In this episode of 'Get the Lax Scoop,' hosts Big Dog and Jaybird, alongside roving reporter Steve Gresalfi and major skills trainers like Jamie Munro, Nick Tintle, and Jules Heningburg, delve into advanced strategies for skill development in lacrosse. From ecological dynamics to creative training setups, the discussions cover how to optimize touches, the balance between game play and practice, and effective coaching philosophies. They also share personal experiences of setting up training facilities and engaging youth players to cultivate growth. Additional insights include Jamie’s thoughts on the integration of game context in training, Nick’s journey in establishing a premier lacrosse training gym, and Jules' foundation of the LAX lab aimed at comprehensive player development.
00:00 Introduction to Get the Lax Scoop
00:23 Meet the Hosts and Special Guests
01:00 Welcome and Show Overview
01:17 First Quarter 2025 Highlights
02:09 Jamie Munro on Skills Training
03:38 Ecological Dynamics in Lacrosse
09:55 Youth Lacrosse Coaching Insights
16:52 Nick Tintle's Lacrosse Facility Journey
22:45 Introducing Box Lacrosse and Sixes
23:25 Strength and Conditioning with Sweet Oak Fit
24:25 Lacrosse Barn: A Tribute to the Game's Origins
26:21 Training Strategies and Biomechanics
31:39 Jules Heningburg: Individual Growth Mindset
34:51 The LAX Lab: Training the Next Generation
40:53 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
NEW BOOK!
Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
-Available on Amazon.com as an Ebook and paperback
Links to training videos:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s
Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ
Check us out...
On YouTube @jaymcmahonlax23
On Instagram @jaymcmahonlax23
On Facebook @: facebook.com/jmcmahonlax23. Page name: Jay McMahon Lacrosse
Jules Heningburg: https://thelaxlab.com/
Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:
https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf
SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts
Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts
Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/
https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's time for Get the LackScoop, a podcast bringing you
all the people and stuff youshould know in the game of
lacrosse.
We take lack seriously, butourselves, not so much.
Join host Big Dog and Jaybirdand the biggest names in the
game brought to you by JayMcMahon lacrosse.
That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training.
(00:23):
Ron Doglish, the big dog, was acollegiate football and lacrosse
player at Brown.
He was also an assistantlacrosse coach and the executive
director of the SportsFoundation.
And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, athree time All American
midfielder at Brown.
He was the captain of the U.
S.
Junior National Team and is thefounder of JML.
(00:43):
And Joining us in the studio,Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate
lacrosse career statisticsequals one goal against
Dartmouth brought to you by JayMcMahon lacrosse.
That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training, helping the
next generation of lacrosseplayers get to the next level.
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to the show and forthose who are new to get the
(01:04):
lack scoop, a very warm welcometo you as well.
As many of our listeners know,we love our compilations that's
because it really hammers homesome of the best portions of our
previous quarters interviews.
And the first quarter of 2025 isno different.
We had three of the top skillstrainers in the entire country
(01:24):
on our show.
Jamie Monroe, out of Denver,Colorado.
Nick Tinel, out of Dallas,Texas, and Jules Berg out of the
great state of New Jersey.
The wide breadth of thesetrainers approach mirrors their
wide geographic reach, the reachof the game we all love.
The book we released on Amazoninside the recruiting game,
(01:46):
insights from Top Collegecoaches has been getting some
traction.
Thank you to all who havepurchased it.
If you liked it, please leave areview, and if you haven't read
it yet, go check it out as itentails, recruiting and skills
training, tips from top collegecoaches and skills trainers such
as Bill Tierney, Joe Brey, andAndy Towers to name a few.
(02:09):
We'll start off this compilationwith Jamie Monroe, remarks.
And let it roll from there.
We sure hope you enjoy it and ifyou do, please subscribe to the
show and leave a review.
As they say, it don't costnothing and it sure would help
us out.
You will find our interview inprogress.
So Jamie, I wanted to follow upwith that conversation about the
(02:33):
way your own thinking hasevolved around skills and.
You know, we got a lot ofparents and kids who are in that
middle school, high schoolrange, kind of the wheelhouse of
kids you've worked with foreverto try to develop their games.
And so, you know, can you talkabout, and I know I've talked
(02:53):
with you about, you know, the,the way you think about.
For instance, all thesetournaments and everything has
value, but you go to thesetournaments and the number of
touches a kid might get in awhole weekend, you know, versus,
you know, some of theinteractive online training that
you're doing and the way.
that kid can really developtheir skills or that kind of one
(03:16):
on one skills training that Iknow my friend Jay does live
with players.
So can you talk about what rolethey each have to play in a
player's development, smallsided games, which I know you
also are a huge proponent of.
So talk about what do you tellmiddle school and high school
players to do today who reallywant to develop their skills?
(03:38):
Yeah, the biggest thing you guysis that that I would love
parents to sort of reallyconsider is that the the
traditional the traditionalcoaching model is that you will
Master techniques and you'llrehearse them and practice them
and master them thesefundamentals And with the idea
(03:59):
that you will be able to deploythem in a game at the right time
and that is from And when skillacquisition became a thing in
the 1960s, there was aninformation processing theory,
and that's where this comes fromwhich said that we perceive our
surroundings, we make a choice,like a Terminator, like you have
like all these choices to choosefrom, pick your skill, you do
(04:22):
it, and then you make a decisionto do something, and this, this
contemporary skill acquisitiontheory that I, that I referenced
a minute ago called ecologicaldynamics is ecological dynamics.
This is like being studied allover the world, not so much on
lacrosse, but in, in, in, in, intons of different ways, not just
(04:42):
sports.
You can get a PhD in ecologicaldynamics.
Okay.
But what it says is we perceiveour surroundings and we act
instantaneously and we selforganize.
And so what this means iseverything we're doing all this
is not just in sports.
This is all day long.
We perceive our surroundings ashuman beings.
It explains human movement.
We perceive our surroundings.
And we act instantaneously andwe self organize self organized
(05:06):
part means it's different everytime.
It's never the same.
There is no one technique.
There's no one way to doanything because there's no two
situations that occur exactlythe same.
And it's all about perception.
So when you think about thewords lacrosse IQ.
What does that mean?
Lacrosse IQ means a smartplayer, right?
Lacrosse IQ basically is yourdecision making paired with your
(05:27):
skills.
So for parents the mostimportant thing that your kids
can do is find coaches that aregoing to do stuff with them that
are live One on O's don't makeyou better because there's no
decision making.
There's no lacrosse IQ.
Does it mean it's a total wasteof time to ever work on stick
(05:49):
work?
No, but you're not actuallygetting better at the game.
And so there's just not enoughtime to spend a lot of time when
you're not actually gettingbetter at the game itself.
So just being in a one on onewhere you get to dodge a
defender is going to be lightyears better than dodging a
cone.
You show me a technique of aperfect technique, I'll put a
defender on that player, thattechnique will not happen that
way.
(06:09):
It just doesn't and so it's backto the whole free play thing.
It's kind of how we all grew upplaying sports And which is kind
of what's brought me back to allof this is that the way we grew
up playing was just we playedand sure Neil referenced that I
would do wall ball if I didn'thave somebody to play with, but
I would automatically go playwith somebody you ask about that
competitiveness.
It probably stems from that.
(06:29):
We just played.
And so the bottom line forparents is club is a fun
experience.
You need to play the full fieldgame.
You would like to be have somelevel of fun.
Yeah.
Of of of a good experience goodcompetition Don't depend on your
club to develop you Becausebecause there's just not enough
(06:50):
time and and also like you talkabout touches You know, you
might literally, you know yourparents you've seen it count
count your son's touches in thegame You might get 15 of them in
a game but but also not alltouches are created equal so you
can get thousands of touches onthe wall But then there's no
decision making so we got tofind this balance of context Of
(07:11):
offense and defense and decisionmaking in situations that are
that are small slices of thegame and reps That's why these
small sided games are so good.
It's why box lacrosse playershave gotten so good It's a
smaller sided game that has adifferent constraints that allow
these players to learn thesesmaller situations that
(07:33):
translate beautifully to thefull field game, so Dive into go
to the ecological lacrossepodcast that I've been doing
lately if you want to learn moreabout it start digging into this
It's a total game changer, andunfortunately, hardly anybody
does it.
MacBook Pro Microphone & (07:49):
Yeah, I mean, I, I agree a hundred
percent there, Jamie, but, youknow, working on your skills so
that you can pass, catch, shootand move your feet effectively
is something that every player,you know, must get the reps on
before, you know, in betweenpracticing, playing with other
players, you know, otherwise, aplayer simply doesn't have the
skills they need to be able tonot only compete, but to enjoy
(08:12):
competing.
Enjoy the game.
So when I train players, whetherit's in person or online, we go
through this method of howthey'll approach incorporating
what they've learned inone-on-one or small group
sessions into team practices andgames or, and even free play
situations.
So it goes like this, like theywould have a plan of what
they're gonna do, whether it's amove or a cut or what have you,
(08:36):
and then they'd evaluate rightthen and there, you know, and
this is for something new thatthey haven't tried before.
But they'd evaluate then andthere how they did, and then
make any needed adjustments thenext time they go at it.
So until, you know, I tell themuntil they get that real
experience of how this move, orlet's say this release point on
a shot is going to work in realtime in a real situation,
(08:58):
they're not gonna really knowhow it works.
So I think everyone would agreethat players need both types of
play.
And as far as wall ball, I mean,I think every player should use.
Wall ball the same way and that,you know, they need to get their
technical skills better so thatway players aren't showing up at
practice, let's say, with aterrible offhand, you know,
their non-dominant hand, forexample, and that they shouldn't
(09:20):
be coming to practice to try towork on catching and throwing
with their offhand for the veryfirst time in a team practice.
Because, you know, thatsituation is just kind of like
a, a drill kill situation, youknow?
Yeah, and as I said, Jay, Idon't think Jamie ever thinks
about this stuff, really.
He just kind of does shit, andhe doesn't really put any
thought into it, you know.
Self organization, dog.
(09:41):
Yeah, I gotta, I'm very selforganized.
I mean, yeah, is that, I gotta,I gotta rethink everything, Jay.
I gotta rethink everything.
I don't know what the hell I'mdoing.
Your perception, Ron.
Organize yourself.
Let's go.
Get with it.
Now, Neil, you've been coachingsome youth lacrosse yourself in
your area out in Sun Valley.
