Positionless Defense: Building a defense in modern lacrosse

Every Sport evolves over time. The athletes and teams who thrive in these sports embrace change.

The game of lacrosse is evolving, and offenses are leading the charge. With the influence of small-sided games, the shot clock, and Canadian-style play, offenses are now more positionless, fluid, and principles-based. Deception is king and pick play is constant.

Offense in Lacrosse is Changing

You can read more about offensive styles in lacrosse here. This shift requires defenders to be more aware and adaptable, as they need to anticipate and react to a constantly changing landscape. As a fan, this style of lacrosse is more fun to watch, with skill levels at an all-time high. However, as a defender, this style of offense presents a challenge that many players haven't been adequately equipped to handle.

Defense in lacrosse is reacting slowly

I mean this in a broad and general sense. I do not believe the realities of defense in modern lacrosse are being appropriately discussed at scale. Defensive coaching and concepts are largely the same sound bites from years past. If offenses are evolving, defenses must adapt. The idea of being a “crease defender” is long gone, and we cannot address the nuances of such a dynamic game with black and white rules.

I want to clarify that I do not believe traditional coaching tips are inherently wrong or bad. I just do not think they paint the full picture for defenders and often lead to confusion. The reality of playing defense in lacrosse does not always line up with advice we give players. I have been playing and coaching during a time of offensive transition where I have had to alter my own style and continue to develop. 

The disconnect between college innovation and general defensive coaching

The ideas I am presenting are not all that revolutionary, they are just not as widespread as I believe they should be. In fact, the best college defensive coordinators are implementing and coaching this first principles way. The issue is this style of coaching is siloed in these pockets while general defensive coaching across the country still echoes the same sound bites as were prioritized decades ago. If you ever hear a coach talking about defense in lacrosse you hear things like:

• “Slide to body”
• “Don’t chase stick”
• “Don’t cross your feet”
• “Communicate”
• “Take away topside”
• “You’re in no man’s land!”
• “Stop ball watching”
• [insert other general defensive phrase here]

None of these calls to action are inherently wrong, but these phrases lack adequate nuance and context that is critical for players to develop. These might be an ok starting point, but players hear this over and over for years without ever gaining the critical context and true intent behind these phrases.

I have been guilty of dropping these general phrases throughout my coaching career. However, I also remember hearing these as a player and still feeling confused as situations presented themselves and these phrases did not provide guidance.

The "no-man's land" dilemma

One vivid example of the limitations of traditional defensive coaching is the "no man's land" dilemma. A coach would say this when a player is indecisive on a slide, neither sliding nor covering their man. This phrase makes sense to a coach, but not to many players. In fact, I bet most players have been told they're in "no man's land" without knowing how to solve it.

1. Option 1: If they stay too close to their man and miss the slide, they'll get yelled at for not sliding.
2. Option 2: If they float too much and don't slide, they'll end up in “no man's land." 

This damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't scenario can be very confusing and hurt a young defender's confidence. I believe this scenario falls on the coach, not the player. The truth about no man’s land is that it is not just about where you are on the field, but also, the way you are there (ie, your stance) and the time you are there (ie, how early / late). Most players don’t grasp this and are not taught this. At least I know I was not early on. 

Rather than telling players they're in "no man's land," we can teach them proper slider stance, launch points, and how to read scenarios (body language, matchups, and spacing). We need to drill their stance, field awareness and decision making. We can give them landmarks and tips on how to hold a good hot position while maintaining an off-ball triangle and reading body language while staying connected to the backside. That way, we can build a defender who learns core defensive principles that apply against any offense. This will not happen overnight, but if taught consistently, it will happen over time.

Painting the Picture for Defenders

To build an effective defense, we need to paint a clear picture for our defenders. We must utilize first principles thinking and build off of the most basic objective of defense. This involves:

1. Defining the objective: Prevent quality shots and regain possession. You will have to define what quality shots means to your unit. 
2. Establishing non-negotiables: Set behavior-based standards for your defense, such as effort, off-ball stance and connection / communication.
3. Building guiding principles: Provide rules of thumb for decision-making, such as influencing dodgers to their weak hand, not sliding off of drifts, reading body language, and being decisive.

This is where it is our job as coaches to define these 3 things for our players and teams. These can be unique for each program, but everything we teach our players should fall under the umbrella of the objective of the defense. 

Example: "Topside" in the context of our Objective

Taking away “topside” is another example of dogma and rigid principles that lacks context. Nearly every defensive coach says it, and most defenders would say they should take it away, but what does it really mean?

If we tell players to absolutely takeaway topside without context, we are leaving them short changed. Sure, many times we want to take away the topside, but what exactly is topside and why do we want to take it away? Are we ok with a player sweeping 20 yards away from the cage? I would say so, but is that technically topside? What about inside rolls and “S” dodges?

This logic can be applied to almost every defensive concept commonly taught, there is context missing that we need to fill in as coaches. If the objective we define is to take away strong-handed shots inside “the Heart”, we can explain how a “topside” approach helps to meet that objective. 

Building a Positionless Defense

A positionless defense is one that's adaptable, resilient, connected and thrives in the gray. It is not built on absolute rules. To build such a defense, we need to:

1. Empower players: Encourage them to make decisions and take ownership of their play.
2. Focus on individual decision-making: Rather than predetermined “if this, then that” rules, rely on individual, in-the-moment decision-making.
3. Commit to decisions: Make decisions 100% and play off them as a unit. Once a decision is made, we all must be on the same page. 
4. Live with certain mistakes: Refine decision-making and avoid cherry-picking every mistake.
5. Teach defenders: Off-ball stance, connection to teammates, communication queues, body position on ball, footwork techniques, reading body language, and rules of thumb for general good decisions.