HINGHAM YOUTH LACROSSE
Certification Curriculum
Draft 1
CONTENTS
1. Individual Skills A to G
2. Team Skills H to L (to come)
3. Certification Sheet
A. PHYSICAL SKILLS
1. Speed
Setup: Sprint with a lacrosse ball from the midline around the goal and back again, switching hands at the goal. (On a short field start at one goal and run around the other.)
Skills Tested:
1. Speed 2. Cradling 3. Offhand cradling
Disqualification:1. Drop ball 2. Fail to switch hands
Levels1:Finish under 35 secs Level 2:30 secs Level 3:25 secs Level 4: 20 secs
2. Pushups
Setup: Pair up with partner who puts fist under the chest of the other player who does as many pushups as possible. Partner counts when chest hits fist without any other part of the body touching the ground. Elbows must be fully extended to count
Disqualification:1. when any part of the body touches the ground 2. Elbows not fully extended
Level 1: 3 pushups Level 2:8 pushups Level 3: 15pushups Level 4:25 pushups
3. Crunches
Setup:Lying on your back with legs extended and hands clasped behind your head, pull knees and chest together while balancing on your butt. Repeat without ever letting your legs or back touch the ground. Elbow must touch opposite knee.
Disqualification:1. elbows fail to touch opposite knee 2. legs, feet, or back touch ground
Level 1:3 crunches Level 2: 8 crunches Level 3: 15 crunches Level 4: 25 crunches
4. Passing/Wall Toss
Setup: Face a cement wall and throw the ball against the wall and catch it as many times as possible without dropping. Or stand five yards away from a partner and do the same.
Disqualification:1. drop ball
Levels:
1) Strong hand 3 consecutive catches/throws
2) Strong hand 8 consecutive catches/throws
3) Strong hand 15 consecutive catches/throws, weak hand 3 consecutive catches/throws
4) Strong hand 20 consecutive catches/throws, weak hand 5consecutive catches/throws
B. FAST BREAK DODGES
Setup: Five players stand stationary on small cones five yards apart. (They do not move or stick check.) The offensive player dodges each man, circles the far coneand returns.On a fast-break dodge, players do NOT switch hands after each dodge and stay in as straight a line as possible. The emphasis is on speed and keeping a straight line. (Shooting dodges are different—you switch hands.) Each players gets two attempts: 1) face dodge 2) roll dodge.
Skills tested
1. Face dodge (FD)
2. Roll dodge (RD)
3. Stay on straight line (SL)
Disqualification:
1. Dropped ball
2. Failure to stay in a straight line
3. Improper dodge technique
Levels
1. Strong hand face dodge
2. Strong hand roll dodge
3. Weak hand face dodge
4. Weak hand roll dodge
C. ZIG ZAG DODGE AND DEFENSE
Setup. Offensive player makes zig zag cuts between two sidelines 5 yards apart, changing hands while keeping his body between his stick and the defensive player at all times. The defensive player mirrors the offensive player using proper footwork and light poke checking.
Skills tested:
1. Proper stickwork (S)
2. Proper footwork (F)
3. Proper defensive positioning (D)
Disqualifications:
1. Improper stickwork or footwork
2. Dropped ball
3. Failure to mirror offensive player
Levels:
1. No defense
2. Defense mirrors – no poking, no body
3. Defense mirrors – light poke checking and light push offs, no body
4. Defense mirrors – heavy poke checking and heavy push offs, no body
D. SHOOTING
Setup: Players shoot bounce shots from up top.