Out and with Sun Valleylacrosse, rather out in Idaho,
(10:03):
and I saw that you're workingwith seventh and eighth graders.
And I think that is just a greatage group where they can really
start doing stuff.
And if kids are taught the rightway and taught to dream big,
they can really start reallyaccomplishing some things out on
the field.
So tell us, you know, what yourexperience has been like and and
what your approach has been withthese young guys.
Yeah.
So last year, my son's a now aninth grader, but I coached the
(10:26):
seven, eight team.
And we actually worked withJamie and jam three to start to
put some of his strategies intoplace and it was an incredible
experience.
We have such raw athletes out inthis valley.
You just think about them in themountain sport environment.
I think every kid on our teamcould probably do a backflip on
skis, you know, they wheelinginto practice on their mountain
(10:49):
bikes, but they just haven't hada really good structure.
Or commitment to lacrosse.
And so there's a few parents, aguy played at Yale, one who
played a little bit atMiddlebury, and we've been
committed to try to make adifference.
And so really trying to make itmore part of their every day.
So making it part of the cultureout here and not just kind of
the fourth or fifth sport, wetry to make it really fun.
(11:12):
Try to make it competitive.
I mean, you heard Jamie and Italking about everything was a
competition.
Kids love it.
Boys, girls, young and old.
If you play for a competition,they want to win and they'll try
harder.
We also leave them wanting alittle bit more so that they
want to come back because it wasso good.
And so it's been this approachthat we started to implement
last year.
(11:33):
I've been coaching over the lastsix months, actually all ages
and all, both genders to reallytry to bring lacrosse to this
Valley.
We have some goals that we'veput forth that we want to be the
best in the state.
It's a small, big state, smalllacrosse state.
And we're starting to do it andit's been an incredible journey
so far.
We've seen kids who have neverplayed the game before.
(11:57):
Improved dramatically just in afew months through touches in
the right situation is Jamiehighlighted earlier through
putting them in situations wherethey can use the skills that
they've acquired to makedecisions and learn how to
problem solve.
And it's been amazing and it isso much fun.
We go three times a week, twotimes a week, depending on the
groups.
(12:18):
And it's really starting tobecome part of this Valley and
we have big goals to go further.
That's awesome.
Now, if you're setting up thiskind of smaller sided situation
so the kids can get moretouches, you know, you're out on
a field, you know, we've got alot of coaches who listen to the
podcast and parents and kids.
So how would they set that up?
Like, tell us the setupbasically.
(12:39):
Yeah, I mean, depending on whatwe're trying to do, if you look
at, you kind of groundeverything at a principle of
play, right?
So if you want to basically justhave something around handling
pressure.
You could start off by breakinginto groups of five and do a
three on two, keep away in aconstrained box, 10 by 10.
So a lot of times teams warm upwith just doing line drills and
(13:00):
that's great.
You're throwing and catching andyou're moving, but again, you're
no pressure.
There's no decision making.
If you want to work on movingthe ball and handling pressure,
if you just do a three on two,keep away in a constrained box
size.
And you can shrink or grow thebox depending on skills.
And so you set up five of thosewith your 25 players.
If you intercept like monkey inthe middle, you switch it out.
(13:22):
And so we just do a lot oflittle things like that.
We'll do, we have four, threeand a half or four by four
goals.
We'll set up games where if wewant to have the team move the
ball more quickly, we'll put ashot clock on.
If we want to make sure thatthey're just working on certain
angles or spacing.
We'll only allow the team to useone half of the field.
So we're constantly just puttingin new constraints.
(13:45):
And so, and to the point thatJamie mentioned about self
organizing, you don't have tomicromanage this.
You literally bring the kidstogether with four goals on the
field and say, we're playingthree on three.
And there's a 12 second shotclock, goalie counts it down,
go, and you just start withthat.
And it's pretty incredible howquickly those kids can get it
going, particularly when youkeep score, you make it
(14:07):
competitive and they love it andyou can control it and then you
can change as needed.
And it's been great.
I'm sure Jamie has more to addon that as well, but this, we've
been using it.
We do calls with Jamie, what,two or three times a week we put
practice plans together.
We review video it's, and it'sjust so great to see.
And then maybe Jamie can come inon this.
(14:27):
Do you put together like anoffense for these kids?
Let's say, like, how would theyget some of that free play
action going on in an actualgame?
How would that translate?
Well, all of the small sidedgames and drills like Neil said,
are relative to the principlesof the game anyways.
(14:50):
And so, Handling pressure.
He gave a three on two example.
Maybe they'll do a four on fouror five on five example where
there's double teams And they'renot and you have to make six
passes to be able to like winthe rep so That would simulate
exactly how you would be able tohandle pressure in a game And so
if you think about these littlethree on two games or three on
(15:11):
three games if we were to say,all right Well you guys you guys
have to and create offense offof this action, then they would
go do that and they would learnhow to do it.
And then we might be like, Hey,and by the way, the defense, you
guys have to, you can't switch.
No switch.
You have to go over.
In fact, you can't switch andyou have to go over the pick.
And then after a while, theybegin to learn the parts and
(15:33):
pieces of what offense lookslike.
And, and there's endless waysthat you can create smaller
sided situations where they getlots of touches.
They're getting the IQ in theskill together.
The perception and the actioncoupled together instead of
decoupling them, they'retogether.
And, and then in the end, Imean, we haven't really gotten
(15:53):
to the point where they're inseason yet, but when it comes to
being in season, they're goingto be able to do stuff relative
to the principles of play.
Well, so what is the principleof play of running an offense?
It's to, it's to, it's to createan advantage.
The whole point is to try tocreate an advantage, right?
So you can score a goal.
How do you create advantage offthe dodge?
Well, we'll teach you how tododge in lots of different ways
(16:14):
by doing.
15 different, different types ofone on ones.
Maybe an offer approach.
Maybe in a post op.
Maybe with the defenseoverplaying you.
Whatever it is.
Maybe with a pick.
We'll figure, another way to doit is off a two man game.
Another way to do it is off anoff ball two man game.
Another way is with ballmovement and spacing.
And by doing all of theseconstraints in these, in, in 2
(16:35):
on 2, maybe even 5 on 5, itbuilds up where the kids know
how to play.
Then you can do whatever youwant.
Anything will work.
But if they don't know how toplay, nothing works.
next up is the great Nick Tin.
So, yeah, so I, so I was inlooking for smaller buildings
(16:56):
and I get a call from my nowinvestor in in Dallas.
He goes, I got this place.
And I didn't, I didn't know whohe was.
You know, I researched and heplayed the cross played at a
high level, played at the prolevel.
Has done well for himself, buthe he calls me and goes, I got a
place you gotta look at.
I'm like, I'm sorry, who isthis?
And then I researched and saw,and I was like, all right, I'll
come check it out.
(17:17):
Not expect anything.
And I walk into this buildingand when I tell you it, it was a
shit hole.
It was beyond a shit hole.
But it was everything I'vedreamt of owning a gym.
It was a full field house,a-frame, no poles, wide open
space, just right.
I was so tired, but I, when Iwalked in this place, I asked
(17:37):
myself when I'm on my deathbed.
And look back at thisopportunity.
And if I said no, I would regretit.
And that's why I was like, I'min 100% in now.
I asked him like how he found meor whatever, and you know, he's
an investor in a bunch ofdifferent things, but he found
me through mutual friends that Iplayed with or played against or
whatever.
And everyone told him that I wasthe guy to run it because, you
know, I ran a brick and mortar,but I also Right.
(18:00):
Have a lacrosse background aswell.
So I basically said yes.
Took my wife to Dallas.
So did, so did he have this ideafor the space?
He is like, like, this guy's agreat lacrosse trainer.
This is a great space.
I mean, it's a huge space,right?
So, so he, yes.
So he moved to Dallas and hejust thought that they needed
something for lacrosse.
Lacrosse is not a sanctionedsport, so they kind of get
kicked off to the side.
(18:21):
So they, they, they don't getindoor field space often.
They don't get this stuff.
And I was like, he, he, youknow, he was like, we could do
football, we could do soccer.
He wanted to do everything.
I was like.
I wanna make this a fulllacrosse place.
I, I think it's time.
And my uncle's been down here,coaching coach at the Woodlands.
He's in Austin now, but he, oh,wow.
He told me to send thecoordinates I sent him, he goes,
(18:41):
you couldn't pick a betterlocation.
It's right between HighlandPark, where Presler ISS at now,
right.
ESD, you got Hockaday on thegirls side.
You have St.
Mark's, you have a bunch ofreally, you know, you know,
Charlotte North went to ESD.
She's 10, it's 10 down down theroad.
That's awesome.
High level players, high levelteams, right within, you know,
15 minutes of the gym.
(19:02):
So I, I told him, I was like,and he looked at me, he is like,
okay, we'll, we'll, we'll try itout.
He goes, this is your thing.
It's a passion project for him.
But it, like, it was kind of arisk on my time to make it just
lacrosse and I just thought itwas the right time to do it.
I might be a little early to it,but I promise you since I've
done it, people are starting totalk about putting it
everywhere.
They wanted, right?
(19:22):
Huh?
Yeah.
So anyway, this type offacility, well, I wouldn't bet
against you.
Yeah.
It was my, it was my dream.
It was my dream.
I swear I've dreamed, I dreamtof a place.
'cause when I was playing forDenver, we used to play in the
field house at, Bronco StadiumBroncos.
And I looked at it, I was like,man, if I had it, I just, all
these years I've been designingthis facility in my head and now
I have the actual bones to do itand start from scratch and make
(19:45):
it my own.
And I moved my wife from, fromCalifornia, she's born, you
know, born and raised inCalifornia.
She moves to Dallas.
She, you know, she's anotherangel that was sent to me.
She's everywhere.
And I come, I show her thisplace and like I said, I mean,
HVAC system were gone.
Wire line, like copper wiresstolen, windows broken.
It was dusty.
(20:06):
Like, I bring her in and I'mlike, this is gonna be strength.
This is gonna be chiropractor,this is gonna be this, this can
be this, this is gonna be fieldtur, blah, all this stuff.
I turn around and can't hear it.
A peep.
And I like, what's up?
She goes.
What the fuck did you do?
What do you mean?
But what do you mean this?
It's gonna be beautiful.
She goes, do you know how muchwork you have?
