Lacrosse drills at home for 8 year olds

At a glance

At 8

27 lacrosse drills the app opens for an 8 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 25 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 30 minutes for an 8 year old.

How often

At most 3 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: lacrosse stick (14 of the 27 drills), balls (9), cones (6), soft balls (3), wall (3), goal or net (2), lacrosse ball (2), stick (2). 2 drills need nothing but space. 6 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

27 at-home drills

Lacrosse drills for 8 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for an 8 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

defense

Defense

• Goalie Ready and TrackAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Mirror the DodgerAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Poke Check AccuracyAges 7 and up · 8 min

ground balls

Ground Balls

• Scoop Position SquatsAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Scoop Race to the ConeAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Walking ScoopsAges 7 and up · 6 min

shooting

Shooting

• Corner Target ShotsAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Step and Shoot at a Wall BoxAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Top-Hand Wrist SnapsAges 7 and up · 8 min

speed & athleticism

Speed & Athleticism

• Core Strength CircuitAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Ladder FootworkAges 7 and up · 10 min
• One-Leg Balance CatchAges 7 and up · 8 min

stick skills

Stick Skills

• Quick Stick Wall BallAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Wall BallAges 7 and up · 12 min
• Cradle Walk and JogAges 7 and up · 8 min

A 23-minute session

A home lacrosse session for an 8 year old

A warm-up, 1 drill and a cool-down, 23 minutes in all. Do it up to 3 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Lacrosse Warm-Up, Ages 7 to 10An 8-minute moving warm-up for lacrosse players aged 7 to 10: easy running, moving stretches, balance and soft landings, then lacrosse moves. Before practice, never still stretches first.8 min
2. 2Core Strength CircuitBrace your belly, breathe.10 min
3. 3Lacrosse Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 7 to 10A 5-minute cool-down for lacrosse players aged 7 to 10 after training: an easy walk, then gentle stretches for the legs, hips and shoulders, each held for a slow count of 10.5 min

At 8

What changes in lacrosse training at 8

The app opens the same 27 at-home drills at 8 as at 7; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting lacrosse into a week at 8

At 8 the limit is 8 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 3 sessions of 25 minutes is 1.25 hours, which leaves 6.75 for team practice and games. Even 3 days at the app's longest, 30 minutes, is 1.5 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers