type of facilities and
resources you have to work with when designing
your practice plans. Are you on grass or turf? Full
or half field? Are their fences or backstops for
missed shots? Do you have a nice brick wall next to
the field to incorporate some wall ball? The more
you know about what is available to you in regards
to your facilities and resources, the more creative
you can get with your planning. (Note: if it’s a new
facility...ALWAYS become familiar with it by visiting
PRIOR to your first practice session.)

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH?

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6. Outline Your Session
This is the “meat and potatoes”. The factoring and
considerations are all behind us and now it’s time
to lay out the PLAN. Outlining your practice plan is
key to it’s success. Two examples for outlining are
as follows: 1. Create a skeleton outline where you
designate time slots within your overall practice
time; then plug in drills and curriculum afterwards,
or, 2. You can piece together the entire practice
from start to finish developing each piece as you go
along. Whichever your preferred method is it’s
important to utilize this time not only as a
theoretical tool, but also a visualization exercise as
you are planning to develop a sense of how the
practice will “flow” from one segment to another.

REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU DO IT…DO IT!

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7. Review
Once again, this is an all encompassing factor.
You should review everything from your actual
plan, to how it worked in practice, to how it fit
into a week’s schedule, to how your season
progressed from one practice to the next. Once
you perform you practice plan, go back and
make notes so that you can keep track of what
worked, what didn’t, and what needed to be
changed. Also, if you have to make changes
during a practice due to “un-foreseeable
circumstances”; make note of that too. You
never know when that freak thunderstorm
moment of brilliance will be needed again!

WHAT WORKED? WHAT DIDN’T?

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Remember, practice plans are your number one weapon against
disorganization, unproductive practices, and regression in your overall
progress within the team. So no matter level you coach AT…set
yourself up for success and ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN!

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For Quality
Coaching Development Resources
Visit:

ArchLevelLacrosse.com
TheArchLevelReport.com

OBSESS. PROGRESS. REPEAT.

Practice Planning 101 - Lacrosse

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Practice Planning 101 - Lacrosse