| HOME | ADMIN | REGISTER ON-LINE | CONTACT US | SITE MAP |

Practice Drills: Shooting & Footwork
SHOOTING

Rapid Fire
About 15-20 balls are lined up on the top of the arc. A player begins at one end of the line of balls (depending on whether she is right- or left-handed), and when the whistle is blown, she quickly scoops the ball and shoots at goal. She goes around the top of the arc, shooting each ball one by one.

If this drill is done sloppily, it won't do much good. Make sure that each player bends low to get good control of the ball, takes a cradle or two and shoots accurately at the corners.

Variations

  1. Put targets in the corners of the goals.
  2. Put a goalie in.
  3. Limit the time in which each player has to shoot all of the balls.
  4. Shovel shots.

Quick Stick
This is a scoring drill that's lots of fun, but in a game situation it must be used in only the most perfect of circumstances. There are many ways to lose possession of the ball doing a Quick Stick.

There is one line at the top of the fan. One player or the coach stands behind the goal with all of the balls. The players sprint one at a time straight toward the goal and the coach lobs a ball high just as the advancing player enters the arc. The player lets the ball sink lightly into her stick, after which she quickly whips it into the goal. There is no cradling, and the ball is never brought under full control. Make sure that the player's stick does not enter the circle.

One-on-One
There are two lines: one at the 50 yard-line (A), and one behind the goal (B). Line B has all of the balls. Player A runs toward the goal, and player B makes a long pass to her. Player B advances to defend player A after she catches the ball. Player A attempts to dodge and out-run the defender to score, while player B tries to check and body-check player A to prevent a goal. Note: Player B must defend closely to player A while in the arc to prevent a "blocking the shooting space" or "three seconds" call in a game.

Variations

  1. Add more than one attack line and/or defense line
  2. Have the goalie make the initial throw
  3. Add a pivot point

FOOT WORK

Drop a stick on the ground and:

 

1) with the stick horizontally in front of you, step over the stick with one foot, then the next. Then step backwards with the next foot, and follow with the other. Basically, you're running in place very quickly, back and forth over your stick. Make sure that you're knees are high.

2) with the stick still horizontally in front of you, squat down a little and slide to the side of the stick, step forward so you're in front of it, then slide to the other side of the stick and step back behind it. Repeat this so you're really just sliding around the stick, but the squat position makes you're quads do a lot of the work and your constant forward position makes your feet get a great workout.

3) with the stick vertically in front of you, jump over it with both feet, then again to the other side. It's like you're slalom skiing. Again, make sure that you're knees are high.

4) with several sticks in front of you, line them up about a foot apart and step forward between the sticks with your knees as high as possible. It's like that drill you see football players doing stepping through tires.

See what other drills you can make up using your stick to improve your footwork.

Some Other Drills:

- place the stick in front of you vertically and stand to one side of the stick. Jump over the stick with both feet and then back to the other side. (Almost like you are skiing)

- place the stick in front of you vertically. Stand at the bottom of the stick and jump (with feet together) foward, then over the stick, then back to the bottom, and then over to where you started. you are jumping in a box around your stick.

(both of these drills I usually do for about 1 minute)"


  © Copyright 2007 Alexandria Lacrosse Club. All rights reserved.
  © Copyright 2007 Demosphere International, Inc. All rights reserved.