Playing Box lacrosse can greatly improve your skills for field lacrosse, and is a great way to prepare for the outdoor season.  Everyone knows that when space is reduced, it speeds up the game and produces an environment where quicker decisions have to be made and ball handling skills are therefore amplified. Being in such an environment redefines being “open”.  Box players get used to catching passes routinely that field players would be yelled at for throwing.

Smaller Nets
Shooting accuracy and finishing ability are clearly a developmental advantage when learning how to finish on small (4x4) nets. But this isn’t the most important piece. BY FAR, THE MOST IMPORTANT concept taught in the sport of box lacrosse which is a by product of small nets is always striving to position your stick to the inside of the field. In box lacrosse if a right handed player drives down the right wing, he will almost never score as his shooting angle (and passing angles) are reduced with every step. By positioning (looking at the goal) lefties on the right and righties on the left, players are able to attack from the wings to the middle both with the ball and while cutting.

Another way to look at this is to develop midfielders and defensemen to play like attackmen who usually play on their natural side. Every day in practice the attack get repetitions dodging and cutting to the middle of the field while the midfielders are constantly repeating the same dodge down the ally dodges. The repertoire of an attackman’s dodges include inside out moves, split dodges, rollbacks, topside moves, underneath moves, pop outs or Z dodges, rocker moves, question mark moves as well as swim moves. Of course, midfielders can do any of these moves, but middies are almost always on the "wrong" side of the field where all they do is run into no angle with little recourse if their weak hand is not yet developed.

All Short Sticks
In box lacrosse there are no poles.  

6 v 6
Box lacrosse is a simple game that takes skills to their highest level. Box players work on small-sided situations every practice all practice.

The 2 Man Game
One of the staples of box lacrosse is the pick and roll both on and off the ball. It is the repetition of the pick and roll executed on the natural side of the players that teaches an extremely high level of reading the defense.

Boards and Glass
The ball is rarely out of play. Box lacrosse players get more repetitions in practice. Period.