Shawn Blathering

It's tough when the sun disappears 40 minutes after practice starts, and even worse when it's raining and overcast. So tonight's practice was tailored to make the drills easier as the light went.

2 laps warmup
Medium-range hitting to the hand
Short-range hitting/trapping without using hands. Choke up halfway and it's all wrist action and control.
Hand passing with a partner
2-ball lift drill, jab/roll/jab
2 laps cool-down

Injury log:
Bruise on back of left hand, over thumb, trying to catch a ball the wrong way.

Clear skies, but chilly and windy. Field had some puddles & slick mud spots from the recent rain. 11 players.

I'm really enjoying the pace we're moving at. Each night has had one or two skill foci, and Billy is keeping the pace of the backs & forwards at a high level, tossing the ball back into play before people have a chance to really recover to their positions.

Drills:

• 2 laps warmup
  
• Focus on short-range hitting with the hurl on the run. Choke up halfway, hit high and in front of you. Minimal backswing to avoid the hook.
  
  • Two lines facing each other, one swingman in the middle
    
  • Run out, tap the ball 20 yds to the swingman, who feeds it back to you, then tap the ball to the first man in the next line.
    
  • Add in a defender who shadows you, but without trying to hook
    
  • Then add in hooking
  
  
• Backs & forwards, focusing again on the mid-range passing as much as possible.
  
• Lift drill x 5
  
  • Pair off, facing each other, 10 yds apart, one ball 2 feet in front of a man
    
  • Man opposite the ball sprints out, jab lift, pivot around the other man and returns to their starting position, dropping the ball 2 feet in front. Now other man repeats sequence.
  
  
• 2 laps cool-down
  

Injury log:
Two dinged thumbs, and an egg on each shin, though I can't remember them getting hit

Storms precluded us from holding practice last week (April 29) and threatened to do the same this week. Beginning to think Wednesdays are cursed. Luckily Kevin knew of these concrete racquetball courts at a park in Olney. We ended up 2 or 3 people in a court, and working on hitting and reaction times. Even if it's not a racquetball, the sliothar moves around pretty fast.