Timber Creek Girls Lacrosse: Off-Season

By Hank Morton

During the Fall of 2021, I had the opportunity to work with Timber Creek Girls Lacrosse.

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Their high school season starts in the Spring so they came to us looking for some off-season work. After our first session together it was clear that there need to be a focus on work capacity along with all the other important attributes of being an athlete: strength, power, speed, agility, etc.

The team was with me twice a week, and I quickly noticed that they wanted to work, they wanted to lift, and they wanted to get better. In our second session together I used the 3×300 yard shuttle as a conditioning test. I needed to see where they were, and I wanted to be able to show them how much we were going to improve.

The 300s were performed on a 25 yard stretch, which meant that they needed to run down to the cones and back 6 times to finish one 300. We ran three 300s with a 3 minute rest in between each one. This was our big test to improve over the next 6 weeks. During the first session of the sixth week we performed this same test. Below is a chart on the teams performance during week 1 and week 6, and the difference measured in seconds.

300 (1st)300 (2nd)300 (3rd)
Week 174.2s85.6s89.2s
Week 669.4s75.8s79.8s
Difference +/--4.8s-9.8s-9.4s
300-Yard Shuttle Testing

This chart shows the team’s average times during our 300 yard shuttle decreased substantially over our six weeks of training. In fact, on average, the times dropped 24 seconds in total across all three tests, a 10% improvement. This meant they could work harder and recover faster than before. Their improved work capacity transferred week after week allowing us to get more done during the sessions we had. The atmosphere and energy increased throughout the weeks. They were lifting more weight and performing movements and lifts properly and more efficiently. They were practicing movement in different planes, improving mobility, improving core strength, lifting heavy, completing unilateral lifts, and enjoying all of it. Every aspect of the workouts were improving and they wanted more. The sessions included a movement skill session, conditioning, and resistance training. All of these came with the intention of injury prevention and performance enhancement. We are excited to see these athletes and this team again in the future!

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