I Go To Work!

By Wayne Burke

-December 29th, 2015-

I love the holiday season.  Lax players everywhere are posting on social media all their new heads, mesh kits and other gear they got for Christmas talking about how sick their stick is or how they can’t wait to get back playing.  The new year means there is only 3-4 months until your season starts.  This is usually the time of year that your coach or club will run the occasional off season lax practice to get the rust out and get that twine finder dialled in.

I heard this old school hip hop song called “I got to Work” by Kool Moe Dee on my to the gym today and it got me thinking about the players that I work with on a daily basis. They’ve put a lot of hard work in to get themselves ready to dominate this year.  What about you?  Are you ready?

Think about it.  What did you do during the off season to make yourself better? I don’t mean working with the stick on your hand, I mean have you done anything to improve your athleticism?  Every player loves to work on “their game” but what have you done to become bigger, faster, stronger, more agile, better conditioned etc. You hear talk about the grind all the time, you read it on Twitter and Instagram everyday, it’s rare to find players who aren’t talking about how they’re putting work in.  Are you? Are you doing what you can to improve as a player?

I heard famous strength coach Matt Nichol once say (and I’m paraphrasing) that it’s amazing how many athlete’s today are willing to put the work in as long as it’s very convenient, not too hard and agrees with everything they’ve ever known.  Are you willing to do real work?

This means are you willing to to the work without the stick in your hand?  Playing the game is the part we all love but there comes a time in every players career where what they do in the off season plays a vital role in the their success during the season.  It’s usually the difference between making a team or playing the type of minutes you think you should be. Have you ever heard a coach say I can’t keep a player because he’s too strong?  Or have you ever seen a coach not give a player a significant role on a team because the player is too fast?

These are all trainable attributes of being a great lacrosse player.   Plan the work and then work the plan, GO TO WORK!

Cue the music.

Tags: agility, change of direction, complex training, core stability, core training, injury prevention, injury reduction, lacrosse training, lacrosse workouts, mobility, muscle activation, Notre Dame Lacrosse Strength and Conditioning, Power, smart lacrosse training, speed, Speed Training, stability, Strength Training