Adam Culbertson’s U.S. Developmental Indoor Lacrosse Team Blog: Training Camp
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U.S. Indoor Lacrosse
Growing up playing field lacrosse in the states, you have a lot of the same drills regardless of the hotbed you’re from. With that being said when the transition time comes to apply one’s field game to the indoor one, a lot of the little nuances are never really there compared to those growing up playing the indoor game. So when most Americans play the indoor game it’s a lot of outdoor mentality that would never fly in a real indoor game.
First off, the myth of having both hands for a lacrosse game is thrown out the window; the whole idea of being able to pull off a beautiful split dodge, run down the ally and ping a corner with your outside hand on the far side corner just isn’t going to fly — at all.
With this in mind you have to rebuild everything you need to know about the game. So this particular weekend Coach Graham D’Alvia set up drills that most NLL teams and all indoor teams up north use. Going over drills that fine tune our indoor sense of play and how to read plays, most of the indoor game is based on a “two man” game. Much like basketball most of the plays are based off a pick-and-roll strategy. Have your defender commit to the player and put them in a position they don’t want to be in.
I can tell you from experience there is nothing more beautiful then watching the pick and roll executed and have a goal be the end result. Some compare it to a basketball player dropping a three pointer, or an NFL quarterback threading the needle for a touchdown. In short, sheer beauty.
The end result of this training camp was a chance to play a local Philadelphia squad comprised of players from all of the Philly indoor leagues. It was a great game and a great chance to use all of the things we had learned throughout the weekend. Midway through the game a wrench was thrown into the mix; mid play during the first half of the game the lights went out, and gale force winds that rivaled the Wizard of Oz touched down in Aston Pa.
Now with that being said playing in a nice concrete building we would not have anything to worry about; but sadly we were in one of those giant dome structures which are amazing to play in but when the storm of the century comes around we needed to find some cover. So to waited for the storm to pass and headed to the gym next door and enjoyed the first-hand episode of planet earth.
After the storm passed we got back to action and ended up with a win. To me it was a fun experience because I had the point of view from both sides, due to the fact that a year ago I was the one on the Philly team playing the USDT. All in all it was a great weekend. I got to show some of the guys on the team what my little slice of the world looked like, and got a chance to work on my game. I’ll chalk it up as a positive building block for the USDT as a whole.
This weeks Bio is on a crafty leftie that hails from Merrick, N.Y.. Justin Otto is a great guy who truly lives the “Lax or Die Lifestyle” Check out Topside Lacrosse. A few weeks back he was sidelined with a dislocated elbow; now with that being said a lot of players would pack it in and just let the summer go by and enjoy it. Otto on the other hand is not that kind of person. He worked back to getting on the floor and sniping goals with the best of them.
Otto played his high school lacrosse at Chaminade and then moved on the DI ranks of Manhattan College, where he was one of the leading goal-scorers for all four years. While beasting it on the lax field Otto majored in Civil Engineering and also minored in Mathematics. One really great thing I like about Otto is he is really pushing to get indoor lacrosse in the New York scene. Don’t be surprised to find a league or two pop up, then you will know who to thank. Until next time boys and girls, Cheers.
Warmest Regards
Culby #25
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