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
Defenses are built around knowing when to slide and where and when to cover from a slide. This video featuring coach Brendan Dawson lays out this concept in a simple, understandable format to assist you in training your team.
Using nine drills that start with small group concepts, and culminating with full 7v7 scrimmage, Coach Dawson provides a road map for any coach to put the "Hub and Diamond" defensive strategy into place.
The "Raider Slide" Drill
Learn how to slide from the crease, cover the strong side and take risk on the backside during this drill. Coach Dawson explains the drill step by step on the white board and provides great practice footage for you to understand the drill and implement it into your practice. Key points when completing the drill include:
- Focusing on the early first dodge from the "Hub"
- Stressing communication
- Developing recovery and filling skills
- Leading to free play
Practice Segments
This video concludes with Coach Dawson's "Scramble Drill". This drill puts everything together into one continuous game-like scrimmage. Starting from a 4v3 situation, this full-field drill reinforces the "Hub and Diamond" concept and communication required to play an aggressive, but controlled defense. This exercise brings in components of fast breaks and fitness and is completed when your team gets to a 7v7 situation.
If you are a coach of a high school team or club program, this is a great video to help you develop a new defensive strategy. Coach Dawson's strategies are sound and will help your team frustrate your opponent's offense.
76 minutes. 2021.
LXD-05798B:
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.