Deemer's 5 Favorite Coach Community Drills

Happy Sunday, Coach.

Welcome back to FCL’s Coaches Corner. Our quote of the day is from the post-game interview with the 2026 Olympic gold medal golden goal scorer, Jack Hughes.

He did not mention himself in this interview once, only his teammates and his country…

Let’s rock,

Matt Dunn & Deemer Class

(Missed the last Coaches Corner? Catch up here.) 

Today’s Quick Links for Coaches:

• 🔒️ Defensive Coaching Clinic: The Approach Men’s (Link)

• 🎧 FCL Podcast: Jesse Bernhardt: Born To Coach & Why Transparency Matters + Introducing The Approach (Link)

• 🧠 Some Outside Inspiration: Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't (Link)

• 🔥 A Webinar Freebie: Matt Dunn - Touchdown Dril (scroll down)

This issue is supported by High School Nationals
A recruiting tournament for Women’s High School Teams

If you coach a high school women’s lacrosse team and are looking for a great way to get your team competition and exposure this summer, we strongly suggest applying for Nationals.

Year 1 brought 16 programs to Chase Fieldhouse with Maryland, Penn State, Yale, Johns Hopkins and 14 other college programs on the sideline evaluating.

Year 2 is June 29-30. Five guaranteed games, college coaches in attendance, media coverage and recruiting exposure for all players.

Please email [email protected] if interested in applying your team. Invites are being sent out this month.

🤓 The Principles Office
Deemer’s Top 5 Coaches Community Drills

Today we’re pulling back the curtain on five of Deemer’s favorite drills from our online coach community.

There is a mix of men’s and women’s film clip examples here, but you can use all of these drills for either.

And remember… if you’re drills aren’t showing up in game film, you’re doing the wrong drills. Use that as your north star to reverse engineer what you need.

I/ Nail Passing - Kyle Hayes

This drill reps a common offensive pattern in today’s game, and really promotes moving to a new space after you move the ball.

I imagine this like as pass out of a mirror, or anytime a player moves from the crease to the perimeter. You can do many variations off this as well (over the shoulder, hand exchanges, etc).

Drill Notes

• Set up: Two cones in a line about 20 yards apart. Directly in the middle, offset one cone a yard lower, and one cone five yards above the lines.

  

• Rep Flow: Start with one player cutting down to the bottom cone, and then bouncing out to the top cone. Pass to them, and then begin the same cut. The player who bounced out transfers it to the line they came from.

• Rotations: This is a continuous drill, switch lines after each rep (or stay in your line if you have less than 4 players per side).

• Optional constraints: Two groups and they compete for number of passes completed in one minute. Have players catch and roll away, or catch over the shoulder.

• Coaching Points: Athletic stance when throwing the ball, not throwing off your back foot, eliminating wasted movement (extra cradles, false steps, etc.), and stepping to the target. Players tend to backpedal when they throw, and not set their feet, this will be something to monitor.

This drill will improve the stickwork of all players, not just offensive players. Make sure to have some extra balls in the lines, as this is not the easiest drill for many players at first.

II/ Picks Around the World - Scott Bieda

This drill promotes many different types of picks in a single half-field setting.

Instead of the standard two-man game set up on the wings, or up top and below GLE.

This set up creates a dynamic setting where many different types of interactions can naturally play out.

Drill Notes

• Set up: 5 lines set up around the cage of O and D. Balls at every line.

  

• Rep Flow: The first rep is with line 1 and 2. The second rep is with line 2 and 3. The third rep is with line 3 and 4. Onwards…. Each rep begins with a pass in the clockwise direction.

• Rotations: Offense rotates clockwise, defense rotates counter clockwise after a rep.

• Optional constraints: Add in a time limit for each rep, something like 10-15 seconds is great! Everything starts with a specific action, such as a down pick. For the women’s game, I would consider 1 line up top and 2 lines below GLE as most picks happen in the GLE or above area.

• Coaching Points: Players should be encouraged to experiment with different types of actions (up picks, down picks, GLE picks, razor picks, swing picks, fly-bys, slips, etc.).

While this drill is not super complex, I find that it creates a much more game like feel for the players than standard 2v2’s do.

III/ 5v5 Butt Ball - Marie McCool

This drill fosters scramble situations.

Players must practice their decision making in these types of unsettled situations.

Often times in games, the team that takes advantage of these situations with a higher efficiency will be in a better position to win.

Drill Notes

• Set up: Five players on each team scramble around in a circle about 10 yards above GLE.

