Basic Drills Designed for Enhancing Lacrosse Goalie's Skills
Every game has one particular objective – to win. In lacrosse, the method of winning is through scoring more goals than the opposing team, pretty much like soccer or football. The win depends on the successful shots thrown by one team. This is why the main highlight is the goalkeeping and the man standing between the ball and the goal.
The goalkeeper is therefore the toughest position in the game of lacrosse. It is a critical job that needs to be played by the best player on the team. It requires a good amount of skills, talents, physical strength, agility, and a brilliant mind for the game. The main role of the goalie is to block and save shots, in the process giving his team the opportunity to score on the opposing side.
If you are trying to get a crack at being a goalkeeper in your team, you will need to perform some complex but quite fun lacrosse goalie drills. We’ll cover the basic ones in this post…
Basic Drills
1. Shots Defense Warm-up – the goalie is one of the most pressured and abused player in the game of lacrosse. This is especially true when the opposing team is an offensive power. It means most of the possessions belong to them. The purpose of this drill is to teach the goalie the basics of effectively keeping the ball away from the goal. Other team members will participate by standing on specific hash marks that are at least ten yards away from the goal. They will each be taking a shot in different angles and areas. Shots should be varied too, including heightened, bouncing, and straight ones.
2. Reflex – The goalie reflex drill meanwhile is intended for him to learn more on how to improve his flexibility and reflexes. The goalie in this trill will face a wall that’s about five yards away. A teammate will be playing the role of the offensive player. He will stand behind the goalkeeping with a distance of about seven yards. The offensive player throws the ball targeting the wall. The goalie on the other hand will try to block the ball from hitting any part of the wall.
3. Focus – As the drill term suggests, this is something that will work on the goalkeeper’s eye for the lacrosse ball. With an improved focus, there will be more saves and fewer scores for the opposing side.
4. Passing – Aside from blocking and saving shots, it is also the goalie’s responsibility to be extremely effective in passing. Passing the ball is vital in turning a defensive stance into an offensive opportunity. The passing drill will teach the goalie to clear the ball with utmost perfection. When the ball is passed with perfect timing, it can lead to counter attacks and even fast breaks, giving the team more opportunities to score and win the game. This drill will start by lining up players in two. They are positioned on both side of the net. The coach will then assume a position midway the lines and the position of the goalie. A shot will be attempted and the goalie will have to save and block it. As soon as he saves the shot, he will say “clear.” This serves as the signal for another player to run u and cut out. The goalie will then pass the ball to that player. The critical point of this drill is quick recovery from an attempted shot of the opposing team.
So if you really are interested in becoming a great goalie, you need to take the first steps and learn these drills with the rest of your team. While they are only basic drills, you can’t go further without them. Complete and master them and then you can go on and join lacrosse camps to enhance the skills further.
Every game has one particular objective – to win. In lacrosse, the method of winning is through scoring more goals than the opposing team, pretty much like soccer or football. The win depends on the successful shots thrown by one team. This is why the main highlight is the goalkeeping and the man standing between the ball and the goal.
The goalkeeper is therefore the toughest position in the game of lacrosse. It is a critical job that needs to be played by the best player on the team. It requires a good amount of skills, talents, physical strength, agility, and a brilliant mind for the game. The main role of the goalie is to block and save shots, in the process giving his team the opportunity to score on the opposing side.
If you are trying to get a crack at being a goalkeeper in your team, you will need to perform some complex but quite fun lacrosse goalie drills. We’ll cover the basic ones in this post…
Basic Drills
1. Shots Defense Warm-up – the goalie is one of the most pressured and abused player in the game of lacrosse. This is especially true when the opposing team is an offensive power. It means most of the possessions belong to them. The purpose of this drill is to teach the goalie the basics of effectively keeping the ball away from the goal. Other team members will participate by standing on specific hash marks that are at least ten yards away from the goal. They will each be taking a shot in different angles and areas. Shots should be varied too, including heightened, bouncing, and straight ones.
2. Reflex – The goalie reflex drill meanwhile is intended for him to learn more on how to improve his flexibility and reflexes. The goalie in this trill will face a wall that’s about five yards away. A teammate will be playing the role of the offensive player. He will stand behind the goalkeeping with a distance of about seven yards. The offensive player throws the ball targeting the wall. The goalie on the other hand will try to block the ball from hitting any part of the wall.
3. Focus – As the drill term suggests, this is something that will work on the goalkeeper’s eye for the lacrosse ball. With an improved focus, there will be more saves and fewer scores for the opposing side.
4. Passing – Aside from blocking and saving shots, it is also the goalie’s responsibility to be extremely effective in passing. Passing the ball is vital in turning a defensive stance into an offensive opportunity. The passing drill will teach the goalie to clear the ball with utmost perfection. When the ball is passed with perfect timing, it can lead to counter attacks and even fast breaks, giving the team more opportunities to score and win the game. This drill will start by lining up players in two. They are positioned on both side of the net. The coach will then assume a position midway the lines and the position of the goalie. A shot will be attempted and the goalie will have to save and block it. As soon as he saves the shot, he will say “clear.” This serves as the signal for another player to run u and cut out. The goalie will then pass the ball to that player. The critical point of this drill is quick recovery from an attempted shot of the opposing team.
So if you really are interested in becoming a great goalie, you need to take the first steps and learn these drills with the rest of your team. While they are only basic drills, you can’t go further without them. Complete and master them and then you can go on and join lacrosse camps to enhance the skills further.