What Makes a Great Motion Offense in Lacrosse

A ‘Motion Offense’ is a system of playing offense in LAX where the ball and the players are always moving to disorient the defense. A confused defense creates shot opportunities for the offense. There are three main components of a Motion Offense: 1.) Ball Movement, 2.) Player Movement, and heavy, 3.) Confident Dodging. Remember, continuous movement is the key to a successful motion offense.

Ball movement

• Ball movement means you pass the ball quickly and don’t let it get stuck in your stick for too long.  

• Look, catch, look: make fast, smart passes.  

• When the ball moves side to side across the RYDO line, and/or through X, defenders have to keep turning their attention away and switching their positioning. This uncertainty opens up opportunities for players.

Player movement

• Player movement means you don’t stand still and just watch the guy with the ball (Dodger). Positionally, the player with the ball is the dodger until he passes the ball to the next dodger.

• Note: The guy with the ball is always the Dodger, even if he doesn’t end up dodging. 

• Off-ball someone should be cutting to the goal (Cutter); popping out as relief for a safety pass (Float); have your teammate’s back (Follow); or filling into an open space (Pinch, or X). To read more about these specific roles and responsibilities, access here: LAX Blog - Positional Terminology

• When one teammate cuts, his teammates fill his spot by rotating so the offense keeps good spacing and a good shape.  

• If everyone is moving with purpose, it’s much harder for defenders to stay with you.

Confident Dodging

• Dodging with confidence, aka heavy dodging, is when you attack your defender with speed to gain an advantage over them.

• Great Dodging doesn’t mean always crashing the cage to score. More times than not, you’re dodging to draw a slide from the Defense. When they double-team you, this creates opportunities for you to bounce out and hit either a Cutter, the open guy at the Pinch, or a step-down shot from your Follow. 

• In a motion offense, you don’t dodge just to dodge, you dodge to help the team.  Smart dodging means being a team player.

• While you’re dodging, your teammates move: some clear to space or to X, others float to provide relief if you get jammed up, and some cut to the open hub just above the crease for scoring opportunities.  

• Continuous movement by everyone is the key to a successful motion offense. If you don’t get a shot when you dodge, move the ball quickly and let another teammate dodge from a new spot, keeping the movement going.

• Note: A good mental rule to think about is ‘Pass, Pass, Dodge’. Always,  Pass, Pass, Dodge.