Starting a Strength & Conditioning Program for Lacrosse

Nick Wilson CSCS

Strength & Conditioning Coach

University of Detroit Mercy

Note:  The following article is how University of Detroit Mercy strength coach Nick Wilson developed a program for a new sport at the university.  UDM had never fielded a lacrosse team, and Coach Wilson wanted to make sure he did everything in his power to help them succeed.  This article explains how he went about creating the program and provides details on the implementation of both the strength and conditioning programs for the inaugural Division I lacrosse season.  The steps he took can be used by any coach attempting to create a new strength & conditioning program. 

On September 5, 2007, the University of Detroit Mercy announced that they were adding Men's and Women's Lacrosse to our athletic department.  At that moment, I realized that I needed to learn as much as I could about a sport that I thought was a city in Wisconsin.  One of the first things that I did was actually watch a Lacrosse game (a genius move).  I needed to try and figure out what it takes to play this game, physical demands, energy systems and conditioning requirements.  From the opening whistle to the last second I quickly realized that athletes need to be in unbelievable shape to play this game.  There are moments of all out sprinting, moments of medium level running, and moments of jogging.  Anyway you want to say it these athletes are in constant motion.  I also noticed that you needed to be very explosive in this sport, similar to basketball.  You need to be able to switch gears in a hurry much like a point guard in basketball or a running back in football.  Additionally, I began to read anything that I could get my hands on related to lacrosse.  Luckily for me, lacrosse is one of the most popular and expanding sports in the nation, so there is a lot of info out there. 

The next step I took was to consult with our newly hired coaching staff.  Head Coach Matt Holtz and the rest his staff gave me their insight as to what they felt was important for lacrosse athletes.  They also helped out by telling me about the athletes they were recruiting, including their playing history and their strengths and weaknesses.  I also asked our coaches to point out some of the national powerhouse LAX programs.  Without hesitation they mentioned Ohio State, Maryland, Syracuse, and Duke.  I then started sending out emails to their S & C Coaches.  The excellent responses I got gave me yet another way to look at this complex sport. 

As the new school year and our first contact with these athletes approached, I started putting together our program to get these athletes ready to compete.  What is in this article is just what we do; right or wrong it has helped us prepare to play DI Lacrosse.  My hope is that you the reader will understand that I look at this as training athletes not just training Lacrosse players.

Off Season (Sept- Dec)

Conditioning –

Something we implemented almost immediately was 1or 2 mile runs.  We used these runs as markers to let us know if guys are moving forward or slipping backward.  Early-morning 1 mile runs were done as a team with the incentive that if everyone were to finish under 6:30 (8:00 for goalies); they would not have to get up in the morning anymore that semester.  Doing this made the athletes push each other to no longer get up at that god awful time.  We also used it as a way to try to keep our athletes at home on the weekends. 

We also implemented conditioning sessions two days a week immediately before practice.  During these sessions we worked on something different each time.  Those sessions included footwork, COD (Change Of Direction), aerobic conditioning, etc.  We performed a wide variety of drills in these sessions, but here are a few that we used and what we were concentrating on while doing it:

            Titan 6's – This drill was adopted by us from the University of North Carolina Women's Soccer program.  We took the drill that they do and shrunk it into a 30 yard space so that we could do it both indoors on a basketball court or outside on a lined field.  There are four different movement patterns that are each done six times, hence the name Titan 6’s. 

First is the 3 times down and back.  Here you are doing exactly as it sounds - sprint 30 yards and back 3 times in the amount of time allotted (the times are listed below).  Next is a shuttle or suicide (5 yards and back, 15 yard and back, 25 yards and back, and 30 yards and back).  Next we do Full – Back – Half – Back (30 yards and back and then 15 yards and back).  Finally we do the Jingle Jangle (5 yards (or the free throw line) and back ten times).  All these movements have a work to rest ratio of 1:1 and exact times that they need to be completed in (see below), and if these times are not made there are penalties.  This is a good drill to work on speed training while also working on COD.  You also have the opportunity for some team building through these drills. 

