Passing

This contains a sequence of incremental steps in building proper body position and passing technique. In all cases we are working to get legs and core to support proper throwing motion.

Passing Fundamentals

Each practice, do the first 8, typically starting post width apart in 2s. Vary with groups of 3 or 4. Specific group of 3 drills in section below.

  1. Wrists – wrist only, no forearm movement. Hands make a full duck silhouette (bending 90 degrees at wrist), not a turkey (bending at knuckles). Optionally add forearm later. See steps 1 and 2 in: Four Fundamentals of Passing
  2. Straight arm crunch – up high with jackknife to use core and wrist. No bend at shoulder or elbow, as body is straight line from wrist to waist. See Crunch Drill at time 1:22 in: Passing Basics 101 it’s the third drill
  3. Slow and proper, arm/shoulder back, up using off-arm for balance, high off-knee, and ball above head, then pass using hip rotation shoulder forward, full 180; see Kelly Eaton in fourth step of Four Fundamentals of Passing 
  4. Rhythm passing aiming where partner releases, on catch coming all the way back, no faking or hitches.
  5. Cross-face, establishing smooth hip movement getting hips/shoulder all the way back, facing one goal or the other. Then, clearly re-establishing hips and height for proper pass technique. Ie off-hand faces goal after catch, then faces partner for pass.
  6. Three-peat: 1) 3 breaststroke kicks to pass, 2) 3 fakes to pass, 3) rise up to highest point to pass. In the 3s, rise higher each kick, practicing lots of shoulder and core in the fake, not big enough to bring hand around ball, ball always facing direction of throw
  7. Lunge forward, lunge back: on one catch, come up, lunge forward, come up again and pass. Next catch, come up lunge backward, come up again and pass. Elbow always dry, strong shoulder always back in ready to shoot position
  8. Cizma drill. Attack all the way to partner, starting with lunge, when arms distance away lay the ball down, Cizma: two strokes turn, white water setting eggbeater, two breaststroke kicks, then re-establish egg-beater, calling for ball, without turning shoulders. Then wet pass to the setter, so set steps out to kick back out, to catch and slam dunk, simulating catch and shoot. Now pickup and repeat with switched roles. On wet pass in, simulate going around defender.
  9. 8-offense, with 2 again just outside posts, but facing one goal or the other. Strong side: Strong-side player (e.g., righty on left (2)) fakes traveling to the middle of the cage. The other player shifts same direction. Then, faking player passes, and lunges back to post he came from looking at goal to look for holes, then re-establishes legs to catch and shoot simulated with slam dunk from the player he just passed to. That player takes one fake, re-establishes height and times a perfect pass to slam-dunking partner. 3 times then switch roles. If both righties or both lefties, you turn to face the other goal. Then, try the same drill weak side, i.e. righty on the right starts, catching cross-face for the slam-dunk.

More passing, adding third player

  1. Drop drill with 3. Similar to Cizma. Attacker has ball, defense dropped, goes out to attacker over hips and moving swiftly (attacker always starts with the above attack with lunge forward, so defense knows to come out). Attacker can use lunge back if need more room to make wet pass to set. Then, defense lunges back to try to steal ball from set as set steps up and passes dry to attacker who has now lunged forward and to the side that was used to get around defender for biggest passing lane from set. 
  2. Middle rise up – person in the middle points strong leg to passer, who hesitates through fake and loops up a short pass to where the middle riser comes up over hips to catch. Middle stays up rotates with pass to other side.  Resets and then next passer does the same. Rotation is always strong side shooting direction ie counterclockwise for righthanders. Can be done with middle slam dunk.
  3. Pressure pass with contact – stay only goal width apart. Middle defender walks with final lunge to passer who is not allowed to pass til contact. Then avoid defender making wet pass. Defender lunges back after wet pass, but then once the ball is turned 180 and picked up, walks again to lunge giving pressure.

In offense passing

  1. Perimeter passing – with proper passing lane press defense, next player to get ball first lunges weak side, then ball side after defense follows. Maintain forward direction and seal off defender. Should end up in roughly the same spot you started, but with defender now not in lane.  If defender does not follow initial lunge lunge again in front to get defender in compromising position on back.
  2. 6-on-5 in sequence to rotation ie 6-in, then step once after one fake all the way around to post player sliding out.
  3. Standard offense – goalie to point (3), then pass to flat (4), then alternate to:
    1. 3 driving after pass
    2. Wing (5/6), then set facing
    3. 2 coming across middle with wet pass
      1. Then 2 repeats
  4. After goal attack – similar to counter attack, side two players can cross or go straight. Ball comes back to 3, then short right release, down line. Then set to trailer on left coming to post. First to 2-meters on left wings out and curls. Last pass dry, all others wet.
    1. Alternately give 3 option to pass and drive while short release makes standard offense decisions
    2. Overload right – pass back to 2 lined up behind center. 3 is just to right of center and drives off sets back crossing to left post for standard offense as 2 passes to 4 short release and chooses standard three options with 1 delaying after moving forward and acting like 2 across.