featuring Richie Meade,
Furman University Head Men's Lacrosse Coach;
former U.S. Men's National Senior Team Head Coach;
former U.S. Naval Academy Men's Lacrosse Coach (2004 National Championship runner-up, 5x Patriot League Champions);
2004 National Coach of the Year; 2x Patriot League Coach of the Year
and John Haus,
Penn State University Assistant Coach;
former Furman University Assistant Coach;
All-American Player for the University of Maryland
Sustained success on game days requires organized practices that build, emphasize, and implement all of the necessary skills on both ends of the field. Richie Meade takes you to the whiteboard and between the white lines for an intimate look into how he organizes and runs his practices in preparation for a battle with a top Division I opponent.
In this video, Coach Meade outlines his practice scheme and introduces drills and philosophies on the whiteboard before heading outside to run through his team through a full practice. Coach Meade presents drills that build on themselves and culminate in a 6v6 drill between the starting offense and defense.
As a bonus, Meade and his assistants detail a 1-4-1 motion offense and their basic defensive philosophies on the whiteboard before the players put those principles into practice on the field.
Whiteboard Diagrams
Before stepping out on the field, Coach Meade and his assistants present several of the drills they put their team through during practice, making sure you perfectly understand the movements and purpose behind every drill. Meade and his staff go a step further, demonstrating how a simple wing dodge drill is the root of the 1-4-1 motion offense that they run.
Meade also outlines a basic practice structure that any coach can follow and adapt before taking you through the principles that make up their team defense.
Contact Period
After running his team through the stick work drills explained on the whiteboard, Coach Meade breaks his team up into three groups for the contact period - a series of quick-hitting ground ball drills. With just 2 to 3 minutes slated for each drill, the players are pushed to go harder and faster as they rotate between three stations. Stations include:
- 1v1 with a Winner
- 3v2 with Two Balls
- 1v1 Plus 1
Half-Field 6v6
Coming off a full-field clearing drill that ends in a brief 6v6, Coach Meade pits his starting offense against a scout defense and his top defenders against a scout offense on separate ends of the field. He and his assistants constantly critique the individual and team efforts as the players put the drills and philosophies presented earlier into action. The drill culminates with the top players, offense and defense, squaring off and putting it all together.
3v2 Ground Ball Drill
In this drill, three offensive players and two defenders compete for a loose ball that quickly turns into a scramble situation as the offense attacks the goal 3v2. As Coach Meade says, there is no way to simulate, through static stick work drills, the passes required to capitalize on a numbers advantage. Through this drill, offensive players learn to quickly get the ball up off the ground, find the open man, and get the defense scrambling. Then they do it again, as a second ball comes rolling in as soon as the offense scores or throws the ball away.
Stick Work
Rather than putting his players through stale passing drills, Coach Meade runs his offensive players through intense stick work drills that not only simulate realistic passes, but force players to make passes under intense pressure. Meanwhile, the defense runs through a set of over-the-shoulder passes that form the base of any successful clear.
6v6
Coach Meade pits his top offensive players against an aggressive scout defense. They run through both 2-3-1 and 2-2-2 offensive sets, with the coaches stopping the drill and providing concise corrections whenever needed.
At the other end of the field, his top defenders take on a scout offense, with the coaches providing constant feedback to the players.
Extra Man Offense and Man Down Defense
Running his team through extra man situations during and after practice, Coach Meade presents two separate looks at his team's extra man and man down teams. The extra man offense takes on a scout defense intent on simulating their opponent's schemes, while the man down defense combats a scout offense running a series of plays their opponent is sure to run.This extensive look at Coach Meade's practice will give you a wealth of information to use with your own team!
205 minutes (2 DVDs) 2018.