off season conditioning

[laxnonstop]

So when is a good time to start conditioning for spring lax?, I was thinking like in Dec or would you start later or earlier?

[Puck]

obviously depends upon the level you're at...

but, at the upper end of the spectrum, I'd allow a min. of 8-12 weeks to afford them sufficient time to meet the goals/min. expectations necessary on day 1.

[laxnonstop]

Sorry for not Specifying, I Coach Highschool boys Lacrosse, I was Just wondering if starting in December was to early to start Conditioning, And any ideas on how to incorporate stick skills in it? Thank you

[Puck]

consider your audience...

set reasonable goals...

work backwards on the calender from your start date.

[coachsteve]

In the midatlantic area, some programs don't STOP conditioning. Summer camps/tournaments, Fall tournaments, fall leagues- I know several programs that will begin formal weighttraining/conditioning in early October. Lift throughout the winter- agility drills, stairs, ladder drills, rope skipping, and basketball all fall and winter. Couple days per week. Come March first, conditioning will not be an issue, allowing for coaching and team development on the road to the championship. if you've gotta get your guys in shape, it puts you 2-3 weeks behind. As far as stick drills, that is tricky with off season coaching rules. But- captains can conduct and encourage wall ball sessions- can't ever get enough wall ball/shooting. Leave a goal in front of a baseball backstop- have a bag of balls in a captains car- lots of shooting.

[OfficerCandidate]

6 weeks prior to first scrimmage.

[wrhslax]

I think Puck hit the nail on the head, you ahve to take into consideration the make-up of your team.
a middle school level team, in general, i think you preach to them about year round exercise and conditioning, but maybe give them a 6 week or 4 week pre season program. you will know who followed it and who didnt, and will still probably include some conditioning early in the season or throughout. also factor in that many of the kids will be playing other sports throughout the year.

a high school level team I think you put out the expectation that they should be making themselves better athletes year round. many will play other sports so depending on the sports and who the athletes are, you dont worry too much about their conditioning level until their winter sport has completed, then give them a program. if they play a fall sport but not a winter one, the program can start after the fall sport. you can try to put together summer or fall teams, depending on your states rules for coach's involvement in the off season, or even be creative and make it non-lax. maybe the kids on your team are basketball players and you can coach an U-17 team and take them to tournaments, etc. most kids will participate in conditioning more if its not just following a running or training room type of program. you can trn almost any other activity or team sport into a reason to be conditioning. even chess or poker players (I do not endorse underage gambling) benefit from core training, etc.

also you have to be realistic in the reasons why kids play sports. if you come from a small school or small community, you may be "stuck," for better or worse, with a bunch of kids who play just to have fun, have no expectations of competing for state championships, no goals to play college lax, or even summer lax. you cant expect them to do much more than cram some conditioning in a few weeks before the season starts, no matter how much you educate them on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

on the other hand, if you have a group of dedicated lax players, or even just dedicated athletes, its much easier for you to incorporate year round training, and you should do that as much as possible. it will not only help your team, but it will help your players achieve their goals, whether those goals are for the team (state champs, etc) or they are individual (play a college sport, all-district honors, etc). in the long run they will be better athletes and lax players, hopefully better citizens from your influence as a coach and learning life lessons, and more successful and healthy in general. my only word of caution about year round trainign is to work with a professional to some extent, even if its just for a little bit of advice on how to vary the workouts, target needs, provide adequate rest, ramp up as the season approaches vs peak at mid offseason so that the players can rest a little and arent burnt out by the time the season starts, etc.

[Bingers5]

I am a varsity head coach in Maryland. We begin conditioning the 2nd week of school for those who are not playing a fall sport. In the fall, we go 2-3 days per week. After T-giving we step it up to 3-4 days per week and after X-mas we go everyday. Typically, we only work out for 2 hours after school. That time is split between strength training, speed/agility's and wall time.

The rule is; If your playing a school sponsored sport, that is your priority. If not, you are expected to be there. The main goal is to work with those who aren't playing other sports.