Beginners should start playing defense in the Basic “House” Defense, whereas advanced players may be encouraged to “pressure up.”  Intermediate and advanced teams should use whatever defensive system, or offensive system, they need to work on.

Variation #1 (10-20 min):  "Uncontested Breakout."  The group in the middle starts with the ball and runs towards one end or the other, playing 5-on-5 until there is a change of possession.  

As soon as the defending team gets the ball they then run the length of the floor and are now on offense, playing 5-on-5 against the group in the opposite end of the floor.  

Once finished playing offense, these players then get a chance to rest while the play goes down to the other end.  Coaches should encourage the offensive players to run either the team's offensive system, set-plays, or an upcoming opponent's offensive system. 

Variation #2 (10-20 min):  "Contested Breakout."  Same as the above variation except the offensive players are expected to apply some pressure against the breakout after losing the ball (Variation #2A).  Coaches can also turn this into a game (Variation #2B), scoring a successful breakout as getting the ball out of your zone within 10 seconds; games up to 10 (goals could also count as 1 point).

Variation #3 (10-20 min):  "Defensive Stops Vs. Quality Shots."  Coaches score a game between the 3 teams (15-20 seconds on the shot-clock), up to 20, defensive stops and quality shots both count for 1 point; goals count for 2 points.  

Variation #4 (10-20 min):  "Game to 7."  To add competition, play a game up to 7 goals, with the losing two teams doing push-ups, sit-ups, body weight squats, sprints, etc.

Variation #5 (10-20 min):  "No Drops/No Misses Game."  For every ball that is dropped and/or misses the net during the drill players will have to sprint from one side-board (or end-board) to the other.  For every goal that is scored, one sprint is removed from the total, with goalies having to run if the players keep their sprint total at or below zero.

Variation #6 (10-20 min):  "Everyone Touch Rule."  Same as  the above variations except all players on the team need to "touch" the ball (i.e. receive a pass) before a goal can be scored.

Variation #7 (10-20 min):  "Consecutive Pass Game."  This game goes up to 100.  Teams string together as many passes as they want, and if/when they get a quality shot off, that number of passes gets added to their score.  If the shot is a goal, that team is awarded 2x their consecutive pass total.