There’s no substitute for a lacrosse team that can effectively catch and throw passes to one another under pressure. There are a lot of defensive strategies that help lead to success, but if a squad has this one fundamental part of the game down, it’ll be hard for their opponents to stop them.
For youth lacrosse players who are more beginners than anything else, it’s important to keep things simple by emphasizing the basics. Once that becomes a natural reflex, it’ll then be time to introduce more complicated aspects.
Lacrosse is a game of constant movement and pressure, so it’s easy to panic and make mistakes – whether we’re talking from a physical or mental standpoint – especially when you don’t feel as prepared as possible upon stepping onto the field. There are tons of lacrosse stick drills out there that you can do to improve this area of your game, but here are three that we think are super helpful.
Lacrosse Stick Drills
Stickwork Inside the Center Circle
This is a great drill to use – yup, you guessed it – in the center circle! It’s also great as a warm-up drill that will not only improve stickwork, but also quick decision-making skills. The activity itself will force players to keep their heads up and eyes open so they can find an open teammate to pass a ball to while also making sure they’re ready to catch a pass from a different teammate.
The key here is that you can’t return the ball to the teammate who just passed it to you, so you’re forced to look around and anticipate someone else to be open.
The Waterfall Drill
This is a great drill because it helps players work on making both short and long passes while on the run. Some extra benefits is that goalies can also be included and there’s a bit of conditioning work that’s a byproduct of it all.
Players will form two lines, with one having the balls. The drill starts with one player from each line running up the middle of the field while passing the ball back and forth. After making these short passes all the way down to the opposite end line, they then practice long passes across the field by going wider on the run back.
The Give-and-Go Drill
Learning how to pass on the run and under pressure are two skills every successful lacrosse player possesses. The give-and-go drill is a great way to hone that particular skill as much as possible.
Start this drill by having two lines of players lining up at the top of the 12-meter arc. Once again, one line of players has the balls, but now have a coach stand in front of the players who have the ball. That player will then feed the ball to the other line before sprinting toward the goal. After the players in the second line catch the ball, they must switch hands before throwing a lead pass toward their teammate breaking toward the goal.
Upon a catch and shot taking place, the players should return to the back of the line and wait for their next turn.