Summary: Man Down Defense

• After a penalty is committed, your player will need to go to the penalty box for 1-3 minutes depending on the infraction. Penalties are very common in the game of lacrosse and without a solid man down defensive strategy your team will be at a severe disadvantage. A good man-down defensive unit will prevent a goal on over 50% of man down possessions.
• Having played on the man down defensive unit as both a long stick and a short stick defensive player in both high school and college, I have learned the keys to success and the most effective team strategies.

General Rules of Man Down Defense: Keys to Success

• Sticks up in the passing lanes!
  • Most turnovers will be caused by passes being knocked down.
• Head on a swivel.
  • Defensive players must be constantly moving their eyes from watching the ball to watching the other defenders. 
• Communication!
  • Call out rotations, cutters, formation changes, and shooters. 
• Constant Rotations
  • Don’t hesitate, movement is key to great man down defense.
• Make sure the crease is covered.
  • Nothing easy, make the offense take outside shots.
• Sticks on hands.
  • If you’re covering the ball carrier, check his hands and pressure him to make him pass the ball. 

Man-Down Defense: 5 Man Rotation

• The man-down defensive strategy called “5 Man Rotation” is the most common type of man down defense and often the most effective. 
• That being said, it is also more difficult to execute correctly so younger players and even varsity high school players can have trouble running it. 
• Sometimes it is better to run a more simple defensive scheme so that the players can execute easier. 

• The formation for a 5 man rotation will have your 5 defensive players evenly spaced out in a pentagon or house shape. 
• One defender must always be committed to the ball carrier. (unless he is so far away from the goal that he is not a threat.)
• As one defender is focused on covering the man with the ball, the other 4 defensive players are spread out in between the other offensive players. 
• Any defender who is not covering the ball directly, is ready to move and cover one of two players nearest to them. 
• Depending on where the ball is thrown, if it is near them they will move towards the man with the ball and cover him. 
• When the offensive player throws a pass and a new defender has to commit to the ball carrier and he moves from splitting two players to committing to one player, this is when there needs to be a defensive rotation. He should call out “ROTATE!” so that the other defenders know they need to change position. 
• A rotation happens when the ball is passed, and the defensive players need to shift to a new position in order to defend correctly as a cohesive unit.  
• The ball is passed, a new defender must commit to the new ball carrier, and the other 4 defenders must shift into new defensive positions that allow them to stand between multiple offensive players and cover two players at once. 
• The goal is to always have a defensive player pressuring the offensive player who is receiving a pass 1 on 1, while the rest of the defenders share the remaining offensive threats. 
• If the offense is in an “Open Set” (meaning all offensive players are outside the crease area) then the rotation is fairly simple as the ball moves around the perimeter. 
• In an Open Set the defense will rotate in an even circle as the ball moves around the perimeter. 
• The 5-man rotation gets more complicated when the offense has one or more players on the crease. 
• It is the same rotation as an open set, but the furthest defender from the ball carrier must move to the inside and cover the player or players on the crease.
• This will stop the easy pass and shot for the man on the crease, while leaving an offensive player open. But the player we are leaving open is the longest pass form the ball carrier, and the smallest threat to score. 
• As the ball is passed around the perimeter, the rotation must happen and the backside player (player furthest from the ball) will change after each pass and that new backside player must cover the man on the crease until their responsibilities change. 
• A good 5-Man defense requires lots of communication, lots of rotations, a head on a swivel, and a stick up in the passing lanes. 
• This is a more advanced man down defensive scheme, but when executed correctly it is typically the most effective.

Man-Down Defense: 4 Man Rotation (Box and 1)

• The 4 man rotation for man down defense, also called the “Box and 1” Is a great option for high school teams as it is less complicated than the 5 man rotation but is still very effective. 
• It also allows you to always have a defender on the crease to eliminate easy shots from close range. 
• The formation for a box and 1 has one defender who stays locked on the crease, while the other 4 defenders are set up in a box or square formation on the outside.