And I'm like, I'm like, let'sstay in the honeymoon stage a
(20:28):
little bit for this.
Right?
And that, that was the start ofthe project that took 10 years
off my life.
Pretty much.
I, you know, I, I, I stayed inCalifornia.
I sold Athlete's Choice.
I stayed there for six moremonths working out of that
facility.
And then I was gonna move toDallas and within that year, so
I thought it was gonna be a sixmonth, you know, a year project.
So six month renovation, ayear's worth kind of thing.
(20:49):
I started and then six monthsI'll be there while they're
building it out.
I got there.
I.
It took two years to get off thebat.
So I didn't have, I didn'treally have a job for two years
when I got here.
Obviously I, I was training andcoaching at the field, but I,
you know, I was also going,meeting up with the architects
and meeting up with the townand, and doing all coding and a
DA compliance and, you know,putting security cameras in, you
(21:12):
know, entertainment systems.
Finding a strength coach to, toteam with, to finding our
chiropractor and our, and our PTside, and finding coaches that
wanna coach there and all thisstuff.
But, you know, I wouldn't changethe world.
It, the place came out.
It's, it's, it's just unreal.
It's, it's, it's a different,it's a different facility.
It's a real special place.
Yeah.
But it looks like a piece ofartwork.
(21:34):
It is.
It's.
And yeah, just looking at someof the player testimonials on
the site, you know, it'sobvious.
You absolutely love what you'redoing and love these athletes
and it, it's made a hugedifference, huge impact in so
many of their lives.
And, you know, in broad strokes,what is your approach?
And you could talk a little bitmore about the facility too.
(21:54):
I know looking at the videoonline, the number 88 is, is in
the, is in the facility.
So you could talk about that,but we're just gonna ask a
question in broad strokes, youknow, what your coding
philosophy is like and what aresome of your most powerful
training principles.
But talk a little bit more aboutthe, the layout just so people
can kind of get a picture.
We'll put the link in the shownotes to your website.
(22:16):
'cause they gotta check it out.
It's just amazing.
So it's, it's one building rightnow.
We had two buildings.
We had to take down the bubblebuilding that was part of the
process of, of the firecompliance.
But we're building a secondbuilding.
It's just in the, it's in theworks right now.
We finally opened building onephase one, which was the big
70,000 square foot gym.
Wow.
It has 76 yards of turf long,and then it's about 35 yards
(22:39):
wide.
It's got two rows of, ofseating.
So we have like event seating,so we could run sixes in there.
We have a box rink that we'llput in two to three months outta
the year.
That is cool.
We want to introduce box to boththe girls and the guys.
We think it's an antigo part ofjust becoming an all around
player.
Yeah.
And then with sixes, it justmade an easy decision because of
the Olympics coming in there.
(22:59):
So get, get people situated withsixes and understanding the
rules and just, that's great.
Like think about basketball,pick up basketball.
That's how you get good.
Right.
So pick up, like pick uplacrosse is sixes, right?
Right.
So we have mezzanine, every seatin the house is dedicated to my
buddy.
So 88 is on the every seat ofthe, of the gym.
The bull logo that we have forthe lacrosse barn that 88 is in
(23:21):
the mesh.
So I incorporate that witheverything.
We have Sweet Oak Fit, which isour strength and conditioning
company that we partnered with.
They are the best in Dallas.
I, I wasn't settling foranything less than the best.
We wanted to come out, out thegate running.
I found them they've been aroundfor 12 or so years in the Dallas
area and their, I guess generalmanager is from Long Island.
(23:43):
He played lacrosse.
He trained Brenda O'Neill whenhe was younger.
And he started really, hestarted really kind of bringing
in more lacrosse athletes andstrength training with athletes.
So one thing that was reallyimportant to me is through my
strength and condition speedworld out in California, I
understood and started learninghow lacrosse athletes moved and
the demand on lacrosse athletes'bodies.
(24:04):
So I wanted a strength coachthat wasn't giving bastardized
football programs to lacrosseathletes.
Right.
I wanted cross specific trainingfor lacrosse athletes.
Yes, they gotta get bigger,stronger, faster, but how do we
keep them on the field?
Right.
Right.
On the girls side, it's ACLinjury prevention lower back.
You know, there's, there's a lotof things that go into the
demand of Blue Cross.
So we, we hired themstrategically When you walk into
(24:26):
the lacrosse barn, I wanted youto understand that this is
lacrosse first.
So when you walk into the left,we have benches that are our
benchmark and we have all ourkind of core models.
And then on the left of thewall, we have a full museum type
piece.
Of the origins of the game.
So think it's a Native Americanpiece with old wooden lacrosse
(24:47):
sticks, and it has the historyof the game from when it started
all the way until the Olympics.
That will be coming in 2028.
That's so cool to teach,especially in Dallas, not a lot
of parents have played the game.
So we want to teach them andeducate them where the game came
from.
You know, kind of give it alittle bit of an ode of, of how
special the game is.
And especially with my story,right?
(25:07):
We, it's the medicine game andwe, we try to incorporate that
into our training and everythinglike that.
So everything is lacrossespecific.
We partnered with Legends, sothey do our apparel.
Scott Hoad over there, just, youknow, his apparel's, you know,
above everything else, so heized it for us.
That's great.
We have a ping pong tableupstairs.
We have a flat screen TV withXbox.
We wanted the experience to befor kids not to come for an hour
(25:29):
in training and then leave.
We want parents to be like, thisis a safe spot.
They could shoot, you know, theycould train, they could shoot if
the bay's open, or they can goupstairs and play some Xbox or
ping pong.
We have a foosball table, youknow, they can hang out.
Go, you can go go groceryshopping or go run errands and,
and leave'em there and let'em,you know, they'll be fine.
They'll, they'll have a goodtime.
We also have two home and awaylocker rooms that are customized
(25:51):
with the, the LB logo and, andbull logo.
So when we have the boxtournaments or the Sixes
Leagues, you'll have a home andaway locker room as well.
Cool.
Man, that is just phenomenal.
Beautiful, incredible,unbelievable.
I mean, congratulations, man.
It, it it seems like theculmination of of a lot of
dreams and hard work andovercoming adversity.
It just sounds like an amazingplace.
(26:13):
Looks like an amazing placeonline too.
It is.
The other thing that I wanna addto that, and if you guys don't
mind,'cause I'll talk all, goright ahead.
Go right ahead.
Go into our training strategies.
The problem or the disconnect isthat these little kids weren't
born with the talent that youhave.
They can't just do a skip split.
They can't just do a role likeyou do.
(26:34):
They can't, they don't have it.
they haven't learned it or theyjust haven't been naturally
blessed with it.
They can't pick it up, right.
So I became obsessed and I meanobsessed for the last 15 years
of breaking down thebiomechanics of Blue Cross
athletes shooting form,technique, mechanics.
Challenging the stigma of likethese drills that have been
around for but never.
(26:54):
You just, you hear itregurgitate all the time, right?
I wanted to find ways to teach a6-year-old that same drill with
like, like for instance, likeeveryone teaches like on the run
shooting to backpedal down thealley, right?
Every time you teach a young kidto backed down the alley, what
do they do?
They fade.
How do we from fading from dayone is we have them learn how to
(27:16):
run on a curve.
A curve.
If you could run on a circle,you're gonna learn naturally how
to lean into it and not fade.
What they don't know is not howto, how to lean.
So it was different.
So we, we, I've challenged theseideas and I've found out better
ways to teach it to the youngestkids.
So they create better habits.
At an early age, which allows,and I know there's an old school
(27:37):
mentality and a new schoolmentality.
I kind of fit in the middle.
I wanna build a strongfoundation of fundamental
overhand and all that stuff.
But if a kid is ready to.
Go behind the back and teach'emwhy and when to do it or, you
know, get out of differentthings and do, like, the game is
evolving and changing.
So that's heavy into my thing.
(27:58):
It's not flashy.
Right.
Seeing these guys do some crazythings these days, you know, the
way I look at it, I, I say thisto all the coaches that like
challenge me.
I go, imagine someone told JohnGrand Jr to stop shooting behind
his back.
Right.
Wouldn't have John Grant Jr.
Right, right.
Exactly.
Or tell Mac O'Keefe not to shootunderhand.
He's got one of the bestunderhand shots ever.
Right.
(28:18):
Kids are gonna go to what theyfeel comfortable with and what
they practice most often is whatthey're gonna be confident with.
So why are we taking that awayfrom them?
Let them create and then what weshould do as coaches is gear
them in the situations that theyshould use that and the
situations they should use Anoverhead shot.
Right.
Right.
Absolutely.
That's great.
I like that.
(28:39):
Given that latitude.
And then, and for me, with myspeed background, because I was
obsessed with speed, so it was,biomechanics of breaking down,
like foot strikes, shin angles,head positioning is huge.
Weight distri distribution,where your weight should be on
your, on your foot when you'redodging, like it should be on
the inside foot.
Not many people know, but you'relanding on the foot and then
(28:59):
you're rolling over the big toe,which sets your arch and then
eventually sets the Achilles,which is your piston.
Right?
So that is the thing that makesyou fast.
But kids don't know how to driveover the big toe.
They don't know how to set thatarch.
So we teach the, those likereally detailed things so that
that kid that can't naturally doa double jab or like has that
shake, we could teach it to himin some capacity.
(29:22):
Now, is he gonna be a KyleHarrison?
Is he gonna be a Jordan Wolf?
Or, you know, a sos or a Grant?
Amen.
No, he's probably never gonnaget to that athletic, but we can
make him faster.
We can make him, we can make himbetter than what he would do if
he was never taught thosethings.
So I don't, I don't know if youknow, but did you see Jay
glowing there when you startedmentioning the foot?
(29:42):
I'm a former foot and ankledoctor, Nick.
Yeah, I mean, when you weretalking, you're talking about
loading the windless mechanism.
I love it.
The toe and the arch.
I mean, Jay was just like, oh,this guy, the detail, I love it.
Yeah, it's a hundred percentspot on.
And that's the thing, like, andthen we like, so I know my
strengths, I know that mystrengths are breaking down,
(30:02):
that type of stuff.
You know, you had Jamie Monroeon, I studied Jamie Monroe stuff
because that's not my strength.
I wanna be better at that stuff.
He's great with the X's and O's,the two man being just, you know
the savviness and the IQ stuff,right?