Box/ T / Zig Zag Drills –We used these drills for most of our COD and footwork.  They helped the guys get their bodies into the correct positions, and gave us opportunities to coach proper posture and footwork.  We worked on fundamental movement skills such as shuffling without crossing their feet, staying low while cutting, and keeping their center of gravity low so that quick movements were not so difficult.  What we were finding was that these "simple movements" just weren’t being performed efficiently, our guys were moving with less-than-optimal movement patterns.  As soon as we improved their efficiency, their speed dramatically improved.   We also used these drills to work on mental toughness.  We knew that our roster was considerably smaller than most of the teams that we would face, so we knew that we needed to be in better shape than everyone else and we had to do things perfectly.  Mistakes during these drills are almost inevitable, so it allowed me to add “conditioning consequences” when mental lapses were made.  We actually wanted the additional conditioning, and this rule made that possible without just sitting out there and telling them to run. 

            Mini Hurdles – We used the high-knee drill on the mini-hurdles as a tool to work on our athletes’ running technique.  We found that a lot of our athletes ran with poor form; they did things such as not dorsi-flexing the foot, not driving their knees, etc.  You name a technique flaw, and we were dealing with it.  So we used the mini hurdles (6 inch hurdles) to make some simple corrections.  With the hurdles, they need to dorsi-flex their feet to get over, they need to drive their knees to get over, and they need to demonstrate basic body control throughout the drill.  This drill was a good teaching opportunity and the cues we gave allowed us to reinforce them in subsequent sessions.  This drill, like the box, T, and Zig Zag helped us work on technique while conditioning our athletes. 

Strength Training –

We have a decent sized weight room at UDM, but with a group the size of our lacrosse team we needed to get creative.  Even though our team is smaller than the average LAX team we needed to train in such a way that my interns and I could get as much hands-on attention with each athlete as possible.  So, we split them into two staggered groups – one was in the weight room and the other did conditioning.  This way the small space we have could be utilized in the most efficient way possible. 

For example our 3 main core lifts were the bench, squat, and deadlift.  We have five racks in our weight room that we do both bench and squat in, and we have 4 platforms to do deadlift on.  Because a lot of our athletes had never squatted or deadlifted before, we needed to devote as much man power to teaching and spotting as we could.   Having the two groups staggered worked well because we were able to focus on their technique in these movements, and then move them into the remainder of their workouts. 

Each and every time that we were in the weight room we were working to get stronger.  We progressed using the standard periodization model.  For the first 6 weeks (Sept into the first 2 weeks of Oct) we were in a Hypertrophy Stage, just working on increasing muscle size.  We used rep sets of 8-10 getting the athletes used to the movements and getting them accustomed to life as a DI college athlete. 

For the next 6 weeks (Oct through the first 2 weeks of Nov) we went into a Strength Phase, working on getting these athletes some basic strength.  During this phase we used more weight, using sets of 4-6 to stimulate the nervous system as well as the musculature. 

Finally for the weeks leading up to the end of the semester we worked in a Power Phase, trying to get these athletes ready to compete.  We worked in rep sets of 3-5 trying to move a lot of weight in a real short amount of time. 

Throughout these weeks I threw in the occasional off-the-wall workout to keep them guessing.  We used workouts such as the 300 (you can see this in the Multi-Media section).  These workouts were designed to throw the guys out of sync and to challenge their mental and physical states.  In my opinion, workouts like these are the closest thing that we as strength coaches can do to simulate game situations and working through adversity.  Plus these workouts serve as team building activities with an added element of competition while still getting our work in.

Once the semester ended we sort of lost touch with most of the athletes for the Christmas Break.  We sent them home with packets that had very simplified workouts in them so that they did not completely regress.  We understand that most of the athletes do not have gym access when they go home, so we designed programs that they can do with little to no equipment.  Things such as body weight squats, pull ups, chin ups, BW dips, etc. were the staples of these routines.  We also insisted that each of our athletes keep up with their conditioning.  Anyone can get out and go for a run or find a treadmill somewhere to get some sort of cardio in.  Our main goal, and we do test this, is to have our athletes come back in at least 85% of the condition that they left in. 

