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posted 06/16/2009
Depending on the wall, you may have to catch on a bounce. Concrete walls and ground will add some speed to the ball. Try to catch it on one bounce if this is the case. You should experiment with distance from the wall to develop what works best for your ability. The more you improve, push yourself for more difficulty. If you do these drills 2 or 3 times aweek, you’ll see a big improvement. Use about a 20 minute routine, it may take more than 1 session to get through setof one person drills. As you improve, the drills will take less time and you can add more and split the routine. You maywant to do 4 sets of the right and left hands if you’re a beginner.
Right and Left Hand
A. At 10 ft. With your opposite leg extended toward the wall, throw, lean forward giving a target and catch the ball with soft hands. Cradle the ball and pull back to throw again.
B. Same drill at 20 ft.
2 sets of 25 on each side
Right to Left, with ball
A. With your body squared up to the wall, throw right, catch right, switch to left, throw left, catch left, etc. This is a more quick paced drill, where you don’t do a full cradle but a quick wrist action and pull it to your opposite side.
B. To also develop footwork, you could throw right, catch right, and pivot around while switching hands to throw in a full left handed position. Then go back to right.
1 set of 50
Switch Hands without Ball
A. With your body squared up to the wall, throw right, switch stick to left side , catch left, throw left, catch right, etc.
1 set of 50
Backhand Catching
With body and feet squared up to wall, throw right handed at an angle to return ball to your left side, rotate stick around to catch ball on left side but still being right handed, pull ball back quickly to your right side and throw again.
2 sets of 50, one right, one left
Over the Shoulder Catching (OTS)
With left foot forward, throw right handed at an angle to return ball to your left side, rotate BODY and STICK around, keeping stick right handed, to catch ball on left side at a jog. Continue jogging in a circle to come up right handed again.
2 sets of 25, one right handed, one left handed
Quick Stick
With left foot forward in a throwing position, throw at about 5 or 6 ft from the wall, easing the catch back and throw without cradling. Try throwing once a second or so.
4 sets of 25, alternating between right and left
Moving while throwing
The same drill as Right/Left throwing but move down the wall sidestepping. Use the lower hand cradle with the stick in the throwing position between throws.
Two Person Drills
A. Person A stands about 6 ft. from wall while person B is 15-20 ft. A fires the ball at the wall as if shooting. B moved where necessary to catch it. B sends a long pass from to the wall while A faces the wall. A has to react to catch it. If A misses, B gets it and sends another pass. This is especially good with a goalie up front.
B. A and B stand side by side spread out. Distance apart depends on how much space you have and what you want to work on. A sends a ball off the wall at an angle to make the ball go to B. Be returns in the same way. This works well for practicing quicksticks.
Three Person Drill
This drill is like the first two-person drill, except person C is standing at the same distance from the wall as A to the side. A sends a hard shot off the wall, B catches it, sends a quick pass to C, C sends a pass to A who quicksticks a shot. It’s a great way to practice a quickstick shot.
Always use a quick cradle to ready the ball in your pocket, except for the quick stick drills. Place a target a couple feet by a couple feet where it’s ok to do so to make sure you’re hitting the "box", which is the location you want to feed the ball when throwing to another player.
