Colin Doyle of the Toronto Rock, shares his expertise on the pick and roll.

Hello lacrosse fans, my name is Colin "popeye" Doyle and I play for the Toronto Rock. Over the course of my career I have made strong use of the classic pick and roll. The pick and roll has been a big part of lacrosse for a long time. If it is done properly, the pick and roll can be a successful part of any offence at any level of the game. There are four stages of the pick and roll that I will discuss.

The first part of the process is to make sure that the player who is being picked is making his defender think that he is going to the net. Driving the defender to the net will make him play honest defence on you and will become easily suceptable to being picked. If the defender is allowed to play "lazy" defence than it makes it easier for him to sit and wait on the pick and roll. Make sure that if you are going to get picked you must drive your defender towards the net or the picker.

The second stage involves the picker, or the player who will be performing the pick. It is important to remember to make your pick as hidden as possible. This can be done by driving your defender in to the middle and then to your teamate. By performing a "V cut", you will give yourself some room to find the other defenders back. It is also important to set your pick a step or two short of the defender's back. This way you will be less likely to get called for inteference.

The next step in the process is to involve the roll. After setting a strong pick on the defenders back the player who is being picked will carry on to the net, while the picker will hesitate one second and than will also go to the net. The follow up roll will create a very short two on one situation.

This is what makes the pick and roll so effective. The one defender who is playing the two offensive players will make a choice. What ever he chooses to do will reflect the play of the offensive players.

This is the last stage and essentially the most important. In a split second the ball carrier will either have to carry the ball to the net, shoot or pass the ball to the player who is rolling. It is important to make your decision quick and not to hesitate either way. Normally, either respose will be effective.

If these stages are followed appropriately than the pick and roll will be succesful a large portion of the time. Again, make sure that you drive you man to the player who is picking. Secondly, set a hard pick just short of the defender so that he runs in to your pick. Next, the player must roll, creating a two on one situation. Lastly, don't hesitate on your decision either shoot or pass to create a quality scoring chance. Thank you for your time and I hope that my pro tip can help the younger players develop a strong and successful pick and roll.