• We will start with the 4 defenders in the box on the outside.
• These 4 defenders should be evenly spaced apart in a box. When an offensive player has the ball in a threatening position, the defender who is closest to the ball must move and commit to covering that player one on one so they can not shoot. 
• When that happens, the remaining 3 players from the box must reposition themselves to be in between all the other offensive players who are on the outside.  
• Each of the off ball defenders who are part of the 4 man box, must be positioned between two offensive players so that they are ready to cover either on in the event that one of them gets the ball or cuts towards the net. 
• As the ball moves from one offensive player to another on the outside, a different member of the 4 man box must step up and commit to the ball carrier. 
• As a new defender commits to the ball, the other 3 defenders must rotate and position themselves between two offensive players. 
• This rotation process is extremely important and must be executed very quickly. When a new defender is committing to cover the new offensive ball carrier, this is when they need to shout “Rotate!” so that the rest of the defenders in the box know to reposition. 
• This can be tough if the offense is passing the ball quickly and frequently as the rotation will need to happen repeatedly. 
• It also becomes a challenge as one of the off ball defenders may be splitting between two players who are on opposite sides of the crease. They may need to slide very far to cover a ball carrier who is 10 yards or more away. This is where box and 1 has a weakness. It is great for covering the crease, but can be very difficult for an offense who can pass the ball quickly around the outside. 
• This rotation is used regardless of what offensive formation your opponent is in. 
• It gets more complicated when the offense has 2 defenders on the crease. 
• In that situation, the rotation is the same, but the defensive player who is on the backside (furthest from the ball carrier), must fade to the crease to help cover the one of the offensive players there. 
• When the offense goes into an open set, you will want to move your crease defender away from the formation and have him join the rotation and switch to a 5-man rotation. 
• Or have him hang out and stay on the crease in expectation that the offense will move a player there eventually. 

• The defender on the crease is typically the short stick middie or whoever the weakest defender is on your team. 
• The crease defender locks on to the crease offensive player. If there is one player in the crease, their job is very easy. Only worry about that one player, follow him around and make sure he can not catch a pass. There are no other responsibilities for this player. 
• If there are two offensive players in the crease area, then this defender’s job gets tougher. They now have to decide which of the two players to cover. 
• The crease defender should be covering the man closest to the ball carrier. This gets tough as the ball moves, and the two offensive players move around on the crease. 
• The person the crease defender is covering could change very quickly and very frequently.
• They need to communicate with their defensive teammates and let them know as they shift from guarding one player to the next.  
• The player that they are not directly guarding is the responsibility of one of the outside defenders in the 4 man box. 
• The tough decision comes when the offense has 0 men on the crease and are in an open set, with all offensive players on the perimeter. As a team you will need to make a choice to either keep the crease man there and expect that an offensive player will eventually come into the crease to be covered or decide to shift into a 5 man rotation and move the crease man into the outside box and become a 5 man perimeter rotation instead of a 4 man rotation.

Play the man at X?

During a man-down situation, the offense will likely have one or two players positioned behind the net. As a man down unit it is essential to decide whether or not you want to go out and cover him behind the net or leave him back there and focus on defending the crease and the other offensive threats above the goal. 

If you do decide to go behind the cage and pressure the ball carrier, you may open up other opportunities for offensive players to cut through the middle and get open for an easy shot. 

That being said, if you leave him uncovered, then he gets to stand back there like Eli Manning in the superbowl and take his time while deciding how to shred the defense.

It really comes down to your personnel and the personnel of your opponents.  

If you think the player is weaker behind the cage then I would pressure him. If he is a strong player then I would let him stay back there until he is a threat to score. A good player will easily take advantage of the over aggressive pressure in a man down situation. 

In my opinion, I prefer to leave that man uncovered unless he starts to creep around the net towards Goal Line Extended (GLE).

Conclusion:

Man down defense is very difficult. Even when played perfectly the offense will get quality shots on the net. 

It is important to make sure you are at least forcing the offense to take shots from further away to give your goalie a better chance to make a save. 

Stoppin the offense from scoring typically happens from a bad pass or a bad shot from the offense. Have your defense stay patient, play fundamental defense, know the rotation package, and make sure to keep the crease covered. 

When played correctly man down defense is a lot of fun and can cause a huge momentum swing in the game.