Office Hours Episode 3

Preseason stick prep, Three-man Offense and End line plays

We are back with another installment of Office Hours here on LacroCity. The High School Lacrosse season has started which means the joy of playing and the stress of coaching is wafting through the air. I’m in the middle of tryouts and we have 14 freshmen, so wish me and my hairline luck.

If you’re new, Office Hours is a Question and Answer forum created with real questions from subscribers like you. And if you’re reading this and haven’t subscribed, feel free to unburden yourself of that shame by clicking on the subscribe button below. No judgment.

What are some of the best pre-season tune-ups for sticks and if you want to learn to do it yourself what are the best learning resources for stringing, etc?

I feel like this is a very common question with one universal answer - The best prep before a season is to have two identical heads strung exactly the same by the same person. One is going to break - especially if you play defense or face-off - so it’s much easier to switch to your backup if/when that happens.

Short of identical heads, a new string job is a must. You want to be completely comfortable with your stick before tryouts. Going into a tryout with an old stick that’s been sitting in your trunk all winter is a recipe for disaster.

As far as stringing resources go, learning to string is like playing an instrument. You don’t need to know how to play every song, just the ones you like. So find out what you like by experimenting with all sorts of brands and techniques - unless you get lucky and find the right materials on the first try.

Stringing resources are all over the place, but in terms of video stuff, East Coast Dyes has incredible tutorials on their YouTube. The one rule is that each side has to be the same no matter what. Everyone messes that up when they start. Well, that and a tight top string, but once you figure out how mesh/string tension and spacing work - it gets easier and easier.

I’m pretty sure no one knows this at this point, but I have strung about 10,000 sticks. If you ordered a custom stringing from SportStop from 2009-2019, there is a 90% chance that I strung your stick. I’ve also strung all of my player’s sticks that I could since I started coaching in 2004. It’s not something I think about that often, but it is relevant when people ask about my “stringing credentials”. I string 80% of my kids’ sticks at Hopkinton and charge them for materials if I don’t have them. The first one is free for new players and I tailor them to each player’s pocket and positional needs.

Failing this, paying for your stick to be strung by an established stringer like Lars Keil or Kevin Henry - is not a bad move. However, you should never, EVER, let a big box sporting goods store string your stick. It will turn out poorly. And if it doesn’t - it’s a miracle.

What are some basic 3-man game looks or concepts you like for middle school through High School kids?

First off, three-man offense makes me think of triangles, which also makes me want to throw up since that’s part of a motion offense that drove me insane as a player and a coach for the last 25 years. I have been converted to a lover of the two-man game by my boxla peeps and I think it is superior in terms of numbers.

That being said, You can play an effective variation of two-man pick play by also using a third man as either the outlet or the secondary option to catch, dodge, shoot or swing the ball.

For example, if you’re in an overload on one side of the field, you can have the wing attackman set up with the dodging midfielder for a regular two-man carry and pick. Then you can have the crease man or the X attackman (depending on which way the ball is being carried - upfield or downfield) flash away from the drive as the outlet OR follow the carrier as a rollback. Now, I am a big fan or reversing the ball with a two-pass swing - it honestly dismantles a defense that ball watches because they can’t act quick enough to the ball switching fields that quickly.

So, if we are talking about the best application of the third man after the pick, he should just swing it. But - I also love a rollback option for a dodger. It disrupts the individual defender because they have most likely ventured a bit too far out to help with the pick, thus opening up the dodging lane to cage.

What's your favorite type of play from X?

My favorite play from X is the same play that helped me score goals at Clark U in 2002. This play works best when you have a lefty attackman on the right wing and a righty attackman on the left wing.

It starts when the attackman at X picks up the ball on the end line. He will then drive to his weak hand and dodge to his strong hand enough to get his hands free. As he starts to go to his weak hand, both attackmen run in a straight line at one another on a collision course with the far side of the crease.

If the attackman driving with the ball is right-handed, the righty attackman coming in from the left wing will pick the lefty attackman’s defenseman underneath, allowing that attackman to make a cut to the far pipe for a quick feed and shot. The best place to set the pick is parallel to the far pipe, so the other attackman can have time to get over it and flash to the opposite side of the crease.

Here is a quick and terrible illustration:

The black line indicates player movement, with the perpendicular line indicating a pick.

The green line is the pass from X.

The Blue line is the shot.

If you’re wondering what the midfield is doing, during this play - they are mirroring this play by having the crease man join the picker to set a double screen for the lefty middie to come over the top for the second look. Or, if you’re crafty, they could be doing the opposite of that and reversing the play for when the attackman at X reverses back for a skip pass.

This edition of Office Hours has been brought to you by Lacrosse Goalie Summit 12. If you have a goalie in your life, you have to sign up for this online clinic series. Use my link to get 20% off the total cost. There are classes for every level of play and instructors like Drake Porter, Matt DeLuca, and Jack Runkel. The event also features women’s lacrosse goalie courses.

If you have a question for the next edition of Office Hours, please email LacroCity@gmail.com or send me a DM on Twitter at @TheKyleDevitte or the @LacroCity Twitter page. No, I won’t be calling it X and I won’t be ordering a Cybertruck either, no matter how many emails they send me.

Thanks again for reading and supporting LacroCity.