So if I can, create and breakdown Dodgers and get them more
athletic, because he's rightwith the athletes.
(30:23):
They'll, they'll figure it out.
They'll, they'll be able toadjust.
But what about the guys thatcan't move that way?
We gotta teach him how to movethat way and then be savvy.
So I take things from him.
Long time.
I think he's a lacrosse savant,like nothing but praise for
Jamie Monroe.
Yeah.
Because he did stuff that Idon't comprehend and I'm trying
to learn from him as well.
But I think there's, I think themissing piece for me is the
athletic development through thegame of lacrosse.
(30:46):
Right.
And, and that goes into like,shooting, like, you know
deceptive shooting.
And then just, you know,rotation and extension and
different things like that.
So we really try to break thatdown.
So that's, that's huge.
That's great.
Awesome.
Awesome stuff.
You can you imagine Nick tangleand and and Jamie and Row in the
same room talking lacrosse.
Good lord.
(31:06):
Good Lord.
Forget about it.
I love it.
Awesome.
I mean, it, it, it's so awesometo see, you know, and you and
Jamie are very different peopleand it's funny, a as you were
talking, thinking about thedifferent ways you two think
about the game that kind ofmatches your personalities, you
know?
Yeah.
(31:26):
And you each in your own way arethinking in ways that a lot of
people don't think about thegame of lacrosse.
So it's really neat to see thejuxtaposition of you two and the
ways you approach your work.
And now we'll tune into ourinterview with four time All
Star Jules Henning.
(31:47):
Well Jules, the other thing I,I.
It was interesting.
I see a couple of lines whereyou talked about at Rutgers,
right?
Needing to understand that evenwhen you are around a team five,
six days a week and have thatpractice, you gotta have that
individual growth mindset,right?
Because the reality of the, theindividual development time.
(32:09):
And so it seems like that servedyou well in the PLL where that's
even, I don't know, it's 10times the reality there, right?
I mean, you, you just have solittle time around your team
that if you're not gettingbetter on your own or you're not
just ridiculously talented, it'sjust not gonna happen.
It, it's true.
And, and there are a lot ofguys, don't get me wrong, and
(32:31):
it's not just a PLL, you seethis in the NBA.
I don't know if you see it inthe NFL as much just because of
how physically demanding thatthat sport is.
But definitely in the NBA, yougot guys that are just, you
know, they're on multimilliondollar contracts and, and this
guy, you hear stories about thisguy doesn't put any work in the
gym.
You know, he, he kind of justshows up.
Maybe he's staying out late andhe's a, he's an Allstar, he's a
(32:54):
maybe even a all pro player.
You know, you hear the storiesof the James Hardens and the
Paul Georges and like, right,right guys.
And like, then you have theLeBron James of the world, or
the Steph Currys or you know,guys that you just know are,
they're in the gym working ontheir craft.
And that's, that's, that's whothey are.
Kobe Bryant to the world.
Yeah, that's what they do.
And I always tell people there'slike an axis for that.
(33:15):
Like there's, there's talent andthere's hard work, and you
gotta, you gotta get real withyourself around kind of where
you fall on, on this axis.
And whatever your, youraspirations are, just be, you
have to have some moreawareness, some more
self-reflection.
Hey, if I'm, if I'm this guy isthis talented and I'm this
talented, well, he does not haveto work as hard as I have to
(33:37):
work for us to get to the sameplace.
And that's un that's unfair, butthat's just the reality.
And I think, you know, Ron, toyour point with, with kids,
that's exacerbated by likesocial media and just all these
things that they're dealingwith.
When I, I can, I can look at akid in eighth grade and just
say, Hey, look, this is yourtrajectory.
(34:00):
You are this talented right now,and you work this hard.
If you work this hard, this isthe potential you have.
But if you don't do that, thereis no X, y, z or you're this
talented Right?
But you don't work that hard,you better start working harder.
Because I like, as you getolder, that talent starts to
(34:21):
dissipate a little bit.
Starts to go down.
You're the big eight.
People start catching up.
Yeah.
Like you, well you're, you'rekind of slow though.
So you don't wanna be the, thebig eighth grader, ninth grader
that could run through everyoneright now.
But, but then that, that eighth,ninth grader that hasn't gone
through puberty yet, he startsto go through puberty, he puts
on that muscle and he'sdeveloping everything.
And now he's here and you'rehere.
Right.
And you didn't develop a workethic'cause you were just, I'm
(34:42):
the biggest, fastest, strongest.
And, and now you're not gonnaget to where you want to go,
which again, it's not foreveryone at the end of the day.
Which is all good too, right?
Yeah.
So, I mean, Jules, it seems likeyou might be the busiest guy in
the game of lacrosse.
I mean, there, there's verylittle in the game you're not
doing, you founded the LAX lab,you're the founding, you're a
(35:04):
founding member of the BlackLacrosse Alliance and Mission
Prime.
So it's really cool to see theway that you're given back to
the game.
But, but let's talk about yourskills training program and the
LAX lab which I know yourbrother's currently the director
of.
Tell us how that came to be andhow that's evolved and how you
(35:25):
and your brother think abouttraining the next generational
lacrosse players.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
I, I appreciate you asking aboutthat.
I think when I graduated, itwas, it was just the Duke lab,
like, Hey, we're gonna work onoffensives talent, offensive
skill sets, shooting, dodgingfootwork, that I felt like were
in college.
(35:45):
Really what elevated my game,like, Hey, I need to get better
at attacking my matchup.
Or I get these step down shotsfrom the point, and I really
need to get better at just likehammering this shot or.
I need to get better at turningthe corner, like very specific
offensive things that, again, inmy individual opportunity and to
get better, I was working on.
(36:07):
And so when I was travelingaround the country when I first
graduated, and figuring outwhat, what this lacrosse thing
looked like and, and what itwould mean to be a full-time
player in 2018.
'cause we were only getting paid$6,000 at that time.
A full-time player meant you hadto find sponsorships, you had to
do camps and clinics, you had todo things to make it happen.
Yeah.
That would make you morerelevant in the game and like
allow you to build a profile andyou know, do something outside
(36:29):
of just playing because playingwasn't enough.
And so it started with the Jukelab and it was kind of like
funny, like at the, at firstwhen I would say it to guys, I'd
be like, yeah, I started thisthing called Juke Lab and then I
would just take videos of thestuff we were doing and, and I
realized, I was like, it's kindof catching on, but like, no
one's really like focusing onfootwork or like offensive
development and like putting iton social media and like talking
(36:52):
about it in, in a.
Strategic way.
And so I kind of just started todo that.
And then I realized like, fastforward now a lot of people do
it.
And so it's cool.
Like I'm glad that it's, it'sgrown.
But what I also realized is Iwas kind of pigeonholing myself
a little bit where that was goodfor me running around the
country, but like I would go toplaces where, hey, you know, you
(37:14):
guys do not need footwork, youneed stick work.
You need to understand thisstuff.
Right?
Or mentally, yeah, before westart talking about your feet or
this shot or that.
And so I wanted to give myselfthe opportunity to expand,
right?
So that's where lax lab kind ofcame in.
I kept a lab, like that was a, arunning joke, like when we were
growing up with my brothers too.
(37:35):
We would just be like, yo, wegotta get in the lab.
Like, yo, you've been in thelab, like you've been working,
like when's the last, I went tothe field three times this week.
Like, when's the last time youhit the field?
So it was kind of always thisthing and I was like, why don't
I just use that and, and runwith it?
And it's a family business nowtoo, which is cool.
And kind of how we all came upin the game.
And I think the LAX lab wasreally, when I got to New
(37:57):
Jersey, I realized we were doingthe skills training, we're doing
juke lab stuff, but the kids inNew Jersey, they're, you know,
not everyone has the recexperience that I had with dads
that played and have the, justwere instilled in them the work
ethic and the, the history ofthe game and the determination
and kind of just, I, I would saylike the spark that I had.
(38:19):
And I think that that's the, thething we give to these guys the
most is, yeah, sure we trainsome talented players, but like
my favorite player in the worldto train is a kid that like,
doesn't know how good he can beand isn't otherwise getting that
spark instilled in him, whetherit's because he is not playing
other, I played other sports.
(38:39):
I played basketball like mybasketball coach.
That's the greatest athleticexperience I've had to date is
my middle school basketballcoach.
I'm actually gonna talk to.
10 year, no, not 10 years, Iguess.
14, 15 year reunion.
We won three championships,sixth, seventh, eighth grade,
and middle school basketball.
Wow.
Never done that in the historyof the program, even to this
day.
(39:00):
And we had a ton of greatathletes on that team, guys that
played D one, D two, D three ina variety of different sports,
including basketball.
And he was, we were 11 and 12,and it was no joke.
It was, you know, we're, it wasthe most serious thing in the
world.
And I was, I was like, allright, like the, I, I'm, I'm
(39:20):
locked in.
Like this is the most seriousthing for me.
I was very impressionable and Ihad positive influences that
made impressions on me.
And so when I see kids, I cantell that I'm like, yo, you're
just not getting that.
And the lacrosse is one aspectto it, but like, I need to spark
something in you.
And we can use lacrosse as theavenue, but it's more just
(39:41):
building belief and confidencein someone who is.
At a crucial point in theirlife, like 12, 13, where
they're, they're going throughpuberty.
They're seeing social media now,which is crazy.
They're, they're having allthese things happen.
I'm like, no, dude.
Like, yo, put in work, see theresults, and then like, now
that's a blueprint for you.
You did the work, you saw itworked.
Let's keep at this, let's keepbuilding.
(40:03):
And then you watch it for a yearand two years.
And we have kids that have nobusiness being good at lacrosse,
who are now just like, good.
And they're feeling themselves.
I'm like, yes, that's good.
Like, and that's, that's myfavorite kind of kid in the
world.
And that's really what the LAXlab is all about is, is like we
genuinely care about your kid.
We know he plays club, a lot ofthem.
Most kids play club.
The club coaches don't haveenough time.
(40:25):
They, they have to worry aboutthe tournaments through
recruiting all these things.
We're gonna just focus on you asa person and a player and train
you and then go out to your clubteam and, and go perform.
Like go be.
You go bring that, that beliefthat you built working on your
own, not just with us, but.
Now I'm telling you, it's notjust with me.
You need to do it in thebackyard.
Go bring that to your recprogram, your high school
program, your club program.
