A Traveler’s Guide to Becoming Great at Lacrosse

“If I do this, will I be good enough to accomplish (fill in the blank)?”

It’s one of the more frequent types of questions that we get from players and parents. It may be regarding playing in high school and receiving some sort of award, but most often these questions are in reference to playing in college. It’s a sincere question. And although we’ve seen it happen for people hundreds of times before, the honest response to whether someone is doing enough or not is that we really don’t know. The answer is more nuanced and I will explain in a moment, but the shortest answer is no, you’re not doing enough to get wherever “there” is. It first takes a level of humility to accept this fact along with an equal amount of hubris to know that, if listening and following along carefully, you might just have a shot. 

Depending on your goal, the specific steps to get there will vary. A student whose goal is to do “well” in chemistry is quite different from a student whose goal is to become a doctor. While both might receive an 91% on a test, the former is being praised for their grade and walking away with the satisfaction of social approval and a high letter grade, while the latter is in crisis mode over what they could have possibly misunderstood from the incorrect 9%. They know that every piece of knowledge must become cemented firmly in their understanding and no matter what others might say, this last 9% could make or break their chances at acceptance into medical school. What will it take for them to pass the MCAT? It is impossible to know with certainty, but clearly, it has not been enough so far. So it is with sports. This reasoning is why understanding goals is absolutely necessary before setting out to achieve them. Just as with the students, two players that have goals that differ in magnitude will have vastly different mountains to climb to get there. The first step before everything else is to identify and decide on the goal - the mountain that you want to climb - and the steps will begin to appear. 

Before moving on, I would like to pause and underscore the importance of deciding on the goal. The word “decide” comes from the Latin word “decidere” which literally means to “cut off”. When you decide on something, you are foregoing any other opportunity and committing yourself to this decision. While children often benefit from dabbling in various pursuits whether they be sports or some other hobby, many mistakenly think this also applies to becoming the best in sports. If you can honestly say that your goal is to become the best, you must cut off all other opportunities and decide that this pursuit will be the highest priority. You may point to some who were multi-sport athletes and well-balanced people that broke this mold, but let those people be the exception to the rule. If you want to give yourself a shot, decide what your goal is and consider everything else a distraction. This means other sports, long durations of time without practice, toxic friendships, and whatever else takes you away from your decided goal.

What about practicality? Luckily, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is some level of determinism in chasing after a dream in sports. Assuming that the goal in this situation will be to play at a mid to high D1 school, you can begin to identify the attributes of these players, and at minimum, make it at least reasonable for you to get to that goal assuming you can develop the same traits.

For instance, everyone at this level can catch and throw an incredible fast and accurate 40 yard pass on the move, going backwards, under pressure, and really any circumstance you can imagine. And with both hands. Every player can shoot insanely well on the run, on a step down, coming up the hash, sweeping over the top, inside finishing, behind the back, around the world, Canadian, and one-handed… Every player came from a team where they were the best player on their respective hometown team. Every player knows fundamental offensive (dodger reading the defensive slide package; off-ball player cutting to occupy defense and create unique opportunities) and defensive structures (hot, 2 slide, when to double, zone, man, and special coverages on the fly). Every player is strong (how strong is strong? You should get stronger) and fast (how fast is fast? Trust me, get faster.) Every player is mentally tough and doesn’t care what you think - they are there to beat you. Every tall player can shoot the lights out of the ball and be disruptive on defense. Every short player has perfect footwork and incredible quickness. There is hardly any lack of ability in this select few who play at this level. 

And what makes the best of the best? Those that can humbly see how much work must be done, while having the hubris to believe it can be done by them. 

If your goal is to rise to this level, you need to adopt a sense of egoless clarity— the ability to assess yourself honestly without excuses.. This means looking at your abilities with an honest and non-judgmental view and realizing what needs work and what is your opportunity to beat others with. Both must be worked on tirelessly. Along with this, you must develop the ability to not care what others around you say about you. Scoring 5 goals and 3 assists in a high school game is without a doubt impressive to some, but if your goal is aimed high enough, this is the expectation and simply another step along your journey. If all 5 of those were strong-handed goals, a college defense will simply lock off your strong-hand. Can you score with your weak-hand just as well? If this sounds over-the-top and obsessive, you would be right and that’s why so few make it. 

The road is long and there are no shortcuts. It is better to think that you have plenty of disadvantages and adopt a chip on your shoulder as an underdog who must prove themself every single day and in every single rep, for the rest of your time as a player. Nothing is ever going to go your way unless you force it by will. 

So, is the work you do enough work to accomplish your goal? It’s hard to tell. We aren’t watching the food you eat, film you watch, conditioning you run, extra work you fit in, and mentality you are developing. Perhaps a more clarifying response would be a re-directed question asking, do you think your work is enough? 

And if the response is, “nope, there are new limits for me to hit”, you might just be on your way.

With Faith and endurance,

Davis