As the fall season ends and winter lacrosse is about to begin, players should begin to shift their focus towards renewal for the next year. By that, I mean a shift towards making 2018 their best possible year as a student and an athlete. This is the time of year for players to focus on their individual development so they can help their teams this spring.

Once the spring and summer begin, it is all about team lacrosse and the individual skill development opportunities tend to vanish. Most of the time spent at lacrosse practice is either playing games or practicing team concepts. This is great and a lot of fun, but it leaves players behind skill wise because there is not enough time for focused skill development. Players end up trying to do new things and advance in the game without learning and repping the new skill sets that will get them to the next level.

If players take advantage of their winter development, they have the opportunity to learn new stick skills and techniques that will make them much more capable when they are back in the team setting.

What separates great players from the pack is their internal desire for improvement. Players who have a desire to get better, "seek" that goal on a consistent basis and will improve much more than those who only "want" the improvement.

There are no shortcuts to improving. The way is pretty simple: