Happy Friday everyone,

Enjoy a few quick hitter clips from our FCL Athletes below before we dive into our Weekly Thought.

#1 - Ava Class scores an 8 meter goal for Michigan in a 15-11 win over USC

#2 - Hunter Chauvette finds space on the backside to score for Johns Hopkins in a 14-10 win over Navy

Enjoy today’s thought on How to Scout an Opponent.

Many players are not introduced to film until they reach college lacrosse. Below we will share some tips to get ahead of the game.

Happy Friday ☕️,
Matt & Deemer

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Scouting is one of the most important tools used in the college game.

Many teams watch film 3+ times a week split between game review and scouting the next opponent.

College coaches expect their players to watch film on their own.

Here is the kicker, many players are not introduced to film until college… but it does not have to be that way.

Today we will provide some practical tips that any high school athlete can start using now.

This will be focused on how defenders can scout the offense; however, many of these tips apply to offense as well.

Get a dedicated notebook, binder, or folder for your film notes. It is best to take notes on paper.

Your phone is a distraction. Put it down.

Pen and paper allow freedom when taking notes. You can draw out plays and organize your notes however you want.

Just like taking notes in class is a skill, taking notes on film is also a skill. Over time, you will refine your process. Plus, it’s cool to have a record of that progress.

Use the most recent film you can find. This will give you the most accurate look at the opposing players.

Some schools may use Hudl, Scorebreak, or another film program. Some schools may leave livestreams up on YouTube. If this is the case, great. Start there.

Not all schools have these resources, but that does not mean you are out of luck.

See if you can find highlight tapes of the opposing players. Many players will have highlights posted to their SportsRecruits profile or YouTube.

Any film helps. Because film don’t lie.

Watch the ball → rewind → watch off-ball.

Zero in on the player you will guard, or take it one midfielder/attack at a time. Watch what they do with the ball, and without.

Some quick notes I always take:

Do they like to split and roll back, are they more of a downhill dodger? Will they use their weak hand, or do they always come back to strength?

Rewind.

What do they do without the ball? Do they set picks on/off ball, are they looking to catch and shoot or move it off of a dodge, are they cutting after moving the ball?

Once you are starting to have a feel for the individual players, zoom out.

What is the offense doing as a whole? Are there mirror actions, set plays, pass down pick downs, who initiates the offense? What is their base shape?

How does it look like they are coached to play? Remember, just like you are coached as a defense, they are coached to do certain things as an offense.

What do you think they practice a bunch?

For all those scientific method fans out there, you’re welcome.

A hypothesis is an educated guess based on your observations. Can you start to predict what players are most likely to do?

Take a look at your notes, what trends are emerging?

Maybe the attack are not very involved as dodgers. Maybe this team likes to swing the ball through X and attack on the backside.

Individual trends may also arise.

‘This player always rolls back to their strong hand at X.’

‘This player will dodge to shoot with their strong hand, and look to feed with their weak hand.’

‘This player will take low-quality shots, let’s trust the on-ball defense and be slow to slide.’

This is where your scout starts to take shape. You are transforming your notes into tendencies, something you can now anticipate in the game.

How are you gonna use this information? We must bridge the gap from knowledge to execution, and visualization is an incredible tool.

Understand the patterns → visualize how you will respond.

Draw the offensive set by memory, who is the hot slide, who is the two slide?

When #22 has the ball in the corner and a razor pick is coming, visualize getting through the pick.

When #34 is dodging from the high wing, how will you approach her? Which side is her strength that you are trying to take away?

By gametime, you do not want to have to think anymore. It’s time to just play. You have done the work, trust it.

By the time most players reach high school lacrosse, film becomes a tool at your disposal. I find so many players, particularly defenders, leave value on the table here.

The first time you scout an opponent, it may not be perfect. That is ok. It is an iterative process that you get better with over time. Just like any skill.

We will leave you with a great quote that we have shared before:

Coach Class and Coach Dunn

To truly be a threat at all times offensively, you need to learn to move without the ball behind the cage. In this video, we break down Zach Whittier's 3OT winner vs Virginia on a nice jump cut from X. From there, we go through three ways you can gain an advantage on your defender by off-ball action behind the cage:

We hope you learn something from it!

✅ Want to see breakdowns? Check out our YouTube page for offensive and defensive breakdowns and workouts!

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