(40:46):
And we believe over time we'regonna be able to transform young
men's and women's lives throughthat.
Jules.
You know what the game is inawesome hands, man.
It's really, really fun to seesomeone who cares as much about
all the different dimensions.
First of all, just what it is tobe a good person.
But the way from, from the wayyou think about skills
(41:08):
development to the way you thinkabout the growth and diversity
of the game.
To the way you're just thinkingabout helping young people
develop the kind of mindsetsthat are gonna help'em be the
best they can be.
I mean, you you got it going on,man.
Great.
That's great.
That's awesome.
I appreciate that.
That means a lot coming from youguys and I, I'm thankful that
you, you know, you reached outand, and wanted me to have you
(41:29):
on your podcast, so thank youguys so much.
Well, thanks a million and we'llsign off here Until we meet
again.
Here's to hoping you find thetwine.
We're signing off here at theget the lax scoop.
Thanks again so much.
We will see you the next time.
It's time for Get the LackScoop, a podcast bringing you
all the people and stuff youshould know in the game of
lacrosse.
We take lack seriously, butourselves, not so much.
Join host Big Dog and Jaybirdand the biggest names in the
game brought to you by JayMcMahon lacrosse.
That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training.
(00:23):
Ron Doglish, the big dog, was acollegiate football and lacrosse
player at Brown.
He was also an assistantlacrosse coach and the executive
director of the SportsFoundation.
And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, athree time All American
midfielder at Brown.
He was the captain of the U.
S.
Junior National Team and is thefounder of JML.
(00:43):
And Joining us in the studio,Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate
lacrosse career statisticsequals one goal against
Dartmouth brought to you by JayMcMahon lacrosse.
That's JML skills, mindset, andlacks IQ training, helping the
next generation of lacrosseplayers get to the next level.
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to the show and forthose who are new to get the
(01:04):
lack scoop, a very warm welcometo you as well.
As many of our listeners know,we love our compilations that's
because it really hammers homesome of the best portions of our
previous quarters interviews.
And the first quarter of 2025 isno different.
We had three of the top skillstrainers in the entire country
(01:24):
on our show.
Jamie Monroe, out of Denver,Colorado.
Nick Tinel, out of Dallas,Texas, and Jules Berg out of the
great state of New Jersey.
The wide breadth of thesetrainers approach mirrors their
wide geographic reach, the reachof the game we all love.
The book we released on Amazoninside the recruiting game,
(01:46):
insights from Top Collegecoaches has been getting some
traction.
Thank you to all who havepurchased it.
If you liked it, please leave areview, and if you haven't read
it yet, go check it out as itentails, recruiting and skills
training, tips from top collegecoaches and skills trainers such
as Bill Tierney, Joe Brey, andAndy Towers to name a few.
(02:09):
We'll start off this compilationwith Jamie Monroe, remarks.
And let it roll from there.
We sure hope you enjoy it and ifyou do, please subscribe to the
show and leave a review.
As they say, it don't costnothing and it sure would help
us out.
You will find our interview inprogress.
So Jamie, I wanted to follow upwith that conversation about the
(02:33):
way your own thinking hasevolved around skills and.
You know, we got a lot ofparents and kids who are in that
middle school, high schoolrange, kind of the wheelhouse of
kids you've worked with foreverto try to develop their games.
And so, you know, can you talkabout, and I know I've talked
(02:53):
with you about, you know, the,the way you think about.
For instance, all thesetournaments and everything has
value, but you go to thesetournaments and the number of
touches a kid might get in awhole weekend, you know, versus,
you know, some of theinteractive online training that
you're doing and the way.
that kid can really developtheir skills or that kind of one
(03:16):
on one skills training that Iknow my friend Jay does live
with players.
So can you talk about what rolethey each have to play in a
player's development, smallsided games, which I know you
also are a huge proponent of.
So talk about what do you tellmiddle school and high school
players to do today who reallywant to develop their skills?
(03:38):
Yeah, the biggest thing you guysis that that I would love
parents to sort of reallyconsider is that the the
traditional the traditionalcoaching model is that you will
Master techniques and you'llrehearse them and practice them
and master them thesefundamentals And with the idea
(03:59):
that you will be able to deploythem in a game at the right time
and that is from And when skillacquisition became a thing in
the 1960s, there was aninformation processing theory,
and that's where this comes fromwhich said that we perceive our
surroundings, we make a choice,like a Terminator, like you have
like all these choices to choosefrom, pick your skill, you do
(04:22):
it, and then you make a decisionto do something, and this, this
contemporary skill acquisitiontheory that I, that I referenced
a minute ago called ecologicaldynamics is ecological dynamics.
This is like being studied allover the world, not so much on
lacrosse, but in, in, in, in, intons of different ways, not just
(04:42):
sports.
You can get a PhD in ecologicaldynamics.
Okay.
But what it says is we perceiveour surroundings and we act
instantaneously and we selforganize.
And so what this means iseverything we're doing all this
is not just in sports.
This is all day long.
We perceive our surroundings ashuman beings.
It explains human movement.
We perceive our surroundings.
And we act instantaneously andwe self organize self organized
(05:06):
part means it's different everytime.
It's never the same.
There is no one technique.
There's no one way to doanything because there's no two
situations that occur exactlythe same.
And it's all about perception.
So when you think about thewords lacrosse IQ.
What does that mean?
Lacrosse IQ means a smartplayer, right?
Lacrosse IQ basically is yourdecision making paired with your
(05:27):
skills.
So for parents the mostimportant thing that your kids
can do is find coaches that aregoing to do stuff with them that
are live One on O's don't makeyou better because there's no
decision making.
There's no lacrosse IQ.
Does it mean it's a total wasteof time to ever work on stick
(05:49):
work?
No, but you're not actuallygetting better at the game.
And so there's just not enoughtime to spend a lot of time when
you're not actually gettingbetter at the game itself.
So just being in a one on onewhere you get to dodge a
defender is going to be lightyears better than dodging a
cone.
You show me a technique of aperfect technique, I'll put a
defender on that player, thattechnique will not happen that
way.
(06:09):
It just doesn't and so it's backto the whole free play thing.
It's kind of how we all grew upplaying sports And which is kind
of what's brought me back to allof this is that the way we grew
up playing was just we playedand sure Neil referenced that I
would do wall ball if I didn'thave somebody to play with, but
I would automatically go playwith somebody you ask about that
competitiveness.
It probably stems from that.
(06:29):
We just played.
And so the bottom line forparents is club is a fun
experience.
You need to play the full fieldgame.
You would like to be have somelevel of fun.
Yeah.
Of of of a good experience goodcompetition Don't depend on your
club to develop you Becausebecause there's just not enough
(06:50):
time and and also like you talkabout touches You know, you
might literally, you know yourparents you've seen it count
count your son's touches in thegame You might get 15 of them in
a game but but also not alltouches are created equal so you
can get thousands of touches onthe wall But then there's no
decision making so we got tofind this balance of context Of
(07:11):
offense and defense and decisionmaking in situations that are
that are small slices of thegame and reps That's why these
small sided games are so good.
It's why box lacrosse playershave gotten so good It's a
smaller sided game that has adifferent constraints that allow
these players to learn thesesmaller situations that
(07:33):
translate beautifully to thefull field game, so Dive into go
to the ecological lacrossepodcast that I've been doing
lately if you want to learn moreabout it start digging into this
It's a total game changer, andunfortunately, hardly anybody
does it.
MacBook Pro Microphone & (07:49):
Yeah, I mean, I, I agree a hundred
percent there, Jamie, but, youknow, working on your skills so
that you can pass, catch, shootand move your feet effectively
is something that every player,you know, must get the reps on
before, you know, in betweenpracticing, playing with other
players, you know, otherwise, aplayer simply doesn't have the
skills they need to be able tonot only compete, but to enjoy
(08:12):
competing.
Enjoy the game.
So when I train players, whetherit's in person or online, we go
through this method of howthey'll approach incorporating
what they've learned inone-on-one or small group
sessions into team practices andgames or, and even free play
situations.
So it goes like this, like theywould have a plan of what
they're gonna do, whether it's amove or a cut or what have you,
(08:36):
and then they'd evaluate rightthen and there, you know, and
this is for something new thatthey haven't tried before.
But they'd evaluate then andthere how they did, and then
make any needed adjustments thenext time they go at it.
So until, you know, I tell themuntil they get that real
experience of how this move, orlet's say this release point on
a shot is going to work in realtime in a real situation,
(08:58):
they're not gonna really knowhow it works.
So I think everyone would agreethat players need both types of
play.
And as far as wall ball, I mean,I think every player should use.
Wall ball the same way and that,you know, they need to get their
technical skills better so thatway players aren't showing up at
practice, let's say, with aterrible offhand, you know,
their non-dominant hand, forexample, and that they shouldn't
(09:20):
be coming to practice to try towork on catching and throwing
with their offhand for the veryfirst time in a team practice.
Because, you know, thatsituation is just kind of like
a, a drill kill situation, youknow?
Yeah, and as I said, Jay, Idon't think Jamie ever thinks
about this stuff, really.
He just kind of does shit, andhe doesn't really put any
thought into it, you know.
Self organization, dog.
(09:41):
Yeah, I gotta, I'm very selforganized.
I mean, yeah, is that, I gotta,I gotta rethink everything, Jay.
I gotta rethink everything.
I don't know what the hell I'mdoing.
Your perception, Ron.
Organize yourself.
Let's go.
Get with it.
Now, Neil, you've been coachingsome youth lacrosse yourself in
your area out in Sun Valley.
Out and with Sun Valleylacrosse, rather out in Idaho,
(10:03):
and I saw that you're workingwith seventh and eighth graders.
And I think that is just a greatage group where they can really
start doing stuff.
And if kids are taught the rightway and taught to dream big,
they can really start reallyaccomplishing some things out on
the field.
So tell us, you know, what yourexperience has been like and and
what your approach has been withthese young guys.
Yeah.
So last year, my son's a now aninth grader, but I coached the
(10:26):
seven, eight team.
And we actually worked withJamie and jam three to start to
put some of his strategies intoplace and it was an incredible
experience.
We have such raw athletes out inthis valley.
You just think about them in themountain sport environment.
I think every kid on our teamcould probably do a backflip on
skis, you know, they wheelinginto practice on their mountain
(10:49):
bikes, but they just haven't hada really good structure.
Or commitment to lacrosse.
