Fundamental Skills and Drills for Youth Lacrosse

and Steven Brooks, MLL Midfield for Florida Launch and formerly for Chesapeake Bayhawks and Chicago Machine (100+ goals);
former Glenbrook South (IL) HS Head Coach;
All-American Midfielder for Syracuse University; 2008 NCAA Midfielder of the Year (2008 NCAA National Champion at Syracuse)

Discover a wonderful set of fundamental skill drills and games for youth lacrosse players. This DVD breaks down the elements of footwork, ground balls, roll and split dodges, passing, and shooting. Each drill builds on the next which makes the skills easier to learn and understand, while providing numerous repetition of critical skills.

You will see drills for warm-up, footwork, stick work, shooting, passing and dodging.

Warm-up Drills
These warm-up drills emphasize touches, stick work and movement. Coach Brooks shows players where their feet and hands should be as they come in and out of breaks off of cones and progresses into setting up dodges.

Passing Tree (Part & Whole)
Using a combination of throwing and catching drills, these drills emphasize the importance of both the top hand and bottom hand and reinforce the use of off-hands, as well.

Shooting Drills
Learn to get more power on your shot using the "Power of the L." Drills in this segment combine multiple skills into game like situations. The Split to Roll Back emphasizes drawing the double team, rolling back and passing to the top for an outside shot. Other drills incorporate ground balls, dodging, passing and shooting and more.

Throughout this video Coaches Combs and Brooks provide extensive tips to supplement the key elements of drills they are using. Youth coaches will relate to the players shown in the video (6th and 8th graders), as their execution mirrors what most coaches will experience at the start of a season.

This video provides a great demonstration of "skill stacking." Skill stacking refers to teaching fundamental skills and then devising drills that force players to use more and more of these skills in each successive drill. Stacking eventually leads to drills that closely replicate game-like situations. Structuring your practice using this method will allow you to present even the most complicated strategies to your players in an easy to learn manner.

Coaching youth lacrosse can present unique challenges for coaches. By starting with the foundational drills presented in this DVD and building other drills using coach Combs method, a successful lacrosse season is just around the corner.

"This video is an excellent tool that should be in every youth program's library, especially for new coaches."
- John Y., Youth Lacrosse Coach

43 minutes. 2012.