1 Two-Handed Ground Balls
Myers urged the U.S. hopefuls to operate with a sense of urgency moving the ball off the ground, never approaching with just one hand on the stick.
2 Communication
Each player had his first name taped to the front of his helmet. They were to call out to each other by first name at all times and echo the offensive and defensive sets.
3 Don’t Be Last
This applied to everything from end line chases to timeout huddles.
4 Shots
“GTM” was the operative acronym, as in, get to the middle. Between the hashes is where Team USA thrives.
5 Throw Hard
Ear-to-ear passes. No lobs. “Hit singles,” which means to make the next pass rather than attempt risky skip feeds.
6 Feet and Fist
Defensemen who threw stick checks were less appealing than those who moved their feet, played physical with their hands and maintained sound body position.
7 Posture
How low can you go? Another defensive tenet, Myers sought players with an athletic stance (“cheetah”), head on a swivel, stick out (on ball) and stick up (off ball).