4v3 Triangle

Verified in part · checked against Zimmerman and England, and Lax Goalie Rat, with Lacrosse Unlimited, Xcelerate Lacrosse, LaxLibrary and Lacrosse For Dummies

The play, beat by beat

1Their middie carries, right handTop of the Triangle marks
2Their middie carriesTop of the Triangle slides (Rotate)
3Their middie passes to their PointRight Pipe slides to the ball
4Their Point passes to their attackmanTop of the Triangle sags

Coaching points

Hold, then Rotate. Stay in a tight triangle (top man about 12 yards out, the low men about 3 yards either side of the goal and 2 yards up) until the goalie calls Rotate, then move together like you are tied with a string.
Every rotation goes to the middle of the triangle first, then out to your man. A straight sprint to your man leaves the skip pass wide open. Sticks up and inside in the lanes.
On the first pass: back right to the point, back left across to the backside man, the top man down to the dump man; his is the toughest slide. If your back-left drags across the crease to help on the point-to-dump lane, he must not screen your goalie (Zimmerman and England).
Lax Goalie Rat and Lacrosse Unlimited start the low men moving on Rotate. Some teams hold the low men until the ball is thrown (Zimmerman and England, Xcelerate).
Force extra passes: the offense usually has time for just a couple before help arrives. Decide who has point before it ever happens, and never half-hold and half-rotate.

How it was checked

A standard play the sources back, but a step or detail of it rests on a single source or on our own reading of them. Verified in part · checked against Zimmerman and England, and Lax Goalie Rat, with Lacrosse Unlimited, Xcelerate Lacrosse, LaxLibrary and Lacrosse For Dummies.

More transition defense

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Coaching points

Hold, then Rotate. Stay in a tight triangle (top man about 12 yards out, the low men about 3 yards either side of the goal and 2 yards up) until the goalie calls Rotate, then move together like you are tied with a string.

Every rotation goes to the middle of the triangle first, then out to your man. A straight sprint to your man leaves the skip pass wide open. Sticks up and inside in the lanes.

On the first pass: back right to the point, back left across to the backside man, the top man down to the dump man; his is the toughest slide. If your back-left drags across the crease to help on the point-to-dump lane, he must not screen your goalie (Zimmerman and England).

Lax Goalie Rat and Lacrosse Unlimited start the low men moving on Rotate. Some teams hold the low men until the ball is thrown (Zimmerman and England, Xcelerate).

Force extra passes: the offense usually has time for just a couple before help arrives. Decide who has point before it ever happens, and never half-hold and half-rotate.