How to take the draw in girls lacrosse

The Draw is a SPECIAL skill and here is a full breakdown on how to do it

TAKING THE DRAW OUTLINE 

THE IDEA OF THE DRAW

• Win to yourself

• Win to your team

• Lose the ball where you want to lose it

• Understanding/Communication is KEY 

WINNING THE BALL BEFORE THE ACTUAL DRAW

• When the ref approaches, there is an opportunity to get the ball placed in your pocket. 

• You want to place and angle your stick in a way that the official presses the ball more into your side of the stick then your opponents. 

• This gives the advantage of having the ball inside your pocket that leads to more control and you twist and dig 

• If you have a Gait Draw Head, you have the plastic side wall that also assists

HAND PLACEMENT ON THE STICK

• To gain the most leverage, the placement of our top hand should be as high as it can on our stick. 

• We should be touching the plastic of our head. This allows us to get the most leverage on the twist and dig

GRIP

• The grip is important because it allows a better twist and dig on the draw

• I think the best grip is a underhand grip

• This allows for better efficiency of motion on twisting and digging

STANCE 

• This one is user preferred. There are many ways to stand when taking the draw. 

• I think there are more helpful stances depending on what you are trying to do

• Whatever stance you have, make sure you master it

WATCHING THE OFFICIAL

• If you want to have an even faster reaction time, you can also watch the whistle to see when they will blow the whistle.

• You have to be careful though as you can get a false start if you jump the gun

• But if the official is out of your sight-line, don't worry about looking at them, just play the whistle. 

PUSH OR PULL

• There are two methods to taking the draw

• Pushing and Pulling

• Just like the stance, this one is user preferred

• Alot of the older draw takers viewed the draw like this

• Righty push / Lefty Pull, meaning you can only push with your right hand up top and pull with your left hand up top

• But you really choose the way you want to take the draw, whether it is pushing or pulling with either hand

TWISTING AND DIGGING (SCRAPING) 

• This step is CRUCIAL for your success at the draw. 

• The Twist

  • This allows you to lodge the ball into more of your pocket

• The Dig 

  • This allows you to scrape the ball out to place it in the direction of your choice 

• SLOW REPS

  • Get in draw stance and work twisting and digging with no resistance for one minute continuously 1 minute 

  • Now add in a teammate to add resistance to rep it out again 1 minute 

PLACEMENT / DIRECTING

When thinking about placing, you want to think about three things

• Winning to yourself

• Winning to your teammates 

• Lose the ball where you want to lose it

• Placement depends on a couple of factors

  • Who gets the ball in better position in the head of the stick when the official places the ball 

  • Where you want the ball to go 

  • If your opponent has it, working in placing it more in your direction or towards your teammates

 COMMUNICATION 

• Communication plays a big role nowadays as some of the best can tell immediately where the ball is going to go. 

• The draw taker can inform her teammates where to position themselves on the circle to get better positioning.

• They also can set up traps to make the opposing team go to positions the ball will not go to

WHISTLE REACTION DRILL 

• 30-45 SEC

• Working on the twist and dig

• As soon as your hear the whistle, EXPLODE into your movement in a stationary position

• Then add in a teammate to work off them 

DRAW CLINIC PRACTICE PLAN

1. Solo Snags 

   1. 3 sets

   2. 10-20 Reps Ea Hand

2. Whistle Reaction Drill

   1. 20-30 seconds fast reaction 

3. Placement 

   1. 2 sets

   2. 10-20 Reps 

   3. Placement to three spots 

4. Live Reps

   1. 10 min work against live opponents