Five Tips to Maximize Results from a Home Lacrosse Workout

My name is Austin Stewart. In 2015 I broke the NCAA record for goals scored in a single season with 109 while attending Lynchburg College. I wasn’t the biggest or fastest and had to work 5x harder than the next guy in HS to stay level or get a little ahead. Here are some things I have been thinking about kids training on their own during this time away from organized sports.

I spent hours in my backyard growing up, practicing the sport I love so much.  However, there are many things I have learned throughout my coaching career that I wish I knew then.  Many times, I was putting hours of work in, however it was done with poor technique, no direction, and I was practicing unrealistic situations that did not help me on gameday. The good news for you is you don’t have to make the same mistakes. I hope this article is helpful to you and I think it can make a big difference in the results you see!

Here are 5 tips to maximize the results of your home lacrosse workouts.

1. Have a plan

I see many players who grab a bucket of balls, and head to their local field, or their backyard, and shoot for hours. It is fun, shows your love for the game, and SEEMS to be productive right? For sure! You are going to get better each time you do this. However, in my opinion, your workout is not nearly as productive without a plan. Much like when you are in math class, you don’t skip ahead to chapter twelve without first learning and understanding chapters one through eleven. Being organized and having a plan will help you tremendously. Spend the extra 10 minutes to write up a shooting workout specific to YOU and your strengths and weaknesses. This will allow you to stay focused on what you are trying to accomplish!

2. Practice game-like situations

The reality of most young athletes, whether it’s a player practicing basketball, lacrosse, soccer, etc… is that when they practice, they don’t necessarily practice skills that are most commonly seen in a game, thus they are not as prepared as they could be for those situations. For instance, a lacrosse player may go out with a bucket of balls and shoot low to high step-down shots from 12+ yards for hours. In my opinion, this is not the best use of your time. In college, I broke an NCAA record for goals scored in a single season with 109 and took far more shots than that, and I still rarely got step-down shot opportunities in a game. When I practiced (on my own), I spent most of my time shooting on the run or working on very specific shots that translated to the scoring opportunities I got during a game.

3. Minimize your amount of total reps, maximize your effort in each rep

Often, I see players go out with their buddies and shoot for hours, but don’t accomplish much at all during that time. This tip sort of goes hand and hand with “practicing game-like situations” and “having a plan”. I would advise young players to go work hard for 30-45 minutes, rather than casually shoot for 2 hours. Why? BAD HABITS! You will never get an opportunity in a game to make a casual play, our sport is too fast and skilled for that to happen. Go work your butt off for 30-45 minutes, work up a sweat, and prepare yourself for similar situations that will come about in a game. Practice how you plan to play on game day.

*Note: If you are going out to reinforce your technique only, and not get intense reps, that is a different scenario, and you should not be doing that at full speed until you feel comfortable and confident in your ability to execute with perfect technique.

4. Work individually, or with one friend or sibling

The best decision I ever made in college was to do most of my work alone, in the “lonely hours”. A time where no one is watching, or even knows you are working. Personally, it tells me that a young player is only doing it to make himself or herself better. Not to make their parents or coaches happy, or to post it on Instagram. If you want to grab a teammate to get some live reps, absolutely do it. What I advise against, is going out in a big group of friends or teammates with no direction, coaching, etc… Do this with your friends after you get your real work in on your own, otherwise, this is not enough! Don’t simply check the box and say you practiced today, hold yourself to a high level of accountability, it will pay off!

5. Reinforce your technique, if something is wrong, fix it before continuing to get reps

Lastly, when you are practicing, make sure your technique is perfect. I tell my young players often to hit the wall to work on their stickwork, but to make sure they are catching with perfect technique. Throwing with perfect technique. If you don’t hold yourself accountable, you are simply reinforcing bad habits, which in the long run will hurt you more than make you better! The same goes for dodging, shooting, defensive footwork, goalie work etc…. Hold yourself to the highest possible standard you can, and you will benefit!

I love the sport of lacrosse, and it is a very big part of my life and has been for a long time. This sport has given more many opportunities to do some incredible things in my life, and for that, I am forever grateful and indebted to the sport. If you want to play at the highest level one day, it will be very hard. Period. Understand and appreciate the value of putting in the extra work, and never be complacent with where you stand on your current team’s depth chart. If you are at the top, keep working to make sure it stays that way. If you are at the bottom, work even harder to catch the guys at the top. I hope this article will help to inspire you to not only put in some extra work when nobody is watching but to do it with every ounce of effort, energy and focus you have. Stay safe during this time and make the most of your extra free time!