Aiden’s practice plan

Aiden's athleticism and his dodge are already there — this session doesn't drill either, because they were never the problem. It works the three things that turn a one-dimensional dodger into a complete threat: an off-hand defenders have to respect, shooting for corners instead of ripping it wide, and moving to get open when he doesn't have the ball. A wall and a ball run most of it — wall ball is the single best thing a lacrosse player can do at home.

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The classic — throw and catch off a wall, right hand then left hand, quick and rhythmic, moving closer and farther to change the speed. Keep the top hand loose and the motion compact, catching with soft hands and a quick release back. Count the reps and make the left-hand count match the right, exactly.

Wall ball is to lacrosse what free throws are to basketball — the boring, foundational rep that separates players, and it's the perfect thing to do alone in a driveway. Leading with both hands here, with the counts forced to match, is how the off-hand stops being an afterthought. Everything below depends on a stick he trusts in either hand; this warms up that trust before the real off-hand work starts.

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Now, left hand only, for ten straight minutes — throwing and catching off the wall with just his off-hand, no bailing to the strong hand no matter how awkward it feels. Vary it: quick sticks, catch-and-cradle, behind-the-back if he's got it. It'll look ugly at first, and that's the point — reps are the only thing that fix it.

This is the least fun drill on the page and the most important, because a one-handed player is a solved problem for a good defender. Right now defenders overplay Aiden's right hand because they know he'll never go left, which takes away half the field before he even dodges. A trustworthy off-hand doubles the field and makes him un-guardable with a single adjustment. His strong-hand technique will transfer the moment the reps are in — the off-hand isn't untalented, it's just under-used.

Set a cone as a defender positioned to force him left. He dodges to his off-hand, keeps his stick protected on the outside away from the imaginary defender, and finishes with the left hand — into a goal if he has one, off the wall if not. Ten reps, all left. The goal isn't a highlight; it's that he'll actually choose to go left in a game when the defense gives it to him.

Dodging drills alone won't convince him the off-hand can finish — he has to see the ball go in off his left. Once he's done it enough in the driveway, the next time a defender overplays his right and gives him the left lane, his instinct won't be to force it back to his strong hand (which is what gets him stripped or stuffed). Confidence in the off-hand is built one left-handed finish at a time.

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Put a target in each low corner of the goal — that's where goals are scored, low and away from the goalie's stick. He shoots for the target, and the rule flips his instinct: placement scores, not power. A hard shot that misses the cage is a zero; a well-placed shot at three-quarter pace that hits the corner is the win. Shoot from a set position first, then on the run.

Aiden's shooting problem isn't strength — it's that he winds up and rips everything as hard as he possibly can, which sprays the ball wide and high, over the cage. Goalies love a hard shot they don't have to move for. Teaching him that a placed shot to the low corner beats a cannon over the net is a bigger scoring jump than more velocity ever would be. He already has the arm; this gives it a target.

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He passes to you (or the wall), then instead of standing to watch, he plants and makes a sharp V-cut to get open for the return, catches on the move, and either shoots or feeds. The one rule: the moment the ball leaves his stick, his feet start moving — a hard cut away, then back to the ball. Pass, move, get open, finish.

Aiden's a threat with the ball and a spectator without it, and lacrosse rewards constant off-ball movement. The give-and-go and the V-cut build the instinct to stay dangerous on every play, not just the ones where he's dodging. It also makes his dodge better indirectly: a player who moves off the ball drags defenders around and opens the very lanes he wants to dodge into.

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Alternate a right-hand shot to a corner and a left-hand shot to a corner, on the run, and count only the ones that hit the target with the correct hand. Chase a number and beat yesterday's. Left and right, corners, on the move — all of it together.

This closes the session by stacking everything into one rep: both hands, picking corners, on the run — the exact things that turn him from a one-dimensional dodger into a threat defenses can't solve. It also finishes him on a rep of scoring with his off-hand to a corner, which is the note you want burned in before Saturday: the thing that used to be his weakness, done on purpose.

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One thing to watch today: when a rep asks for his left hand, does he do it, or does he sneak the ball back to his right? And does he pick a corner, or just rip it? The off-hand and the placement are the whole ballgame — if he's committing to his left and aiming for corners in the driveway, defenders can't take him away on Saturday.

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