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- Coaches Corner: 06/15/25
Coaches Corner: 06/15/25
Defensive hedging & bluffing. Doing common things in uncommon ways ♠️♦️
Matt Dunn & Deemer Class
June 15, 2025
Good morning and Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s reading this today!
Welcome back to FCL’s Coaches Corner. Where we dig into coaching lessons, share resources, and work to grow together. Every other Sunday, we distill ideas we’ve learned from great coaches across all sports, hoping to give you a few tools and thoughts you can bring back to your team.
Let’s dive in.
(Missed the last Coaches Corner? Catch up here.)
Matt Dunn & Deemer Class
Today’s Menu Includes:
🔦 Coach Spotlight: Dabo Swinney
🧠 Some Outside Inspiration: the Inner Game of Tennis
🤓 A Trip to the Principles Office: Defensive Hedging & Bluffing
🔥 A Webinar Freebie: Ryan Wellner 3v3 + Ball Mover Defensive Drill
🔦 Coach Spotlight
Dabo Swinney, Common Things in Uncommon Ways
“Continue to do common things in an uncommon way. Continue to be ‘all in.’ Continue to apply ‘best is the standard.’ Continue to be a person of excellence in everything you do.”
Hold yourself to the highest standard. Do the simple things better—own the fundamentals and execute them with excellence. Show up consistently in every detail. That's how excellence becomes a habit, not a headline.
🧠 Outside Inspiration
The Inner Game of Tennis 🎾
 | This book goes beyond tennis drills. It’s about mastering your mind. Gallwey breaks down how self-doubt and overthinking trip you up, then shows how to tune into your instincts, stop the inner critic, and stay completely present. He lays out simple exercises that bring clarity and calm under pressure. Even without a tennis racket, it’s a sharp guide to unlocking flow, building confidence, and trusting your game in any competitive moment. |
🤓 The Principles Office
Hedging & Showing on Defense
Welcome back to the Principles Office, where we break down core concepts we believe in and see at the highest levels. This week’s focus: hedging—a subtle but essential defensive tool that can manipulate dodgers, steal space, and make your defense feel tighter without ever committing to a slide.
Lacrosse is a game of deception, the hedge is how we bluff and deceive offenses as an off-ball defender.
Damn straight you’re bluffing. And if you do it right, they’ll believe you. It’s important to remember, the offense is reading you. Be deceptive.
What Is a Hedge?
A hedge is when an off-ball defender shows help to the ball, without actually sliding, to disrupt a dodger's rhythm and decision-making.
Done well, it forces hesitation. Done poorly, it gives up easy passes and shots.
The best hedgers don’t just support the ball. They influence it.
They bluff just enough to get in a dodger’s head. They hold just long enough to shrink space. And they snap back just in time to take away the throwback.
Jake Higgins, Maryland & PLL SSDM, breaks it down nicely here.
Why It Works
Great offense is about clarity: a dodger wants to know when the slide is coming and where to go with the ball. A great hedge creates doubt. It muddies the picture.
It says: “I might come... or I might not. Good luck figuring it out.”
You can talk a guy out of dodging without even touching him, just by stealing space with your body.
Hopkins hedge vs UVA to bluff dodger from running back to quarter back posture.
The Components of a Great Hedge
Let’s get into some technical pieces:
1. Stance + Body Language = Everything
Your body sends a message before your stick does.
Be in a low, bouncy stance—weight on the balls of your feet.
Stay sideways (hip to ball, hip to man) so you can snap back instantly.
Think “linebacker with vision.” You need to see the ball and your matchup.
Cornell DC Jordan Stevens says stance is “how ready you are to make the play.” If you’re upright and flat-footed, you’re not ready to hedge—you’re just reacting late.
Another great phrase is “violent posture”. Check out Coach John Odierna of Syracuse discuss this on one of our webinars.
2. Time It Like a Base Steal
This is a great metaphor to teach players: sliding is like leading off a base in baseball.
You inch toward the dodge... but don’t fully commit until you have a read. You're trying to steal space before the passer realizes it.
If you hedge too early, the ball carrier sees it and kicks it to your man. Too late, and it’s a step behind.
The sweet spot? Hedge as the dodger threatens a dangerous area but before they are in a position to dish.
Bluff as the dodger picks up steam towards a dangerous area.
The above clip would’ve been too far of a slide with an easy throwback, so the early bluff baits the dodger into throwing it back.
Watch the read step by Ajax Zappitello in this training clip below—he creeps toward the dodge like a baserunner waiting to steal second.
3. Read the Dodger’s Posture
The hedge should peak when the dodger is least likely to pass—when their head is down, hands are tight, or body is in a non-QB posture. When they are in attack mode with running back posture, we can afford to aggressively jab at them. When they bounce to quarterback posture, we need to snap back.
If they’re probing or winding up to feed, you’ve already missed the window.
Teach players to study the body language: when the dodger gets sideways and leans into their dodge, that’s your time to bluff.
4. The Snap Back
Great hedgers don’t just show help, they recover fast.
That snap back—back to your man with a stick ready to check down—takes anticipation and discipline.
You hedge to disrupt the dodge. But you snap back to protect the inside. If your man gets the ball, you want to be there.
Show early, violent posture, and anticipate the snap back.
Types of Hedges
While the mechanics stay the same, the context changes depending on where you're coming from:
Crease Hedge (Hot Guy)
You’re the primary bluff + slide decision-maker.
Focus on timing—you can be a bit more aggressive since you will hopefully have two support.
Passing inside in through is more risky for the offense than a simple forward, but be ready to snap back hard to check down if the dodger throws it in.
Adjacent Hedge (“Show”)
Used as a way to clog space when the adjacent player is wide and less threatening.
You still hedge to shrink space and mess with the dodger’s read.
Risk: If your matchup is a shooter, overcommitting here leads to easy offense.
Delaware is great at stealing space on the perimeter from non-threatening adjacent players. Watch the X and top center defenders.
Choosing to show off adjacent players is dependent upon your defensive philosophy. Some teams are excellent at it and other coaches despise it.
Remember: the offense doesn’t know your rules. Even if you would never actually slide off the adjacent, you can still bluff if that’s your style of play. Your body language still matters.
Final Thought
Great defense is deceptive. Just like a windup or a wall pass fools defenders, a hedge fools the offense.
It’s not about being flashy. It’s about being precise.
You steal a few feet. You cause a little hesitation. And suddenly, the dodger is second-guessing. That’s the value of a great hedge.
More clips and drills coming soon. Let us know what else you’d like to see in the Coaches Community.
Until Next Time
Thanks for taking a trip down the hallway. If you are looking for a deeper dive, we have posted numerous videos on our Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels on this topic.
Stay tuned for more content all spring and email us at [email protected] with any questions and let us know your thoughts.
Thanks for tuning in— catch you on our next Coaches Corner.
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🚨 Webinar Freebie 🚨
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As a perk of this newsletter, you get a free clip from one of the webinars. Today’s clip is from Notre Dame’s Defensive Coordinator, Ryan Wellner. Coach Wellner is a friend of FCL and did a tremendous presentation on Notre Dame’s defensive drills and practice planning in our online community.
📺 FREEBIE: Notre Dame’s 3v3 Defense Drill with Ball Mover.
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