Coaches Corner: 08/10/25

Welcome back, Coach.

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: Mike Krzyzewski, Playing Together

• 🧠 Some Outside Inspiration: Thinking in Bets, by Annie Duke

• 🤓 A Trip to the Principles Office: Reading Pick Coverages

• 🔥 A Webinar Freebie: 54 Firecracker with Bill Olin

🔦 Coach Spotlight
Mike Krzyzewski, Playing Together

Playing connected in lacrosse, as one unit, is about as important of a trait a team can develop. Many other skills and principles lose tremendous value if they’re performed in isolation from the group. Learn to play together. Prioritize connectedness. Whether offense or defense it doesn’t matter. Connected is the answer.

🧠 Outside Inspiration
Thinking in Bets - by Annie Duke

Although it’s about poker, Annie Duke explores how to make better decisions under uncertainty—a core challenge all players face vs their opponents. She argues we should think probabilistically, weigh outcomes, and separate results from process. This builds off of our last coaches corner article: Recognition > Reaction — teaching defenders to see first.

How it applies to coaching:

• Coaches can model decision hygiene, evaluating choices even when the result is unfavorable.

• Teach players to frame reads probabilistically (“Looks like a skip 70% of the time, so hedge lightly unless I see X”).

• Use post-game film reviews not just to critique outcomes, but to affirm good decisions even when plays break down.

🤓 The Principles Office
How to Counter the Sluffing Defender

Ever wonder why your offensive picks start to feel stale? Doing the same thing over and over? Picks lacking intentionality? It’s not just about pick technique... it starts with understanding defensive coverages.

Recently, PLL analyst Zach Carey wrote a “Deep Dive” in the FCL Coaches Community around the benefits of defenses switching picks. He makes the case that more defenses should be willing to switch rather than fight to maintain matchups at all costs. Defensive philosophy can come from long-standing team identity or from personnel-driven decisions. As offensive players, we need to understand these tendencies.

From the offensive side, we need to equip our players with ways to counter defensive strategy. One of the simplest concepts I’ve heard comes from Providence Head Coach Bobby Benson:

After another full year of club and high school lacrosse, I still think players struggle to recognize and counter these situations consistently. If they could master the concept above alone, they’d be on their way. The question is: how do we teach it and reinforce it?

Today, we’ll dig into reading pick coverages — specifically, how to counter defenders who “sluff,” switch, or drop under picks. Below are five ideas to consider and refine.

Re-Adjust Your Picks

This is simple yet crucial. I find through conversation that a lot of young players worry that this is or is easily called a moving pick. In fact, it’s not only legal, but you need this technique to set better picks.

An idea behind a good pick is to “pick the path” of the defender. You simply want to get in the way and create contact. When we read defenders sluffing or dropping underneath, we must re adjust lower by shuffling or sliding, and anticipating. Hear Scott Bieda’s 4 keys to setting elite picks.

Refuse the Pick

Often talked about, refusing or rejecting the pick is a must have counter for offensive players. When we feel defenders sluffing off in anticipation of the pick, working to get under, or anticipating a switch, it is a perfect time to refuse the pick and keep the defender on their toes.

You can see in most of these examples, though specific to “razor picks” in men’s, defenders are often getting under and looking to navigate the pick.

I don’t think there is a perfect time where you should or shouldn’t refuse it. It is a “feel” thing.

You shouldn’t give a player absolutes in the pick game, but you can encourage them to constantly keep reading their defender and the pick defender and working to vary up their plan of attack.

Stop and Pop

This is one of my favorites. It draws striking similarities to basketball. There are two things an offensive player should be observing that might indicate the time to stop and pop: distance to the cage and pressure. I see many examples of players executing these shots when they feel hands free to shoot in both the men’s and women’s field games, and box.

Distance to the cage is crucial especially given shooting range. When picks are smartly set in dangerous scoring areas, players need to stay shot ready.

Pressure in the hands tends to free up when the defenders are dropping under the pick. This gives a shooter the chance to release, and often use the pick or defender as a screen. It also works well when the on ball defender sluffs off, and the switching defender is waiting on the other side. The stop and pop is a shot worth establishing for all players. Don’t forget, you can be ready to feed or dodge out of these situations also!

Early Slips / Fly Bys / No Picks

This bucket blends together, but there are some different examples and nuances based on the game and spots on the field. The biggest takeaway I want to leave you with here is the impact of an early slip, a fly by, or a “no pick” where you cut away. Each of these can create an illusion of a pick.

This action can influence an on ball defender whom is anticipating and sluffing. It also influences the pick defender, who might be anticipating a switch or ready to hedge, pending their scheme. Well timed actions, and varied actions, will leave defenders trailing.

Here is a nice example in JHU vs PSU, where the up pick could have happened, but the attacker U turns and essentially back doors her defender. When you layer in the variety, you leave pick or help defenders in tough spots.

Lastly, let’s not forget how much easier it is to dodge when a defensive approach is sluffing off. Here Northwestern gives the illusion of a pick, and then the picker dives out of the way, leaving Madison Taylor with a great lane to take topside and draw the foul.

Seal the Switch

I think this concept needs to be more utilized in field lacrosse. Let’s stay on this topic of defenders “sluffing” and getting “under” the pick. In both situations, the “switching” defender or defender that might be hedging to buy the on ball defender more time, plays a role in assisting the on ball defender.

By “sealing the switch,” or simply picking his or her own defender, instead of the on ball defender, we can create some advantages.

Thomas Mencke did a fantastic job in this example of sealing the off ball defender to help free Shellenberger up the hash. Shellenberger is one of the best at running guys at the pick, getting them to open their hips and then changing directions.

Cat and Mouse Drill

I’ve loved using variations of the cat and mouse drill over the years. I think you can use this as a drill to teach the windup, refusing the pick, and other pick like movement. Tweak the rules as needed.

Pick play is more than just the offensive actions. It is crucial to read the defensive coverages and respond and manipulate accordingly. Hopefully this helps give you some ideas heading into this next offseason! Email me at [email protected] if you have more ideas you’d like to share.

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.

🚨 Webinar Freebie 🚨

This week’s freebie is from our webinar with Clemson Associated Head Coach Bill Olin. Coach Olin presented many drills, but one we really liked was the 5v4 Firecracker drill. See a brief excerpt of the drill below!

We believe our coaching community is the best resource on the market for any men’s or women’s coaching staff to continue developing through new drills and strategies. It includes over 30 college coach webinars, 100+ drills for offense, defense and full team compete.

• 🎥 WEBINAR FREEBIE: 54 Firecracker

• 🔦 COMMUNITY TOUR: Watch Community Tour Here.

🎙️ FCL PODCAST & COACH COMMUNITY

Want to keep sharpening your coaching toolbox?

🎧 Podcast – Check out our free podcast on Spotify, YouTube and Apple podcast. Who’s ready for season 2?

🔥 Online Community – For coaches who want to level up. Join our men’s and women’s coaching communities for in-depth webinars, drills, and strategy sessions with top college coaches.