And so there's a few parents, aguy played at Yale, one who
played a little bit atMiddlebury, and we've been
committed to try to make adifference.
And so really trying to make itmore part of their every day.
So making it part of the cultureout here and not just kind of
the fourth or fifth sport, wetry to make it really fun.
(11:12):
Try to make it competitive.
I mean, you heard Jamie and Italking about everything was a
competition.
Kids love it.
Boys, girls, young and old.
If you play for a competition,they want to win and they'll try
harder.
We also leave them wanting alittle bit more so that they
want to come back because it wasso good.
And so it's been this approachthat we started to implement
last year.
(11:33):
I've been coaching over the lastsix months, actually all ages
and all, both genders to reallytry to bring lacrosse to this
Valley.
We have some goals that we'veput forth that we want to be the
best in the state.
It's a small, big state, smalllacrosse state.
And we're starting to do it andit's been an incredible journey
so far.
We've seen kids who have neverplayed the game before.
(11:57):
Improved dramatically just in afew months through touches in
the right situation is Jamiehighlighted earlier through
putting them in situations wherethey can use the skills that
they've acquired to makedecisions and learn how to
problem solve.
And it's been amazing and it isso much fun.
We go three times a week, twotimes a week, depending on the
groups.
(12:18):
And it's really starting tobecome part of this Valley and
we have big goals to go further.
That's awesome.
Now, if you're setting up thiskind of smaller sided situation
so the kids can get moretouches, you know, you're out on
a field, you know, we've got alot of coaches who listen to the
podcast and parents and kids.
So how would they set that up?
Like, tell us the setupbasically.
(12:39):
Yeah, I mean, depending on whatwe're trying to do, if you look
at, you kind of groundeverything at a principle of
play, right?
So if you want to basically justhave something around handling
pressure.
You could start off by breakinginto groups of five and do a
three on two, keep away in aconstrained box, 10 by 10.
So a lot of times teams warm upwith just doing line drills and
(13:00):
that's great.
You're throwing and catching andyou're moving, but again, you're
no pressure.
There's no decision making.
If you want to work on movingthe ball and handling pressure,
if you just do a three on two,keep away in a constrained box
size.
And you can shrink or grow thebox depending on skills.
And so you set up five of thosewith your 25 players.
If you intercept like monkey inthe middle, you switch it out.
(13:22):
And so we just do a lot oflittle things like that.
We'll do, we have four, threeand a half or four by four
goals.
We'll set up games where if wewant to have the team move the
ball more quickly, we'll put ashot clock on.
If we want to make sure thatthey're just working on certain
angles or spacing.
We'll only allow the team to useone half of the field.
So we're constantly just puttingin new constraints.
(13:45):
And so, and to the point thatJamie mentioned about self
organizing, you don't have tomicromanage this.
You literally bring the kidstogether with four goals on the
field and say, we're playingthree on three.
And there's a 12 second shotclock, goalie counts it down,
go, and you just start withthat.
And it's pretty incredible howquickly those kids can get it
going, particularly when youkeep score, you make it
(14:07):
competitive and they love it andyou can control it and then you
can change as needed.
And it's been great.
I'm sure Jamie has more to addon that as well, but this, we've
been using it.
We do calls with Jamie, what,two or three times a week we put
practice plans together.
We review video it's, and it'sjust so great to see.
And then maybe Jamie can come inon this.
(14:27):
Do you put together like anoffense for these kids?
Let's say, like, how would theyget some of that free play
action going on in an actualgame?
How would that translate?
Well, all of the small sidedgames and drills like Neil said,
are relative to the principlesof the game anyways.
(14:50):
And so, Handling pressure.
He gave a three on two example.
Maybe they'll do a four on fouror five on five example where
there's double teams And they'renot and you have to make six
passes to be able to like winthe rep so That would simulate
exactly how you would be able tohandle pressure in a game And so
if you think about these littlethree on two games or three on
(15:11):
three games if we were to say,all right Well you guys you guys
have to and create offense offof this action, then they would
go do that and they would learnhow to do it.
And then we might be like, Hey,and by the way, the defense, you
guys have to, you can't switch.
No switch.
You have to go over.
In fact, you can't switch andyou have to go over the pick.
And then after a while, theybegin to learn the parts and
(15:33):
pieces of what offense lookslike.
And, and there's endless waysthat you can create smaller
sided situations where they getlots of touches.
They're getting the IQ in theskill together.
The perception and the actioncoupled together instead of
decoupling them, they'retogether.
And, and then in the end, Imean, we haven't really gotten
(15:53):
to the point where they're inseason yet, but when it comes to
being in season, they're goingto be able to do stuff relative
to the principles of play.
Well, so what is the principleof play of running an offense?
It's to, it's to, it's to createan advantage.
The whole point is to try tocreate an advantage, right?
So you can score a goal.
How do you create advantage offthe dodge?
Well, we'll teach you how tododge in lots of different ways
(16:14):
by doing.
15 different, different types ofone on ones.
Maybe an offer approach.
Maybe in a post op.
Maybe with the defenseoverplaying you.
Whatever it is.
Maybe with a pick.
We'll figure, another way to doit is off a two man game.
Another way to do it is off anoff ball two man game.
Another way is with ballmovement and spacing.
And by doing all of theseconstraints in these, in, in 2
(16:35):
on 2, maybe even 5 on 5, itbuilds up where the kids know
how to play.
Then you can do whatever youwant.
Anything will work.
But if they don't know how toplay, nothing works.
next up is the great Nick Tin.
So, yeah, so I, so I was inlooking for smaller buildings
(16:56):
and I get a call from my nowinvestor in in Dallas.
He goes, I got this place.
And I didn't, I didn't know whohe was.
You know, I researched and heplayed the cross played at a
high level, played at the prolevel.
Has done well for himself, buthe he calls me and goes, I got a
place you gotta look at.
I'm like, I'm sorry, who isthis?
And then I researched and saw,and I was like, all right, I'll
come check it out.
(17:17):
Not expect anything.
And I walk into this buildingand when I tell you it, it was a
shit hole.
It was beyond a shit hole.
But it was everything I'vedreamt of owning a gym.
It was a full field house,a-frame, no poles, wide open
space, just right.
I was so tired, but I, when Iwalked in this place, I asked
(17:37):
myself when I'm on my deathbed.
And look back at thisopportunity.
And if I said no, I would regretit.
And that's why I was like, I'min 100% in now.
I asked him like how he found meor whatever, and you know, he's
an investor in a bunch ofdifferent things, but he found
me through mutual friends that Iplayed with or played against or
whatever.
And everyone told him that I wasthe guy to run it because, you
know, I ran a brick and mortar,but I also Right.
(18:00):
Have a lacrosse background aswell.
So I basically said yes.
Took my wife to Dallas.
So did, so did he have this ideafor the space?
He is like, like, this guy's agreat lacrosse trainer.
This is a great space.
I mean, it's a huge space,right?
So, so he, yes.
So he moved to Dallas and hejust thought that they needed
something for lacrosse.
Lacrosse is not a sanctionedsport, so they kind of get
kicked off to the side.
(18:21):
So they, they, they don't getindoor field space often.
They don't get this stuff.
And I was like, he, he, youknow, he was like, we could do
football, we could do soccer.
He wanted to do everything.
I was like.
I wanna make this a fulllacrosse place.
I, I think it's time.
And my uncle's been down here,coaching coach at the Woodlands.
He's in Austin now, but he, oh,wow.
He told me to send thecoordinates I sent him, he goes,
(18:41):
you couldn't pick a betterlocation.
It's right between HighlandPark, where Presler ISS at now,
right.
ESD, you got Hockaday on thegirls side.
You have St.
Mark's, you have a bunch ofreally, you know, you know,
Charlotte North went to ESD.
She's 10, it's 10 down down theroad.
That's awesome.
High level players, high levelteams, right within, you know,
15 minutes of the gym.
(19:02):
So I, I told him, I was like,and he looked at me, he is like,
okay, we'll, we'll, we'll try itout.
He goes, this is your thing.
It's a passion project for him.
But it, like, it was kind of arisk on my time to make it just
lacrosse and I just thought itwas the right time to do it.
I might be a little early to it,but I promise you since I've
done it, people are starting totalk about putting it
everywhere.
They wanted, right?
(19:22):
Huh?
Yeah.
So anyway, this type offacility, well, I wouldn't bet
against you.
Yeah.
It was my, it was my dream.
It was my dream.
I swear I've dreamed, I dreamtof a place.
'cause when I was playing forDenver, we used to play in the
field house at, Bronco StadiumBroncos.
And I looked at it, I was like,man, if I had it, I just, all
these years I've been designingthis facility in my head and now
I have the actual bones to do itand start from scratch and make
(19:45):
it my own.
And I moved my wife from, fromCalifornia, she's born, you
know, born and raised inCalifornia.
She moves to Dallas.
She, you know, she's anotherangel that was sent to me.
She's everywhere.
And I come, I show her thisplace and like I said, I mean,
HVAC system were gone.
Wire line, like copper wiresstolen, windows broken.
It was dusty.
(20:06):
Like, I bring her in and I'mlike, this is gonna be strength.
This is gonna be chiropractor,this is gonna be this, this can
be this, this is gonna be fieldtur, blah, all this stuff.
I turn around and can't hear it.
A peep.
And I like, what's up?
She goes.
What the fuck did you do?
What do you mean?
But what do you mean this?
It's gonna be beautiful.
She goes, do you know how muchwork you have?
And I'm like, I'm like, let'sstay in the honeymoon stage a
(20:28):
little bit for this.
Right?
And that, that was the start ofthe project that took 10 years
off my life.
Pretty much.
I, you know, I, I, I stayed inCalifornia.
I sold Athlete's Choice.
I stayed there for six moremonths working out of that
facility.
And then I was gonna move toDallas and within that year, so
I thought it was gonna be a sixmonth, you know, a year project.
So six month renovation, ayear's worth kind of thing.
(20:49):
I started and then six monthsI'll be there while they're
building it out.
I got there.
I.
It took two years to get off thebat.
So I didn't have, I didn'treally have a job for two years
when I got here.
Obviously I, I was training andcoaching at the field, but I,
you know, I was also going,meeting up with the architects
and meeting up with the townand, and doing all coding and a
DA compliance and, you know,putting security cameras in, you
(21:12):
know, entertainment systems.
