LaxTV Forums | A Forum About The MCLA

just out of curiosity I was wondering what some players do to increase their shot speed. the only thing I can think of is lifting and just keep shooting alot. and suggestions?

Technique, technique, technique. There are a ton of shooting drills that you can do in a progression to improve your shot, including your shot speed if that's what you're looking for (although speed is much less important than consistent accuracy and quick release). Strength helps, but it's less critical than proper technique. Reps of just pure shooting can hurt if your technique has flaws to begin with. Outside shooting is a lot like a golf swing. You can break it down into it's component parts and practice those to get to a better overall shot (hand position on the stick, hands back and elbow up in the windup, body coil and uncoil, overhand (or 3/4 usually) motion, wrist snap, exploding off the inside leg, releasing your outside hip through the shot, etc.)

The way you have your stick strung is also a really important, often misunderstood, component of good shooting.

Excellent analysis from Coach Paul. Absolutely right about the stick stringing. With some pockets, when you really put some leverage on your shots the ball will "hook" at the top, and either will go off target, or you start to compensate with your throwing motion which reduces velocity.
At the Philly convention there were a couple booths selling stick weights - some were designed to slide inside the shaft and the other weighted the pocket area. I would think the shaft model would be more effective and would help to develop arm strength, which could have a favorable impact on your shot speed.
As JP noted though, a quick release after a feed is often more effective than a big windup to try to power it by the keeper.

i have my HS kids take a knee 20-30-40 yards apart and throw it i as hard as they can to each other. switch knees and eventually switch hands. will help with torquing your body and subconsiously hiding your stick from the goalie. Also will help develope your shot on the run.

My suggestion is to fool around with your pocket--the more whip you have, the harder/faster shot you will have, but it might sacrifice your accuracy. I noticed that with more whip, I have had to tweak my throwing motion a bit. Also, lifting weights, especially arms and upper body, does contribute to a faster shot.

I have to disagree with more whip=more speed. I've never played with alot of whip in my stick and I don't have any problems getting some stank on my shots. I will say this, soft mesh is the worst pocket for shooting. Another drill to do that seems to help is to play catch or wall ball with your back to your target. Only turn your upper body and throw over your shoulder (lefty over right shoulder, righty over left). It will help your body get used to tourquing like that. Alot of it is technique and practice, but if you are talking about just adding heat I have to say that it has alot to do with strength. I've only seen 1 or 2 guys in my time that weren't real strong that could really get it going. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I disagree on strength... Technique is the great equalizer... We have a 140 lbs guy that is one of the hardest shooters on the team. He has fast hands, great timing. I like the idea of throwing from your knees for body coil, but I'm more curious about which drills people do to work on quick release. In our last game we only scored 8, but two were big cranks, the rest were placement. That would mean that 6 goals came in fairly close, and a quick release does more to fool a goalie than a big wind up.

Danny Hogan wrote:i have my HS kids take a knee 20-30-40 yards apart and throw it i as hard as they can to each other. switch knees and eventually switch hands. will help with torquing your body and subconsiously hiding your stick from the goalie. Also will help develope your shot on the run.

I agree with this drill. One guy on our team taught us to kneel on the ground with both knees, and shoot at the goal. So since its basically the same idea, it must work.

Kyle Berggren wrote:I disagree on strength... Technique is the great equalizer... We have a 140 lbs guy that is one of the hardest shooters on the team. He has fast hands, great timing. I like the idea of throwing from your knees for body coil, but I'm more curious about which drills people do to work on quick release. In our last game we only scored 8, but two were big cranks, the rest were placement. That would mean that 6 goals came in fairly close, and a quick release does more to fool a goalie than a big wind up.

For quick release I would recommend close-in wall work - catching and throwing either with a single cradle or as a stright quick-stick move. A mutli-player box drill - cathcing and throwing to your teammates will also imaprove quickness and accuracy.

I agree with technique, but one thing I don't think anyone has said yet. Practice shooting on the run. A lot of goalies are able to stop a fast shot when they are set up to a static shooter. Not many can move to keep position and stop a fast shot from a running shooter.

Good point... almost all of the shots you will ever take standing still will be on EMO. But as far as getting your shot up there, it's definitely technique first. Like Coach Paul said, it's similar to golf. That's why you have lanky guys regularly launching it 350 yards. Technique will take you up to as far as you really need to go, but if you do want to go further, lifting will be the thing to bump you up.

All that said, an 80mph shot you can put anywhere standing still or on the run is so much better than a 95mph shot with little control. As well, it's great to have other sports in your background... golf and as much as I hate to say it - baseball - help out a lot. Swinging a club, swinging a bat and throwing a ball have many of the same body torque motions as shooting and will get your muscles more comfortable with that movement.

the only problem with golf, is the shoulder turn. The two don't go hand in hand. You don't want to open up your shoulders at impact in golf, but you want that full turn with the release in lacrosse... Can help for wrist timing though.

OAKS wrote: As well, it's great to have other sports in your background... golf and as much as I hate to say it - baseball - help out a lot. Swinging a club, swinging a bat and throwing a ball have many of the same body torque motions as shooting and will get your muscles more comfortable with that movement.

same with hockey: A low crank has the same elements as a hockey slap shot.

JP mentioned it but not really anybody else: hand positioning. Most inexperienced players will hold their stick like a bat and keep their hands close together. This causes the arms to do most of the work. With the hands spread out a bit, the shoulders and body do more.

Leg explosion and follow through have always been something that I try to work on personally. As for stringing, I have always played with a very shallow pocket and like O'Donnell I don't have problems shooting hard.

A drill I have always been partial to is as follows: Shooter is near top center (more towards the side of feeder) of the box and a feeder is on the same side wing about 2/3 to the top. Shooter does a give and go with feeder. This causes the shooter to recieve the ball on the outside and turn to shoot on the run. Consequently the shooter ends up using their body motion to put power on the shot. Also by putting up targets (i.e. a glove or can) accuracy can be practiced on the run. Progressive part of the drill can add a defender to the mix. Defender can work on body positioning, staying with cutter and lifting before the shot.
Focus on catching in the shooting position, keeping windup to the bare minimum and knowing where to aim before you catch (quick eye at the net to find the open spots)

I mentioned in my post that there are exceptions to strength as far as shooting goes. Steve Belford from Florida used to blow away in a strong wind, but he could still fire the laser. That being said, I used to say strength didn't matter (because I was lazy about going to the gym), but once some guys got me in the habit of going I definately noticed a difference. If you look at the heavy hitters in golf, most of those guys are either real big(fat) or strong. I read an article about how much Tiger works out and he seems to crush it off the tee.

Also I agree about shooting on the run. So many kids cant do it. A great drill for this is to set up 6-8 balls in a line about 15-20 yards from the cage. Start at one side and scoop a ball up on the run, continue sweeping across the cage and take a shot at full speed. Then turn around, switch hands and do the same thing. Repeat until the balls are gone. One last note about shooting on the run, too many guys shoot on the run with thier bodys going away from the cage. The last step should be towards the net with your follow through carrying you to your target.

I would agree that technique is the most important aspect to quality shooting. I also believe that good shooters don'tneed to be the strongest or fastest shot. I think the three components to shooting are speed(through technique and strength), accuracy( through technique and repetition) and, greatly overlooked, timing. I think too many powerful, accurate shooters get stopped because the timing of their release isn't that good. Its often overlooked and rarely taught, but a player like Michael Powell could score at wil because he was fast, accurate and knew when to shoot. Sometimes its fractions of a second when a goalie is turning or as a defender throws a check or sets a screen.