NLL Insider

About a month ago in one of my NLL draft blogs I briefly mentioned that a few of the combine candidates appeared to be in less than great shape.  Shortly afterwards I got an email from an NLL trainer who commented that many lacrosse players have still not figured out how important physical conditioning is.

Like most teams his team runs some complex athlete assessment at training camp and he said that he was always amazed at the poor conditioning of many of the players displayed in testing. “Especially considering the fact that we gave several waves of advance conditioning information so they would have the resources to focus on the correct things.”

First of all, you should know that this trainer has been involved in the NLL for many years and is a certified strength-conditioning trainer. He has dozens of years of experience that included work with the NFL and NHL.   He didn’t really care about anonymity for himself but the reason I don’t mention his name or team is because he does not want to embarrass any players.

His team would do a battery of tests every season. Every year he said there would be a handful of players that would score well, dozen or so who displayed adequate conditioning and another dozen who were well below where they needed to be.

I was under the impression that current NLL lacrosse players were fitter than lacrosse players of any previous generation – and that probably is true – it’s just that lacrosse players are still far behind many other sports and especially behind the major professional leagues.  However, lacrosse still has come a long way.

During my early years of senior lacrosse (in the 80s) in Canada it was not uncommon for the players to smoke in the dressing room during intermissions. Very few players did extra conditioning outside of practices and games.  In the early 90s I noticed a change.  That was when more Canadians were starting to play in the MILL (the earlier name for the NLL) first with Detroit Turbos and then with the Buffalo Bandits. Until that time the MILL was primarily a league of Americans because of restrictive import rules.

The import rule was not an anti-Canadian rule but was meant to ensure that teams saved money by using local talent. When Buffalo and Detroit, both border cities, entered the league, each team was allowed more Canadians because they were considered “local” talent. The best Canadian players started to play in the MILL. Obviously the box skills that the Gaits, Kilgours, Cordingly, Tavares, Veltman, Keenan, Alexander and the other great Canadian brought to the indoor pro league had a huge influence on the Americans who were playing the Indoor game but as a longtime player in the Ontario Leagues  I also noticed a change in the Canadians.

Suddenly, some very skilled “fat” Canadians were coming back into the summer leagues lighter, quicker and stronger.  I played senior lacrosse in Canada for close to 20 years and only one year in the NLL as a 37-year-old rookie with the Ontario Raiders.  The only reason coach Bartley gave me a chance was because I came to camp about 15 pounds lighter than my summer playing weight.  Bartley put a huge emphasis on fitness and for the first time in my career I was on a team that did very serious fitness testing.  Today my very un-scientific impression is that indoor lacrosse players are in much better shape than ever. All NLL teams do fitness testing, at least at training camp.

Except for the collegiate players, very few box lacrosse players have had access to professional strength and conditioning coaches. I was surprised to find that my trainer friend feels that many in the Canadian lacrosse fraternity are not sold on its value of strength conditioning.

“The NLL is where many other pro leagues were 15–20 years ago. Nobody in baseball took strength conditioning seriously until Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire started belting out home runs after some serious strength training.”

Yes, I know they used supplements, but the point is that they proved that increased strength meant increased results.  I like to point at how skinny Wayne Gretzky was but my friend will also point to many hockey players who made it to the NHL by becoming explosive skaters through serious strength training. He feels that most NLL players can dramatically improve their upper and lower body strength and thus improve their speed. It seems blatantly obvious that when all else is equal the fitter lacrosse player will have the advantage. 

He also feels that the relatively short NLL season with weekend games is perfect  for maintaining a high volume in-season regimen of weightlifting that would be impossible to maintain in other pro sports with much busier schedules. In terms of published data, lacrosse is way behind the other professional sports as well. I find it fascinating that my trainer friend can tell you how the average NFL or NBA player performs on any  specific test.  Would you believe that the record for the best vertical jump (52 inches) was by an Olympic weight lifter?

I have no reason to doubt my trainer friend but no amount of time in a weight room will help someone figure out how to put the ball in the net like a John Tavares. But I do know that at least one NLL coach told me that a few of his best offensive players are overweight. Since they still put up good numbers you have to wonder how much better they could be if they really got fit. When you add superb physical conditioning to super skills you get a pretty amazing player. Check out Dan Dawson or Lewis Ratcliff. If lacrosse evolves like the other sports did, you can bet that every player will have that same conditioning in 10 years. If you think the game is fun to watch now, imagine what it will be like then.

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