breaking bad habits
here are a few of my "favorite" youth players:
"the bull" tries to dodge 3 or 4 defender's no matter who is wide open
"lumberjack" likes big chopping inaccurate checks usually on the helmet
"gilman" his clear is always a 50 yard pass to no one
"stone hands" drops every other pass
"serious trickster" unsuccessfully attempts ice picks, swim dodges, rusty gate checks, anything he saw on the internet
and finally "the gun slinger" he shoots underhand, sidearm or behind the back, but never on the cage.
years of watching these player types has left me frustrated to say the least. the question is how do we break a young player of these and other bad habits before it becomes part of who he is as a lacrosse player.
my father had a great saying. "he's getting better and better at doing it wrong" this is not what we as coaches want to happen.
i have broken many players on bad habits with a simple , effective practice technique called "the gauntlet" not only will it get them to change bad habits, it will condition them and improve their footwork and stick skills
heres how its done: simply set up 4 cones off the field 20 yards apart in a box formation.
when your player keeps repeating some type of fixable error, send him to the gauntlet.
have them sprint to the first cone, shuffle or karaoke to the second, back pedal to the third and sprint out to the fourth. have them carry a ball if you'd like or change the distance between cones to make it more or less difficult.
a great option is to have a mini-wall or use a wall you may have close by. after they finish the run, have them do 25 or 30 opposite hand wall reps to complete the task.
in my experience, the gauntlet works as well or better than laps, push ups, or suicides. they are carrying a ball and finishing with wall ball - always a plus.
i have actually seen players make a mistake and just take off by themselves to the gauntlet.
i hope this helps some bad habits disappear. one note, make sure they know specifically why they are going by explaining what they did wrong. always take the time to demonstrate the proper techniques.
"the bull" tries to dodge 3 or 4 defender's no matter who is wide open
"lumberjack" likes big chopping inaccurate checks usually on the helmet
"gilman" his clear is always a 50 yard pass to no one
"stone hands" drops every other pass
"serious trickster" unsuccessfully attempts ice picks, swim dodges, rusty gate checks, anything he saw on the internet
and finally "the gun slinger" he shoots underhand, sidearm or behind the back, but never on the cage.
years of watching these player types has left me frustrated to say the least. the question is how do we break a young player of these and other bad habits before it becomes part of who he is as a lacrosse player.
my father had a great saying. "he's getting better and better at doing it wrong" this is not what we as coaches want to happen.
i have broken many players on bad habits with a simple , effective practice technique called "the gauntlet" not only will it get them to change bad habits, it will condition them and improve their footwork and stick skills
heres how its done: simply set up 4 cones off the field 20 yards apart in a box formation.
when your player keeps repeating some type of fixable error, send him to the gauntlet.
have them sprint to the first cone, shuffle or karaoke to the second, back pedal to the third and sprint out to the fourth. have them carry a ball if you'd like or change the distance between cones to make it more or less difficult.
a great option is to have a mini-wall or use a wall you may have close by. after they finish the run, have them do 25 or 30 opposite hand wall reps to complete the task.
in my experience, the gauntlet works as well or better than laps, push ups, or suicides. they are carrying a ball and finishing with wall ball - always a plus.
i have actually seen players make a mistake and just take off by themselves to the gauntlet.
i hope this helps some bad habits disappear. one note, make sure they know specifically why they are going by explaining what they did wrong. always take the time to demonstrate the proper techniques.
posted by 313 LACROSSE at
10:30 AM
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