Lacrosse Drills For Cradling And Passing

By James Jurcic
Practice Makes Perfect When it comes to any sport, including lacrosse, the only way to improve your skills is to practice. Since the sport of includes aspects such as cradling that are unique, these skills need to be first learned and then practiced on a daily basis. The following drills are a great way to work on your team’s cradling and passing skills, which are among the most crucial for success on the field. Cradle Will Rock First, we have a series of drills focusing on your team’s cradling skills. Cradling is the motion used to keep the ball in the pocket of the stick. By moving the stick in a circular motion, enough centripetal force is generated to keep the ball from tumbling out of the pocket. To begin the first of these drills, have your players stand in a line with their backs against the wall. Each player should begin cradling while trying to make their sticks touch the wall on both sides. Players should hold their sticks completely vertical, cradling from side to side without dropping the ball. For the next cradling drill, ten players should stand in a staggered line approximately 4 yards apart while the remaining players line up behind the first player in the



staggered line. One at a time, the players in the line weave between the staggered players while cradling the ball on the opposite side of the staggered player. For example, when dodging a player to their right, the players must cradle to the left. After all the players have gone though the staggered line, the two lines switch so that everyone gets a chance to run the course. Next we have a cradling drill that utilizes pivot points for added difficulty. To begin, players stand in a line cradling a ball in their stick. At the sound of the coach’s whistle, players must plant their left foot and use it as a pivot point. While doing so, players must cradle strongly to their right and twist around to face the opposite direction. When the coach blows the whistle again, players return to their regular stance. The second time the whistle is sounded players repeat the pivot point on their right side. Throwing and Catching After you’ve run some drills to improve your team’s cradling, next try focusing on the crucial skill of passing. While passing is the fastest way to get the ball across the field, it can also be extremely difficult to execute because players must first catch the pass then immediately begin cradling the ball to keep it from falling out of the stick’s pocket. For this passing drill, players stand in two lines facing each other approximately twenty yards apart. The player at the start of one line has a ball. At the sound of the coach’s whistle, the two players at the start of the line run towards each other, and the players with the ball passes it to the other player. Once the ball is caught and cradled, the next player in the line facing the player who just caught the ball runs out to receive the pass. After releasing the ball, players run to the opposite end of their respective lines.


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