With the Lacrosse season around the corner, everyone's attention is on Pre-season training. Planning out the year into phases - periodized training - readies the body for what it needs to do once it gets onto the field. Pre-season, In-Season, Transition and Off-Season each has different training objectives, but the main objective of each in combination is to allow the athlete to peak at exactly the right time.

Lacrosse-Specific Training

In the Pre-Season phase, off-field training should be the most sport-specific of the year. Working on change-of-direction speed with a stick and ball in hand, practicing specific footwork, and doing high-intensity plyometrics should all be part of the right Pre-Season program. Serious resistance training should also be quite intense, as power is going to be needed on the field soon. To round things out, conditioning must also be a focus at this time—being in great shape coming into the season is always the best way to get off to a good start.

Players cannot play themselves into shape. By the time the season rolls around, it's already too late. And of great importance, is the idea that conditioning should be specific to one's position on the field. A goalie, for instance, has very different needs than a midfielder.

With regard to conditioning, distance running is not effective for Lacrosse, since the game is NOT an aerobic sport, but one that requires ANAEROBIC endurance (the ability to perform high-intensity sprint-like movements, recover and repeat). Whenever possible, if a Lacrosse athlete can use agility drills for conditioning, there is a double benefit - of better conditioning, yet also of improved footwork and movement patterns needed for success on the field. Again, the rest intervals of the conditioning should be specific to the requirements of the position being played.