Finding a strength coach to, toteam with, to finding our
chiropractor and our, and our PTside, and finding coaches that
wanna coach there and all thisstuff.
But, you know, I wouldn't changethe world.
It, the place came out.
It's, it's, it's just unreal.
It's, it's, it's a different,it's a different facility.
It's a real special place.
Yeah.
But it looks like a piece ofartwork.
(21:34):
It is.
It's.
And yeah, just looking at someof the player testimonials on
the site, you know, it'sobvious.
You absolutely love what you'redoing and love these athletes
and it, it's made a hugedifference, huge impact in so
many of their lives.
And, you know, in broad strokes,what is your approach?
And you could talk a little bitmore about the facility too.
(21:54):
I know looking at the videoonline, the number 88 is, is in
the, is in the facility.
So you could talk about that,but we're just gonna ask a
question in broad strokes, youknow, what your coding
philosophy is like and what aresome of your most powerful
training principles.
But talk a little bit more aboutthe, the layout just so people
can kind of get a picture.
We'll put the link in the shownotes to your website.
(22:16):
'cause they gotta check it out.
It's just amazing.
So it's, it's one building rightnow.
We had two buildings.
We had to take down the bubblebuilding that was part of the
process of, of the firecompliance.
But we're building a secondbuilding.
It's just in the, it's in theworks right now.
We finally opened building onephase one, which was the big
70,000 square foot gym.
Wow.
It has 76 yards of turf long,and then it's about 35 yards
(22:39):
wide.
It's got two rows of, ofseating.
So we have like event seating,so we could run sixes in there.
We have a box rink that we'llput in two to three months outta
the year.
That is cool.
We want to introduce box to boththe girls and the guys.
We think it's an antigo part ofjust becoming an all around
player.
Yeah.
And then with sixes, it justmade an easy decision because of
the Olympics coming in there.
(22:59):
So get, get people situated withsixes and understanding the
rules and just, that's great.
Like think about basketball,pick up basketball.
That's how you get good.
Right.
So pick up, like pick uplacrosse is sixes, right?
Right.
So we have mezzanine, every seatin the house is dedicated to my
buddy.
So 88 is on the every seat ofthe, of the gym.
The bull logo that we have forthe lacrosse barn that 88 is in
(23:21):
the mesh.
So I incorporate that witheverything.
We have Sweet Oak Fit, which isour strength and conditioning
company that we partnered with.
They are the best in Dallas.
I, I wasn't settling foranything less than the best.
We wanted to come out, out thegate running.
I found them they've been aroundfor 12 or so years in the Dallas
area and their, I guess generalmanager is from Long Island.
(23:43):
He played lacrosse.
He trained Brenda O'Neill whenhe was younger.
And he started really, hestarted really kind of bringing
in more lacrosse athletes andstrength training with athletes.
So one thing that was reallyimportant to me is through my
strength and condition speedworld out in California, I
understood and started learninghow lacrosse athletes moved and
the demand on lacrosse athletes'bodies.
(24:04):
So I wanted a strength coachthat wasn't giving bastardized
football programs to lacrosseathletes.
Right.
I wanted cross specific trainingfor lacrosse athletes.
Yes, they gotta get bigger,stronger, faster, but how do we
keep them on the field?
Right.
Right.
On the girls side, it's ACLinjury prevention lower back.
You know, there's, there's a lotof things that go into the
demand of Blue Cross.
So we, we hired themstrategically When you walk into
(24:26):
the lacrosse barn, I wanted youto understand that this is
lacrosse first.
So when you walk into the left,we have benches that are our
benchmark and we have all ourkind of core models.
And then on the left of thewall, we have a full museum type
piece.
Of the origins of the game.
So think it's a Native Americanpiece with old wooden lacrosse
(24:47):
sticks, and it has the historyof the game from when it started
all the way until the Olympics.
That will be coming in 2028.
That's so cool to teach,especially in Dallas, not a lot
of parents have played the game.
So we want to teach them andeducate them where the game came
from.
You know, kind of give it alittle bit of an ode of, of how
special the game is.
And especially with my story,right?
(25:07):
We, it's the medicine game andwe, we try to incorporate that
into our training and everythinglike that.
So everything is lacrossespecific.
We partnered with Legends, sothey do our apparel.
Scott Hoad over there, just, youknow, his apparel's, you know,
above everything else, so heized it for us.
That's great.
We have a ping pong tableupstairs.
We have a flat screen TV withXbox.
We wanted the experience to befor kids not to come for an hour
(25:29):
in training and then leave.
We want parents to be like, thisis a safe spot.
They could shoot, you know, theycould train, they could shoot if
the bay's open, or they can goupstairs and play some Xbox or
ping pong.
We have a foosball table, youknow, they can hang out.
Go, you can go go groceryshopping or go run errands and,
and leave'em there and let'em,you know, they'll be fine.
They'll, they'll have a goodtime.
We also have two home and awaylocker rooms that are customized
(25:51):
with the, the LB logo and, andbull logo.
So when we have the boxtournaments or the Sixes
Leagues, you'll have a home andaway locker room as well.
Cool.
Man, that is just phenomenal.
Beautiful, incredible,unbelievable.
I mean, congratulations, man.
It, it it seems like theculmination of of a lot of
dreams and hard work andovercoming adversity.
It just sounds like an amazingplace.
(26:13):
Looks like an amazing placeonline too.
It is.
The other thing that I wanna addto that, and if you guys don't
mind,'cause I'll talk all, goright ahead.
Go right ahead.
Go into our training strategies.
The problem or the disconnect isthat these little kids weren't
born with the talent that youhave.
They can't just do a skip split.
They can't just do a role likeyou do.
(26:34):
They can't, they don't have it.
they haven't learned it or theyjust haven't been naturally
blessed with it.
They can't pick it up, right.
So I became obsessed and I meanobsessed for the last 15 years
of breaking down thebiomechanics of Blue Cross
athletes shooting form,technique, mechanics.
Challenging the stigma of likethese drills that have been
around for but never.
(26:54):
You just, you hear itregurgitate all the time, right?
I wanted to find ways to teach a6-year-old that same drill with
like, like for instance, likeeveryone teaches like on the run
shooting to backpedal down thealley, right?
Every time you teach a young kidto backed down the alley, what
do they do?
They fade.
How do we from fading from dayone is we have them learn how to
(27:16):
run on a curve.
A curve.
If you could run on a circle,you're gonna learn naturally how
to lean into it and not fade.
What they don't know is not howto, how to lean.
So it was different.
So we, we, I've challenged theseideas and I've found out better
ways to teach it to the youngestkids.
So they create better habits.
At an early age, which allows,and I know there's an old school
(27:37):
mentality and a new schoolmentality.
I kind of fit in the middle.
I wanna build a strongfoundation of fundamental
overhand and all that stuff.
But if a kid is ready to.
Go behind the back and teach'emwhy and when to do it or, you
know, get out of differentthings and do, like, the game is
evolving and changing.
So that's heavy into my thing.
(27:58):
It's not flashy.
Right.
Seeing these guys do some crazythings these days, you know, the
way I look at it, I, I say thisto all the coaches that like
challenge me.
I go, imagine someone told JohnGrand Jr to stop shooting behind
his back.
Right.
Wouldn't have John Grant Jr.
Right, right.
Exactly.
Or tell Mac O'Keefe not to shootunderhand.
He's got one of the bestunderhand shots ever.
Right.
(28:18):
Kids are gonna go to what theyfeel comfortable with and what
they practice most often is whatthey're gonna be confident with.
So why are we taking that awayfrom them?
Let them create and then what weshould do as coaches is gear
them in the situations that theyshould use that and the
situations they should use Anoverhead shot.
Right.
Right.
Absolutely.
That's great.
I like that.
(28:39):
Given that latitude.
And then, and for me, with myspeed background, because I was
obsessed with speed, so it was,biomechanics of breaking down,
like foot strikes, shin angles,head positioning is huge.
Weight distri distribution,where your weight should be on
your, on your foot when you'redodging, like it should be on
the inside foot.
Not many people know, but you'relanding on the foot and then
(28:59):
you're rolling over the big toe,which sets your arch and then
eventually sets the Achilles,which is your piston.
Right?
So that is the thing that makesyou fast.
But kids don't know how to driveover the big toe.
They don't know how to set thatarch.
So we teach the, those likereally detailed things so that
that kid that can't naturally doa double jab or like has that
shake, we could teach it to himin some capacity.
(29:22):
Now, is he gonna be a KyleHarrison?
Is he gonna be a Jordan Wolf?
Or, you know, a sos or a Grant?
Amen.
No, he's probably never gonnaget to that athletic, but we can
make him faster.
We can make him, we can make himbetter than what he would do if
he was never taught thosethings.
So I don't, I don't know if youknow, but did you see Jay
glowing there when you startedmentioning the foot?
(29:42):
I'm a former foot and ankledoctor, Nick.
Yeah, I mean, when you weretalking, you're talking about
loading the windless mechanism.
I love it.
The toe and the arch.
I mean, Jay was just like, oh,this guy, the detail, I love it.
Yeah, it's a hundred percentspot on.
And that's the thing, like, andthen we like, so I know my
strengths, I know that mystrengths are breaking down,
(30:02):
that type of stuff.
You know, you had Jamie Monroeon, I studied Jamie Monroe stuff
because that's not my strength.
I wanna be better at that stuff.
He's great with the X's and O's,the two man being just, you know
the savviness and the IQ stuff,right?
So if I can, create and breakdown Dodgers and get them more
athletic, because he's rightwith the athletes.
(30:23):
They'll, they'll figure it out.
They'll, they'll be able toadjust.
But what about the guys thatcan't move that way?
We gotta teach him how to movethat way and then be savvy.
So I take things from him.
Long time.
I think he's a lacrosse savant,like nothing but praise for
Jamie Monroe.
Yeah.
Because he did stuff that Idon't comprehend and I'm trying
to learn from him as well.
But I think there's, I think themissing piece for me is the
athletic development through thegame of lacrosse.
(30:46):
Right.
And, and that goes into like,shooting, like, you know
deceptive shooting.
And then just, you know,rotation and extension and
different things like that.
So we really try to break thatdown.
So that's, that's huge.
That's great.
Awesome.
Awesome stuff.
You can you imagine Nick tangleand and and Jamie and Row in the
same room talking lacrosse.
Good lord.
