As coaches, we constantly go over the basics of the game, no matter what the sport happens to be.
One thing that I believe is critically important, especially if you are a high school lacrosse player and want to be recruited to PLAY in college, (not just practice), is creativity. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of quality players that send videos of their lacrosse accomplishments to college recruiters and coaches. What is it about your game that makes you stand out from the other players? Do you wear colored shoes or have a stick head that demands attention? Hopefully it’s more than those good ideas. That’s where creativity will help you stand out on any game video.
The instruction that I provide is extremely fast, behind the back shooting and passing. On the shooting side, I teach these techniques both right handed and left handed, enabling you to develop lethal and accurate shooting capabilities from virtually anywhere in front of the cage, (GLE to GLE). It becomes very difficult for a goalie to stop your shot, because of the difficulty in tracking the head of your stick. On the passing side, bating your defender to go one way and passing backhand in another direction creates a deceptive way to get the ball into your team mate’s stick, accurately and quickly.
The prerequisites for learning these advanced shooting techniques are:
- Proficient at passing and catching with both hands.
- Good dodging skills.
- Accurate shooting ability, (especially off a dodge).
- The ability to quickly survey the field in order to understand what options are available.
- Able to follow explicit instructions.
- A strong desire to learn this type of shooting and passing.
- A desire to play the game of lacrosse at the collegiate or MLL level.
- Willingness to practice what was learned in the last session.
Athletes that are relatively new to lacrosse or are not proficient with both hands would quickly become frustrated trying to incorporate these techniques into their game. As a coach, I would never discourage players, who do not possess the prerequisites, by simply sending them away. I will always be willing to evaluate their skill level and to recommend lacrosse training techniques in order to obtain the above prerequisites.
As in all sports there is a correct way and an incorrect way to learn a new skill. My responsibility is to teach you the proper way to implement these skill sets into your game.
A good instructor is paramount to success.
