Attack - What kind of player?

Attackmen are the primary scorers for your team. The ideal attackman is someone who can be dangerous with both his right and left hands. He has at least three moves, or dodges, that he can use effectively to create pressure and scoring opportunities. When he has the ball he always has his stick tucked in tight to the body and his head up looking for a feed to someone in better scoring position than he. He always works hard when he doesn't have the ball, cutting and setting picks that create offensive flow. He is also mentally clear enough to instantly change his focus to defense and "riding" the opponent every time the opposing defense or goalie gets a hold of the ball.

If you have three people that can do all these things, then the coach can probably take a seat and enjoy the game. Because three attackmen like this can put constant pressure on the defense and the goal from any side of the goal and make it very difficult for the defense to get the ball out of their end of the field whenever they are lucky enough to get a hold of it.

Often, however, we live in a less than perfect world as in "Can't anybody out here catch?" Remember that until they can catch and throw consistently with both hands, nothing else matters. A team cannot put offensive pressure on their opponent's goal when the ball is on the ground.

Chances are better that a coach will have a mixed bag, a situation where he may have one or two feeder types, one player whose primary strength is shooting and/or dodging, and maybe even a loose canon (unpredictable player) or two. The challenge is to bring them together. If each attackmen can fill at least one part of the multi-faceted ideal attackman, then together they will make a good unit.

We have seen good attackmen of many shapes and sizes. Their bulk (or lack thereof) and quickness they have helps to determine the kind of roles they play. Feeders must be quick and sneaky. They are often small. How tall you are is not the determining factor of how much you see on a lacrosse field. It is how a player gets himself to positions where he can see clear alleys through the mass confusion of sticks and bodies. A big or even slower player can use his size and ability to catch the ball to great advantage in front of the goal. Excellent stickwork comes in all sizes

An attackman needs to be someone capable of putting pressure on the defense. It can be as a shooter or feeder, as a dodger or a cutter, even as a screen for the shooter, but he needs to be a little bit dangerous. Attackmen need to have confidence and they need to be tough. These are the guys that are getting checked by bigger players with bigger (longer) sticks. Their arms and shoulders take a beating.

FLY BOYS

The middies grovel for the ball and bring it downfield to the attack to find net. Their skills need to precise and they must willingly work on honing them. Try to find in or bring out some of "The Right Stuff" in each of your attackmen.

Attack - The Group Dynamic - Flow and pressure

It is imperative to have one solid naturally left-handed attackman to play the right side (facing the goal from midfield). If no one is a natural lefty, encourage someone to step up and take on the role of the player who works that spot that puts the premium on left-handed capabilities.

Have four attackmen that you think of as starters if numbers allow. Rotate them freely. Try not to "fall in love" with certain players to the point where you are crushed when they are hurt, sick, have a make-up test or have to go away for the weekend to see Aunt Ellie. When you play more players, there are more places to look for "a hot hand." There are also more happy players. By playing more players, your ability to see what players to use in certain situations will be keener, more objective and more empowering for your team. You will know the times to go with your "best" three, and perhaps more importantly will be able to recognize who they are at that moment.

At the same time, consistently reevaluate your 5th or 6th attackmen (again, if you have that many). Always give players new opportunities to show they have improved. If you decide "he sucks" and I'm not going to play him, then it's not much fun for him and it ultimately won't be fun for you.

If you have five or six attackmen that are really your better players, by all means be creative and make a middie or a D-man out of one of them, especially if he is a young player with some years left in your program. If you have an attackman or two too many, and one of them is athletic and likes to be in the crease, he could switch to middie and hardly know the difference, because when he is on offense he could still go right to the crease for some dynamic 2-2-2 alignments.

Never have more than six attackmen. If you do, you've got some middies mixed in there somewhere and put them back where they belong. Four or five is a good number of attackmen to have. Six works well for using two attacks in drills.

The DIAMOND

If you visualize the crease as a clock and put an attackman at 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 you would have too many men on the field because this is four spots on the field and you only have three attackmen. In a sense however, what you want the attack to do is cover these four spots, the diamond around the crease, at all times with only three. This creates a lot of movement, and again, flow. Flow is the goal. With a constant flow you can create the pressure that will score. It is important to create a lot of pressure because it often takes several shots to get one goal even if your team is playing well.