(31:06):
Good Lord.
Forget about it.
I love it.
Awesome.
I mean, it, it, it's so awesometo see, you know, and you and
Jamie are very different peopleand it's funny, a as you were
talking, thinking about thedifferent ways you two think
about the game that kind ofmatches your personalities, you
know?
Yeah.
(31:26):
And you each in your own way arethinking in ways that a lot of
people don't think about thegame of lacrosse.
So it's really neat to see thejuxtaposition of you two and the
ways you approach your work.
And now we'll tune into ourinterview with four time All
Star Jules Henning.
(31:47):
Well Jules, the other thing I,I.
It was interesting.
I see a couple of lines whereyou talked about at Rutgers,
right?
Needing to understand that evenwhen you are around a team five,
six days a week and have thatpractice, you gotta have that
individual growth mindset,right?
Because the reality of the, theindividual development time.
(32:09):
And so it seems like that servedyou well in the PLL where that's
even, I don't know, it's 10times the reality there, right?
I mean, you, you just have solittle time around your team
that if you're not gettingbetter on your own or you're not
just ridiculously talented, it'sjust not gonna happen.
It, it's true.
And, and there are a lot ofguys, don't get me wrong, and
(32:31):
it's not just a PLL, you seethis in the NBA.
I don't know if you see it inthe NFL as much just because of
how physically demanding thatthat sport is.
But definitely in the NBA, yougot guys that are just, you
know, they're on multimilliondollar contracts and, and this
guy, you hear stories about thisguy doesn't put any work in the
gym.
You know, he, he kind of justshows up.
Maybe he's staying out late andhe's a, he's an Allstar, he's a
(32:54):
maybe even a all pro player.
You know, you hear the storiesof the James Hardens and the
Paul Georges and like, right,right guys.
And like, then you have theLeBron James of the world, or
the Steph Currys or you know,guys that you just know are,
they're in the gym working ontheir craft.
And that's, that's, that's whothey are.
Kobe Bryant to the world.
Yeah, that's what they do.
And I always tell people there'slike an axis for that.
(33:15):
Like there's, there's talent andthere's hard work, and you
gotta, you gotta get real withyourself around kind of where
you fall on, on this axis.
And whatever your, youraspirations are, just be, you
have to have some moreawareness, some more
self-reflection.
Hey, if I'm, if I'm this guy isthis talented and I'm this
talented, well, he does not haveto work as hard as I have to
(33:37):
work for us to get to the sameplace.
And that's un that's unfair, butthat's just the reality.
And I think, you know, Ron, toyour point with, with kids,
that's exacerbated by likesocial media and just all these
things that they're dealingwith.
When I, I can, I can look at akid in eighth grade and just
say, Hey, look, this is yourtrajectory.
(34:00):
You are this talented right now,and you work this hard.
If you work this hard, this isthe potential you have.
But if you don't do that, thereis no X, y, z or you're this
talented Right?
But you don't work that hard,you better start working harder.
Because I like, as you getolder, that talent starts to
(34:21):
dissipate a little bit.
Starts to go down.
You're the big eight.
People start catching up.
Yeah.
Like you, well you're, you'rekind of slow though.
So you don't wanna be the, thebig eighth grader, ninth grader
that could run through everyoneright now.
But, but then that, that eighth,ninth grader that hasn't gone
through puberty yet, he startsto go through puberty, he puts
on that muscle and he'sdeveloping everything.
And now he's here and you'rehere.
Right.
And you didn't develop a workethic'cause you were just, I'm
(34:42):
the biggest, fastest, strongest.
And, and now you're not gonnaget to where you want to go,
which again, it's not foreveryone at the end of the day.
Which is all good too, right?
Yeah.
So, I mean, Jules, it seems likeyou might be the busiest guy in
the game of lacrosse.
I mean, there, there's verylittle in the game you're not
doing, you founded the LAX lab,you're the founding, you're a
(35:04):
founding member of the BlackLacrosse Alliance and Mission
Prime.
So it's really cool to see theway that you're given back to
the game.
But, but let's talk about yourskills training program and the
LAX lab which I know yourbrother's currently the director
of.
Tell us how that came to be andhow that's evolved and how you
(35:25):
and your brother think abouttraining the next generational
lacrosse players.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
I, I appreciate you asking aboutthat.
I think when I graduated, itwas, it was just the Duke lab,
like, Hey, we're gonna work onoffensives talent, offensive
skill sets, shooting, dodgingfootwork, that I felt like were
in college.
(35:45):
Really what elevated my game,like, Hey, I need to get better
at attacking my matchup.
Or I get these step down shotsfrom the point, and I really
need to get better at just likehammering this shot or.
I need to get better at turningthe corner, like very specific
offensive things that, again, inmy individual opportunity and to
get better, I was working on.
(36:07):
And so when I was travelingaround the country when I first
graduated, and figuring outwhat, what this lacrosse thing
looked like and, and what itwould mean to be a full-time
player in 2018.
'cause we were only getting paid$6,000 at that time.
A full-time player meant you hadto find sponsorships, you had to
do camps and clinics, you had todo things to make it happen.
Yeah.
That would make you morerelevant in the game and like
allow you to build a profile andyou know, do something outside
(36:29):
of just playing because playingwasn't enough.
And so it started with the Jukelab and it was kind of like
funny, like at the, at firstwhen I would say it to guys, I'd
be like, yeah, I started thisthing called Juke Lab and then I
would just take videos of thestuff we were doing and, and I
realized, I was like, it's kindof catching on, but like, no
one's really like focusing onfootwork or like offensive
development and like putting iton social media and like talking
(36:52):
about it in, in a.
Strategic way.
And so I kind of just started todo that.
And then I realized like, fastforward now a lot of people do
it.
And so it's cool.
Like I'm glad that it's, it'sgrown.
But what I also realized is Iwas kind of pigeonholing myself
a little bit where that was goodfor me running around the
country, but like I would go toplaces where, hey, you know, you
(37:14):
guys do not need footwork, youneed stick work.
You need to understand thisstuff.
Right?
Or mentally, yeah, before westart talking about your feet or
this shot or that.
And so I wanted to give myselfthe opportunity to expand,
right?
So that's where lax lab kind ofcame in.
I kept a lab, like that was a, arunning joke, like when we were
growing up with my brothers too.
(37:35):
We would just be like, yo, wegotta get in the lab.
Like, yo, you've been in thelab, like you've been working,
like when's the last, I went tothe field three times this week.
Like, when's the last time youhit the field?
So it was kind of always thisthing and I was like, why don't
I just use that and, and runwith it?
And it's a family business nowtoo, which is cool.
And kind of how we all came upin the game.
And I think the LAX lab wasreally, when I got to New
(37:57):
Jersey, I realized we were doingthe skills training, we're doing
juke lab stuff, but the kids inNew Jersey, they're, you know,
not everyone has the recexperience that I had with dads
that played and have the, justwere instilled in them the work
ethic and the, the history ofthe game and the determination
and kind of just, I, I would saylike the spark that I had.
(38:19):
And I think that that's the, thething we give to these guys the
most is, yeah, sure we trainsome talented players, but like
my favorite player in the worldto train is a kid that like,
doesn't know how good he can beand isn't otherwise getting that
spark instilled in him, whetherit's because he is not playing
other, I played other sports.
(38:39):
I played basketball like mybasketball coach.
That's the greatest athleticexperience I've had to date is
my middle school basketballcoach.
I'm actually gonna talk to.
10 year, no, not 10 years, Iguess.
14, 15 year reunion.
We won three championships,sixth, seventh, eighth grade,
and middle school basketball.
Wow.
Never done that in the historyof the program, even to this
day.
(39:00):
And we had a ton of greatathletes on that team, guys that
played D one, D two, D three ina variety of different sports,
including basketball.
And he was, we were 11 and 12,and it was no joke.
It was, you know, we're, it wasthe most serious thing in the
world.
And I was, I was like, allright, like the, I, I'm, I'm
(39:20):
locked in.
Like this is the most seriousthing for me.
I was very impressionable and Ihad positive influences that
made impressions on me.
And so when I see kids, I cantell that I'm like, yo, you're
just not getting that.
And the lacrosse is one aspectto it, but like, I need to spark
something in you.
And we can use lacrosse as theavenue, but it's more just
(39:41):
building belief and confidencein someone who is.
At a crucial point in theirlife, like 12, 13, where
they're, they're going throughpuberty.
They're seeing social media now,which is crazy.
They're, they're having allthese things happen.
I'm like, no, dude.
Like, yo, put in work, see theresults, and then like, now
that's a blueprint for you.
You did the work, you saw itworked.
Let's keep at this, let's keepbuilding.
(40:03):
And then you watch it for a yearand two years.
And we have kids that have nobusiness being good at lacrosse,
who are now just like, good.
And they're feeling themselves.
I'm like, yes, that's good.
Like, and that's, that's myfavorite kind of kid in the
world.
And that's really what the LAXlab is all about is, is like we
genuinely care about your kid.
We know he plays club, a lot ofthem.
Most kids play club.
The club coaches don't haveenough time.
(40:25):
They, they have to worry aboutthe tournaments through
recruiting all these things.
We're gonna just focus on you asa person and a player and train
you and then go out to your clubteam and, and go perform.
Like go be.
You go bring that, that beliefthat you built working on your
own, not just with us, but.
Now I'm telling you, it's notjust with me.
You need to do it in thebackyard.
Go bring that to your recprogram, your high school
program, your club program.
(40:46):
And we believe over time we'regonna be able to transform young
men's and women's lives throughthat.
Jules.
You know what the game is inawesome hands, man.
It's really, really fun to seesomeone who cares as much about
all the different dimensions.
First of all, just what it is tobe a good person.
But the way from, from the wayyou think about skills
(41:08):
development to the way you thinkabout the growth and diversity
of the game.
To the way you're just thinkingabout helping young people
develop the kind of mindsetsthat are gonna help'em be the
best they can be.
I mean, you you got it going on,man.
Great.
That's great.
That's awesome.
I appreciate that.
That means a lot coming from youguys and I, I'm thankful that
you, you know, you reached outand, and wanted me to have you
(41:29):
on your podcast, so thank youguys so much.
Well, thanks a million and we'llsign off here Until we meet
again.
Here's to hoping you find thetwine.
We're signing off here at theget the lax scoop.
Thanks again so much.
We will see you the next time.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.