Pre-Season (Jan-1^st Game)

Conditioning –

Upon returning from Christmas Break, we tested our athletes right way.  We made sure that they did some sort of training so that what we did during the OFF SEASON training was not lost.  At that point we began a high intensity style of training.  We met as a team Mon-Thurs at 7:30 in the morning.  During these sessions we accomplished a lot of things in a short amount of time.  These sessions lasted anywhere from 20-40 minutes.  Things that we did included footwork, conditioning, and stretching.  These sessions were not intended to destroy the athlete, but to do things that help them get closer to "game ready" and maintain the shape they were in.  There were days we came in and did 25 minutes of dynamic movements just to help alleviate any type of soreness they may have.  Other days we did straight conditioning, while other days we did 30 minutes of stretching.  Basically, these days were used to get the athletes out of bed and doing something physical that would help them become a little bit better of an athlete.

Strength Training –

The strength training that we did at this point was basically high intensity training (HIT).  The goal that I had for our athletes was to get as much work done in as little time as possible.  Our athletes were commuting between an indoor facility (that was 45 minutes away) and our weight room every day.  That alone added stress to their lives.  Because of our lack of space, we also needed to get creative once again.  So what we did was split the team into to two groups.  While one group lifted the other group was doing agility training.  In these HIT training sessions we did bench to failure, rows with a rope, negative pull ups, box jumps, plus many other things.  The overall concept was to put these guys through an extremely intense workout in a relatively short period of time, trying to simulate the demands of the game. 

The agility training turned into a movement circuit.  The idea was to keep their legs moving without blowing them out completely.  These guys have just put in a day that consisted of a workout at 7:30, class, a two-hour practice, and then a workout.  Keeping a schedule like this puts a high demand on the athletes, so you really need to be observant of their demeanor from day to day and make appropriate adjustments.  A lot of adjustments were made throughout to protect the athletes from completely breaking down, while still making sure that they were making positive gains.  Managing the stress becomes more of an art than a science at this point, and solid communication is a must between strength coaches, players, athletic trainers and coaches. 

All of this culminates in the week prior to the first game.  That week we had a quick agility session early in the week and then shut them down until game time.  This allowed the athletes to rest their bodies a little, even though they were still practicing every day. 

In-Season

Conditioning –

During the season we are in a maintenance phase.  We have trimmed the conditioning sessions to once, maybe twice, a week depending on the schedule.  The schedule has them mainly playing on weekends, which allows us to get our maintenance work in early in the week.  As far as conditioning goes, we use the same drills as before, but the intensity and volume are adjusted accordingly.  Typically, the intensity is very high, but the volume is relatively low compared to the pre-season.  I try not in incorporate too much new stuff so that the team can stay in its comfort zone.  At this point, I want them to concentrate on what is most important – lacrosse – so I don’t need to throw out new drills that require additional brain power or physical adaptation. 

Strength Training –

Strength training is the same as the conditioning in that we are in a maintenance phase once the season begins.  We’re still basically using a HIT program because it is extremely time efficient and relatively easy to implement.  We will always have space and time limitations during the season, so brief, intense strength sessions work nicely.  The only real difference between the pre-season and in-season training is that we typically strength train only once a week.  That session is usually early in the week in order to give them enough time to recover before competition.  So, if we play on Saturday, we have had Thursday and Friday completely off from any form of strength and conditioning training.  I always make sure that our athletes are rested and not sore before they head into any competitive situation. 

This is how I laid out our training program for our first competitive season of Division I Lacrosse here at the University of Detroit Mercy.  It has been an interesting process to take a brand new group of athletes and start from scratch.  As with all of my programs, it will be constantly changing and improving every year.  I will never claim to know all there is to know about this sport and I am learning something new every day, but the overall program made sense and has made us better athletes.  So far, we have played hard and are staying competitive because we are in great shape.  I hope that my experiences will help others create programs for lacrosse or for any team beginning a strength & conditioning program.