Skills tested:
1. Shooting hard
2. Shooting bounce shots
3. Shooting accuracy
4. Releasing quickly
Disqualification:
1) Miss cage
2) fail to bounce the shot
3) too slow release
4) run past shooting cone and get too close to the cage
Levels:
1. Shoot standing still from a cone 10 yards inside the restraining line
2. Start at midfield line, scoop ball, and shoot on the run before cone 10 yards inside restraining line
3. Stand at cone 10 yards inside restraining line, receive pass from coach, step and shoot
4. Start at cone 10 yards to left of cage, receive pass from coach on the run, shoot by second cone 5 yards to right of cage
E.BREAK OUT – CUT BACK
Setup: Three players set up inside the restraining line. Goalie (coach) yells “Break!” and players spray out, looking for an over-the-shoulder pass. Once caught, the player passes to the next player and so on up the field, but players must be moving toward each other not away from each other. If goalie passes to defenseman (i.e. another coach), players must cut back and look for pass running toward the defenseman, catch the ball, and turn up looking for outlet passes to other players.
Skills tested:
1. Over the shoulder catches
2. Breakout cut - Cut on angle
2. Recut
3. Fast break clear technique - running toward teammates, not away from them
Disqualification:
1. Improper cut or recut
2. Improper catching technique
3. Improper clear – moving away from each other not toward each other
4. Dropped pass
5. Misthrown pass
Levels:
Level 1: Single player with coach: breakout, catch over-the-shoulder, run around cone and pass back.
Level 2: Single player with two coaches: breakout, pass to defenseman (coach), recut, turn, and run around cone
Level 3: Three players break out, one receives over-the-shoulder pass then passes to others breaking to ball. Each player passes and catches once
Level 4: Three players break out, then recut when goalie throws to defenseman, repeat above
Coach
Coach
GROUND BALL BREAKS
Setup: Coach stands on midline with defensive players facing offensive players on restraining line. Coach rolls ball to one side or the other of the offensive players. One offensive player calls “man” and a second “ball” when he picks it up. Then, the offensive players get into position for a fast break and shot. Drill expires 10 seconds after the offense scoops up the ball or when a defenseman picks up the ball crosses the midline. The drill is designed so that the offensive players should get the ball almost every time and then work the man advantage by drawing a defenseman and passing to the open man.
Skills Tested:
1. Calls (C) - Offensive players call “man” or “ball”
2. Checks (I) – no interference more than 5 yards from ball
3. Draw and Dump (DD) - Man with ball draws defensive player and passes to open man
4. Position (P) - Other offensive players find an open spot while breaking to the goal
Disqualification:
1. Missed scoop
2. Missed call
3. Improper fast break position
4. Missed pass, catch, or shot
5. Illegal check
Levels:
1. 2:1
2. 3:2 – open field fast break
3. 4:3 – offensive men move into a box for traditional fast break
4. 6:5 – offensive men move into circle/manup offense– 1-3-2 or 3-3
O-O-O-O-O-
D-D-D Coach - D-D
G. SPLIT AND ROLL (Or “Juke and Roll”)
Setup: Players perform a split dodge from the four corners. To perform the split dodge, players run at defense man, plant outside foot hard, give a quick head fake, change hands, then sprint to center of cage, and shoot. Afterwards, they rotate to the next corner. Midfielders bounce the shot at the center of the cage about 12 yards out; attack fakes high, shoots low about one-third of the way around the cage. (Set a flat cone at the shooting limits.) In the split and roll dodge, once players reach the center spot, they cut back, change hands and shoot within 1-2 steps. (Attackmen don’t need to change hands.)
Skills tested:
1. Juke dodge (J)
2. Bounce shot (BS)
3. Roll dodge (R)
Disqualification:
1. Dropped ball
2. Improper dodge
3. Shot misses goal
4. Improper shot
Levels:
1. Split dodge on cone, half speed -- strong side only from middie and attack (2 cones)
2. Ditto above, but full speed against a stationary defenseman who gives a poke check
3. Split/roll on cone, half speed – from all four cones
4. Split/roll on cone, full speed against a stationary defenseman – from all four cones
HINGHAM LAXCERTIFICATION SHEET
Name: ______
NAME / DATE / SKILL / LEVEL / COMMENTS