4-on-3 Box Passing Drill
The 4-on-3 Fast Break happens multiple times in every lacrosse game, especially with youth and beginners. This classic drill will help you teach your Defenders how to move and rotate as the ball moves. Its also great for working on passing and catching for your offensive players.
No matter what level you coach, make sure your team understands how to work the numbers advantage so they can score!
In a game, with three Attackmen plus one Midfielder with the ball (3+1=4) against the three (3) Defenders, the 4-on-3 is what you get.
This is an easy drill to imitate this very common game situation. It gives your offensive players time to move the ball around, since there is no goal to shoot at. The Defense gets time to work on body position and footwork to approach the ball, picking off passes, man-down defense, and conditioning.
Use this drill to get your players moving the ball and the Defense properly before you move on to the classic 4-on-3 Fast Break Drill to the goal.
Here's THE DRILL:
Figure 1. Set up four cones in a box. The cones should be roughly 10 to 15 yards apart from each other. You can shrink the distance if necessary, depending on your players’ stick skills.
Put one offensive player behind each of the four cones. Put three Defenders inside the box in a triangle shape.
Be sure to mix offensive and defensive players together. Everybody on your team needs to be able to play both sides of the ball.
If you have more than 15 players at practice, create multiple sets of cones to ensure your players get the maximum repetitions in your drills. There’s no reason your players should come to practice to stand around waiting in line.
PRACTICE TIPS:
- Fireball! Throw in a new loose ball if there's a bad pass or shot out of bounds to keep the drill going with the same players.
- Sticks up in the Passing Lane- The first rule of Defense is "Sticks up" to knock down any passes that come your way.
- Communicate- The Defense should be calling out "Ball!" "Left!" and "Right!" every time the ball moves. Be Loud.
VARIATIONS:
- 4-on-3 with 2-on-1 Up Top- This variation puts your players in the same situation and teaches your Defense to drop into "the Hole".
- 4-on-3 Full-Field Fast Breaks at Both Goals: This classic transition drill gives your players plenty of reps and plenty of conditioning to get back on Defense.
- Full Field Face-Off Fast Breaks-Set up goalies, Attack and Defense at both ends of the field. Start with a Face Off to get Fast Breaks going at both ends. Twice as much practice in the same amount of time!
- Japanese Fast Breaks- 4-on-3 Fast Breaks that finish in 6-on-6 settled Offense. Tons of fun with this drill.
Make sure to let us know if you have any great Fast Break Drills of your own! We would love to share them.
