Lacrosse Footwork & Agility Practice Plan for 11 and 12 Year Olds
At 11 and 12, the under-taught half arrives: DECELERATION (every dodge, stop, and defensive breakdown is braking first), the stopwatch joins (shuttles run with and without the stick, both logged), dodge CHAINS get real (split-to-roll answering the recovery), and defensive approach mechanics (the sprint-to-breakdown that every ride and slide spends).
This session runs about an hour with chalk, markers, stick, and a timer. The growth-spurt clause applies (wobbly weeks double the landing work), rests stay sacred, and the with-stick versus without-stick shuttle gap gets logged as its own number: the stick tax, shrinking toward zero as carrying becomes truly native.
This plan was written for every 11 and 12 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
What is the stick tax and why log it?
The gap between shuttle times with and without the stick: a direct measure of how native carrying has become. Logging both makes the tax visible and its shrinkage motivating: when the numbers converge, the stick has stopped costing speed, which is exactly what game movement requires.
Why pair braking with dodging?
Because real dodges launch from controlled arrivals: the sprint-brake-split sequence is how initiators actually engage defenders (arriving with options rather than momentum-trapped). Braking drills alone build stoppers; braking-into-dodges builds the sport's actual pattern.
What is a defensive breakdown and when is it taught?
The chopped-step, hips-down arrival two yards from the ball-carrier: the universal preamble to every good defensive possession. Taught here at 11 and 12 as pure movement (sprint, chop, shuffle-ready), it makes team-taught positioning land on legs that already know how to arrive.