Individual Improvement Begins with Fundamentals and Stick Skills, and The Best Way to Work on Those Skills on Your Own is Through Wall Ball...See the Videos Below and The Wall Ball Routine/Workout at The Bottom of The Page We Put Together to Help You Get Rolling...To Be Great: Print it Out, Put It in a Weekly Journal (hold yourself accountable) and Get Started Now!

 

Ned Crotty Wall Ball Tips:

 

 

Kyle Harrison Wall Ball Tips:

 

 

 

Westfield Lacrosse

WALL BALL BASIC WORK-OUT

 

The Wall:

Working on the wall is one of the time-honored and extremely important ways to improve as a lacrosse player.  But, does it have to be a lonely, dull experience?  Here are some of the different and more fun exercises you can do on the wall that will help you in every aspect of stick handling.

 

The Shuffle:

How often in a game are you standing still while passing or catching? If you are doing things correctly, the answer should be hardly ever!  Instead of standing still and whaling away on one spot on the wall, slide along the wall to your left and then to your right.  Keep your feet moving constantly and concentrate on keeping your hips square to the wall and not crossing your feet.  Make sure your passes lead you farther down the wall.  This helps you to make accurate passes to a moving target, as well as practicing passing and catching while on the move.

 

B-T-B:

While us, as coaches outside of Syracuse frown upon going behind the back on a consistent basis, learning how to throw an accurate behind the back pass on the wall can improve your stick handling skills greatly.  Simply pick a spot on the wall and go for it.  You will learn how the ball leaves your pocket in ways different than the standard overhand toss.  Also, try both hands!

 

The Crank:

Stand a little farther away form the wall than you normally would, drop your stick to about ¾’s, and let it fly.  Warm yourself up prior to doing this so you don’t throw out your shoulder or arm, and then work up to winging it as hard as you can.  Try to pick a spot on the wall about six feet off the ground and work on sending the ball to it on a direct line.  Concentrate on shifting your weight from your back foot to your front foot, like all great shooters do.  If you consistently work at this, you will develop the muscles necessary to speed up your shot.  Another added benefit will be the variety of ways that the ball will come back to you, forcing you to catch the ball off of all kinds of funky bounces.

 

One Hand:

Standing a little closer to the wall than normal, use one hand to catch and throw.  It will seem awkward at first, and your wrists will probably be sore the first few times you try this.  However, keep at it!  Learning to control your stick with one hand is invaluable.  Aim a little higher than you think you should, and practice quick sticks and cradling between passes, with both your strong and weak hands.

 

Use Your Imagination:

Some of the most memorable moves in recent memory have been new moves that were never seen before and mastered on the wall.  Moves like Ryan Powell’s behind the cage “dipsy doo” or Michael Watson’s mastery of the dive and dunk.  Working on the wall will improve your feet, proper throwing technique and confidence, making you more comfortable trying new moves.

 

 

SEE THE RECOMMENDED WORKOUT BELOW

 

*TO BE DONE WITH A TENNIS BALL AND A LACROSSE BALL*

**WHILE WEARING YOUR GLOVES**

 

WARM-UP:

15 right with half-cradle, 15 left with half-cradle

25 “splits”: catch righty, switch & throw lefty, catch lefty, switch & throw righty, etc.

 

MAIN WORK-OUT:

25 one-handed right with half-cradle || 25 one-handed left with half-cradle

25 quick stick right || 25 quick stick left (no cradling)

25 catch/face-dodge/throw right || 25 catch/face-dodge/throw left

25 catch/fake/throw right || 25 catch/fake/throw left

20 “quick-stick switches”: change hands while ball is in air, quick-stick, and repeat

20 cross-handed right || 20 cross-handed left

 

FUN CHALLENGE (OPTIONAL):

10 B-T-B right || 10 B-T-B left

10 around the world right || 10 around the world left

10 one-handed underhand B-T-B right || 10 one-handed underhanded B-T-B left

10 through the legs right || 10 through the legs left

 

COOL-DOWN (ALWAYS FINISH WITH THIS):

15 one-handed/one-footed right || 15 one-handed/one-footed left

15 right with half-cradle, 15 left with half-cradle

 

Each session should be completed with a tennis ball and a lacrosse ball if you have extra time – make sure you use your gloves and if you have a helmet it wouldn’t be a bad idea to wear it when using the lacrosse ball!

 

*Doing this Wall Ball work-out a minimum of 3 times per week will dramatically improve your stick skills. Each session will roughly take 30-45 minutes (it will vary depending on your skill level). Increasing the number of reps & the amount of sessions per week will take your game to the next level*

Want something a little different for a change-up; see our new Westfield Bulldogs wall ball workout with Ground Balls and Dodging-Scoring? Click HERE for our Lonely Hours Workout!!!!