Coaching Guidance: Many girls may not have been exposed to many sports that require a throwing motion. If they lack this experience, they may have a difficult time working the mechanics of throwing with a stick. Some time should be spent on the fundamentals of throwing to introduce the girls to the body movements involved.
Passing a lacrosse ball is similar to throwing a baseball. The same techniques are used to release the ball accurately.
When throwing a baseball.
a player rotates her hips and shoulders
reaches back with her throwing arm holding the ball above her head (not pushed from her chest),
steps toward the target with her opposite foot,
rotates her hips and shoulders toward the target and into the pass,
snaps through the pass with her wrist,
follows through, completing the rotation of the hips and shoulders.
Make it a habit to keep your players moving while passing; movement will help with accuracy and momentum behind the ball.
Throwing Instruction:
Set the feet.
The player begins by facing her passing partner.
Passer’s feet should he offset about shoulder-width apart.
A right-handed player has her left foot in front of her right foot; a left-handed player has her right foot in front of her left foot.
Rotate the hips and shoulders.
The passer rotates her hips and shoulders so that her shoulders are perpendicular to her passing partner and reaches back with her stick (similar to when throwing a ball).
The top hand should be back and above the head (not in fi-ont of the body by the chest).
Hand and arm position.
The passer’s top hand slides about a third of the way down the stick. The thumb of the top hand is extended up the shaft of the stick, which helps the passer throw accurately.
The bottom hand (positioned in front of the body) is at the bottom of the stick and provides the power for the pass.
The passer’s arms are relaxed and away from her body, not in tight by her sides.
The push-pull motion.
The passer reaches hack so that the head of her stick is behind her head and about 6 inches above her shoulder.
The bottom hand must stay in front of the body and at chest height. If the bottom hand is raised higher than that, the stick will become parallel with the ground and the ball will either roll out of the pocket behind the passer or go straight up in the air on the release.
The passer steps forward with her opposite foot (shift ing her weight from the back foot to the front),
drives the bottom arm forward
execute a push-pull motion by using her top hand and arm to push the stick forward while the bottom hand and arm pull the stick toward the body.
This motion makes the stick perform like a lever and produces direct, accurate passes. Encourage the passer to snap her wrist through the push motion as if she were throwing a ball.
The follow-through of the stick should be across the body to the opposite hip—not under the armpit.
Completing the pass.
As the passer steps into the pass and is completing the push-pull motion
shoulders and hips are rotating through the pass
her top arm should extend in the direction of the person she’s passing to.
The step forward, the rotation of the hips and shoulders, the snap of the wrist through the push-pull motion, and the follow-through of the stick across the body (to the opposite hip) give the pass its power.
The accuracy of the pass is affected by the follow-through of the stick.
If the follow-through is toward the ground, the pass will be low.
If the follow-through is high, the pass will probably sail over her partner’s head.
Encourage your player to point with her stick (on her follow-through) exactly where she wants the pass to go, and her passes should be accurate.
