Boston Cannons Midfielder and CoachUp lacrosse coach Mike Stone shows how to play on ball defense. Keep offensive players on the sides of the field where there are less high quality shots.
Mike Stone: I’m Mike Stone, midfielder for the Boston Cannons and CoachUp coach. And this is on ball defense. Good on ball defense discourages shots, keeping offensive players down the sides of the field, and discouraging them from getting to the middle of the field, where there are more high quality scoring chances. I do this by using my body to take away the middle of the field and angling myself to encourage the offensive player to go down the alley. As he approaches me, I want to engage his hip and ride him down the alley, with my stick at his hip. If he tries to roll back to the middle, I lag behind slightly so that I’m in a good position to discourage a rollback, but also if he goes to shoot the ball, I’m in a position where I can reach my stick forward and lift his elbows to make the shot ineffective.
