“Stayin’ Alive” 5-Man 5-Ball Passing & Catching Drills
Keep your players focused during practice with this great variation on classic Line Drills that adds in an element of competition and conditioning to raise the intensity!
We are starting preseason with our youth and high school teams, and it's all about stick skills and conditioning right now. These are our favorite warm-up line drills to do with players of any age to teach FUNdamentals and how important it is to take care of the ball!
Passing, Catching, Ground Balls, Dodging, you can practice any basic individual skill you can think of with this simple variation on your normal warm-ups. Plus there's a great extra challenge that will keep your players paying attention so they can "Stay Alive"!
Small Groups = Muscle Memory and Repetition! We always do these drills in groups of five so all our players get tons of chances to move their feet and touch the ball, to get as many reps as possible in a short amount of time. Your players don't come to practice to stand in line, so make sure your drills and games keep all your players moving and involved as much as possible!
- Related: Check out these 12 Easy Ways to Improve your Line Drills at practice.
HERE'S THE DRILL:
Put your players in groups of 3 or 5. Make as many groups as you need so your players maximize their repetitions and touches on the ball.
Start your players in two lines about 15-20 yards apart. Make this distance as close as you need to for your players to make their passes successful. Closer together for younger players, farther apart for high school or college.
Give each group five balls and only five balls. One for the drill and two back-up balls for each line in their group.
Figure 1.) Blue 1 will RUN and pass to Blue 2 at the front of the opposite line. Set a timer for two minutes. Each group will practice one skill for the full two minutes- Righty Inside, Righty Outside, Ground Balls To, Ground Balls Away, Over the Shoulder, Break-Out Passes, Split Dodges, etc.
Older and more advanced players should be able to go for 3-5 minutes. After the time is up, practice the next skill for another two minutes. Use the timer to go through all the skills you do in your normal practice warm-ups.
