Library: PLY — Plyometrics (Part 2)
PLY — Plyometrics (Part 2 of 2)
PLY-23 — Box Jump (Step Down)
Step-by-step instructions 1. Set the box on level, non-slip ground. Push it hard with both hands to confirm it does not slide or wobble. Do this before every session, every time. 2. Stand about a foot back from the box, feet hip-width apart. 3. Dip into a quarter squat, swinging the arms back. 4. Swing the arms forward and jump up onto the box, landing with both feet fully on the box surface, in the PLY-01 landing position — knees bent, hips back, chest up, quiet. 5. Freeze on the box for two seconds, standing under control. 6. Step down. One foot, then the other. Every single rep. Never jump down. 7. Reset your feet on the ground and go again.
Coaching cues - "Jump high, land soft, step down." - "Full feet on the box — heels included." - "Choose a box you can land on with your chest up. If you have to pull your knees to your chest to make it, the box is too tall." - "The step down is part of the rep, not an afterthought."
Common mistakes - Choosing a box that is too tall. This is the classic box-jump ego mistake, and it produces the shin injuries box jumps are famous for. If you cannot land in a comfortable quarter-squat, the box is too tall. - Jumping down off the box. Never. This doubles or triples the landing force for zero training benefit. - Landing on the front edge of the box with the heels hanging off. - Using an unstable surface. - Doing sets of 15 to make it a conditioning drill. Box jumps are 3 to 5 reps per set, maximum effort, long rest. - Doing them at the end of a hard session when the legs are tired.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Step-ups onto the box, no jump. - Regression: A lower box — 6 inches is a legitimate training height. - Regression: Broad jump to stick (PLY-07), which builds the same power with no box at all. - Progression: Raise box height in 4-inch steps, only after 3 clean sessions at the current height. - Progression: Lateral box jump (approach from the side), grades 10+. - Progression: Single-leg step-up jump to a low box, grades 11–12 with supervision.
How to measure it Highest box you can land on with a chest-up quarter-squat landing and a two-second freeze — not the highest box you can scramble onto. Test once per phase, fully rested, best of three, with a spotter. A better long-term power metric for most athletes is still the standing broad jump (PLY-07) or a jump-and-reach vertical.
PLY-24 — Depth Drop to Stick
Step-by-step instructions 1. Confirm the box is stable with the push test. Confirm the landing surface is grass or rubber and free of obstacles. 2. Stand on the box with your toes near the front edge, feet hip-width apart. 3. Step off — do not jump off. Step one foot out into the air and let gravity take you down. Jumping off adds height and force that this entry does not want. 4. Bring the second foot to meet the first so you land on both feet at the same time. 5. Land in the PLY-01 position: mid-foot, knees bent, hips back, chest up, knees tracking over the toes, quiet. 6. Stick it. Freeze for three full seconds. No extra hop, no step, no hand touching down. 7. Walk back around, step up onto the box, and reset. The walk-back is deliberate rest.
Coaching cues - "Step off, do not jump off." - "Land in one sound, not two." - "Absorb it like PLY-01 — same shape, more force." - "If you cannot freeze it, the box is too tall. Lower it."
Common mistakes - Jumping off the box instead of stepping off, which adds unwanted force. - Landing with one foot before the other (you will hear it — two sounds instead of one). - Landing stiff-legged. At this impact level, stiff legs are how people get hurt. - Knees caving in on the landing — end the session's depth work immediately if this happens. - Starting too high. Twelve inches is the correct starting height for a 9th grader, no matter how athletic. - Doing high volume. Six to ten total contacts in a session is enough for this entry.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Drop from a curb-height step (6 inches). - Regression: Go back to PLY-01 for two weeks and rebuild the landing. - Progression: Raise the box by 2 to 4 inches at a time, and only after several clean sessions. - Progression: Depth drop to a single-leg landing, grades 11–12, lowest box only, very low volume. - Progression: Depth drop into an immediate athletic stance with the stick up, so the landing ends in a save-ready position. - Progression: Move to PLY-25 (depth jump) only when three-second freezes are automatic from a 12-inch box across multiple sessions.
How to measure it Highest box from which you can land and freeze for three full seconds, with knees tracking, on every rep of a 5-rep set. That number is the gate for PLY-25. Also useful: film the landing and check whether you hear one sound or two.
PLY-25 — Depth Jump
Step-by-step instructions 1. Run the box stability push test. Confirm grass or rubber landing surface, clear and level. 2. Stand on the box with toes near the front edge, feet hip-width apart. 3. Step off the box — never jump off. 4. Land on both feet at the same time, in the PLY-01 position. 5. The instant your feet touch, jump. Straight up for the vertical version, or forward for the horizontal version. The ground contact should feel like a bounce, not a squat. 6. Land the second jump in a controlled, frozen athletic position and hold it for two seconds. 7. Walk back, step up, and take a full 3 minutes before the next set.
Coaching cues - "Off the ground fast — think hot coals, not a heavy squat." - "The landing and the jump are one motion." - "If you sink deep before jumping, the box is too tall or you are too tired. Stop." - "Six to ten total contacts in a session. That is the whole workout."
Common mistakes - Sinking into a deep squat on landing before jumping. That is a squat jump off a box, not a depth jump, and it means the height or the fatigue level is wrong. - Box too tall — the single most common error, and the one with the highest injury cost. - Too much volume. This entry is prescribed in tiny doses on purpose. - Doing them fatigued, after conditioning, or late in a long session. Depth jumps go early in the session or not at all. - Doing them without having earned them through PLY-24. - Adding them in-season. Save depth jumps for off-season and pre-season phases.
Progressions and regressions - Regression: Back to PLY-24 (depth drop to stick), which is a complete and valuable exercise on its own. Most athletes never need to leave it. - Regression: Lower box. - Progression: Depth jump to a horizontal broad jump for distance. - Progression: Depth jump to an immediate lateral bound (PLY-08 landing rules apply). - Progression: Depth jump into a goalie-specific first step (PLY-19), which is the most transferable version of this entry.
How to measure it Two numbers together: ground contact time (film at 240 fps and count frames; under 0.25 seconds is the target) and jump output (height or distance of the second jump). A depth jump is only working if the contact is fast. If the contact time is long, the training effect is gone and the risk is not — lower the box or stop the session.
A CLOSING NOTE ON PLYOMETRICS
If you take one idea from this file, take this one: the landing is the exercise. Jumping is easy and fun and every athlete wants more of it. Landing is the skill that keeps knees healthy for ten years of lacrosse, and it is the skill that turns a jump into the next jump.
The best goalies are not the ones who jump the highest. They are the ones whose first movement is instant and whose second movement is already loading. That is built with small, quiet, boring reps done correctly, twice a week, for years — not with the biggest box in the gym.
When in doubt: fewer contacts, more rest, softer landings, grass.
Keep your eye on the ball, Coach — LAX Goalie Hub
© LAX Goalie Hub. Library reference file PLY. Governed by the v2 program architecture spec.