  

• Rep Flow: Coach rolls a ground ball in. The team that does not get the ball must double team immediately. From there, it is a broken play/scramble situation until a shot or caused turnover.

• Rotations: Sub two new groups of players in after each rep.

• Optional constraints: If a gold medal shooting opportunity does not immediately present itself before the defense is matched up, the offense must complete a required action (on-ball pick, off-ball pick, mirror, etc.).

• Coaching the defense: The two nearest defenders must double the ball immediately, while the other three should immediately crash in. The defense should momentarily get into a zone until players recover from the double.

• Coaching the offense: It is crucial that there is an outlet to move the ball quickly after the GB. This will allow the offense to take advantage of the chaos and potential odd-man scenario. A term I have always loved from my Duke days is “get in the mirror” - where an adjacent player on each side of the ball presents an outlet with the outside hand.

By creating a scramble situation, players will have time to practice denying second chance opportunities.

IV/ 3v2 Soccer Circle - Steve Koudelka

This is a fun drill for players, and we have found that it’s a great drill to get practice rolling or cap off the day.

If the field you practice on does not have a soccer circle on it, you can make a perimeter with cones around the cage and customize it to the desired size.

In fact, this is just what we did at our BIC committed events!

Drill Notes

• Set up: Two teams, two lines surrounding the soccer circle. Goal is pulled up to the edge of the circle. Coach stands opposite the goal and throws balls in. Use tennis balls or pinky balls for this drill (young women’s teams can use real balls if tennis balls are too challenging).

• Rep Flow: Offensive team sends three players in, defensive team sends two players in. Each rep plays out to a shot or ball out of bounds.

• Rotations: Each team sends in new players each rep. Optionally, can make this a two or three ball drill.

• Optional constraints: Players must complete a specific action before shooting (flip/fake flip, off-ball pick/on-ball pick, etc.). If you score, your team stays on, and a new defense comes in. Defense plays without sticks.

• Coaching Points: Soft hands, spacing, present an outlet in the ball-carriers field of vision, quick decisions, and attention to detail if any of these constraints are added.

This is a juice drill. Get your players excited and loud. Have fun with it and compete. Losing team has to sing the other team’s Karaoke song of choice?

V/ 5v4 Firework - Bill Olin

Here, the offense has a built in advantage. Not only in numbers, but also due to the starting position for the defense.

This drill creates an environment where players must make quick decisions.

Drill Notes

• Set up: Four offensive players on the perimeter who can can move in a 4×4 yard box. One offensive player in the middle who can move wherever they want. Four defensive players start with a stick on the crease offensive player.

• Rep Flow: The coach throws in the ball, and it plays out until a shot or turnover.

• Rotations: Two ball drill, sub new O/D after two reps.

• Optional constraints: Only the inside player can score. The perimeter offense cannot move at all. All passes must be “no-looks.”

• Coaching the defense: Don’t allow the offense to swing the ball freely. Speed up the decision making of the offense by utilizing smart on ball pressure. Communicate who is helping to the crease.

• Coaching the offense: If there is a skip or late approach, the offense can move outside the bounds of the box to capitalize. Work on manipulating the defense by utilizing small carries, drags, fades, stick fakes, looking off defenders, and body language.

Wrapping Up

We hope you have enjoyed this week’s coaches corner, and as always, if you end up using some of these drills in practice this season, we would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Don’t be afraid to send us some clips! We’d love to share them out (with your permission).

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.

🔒 Defensive Coaching Clinic: The Approach
Men’s FCL Defense Coach Clinic

🚨 Webinar Freebie 🚨

This week’s freebie is from our webinar with Coach Matt Dunn. Coach Dunn delivered a webinar centered around how high school coaches can design and teach their base team defense.

It is an extremely insightful webinar where Coach Dunn dives into everything from standards to how to drill stickwork and on/off ball defense. He also dives into a framework for approaches and sliding. We wanted to highlight an extra drill Coach Dunn shared that can be used to practice the fundamentals of clearing.

🎙️ FCL PODCAST & COACH COMMUNITY

🎧 Podcast

Check out our free podcast on Spotify, YouTube and Apple podcast.

🚀 Online Community

For coaches who want to level up, the FCL Coach Community is the best resource on the market for men’s and women’s coaching staffs looking to continue developing.

It includes over 40 college coach webinars, 150+ drills for offense, defense, and full-team compete, as well as sessions focused on schemes and strategies.

• 🔦 COMMUNITY TOUR: Watch Community Tour Here.