Anonymous wrote:Why isn't anyone telling her that her son isn't going to be 6 feet or taller, D is not the way to go. I pulled my son out of D at the same age because he will be lucky to hit 5'10" given his genes.

What? Kid is 95th percentile. Even if he doesn't hit 6 feet, and likely will, should still be plenty tall for D.

Anonymous wrote:At this age play where you can to get on the field. Typically defense players are more physical, top speed, good foot work to slide, strong IQ. Stick work is not as critical for D as for attack

I tend to disagree -- stick work is important bc clears, and also when a pole scores it really affects momentum.

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't anyone telling her that her son isn't going to be 6 feet or taller, D is not the way to go. I pulled my son out of D at the same age because he will be lucky to hit 5'10" given his genes.

Because not all of us make decisions about our 9 year old’s future based on the assumption that they’ll be playing Division 1 lacrosse.

Why isn't anyone telling her that her son isn't going to be 6 feet or taller, D is not the way to go. I pulled my son out of D at the same age because he will be lucky to hit 5'10" given his genes.

A little goes a long way at that age for defensemen. Kids certainly start to specialize at that age so don’t worry about people telling you he should play every position. That’s not bad advice, but if he likes to play defense and is good at it, there’s nothing wrong with having him do it.

For on ball defense, focus on having fast feet, running with the attacker and keeping the attacker in front. It seems simple but at that age a lot of kids lunge and initiate contact or hack away in an effort to cause a turnover. It’s too easy to dodge around that. Easy drill for this is to have him play defense on you or a teammate without holding a stick. If he plays basketball, all the better because it’s a similar concept. If you keep your man in front of you, he won’t be dangerous for the most part at this age because can’t rip shots in small windows of space yet.

Once he gets comfortable with the footwork needed to play D and keep his man in front, you can start working on having him play D while putting his stick on the attackers gloves, throwing poke or slap checks, lifting when the attacker is passing/shooting etc.

Teaching your son to force kids to their off hand will also help a lot at this age. Shading an attacker while approaching (curving your approach like a banana rather than running straight on) so they have to go to their left/opposite hand is a good lesson to learn early. Later on, kids will learn to shade their man so they have to go down the alley rather than top side, but starting with making kids run and cradle with their off hand is a good advantage to learn.

For off ball defense, too many kids at that age get caught ball watching and lose their man while watching the play. Teaching him to have his head on a swivel and look to the ball then back at his man, back to the ball then back at his man constantly helps to avoid those obvious mistakes where his man runs free through the middle, gets a pass and easily dunks it in the net. It will also help him learn to slide and play help defense because he’ll be comfortable keeping tabs on the man with the ball while also keeping track of his man and will be ready to notice when another Dman needs help.

Of course, being aggressive in getting ground balls helps a lot too. Either scooping through hard or getting physical and playing “man-ball” when he has a teammate near the ball will get a lot of attention.

And if you’re going to have him play with a pole, be sure to cut it down so his stick is no longer than the length of his body, from the ground to the top of his helmet. If you stand the pole up with the butt end on the ground, the top of the scoop of the head should extend right to the top of the helmet.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly the post is a bit confusing BUT from what I understand:

Footwork, footwork, footwork- this will help him at any position. If your body is in position then you are not playing with the stick and getting penalties.

Ground balls- I don't care what position you play or how big you are, if you are a groundball vacuum you will play.

Heart, grit and aggressiveness- a big kid with no heart will only go so far.

Endurance- big and strong while sucking wind gets a spot on the bench

OP was talking U9. Focusing on one position is silly. They should learn stick skills and all positions. All should get playing time..just like basketball at that age.

Honestly the post is a bit confusing BUT from what I understand:

Footwork, footwork, footwork- this will help him at any position. If your body is in position then you are not playing with the stick and getting penalties.

Ground balls- I don't care what position you play or how big you are, if you are a groundball vacuum you will play.

Heart, grit and aggressiveness- a big kid with no heart will only go so far.

Endurance- big and strong while sucking wind gets a spot on the bench

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At that age all players should play all positions. Work on skill development. However fun is the first and main priority. Coaching at that age group kids played all positions.

Our area is extremely competitive already with 9U and it's not even close to equal playing time and many kids only play certain positions.

Just play NVYLL or rec it should all be equal playing time. Horrible coaches if that is not the case. FYI I coach HS at a competitve team.

At this age play where you can to get on the field. Typically defense players are more physical, top speed, good foot work to slide, strong IQ. Stick work is not as critical for D as for attack

Ground balls, quick feet, aggressive, good stick skills relative to the other defensemen. Or so DH says, and he coaches a club team in this age group. Athleticism overall.

Anonymous wrote:At that age all players should play all positions. Work on skill development. However fun is the first and main priority. Coaching at that age group kids played all positions.

Our area is extremely competitive already with 9U and it's not even close to equal playing time and many kids only play certain positions.

Anonymous wrote:At that age all players should play all positions. Work on skill development. However fun is the first and main priority. Coaching at that age group kids played all positions.

Well what's happening is due to the 2 year age gap he won't get as much playing time. If he wants to do the position others don't it gives him an advantage.

At that age all players should play all positions. Work on skill development. However fun is the first and main priority. Coaching at that age group kids played all positions.

Anonymous wrote:We are still in 9U lax. My son is really young for his select team. It’s by grade and the average player is 12-24 months older so I thought this might be a good opportunity to get decent playing time on a very strong team of kids who mostly want to play M or A. They just did a team survey and almost every child selected attack of midfield for their position. My child has always been 95 percentile in H/W and doesn’t mind defense. Right now he’s not particularly big due to the age gap but as it narrows I would think he might be. Any tips for developing a youth player’s defense to increase playing time? Hes a strong player but with the age gap he’s always going to be against stiff competition for A. He tends to play M now.

Focus on good body position (wide base, low seat, between man and goal) and getting ground balls. That's 90% of it at 9 years old.

We are still in 9U lax. My son is really young for his select team. It’s by grade and the average player is 12-24 months older so I thought this might be a good opportunity to get decent playing time on a very strong team of kids who mostly want to play M or A. They just did a team survey and almost every child selected attack of midfield for their position. My child has always been 95 percentile in H/W and doesn’t mind defense. Right now he’s not particularly big due to the age gap but as it narrows I would think he might be. Any tips for developing a youth player’s defense to increase playing time? Hes a strong player but with the age gap he’s always going to be against stiff competition for A. He tends to play M now.