Lacrosse: The Player's Handbook
Author: M.B. Roberts
Publication date: 2007
The Skinny:
Visually pleasing with easy-to-read text and clear colorful pictures, this is a book for newer fans looking to learn about the history and culture of the sport. For players and coaches, this offers very basic individual concepts, tips for buying gear, preparatory advice, and lots of glossary terms. Decent book for the novice looking for a quick snapshot of the sport. For seasoned coaches and players—there are much better options.
Drills:
Virtually nonexistent. Some cardiovascular exercises and rudimentary stick skills. No team-oriented drills whatsoever.
Usefulness:
Less than twenty pages dedicated to coaching strategies, and mostly tips for organization and season planning. A nice glossary of terms, decent summary of rules, and one of the better depictions of lacrosse signals (officiating) of the books reviewed.
Extras:
The book covers boys and girls lacrosse. While light on tactics, this book is heavy on resources and appendices to make newcomers to the sport comfortable with the rules and procedures.
Coaching Youth Lacrosse (Second Edition)
Author: American Sport Education Program
Publication date: 2003 (1997 First Edition)
The Skinny:
For its second edition, US Lacrosse entered the picture to augment a fairly outdated handbook with an emphasis on player safety and enjoyment. There is a nice mixture of tactical education and appropriate drills to match the concepts. But it’s more explanatory than visual with overwhelmingly outdated photography. This is an okay attempt to encapsulate the entire sport of lacrosse into a one-stop manual. But it lacks creativity and passion and can seem underwhelming and uninspired at times.
Drills:
The drills sections are a success. With clear images and descriptions placed appropriately with its overarching theme, there are drills for all levels and skillsets. Each drill has a name, purpose, brief explanation, and suggestions to make it both easier and more difficult.
Usefulness:
For first-time coaches, there are better books available. But it’s serviceable and informative. For experienced coaches looking for more advanced drills and modernized concepts that are keeping up with the changes to the game, this book makes a fine paperweight.
Extras:
Good amount of detailed safety-related material. Worth noting that half the book is dedicated to girls lacrosse which has very different rules and concepts. Though most of coaching in 2017 is digital, there are helpful report templates in the back for those who still use beepers and fax machines.
The pretenders
The Scoop / Spring '17 31
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