Albany Long Pass Ground Ball Pregame Warm-Up Drill
Get your players' feet and sticks moving with this simple drill we saw Albany using with their Defense before games this week. If it's good enough for the Great Danes, it's good enough for you!
We love how Head Coach Scott Marr and the Albany Great Danes play. With them being in the news a lot this week, we figured it's a good time for this one. We saw Albany using it with their Long Poles on both sides of the box while their Offense was shooting. You can use it while you warm up your Goalie(s). We're using it right now with all our players in small groups of three to five to get everybody lots of touches, lots of reps, and lots of movement in practice and before games.
Keep It Simple, Son!
College coaches aren't rocket scientists or magicians. They are just very good at focusing on the details of a few simple things, and doing them really well. They are experts at combining multiple movements and skills into one drill to maximize touches and repetitions. The drills they use are so surprisingly, mind-blowlingly simple, sometimes we can't believe it when we get to see or talk to them!
Combine Multiple Skills!
This is just a simple variation on your standard Line Drills. Each player gets lots of work in rapid sucession in each rep of this drill- Ground Balls, multiple passes that your players will need in games, plus "Defensive Approach" to the ball, and the ABC's of Individual Defense.
Approaches are so hot right now, every team is working on them, and many teams are almost designing their whole Offense around them.
HERE'S THE DRILL:
Figure 1.) Blue 1 will throw a long pass to Blue 2. We don't always practice long passes with our players, but they are useful and important! These are just like the "Over!" passes that your players, especially your Defenders, will need to Clear the ball from your Defensive end of the field. You can't win if you can't score, and you can't score if you can't get the ball to your Offense!
Give all your players tons of reps combining these simple but crucial skills any day at practice or before a game!
