Box Lacrosse Continuous Ground Ball Clearing Drill
We spent the last few weeks in practice using this simple drill to play shot and pass rebounds off the boards in Box Lacrosse. This is a great way to turn ground balls and clearing passes into an attack on Goal!
We love Box Lacrosse! It provides so many opportunities for our younger players that they don't get from Field (Outdoor) Lacrosse. Smaller teams and smaller space mean more "competitive opportunity" for each player. Plus the ball never goes out of bounds! Every bad pass or shot becomes a new unsettled or numbers-advantage situation, fast break, something! No standing around waiting for the ball to come back in.
All these skills transfer over when we go back outside in the spring. Box Lacrosse gives field players more Lacrosse IQ, more experience in game situations, plus stick skills get sharper when playing in smaller spaces.
This drill gives you tons of reps and tons of touches. It uses a continuous progression of skills your players will need in games, so they get lots of chances to build muscle memory and repetition. Running this in small groups means they will be back in the drill in just a few seconds, not standing in line!
HERE'S THE DRILL:
You can run this drill on both sides of the floor while you warm up your Goalie.
Remember: In Box Lacrosse, there is much less emphasis on using the non-dominant hand. Let your players use whichever hand they choose for this drill and they will figure out how to make it work!
Figure 1.) Start your players in lines on either side of the goal. Blue 3 will throw a shot or pass off the boards to create a loose ball. Blue 2 will play the rebound to get the ground ball.
Teach your players to "Read" and react to loose balls off the boards. This happens a lot in box lacrosse. This is great development work for muscle memory and hand-eye coordination for game situations!
RELATED PRACTICE DRILLS AND PLAYS:
- Box Lacrosse 1-on-1 Ground Balls in the Corner Drill: This is a great pre-game warm-up drill that we see coaches using to get their players some contact before game time, and get used to working in small spaces.
- Box Lacrosse Pass-Down, Pick-Down Offense: This is probably the most standard offense we see used in Box Lacrosse, using the "Two-Man Game" to get open to go to Goal!
- Box Lacrosse "Double Down" Strong Side Rotation: We are learning more about strong side rotations this season- what the other three players on the floor are doing away from the ball.
- Simple Box/Field Man-Up 3-on-2 Up Top: We see this simple Man-Up play used in both indoor and outdoor lacrosse. You can easily use it with your youth players!
