Basic Tips I ahve Learned from Christian Cook by YLUSA.com editor Gerald Goulder

1) Watch as much game tape of great collegiate and high school teams as you can. Focus on the defensive systems and the play of individual defensemen. Use your coach as a resource and watch tape with him/her. You will need to shift your mindset somewhat and will need to understand how to play defense (not offense – although that will help you, most likely) in both settled and unsettled situations.
2) If you don’t already, play as much basketball as you can. The style of defense in basketball is not unlike that used by great defensemen. You need to concentrate on your footwork and body positioning and playing basketball is a good way to prep yourself.
3) Work on footwork drills recommended by your coach. Football footwork drills often work well – you want to have very deliberate and accurate footwork.
4) Get excited!

You may have noticed that I didn’t suggest using a long-stick right away. I don’t think handling a long-stick is all that difficult compared to a short-stick. If you work on your stick skills, whether it is using a long or short shaft, you should be fine. However, you do want your stick handling to be very crisp. A team cannot afford to have a player on defense who cannot handle the ball. Losing possession of the ball in your defensive end is far more dangerous than losing it in your offensive end.

5)Individually you can work on your speed and agility in the off season. Use football footwork drills, jump rope, plyometrics and any other exercises or resources at your disposal. Improving your speed and agility can help you take your game to the next level. However, these alone cannot make you a great player – they merely supplement a solid foundation of skills and knowledge of the game.

6) On your own, you should work on your stick skills and hit the wall EVERY day for at least 15 minutes. Just 15 minutes a day on a consistent basis will do wonders for your stick skills. However, you should make sure your wall-ball practice is as realistic as possible. Run parallel to the wall and throw passes to yourself – throw passes as hard as you can and catch them different ways with your stick. If you consistently stand 10 yards away and just throw and catch, it won’t help you nearly as much. Therefore, be sure to make your practice as functional as possible given the constraints of the wall.

7) Ground balls are something you can work on with your teammates in practice, just be sure to get your body behind the ball in case you miss it with your stick.

8) As for slides and regular defensive concepts, this again, is something you should do as a team. Get other defensemen together and watch game tape (of both your games and of great collegiate teams). Watch the communication and rotational packages employed by others and do your best to emulate them.