Diamond Passing is my favorite warm up drill. It is a great drill because it gets everyone’s feet moving, involves a variety of stick work, and replicates in game situations effectively. A lot of inexperienced coaches often use line drills as their go to warm up or stick work drill which is a good way to get players plenty of reps if done correctly however it not a good drill when it comes to enforcing in game concepts. The reason I say this is because in a game when a player passes the ball to a teammate the last thing you want those two players to do is run past each other shoulder to shoulder unless they are setting a pick, which they are not doing in line drills. Having a player off ball run right past the ball carrier allows a defense to easily double team the ball without getting out of position.
What Diamond Passing does different is it makes the players catch the ball and look to the opposite side of the field away from where the defense or riding team is already in position to move it to the open man. The key to this drill being effective is that everyone is passing and catching on the run and only holding the ball of one or two cradles before the they pass it to the next player. In a game situation, whether it its on offense or a clear, your team is more likely to be successful if they can move the ball quickly so the defense or ride cannot keep up with the ball. Defenders also have a harder time covering someone is moving over someone who is standing still which is why it is important to stress that players be catching and throwing on the run in Diamond Passing.
To start the drill you need 4 lines at the edges of the box. You need one line at the top of the box, one behind and one on each side. Each line should have 4 or 5 back up balls so if there is an errant pass a player can pick one of them up and keep the timing of the drill going smoothly rather than having to chase down a bad pass. In the examples there are only two players per line, however the drill is best to have three or four players in each line to allow players more time to get to their spots around the edges of the box. It is most effective to use two balls at a time in the drill however if you are only able to put two players per line or have a more inexperienced team that is still learning to catch and throw it is best to use one ball so the timing does not get thrown off. The two balls should start in the lines at the top of the box and behind the goal with players 1 and 5. When you blow the whistle to start, the player in the front of each line should begin to break counter clockwise. After taking one or two cradles at most the players with the balls should pass them counter clockwise the the player in who broke from the line in front of them, player 1 passes to player 3 and player 5 passes to player 7.
After players 1 and 5 pass the ball they should run to the end of the line they passed the ball to. The players the received the pass and now have the ball, players 3 and 7, should continue breaking counter clockwise toward the next line. As players 3 and 7 catch the ball, the next players in the line at the top and behind, players 2 and 6, should begin to break counter clockwise. Once players 3 and 7 catch the ball and take one or two cradles they should have turned their heads to see the next players in line, players 2 and 6, breaking and pass the ball to them.
After passing the ball, players 3 and 7 should run to the end of the line that they passed the ball to. Once players 2 and 6 catch the ball on the run and continue to break counter clockwise, the next players in the line on the wings, players 4 and 8, should begin to break counter clockwise as well. Just like before, after one or two cradles players 2 and 6 should pass the ball to players 4 and 8 who are already breaking and on the run. This pattern continues in a counter clockwise where the ball carrier passes to the man breaking in front of him and then process to go to the back of the line he passed it to for as long as you would like. The slideshow as the end of the post has a few more steps to show the continuous pattern.
While basic fundamentals would say players should always catch and throw with their outside hand, meaning when the drill is going counter clockwise they should always catch with their left and throw with their right, I prefer to prepare players for any scenario by throwing and catching with either hand. When running this drill I consider one full cycle to be when player 1 returns to the front of the line at the top of the box, meaning he has made it around one full diamond. I break the drill into six different segments based on which hand they should be using to catch and throw. The six different segments are as follows:
- Right hand pass and right hand catch
- Left hand pass and left hand catch
- Right hand pass and left hand catch
- Left hand pass and right hand catch
- Right crosshanded pass (Canadian right) and right hand catch
- Left crosshanded pass (Canadian left) and left hand catch
I like to do each segment for two full cycles going counter clockwise. After completing all six segments going counter clockwise, we reverse the direction and do the drill going clockwise for two full cycles of each segment. If you do the math that would give each player 96 touches allowing them to practice with and fully warm up both hands as well as their legs. Depending on your teams talent level and the number of players you have it normally takes about 15 minutes to complete two cycles of each of the six segments going both clockwise and counter clockwise. You can add or remove segments you fill fit and do as may cycles as you would like to fit in into the time frame you have. For example, this a drill I used in my pregame warmups which we would do one cycle of each segment in order to fit it into the time we had so we could get all of our warmups in.
Overall Diamond Passing is a great drill to not only warm up your player’s sticks and legs it also instills the idea of catching the ball and looking to the opposite side of the field while keeping spacing. While some people may not agree with going against the fundamentals of catching and throwing with your outside hand, I believe some scenarios allow players to play to their comfort and strength rather than always playing the fundamental way. For example if a defense is playing soft and players have the time and space to catch and throw with their strong hand there is no reason they shouldn’t. However as with everything else I write about this is only a guide and you can adjust it to fit you team and needs how you see fit.
Lacrosse Concepts 