Skill Development – Scramble Ground Balls – Skip and Scoop

In our Scramble Ground Ball Drills we are working on getting the ball up off the ground with good form and function,  and then getting your head up immediately so as not to run into other players, much like in a real game.

Drill Set Up: Start by breaking the kids up into groups of 8-10 players.  You need to mark off enough 7-8 yard square boxes with cones so that each group gets their own box.  There should be a coach at each box.  Each player gets a ball

Drill Execution:  In this drill each player is going to drop their own ball, pick it up and accelerate out a few steps and then repeat. The idea here is that all of the players must spread out around the box and stay inside the box.  This forces players to have their head up coming out of the scoop and avoiding other players.  In the Skip and Scoop we want the player to “Skip” once on his back foot elevating his torso and then having to exaggerate the bending of the legs to get both the players butt and the butt end of his stick low to scoop through the ball. Once they accelerate out of the scoop, the player turns and finds and open spot and does it again.  It is supposed to be chaotic and players are trying to avoid contact with each other, but if it happens they should have good balance to be able to maintain possession.

Stress Points:

• Skip to Elevate Torso
• Bend legs to get “2 Butts down”
• Accelerate through ball
• Protect Stick as you carry a few steps
• Get your head up to avoid contact

This can turn into a little competition where either the coach watches and determines whose form is the best, or they can have the players count how many they can accomplish in 45 seconds.