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Laying The Foundation:
Teaching Lacrosse Fundamentals to the 9-12 Year
Old Player
by Coach Joe Seivold
Sept 18, 2002
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Durham Academy Head Coach Joe Seivold |
Laying the Foundation: Teaching Lacrosse
Fundamentals to the 9-12 year old player
This Fall throughout the lacrosse-playing world we will
see the resumption of clinics and Fall Ball Saturdays.
These are great opportunities to teach the fundamentals
of lacrosse to eager learners, and, if done right, can
lay the groundwork for successful Springs.
To do it right, such clinics need to place the emphasis
on the proper teaching of the three essential fundamentals
of the game: passing, catching, and scooping. Young
players need to be taught how to execute these three
skills, and should be made excited about continuing
to practice these skills away from the clinic site.
Therefore, the most successful clinics will have an
excited, electrifying “expert” lead teacher,
and a staff of knowledgeable, supportive coaches to
help execute that which the lead teacher is demonstrating.
The clinic structure during this portion
should be as follows:
1) Expert demo
2) Break out into groups (no more than 10 players per
support coach) to execute demonstrated skill
3) Follow-up.
To teach the three skills, consider the following:
PASSING:
First, demonstrate the similarities in the throwing
motion between a baseball throw, football pass, and
lacrosse pass. In each case, the thrower leads with
the opposite foot (i.e. right handed quarterback steps
with left foot). That foot is pointed directly at the
target as the throw occurs to help ensure accurate delivery.
Second, reveal how the throw is executed with the snapping
of the top wrist. The bottom hand is no more than a
guide, The head of the stick should come from “ear
hole” to hip, thus ensuring an overhand pass. Of
course, with so many different pockets these days, some
kids may have passes flying straight into the dirt –
encourage young players to take the whip out.
CATCHING:
Demonstrate that catching is a matter of providing a
“"cushion-y" place for the ball to land”.
Players should “give” with the stick as the
ball enters. Again, this is much like the catching of
a football for example. For effect, the lead teacher
should demo how one can catch a tennis ball with a tennis
racket using an exaggerated “give” technique.
Secondly (and most important), emphasize the importance
of keeping one’s eye on the ball as it enters the
catching zone.
SCOOPING:
Retrieving the ground ball is a three-step process.
1) Get low. Get the back (bottom) hand close to parallel
to the ground.
2) Scoop through the ball. With the head of the stick
fairly flat, the player should move the head forward
under the ball, while running.
3) After executing the scoop, the player should stand
upright while running, bring the head of the stick to
the “ear hole” and look to make a pass.
After demonstrating these skills, players should break
out into groups to execute. Players should work in pairs
on all of these – no long lines. I am a big believer
in “more touches on the ball” – the best
of many good soccer coaching concepts. Frequent feedback
should be provided to all players. There are also a
variety of fun drills and games associated with the
teaching of these skills once your players have begun
to pick up the basics. I’ll share these next time.
For now, get these young players excited about the fundamentals!
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