2013 gould backer zone defense
DESCRIPTION
Gould Academy Varsity Boys' Lacrosse Coach Jim Dock's presentation from the 2013 US Lacrosse National Convention: Backer Zone Defense The Husky Way.TRANSCRIPT
Backer Zone Defense The Husky Way
Presented by:
Jim Dock Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse Program Director
Head Coach Gould Academy - Bethel, Maine
Thank Yous
• Gould Academy
• Coach Zach Lehman
• Greg Gilman & Dirk MacKinght
• US Lacrosse
Backer “Gold” Mantra
• Pressure the ball when it’s in your zone
• Get to the ball when it’s in the air
• Play your man to take away the ball
• If you get beat, get beat to the inside
• When you get beat to the inside, follow the ball and seal off the rollback
Purpose of Gold Zone
• Force opposing teams out of their comfort zone
• Since it’s a zone, MDD will improve
• Pressure them to make mistakes
– Pass earlier than they normally would
– Pass or shoot under pressure
– Take outside, low-percentage shots
Actual First Meeting Footage
“Gold” Backer Zone Set
SSM SSM
Backer
Crease Man
Pole Pole
Gold Personnel
• SSMs Up Top & Bottom Corner Poles: Must be aggressive, have good field awareness, & be disciplined
• Backer: Most athletic & aggressive pole
• Crease: Quickest & best takeaway man
• Goalie: Good at saving outside shots
Who Does What???
Bungee Principal:
• All players are on a imaginary bungee cord that runs from their waist to the center of the goal line
• When the ball is in their zone, they extend out and stretch the bungee
• When the ball leaves their zone, the bungee pulls them back into the hole
SSDM Up Top On-Ball
• SSDM steps up to play the ball in his zone
• Take the ball or get beat to the inside
• Drop step to show dodger the inside lane
• Seal off the O’s rollback
• Do not cross the “Rhino Line”
• When your man passes the ball off, slough-in to 3-5 yards above the crease
SSDM Off-Ball
• Sloughed-in 3-5 yards above the crease on their side of the “Rhino Line”
• Should have back to the ball, facing his man to avoid getting caught ball-watching
• Sticks are up to the inside blocking passing lanes
• As soon ball is in flight to his man, he goes to him and tries to get there before the ball does
• SSDMs have backer responsibilities for the poles on their half of the field
Bottom Corner Poles
• Main responsibility is blocking the passing lanes with their sticks and sniping “nuggets”
• When playing the ball, follow the Gold Mantra
• If there’s a mismatch, apply more pressure
• Do not follow ball or engage behind GLE
• SSDMs have their back
Backer
• Backs up the ball in the bowtie
• Steps up with authority to meet the ball when it’s in his zone
• Force the ball carrier to pass, shoot, or rollback into the SSDM for the double
• Backer is always between the ball and the crease man
Crease Man
• Only defenseman that plays the ball behind the crease (3-5 yards from crease)
• When the ball is behind, crease man takes the top side and gives the inside roll (where the backer is waiting) – Crease man & backer should use the crease
itself as a “third man” – When the crease man goes behind, the furthest
SSDM covers the crease & the other SSDM covers the two top zones
How Gould Uses Gold
• After a time out or on a restart, we go into our Gold set
• We prefer to have our SSDMs on the field, but all middies have practiced Gold
• We use it no matter what the O set is
• If O overloads to one half, we “Bingo” out of Gold into our “Husky” man defense
Special Situations & Calls
• “Regular”: Allows adjacent passes
• “Apache”: Cover ball & lock off adjacents
• “Fish”: All-out pressure to take advantage of a mismatch
• “Ironman”: Lock onto dominant player or use against a mismatch
When Things Go Wrong
• SSDM turns ball carrier to the outside
• SSDM crosses the Rhino Line
• Failure to hand off the ball carrier
• Bottom corner poles are sleeping
• Backer comes with their stick instead of their shoulder
• Bungee failure
• Communication breakdown
Implementing Gold
Practice 6 on 5
•Practice against several O sets (1-4-1, 2-2-2, etc.)
•Focus on off-ball movement
•Keep sticks up in passing lanes
•Cut off crease man
•Run at game speed
Dodges From Up Top
Dodges from X
When Backer Works
Contact Coach Dock
• www.gouldacademy.org/lacrosseblog
• Cell: (207) 318-9603
• Office: (207) 824-7774
Thank You
Coming Up at 11:00am
Ballroom – Mini Keynote John Danowski, Duke University How To Better Understand Your Players/Coaches and Adapt Skills To Succeed (w/Matt Danowski) 107AB Reid Jackson, Positive Coaching Alliance Double Goal Coach I