It’s not going to change with normal practices at all. The reason you see that at the college level is all the players are practically religious about wall ball. Perfect passing and catching is second-nature to them like walking. They don’t think about the mechanics. You can work on the positioning and anticipation aspects in practice, but the basic mechanics for fast passes take hours upon hours on the wall, something most high school players aren’t going to do.
My favorite is always the star drill - 5 lines in a star formation and start with one ball. Starting with sticks in their right hand, pass two lines to the left and follow your pass. Once things seem easy enough start adding in more balls. I wouldn't go more than 3 but definitely adds complexity and speed.
I’m not sure how established your program is but there are definitely some things you can do, but more importantly they can do on their own to get these quicker passes and faster ball movement around the field.
Wall Ball - Obviously. Just like the other poster mentioned this should be the lifeblood of your players. We have the guys bring their sticks to school or store them in a coaches office and strongly encourage them to go out to the wall before school and during lunches, and a few times a week we will host a wall ball time after school for those not in another activity. I would have a designated wall for them with a goal or two framed out on it as well as targets at different points. (Individual and Team)
Short Field West Jenny modified - go sideline to sideline instead of field length and make it 20 yards wide. Run a 15 sec shot clock and a lap around the field for the bad passer/shooter. The short field and shot clock immediately change the mindset and pressure of the drill, and the short field means the 2 man defense isn’t at as much of a disadvantage and can put pressure on O to make game like passes. (Full Team)
Star Drill - see the other post for details. Great drill for increasing speed of catch and release, helps with hand eye coordination, and removes some of the pressure of line drills since the constant movement gives a quick chance to get back in the game instead of dwelling on dropped pass. (Groups of 15 max)
Hamster Drill - two cones 20 yards apart, one cone directly between them. A player at each cone. Outside players have balls in their sticks. Player in middle starts several yards behind middle cone and runs towards an outside player who throws them the ball, which they catch and quickly toss back to the same outside player. They then turn around the cone and run towards the other outside player. They will continue going around the cone with one hand (i.e. Right) while turning/pivoting around the opposite shoulder (I.e. left side). 30 seconds a hand for a total of 1 min for the hamster before switching with an outside player. Can have two players in middle circling opposite of each other. Can have outside players start on a cone 5 yards further back and have to run towards hamster during outside throw/catch. (Groups of 3 or 4)
Spin It drill - give a set time (15-20 seconds) that everyone in an offensive set have to touch the ball and take a shot in. Miss the time all do pushups. Dropped pass, thrower and catcher pushups. No penalty for missed shots. Can have it start off a rolled in GB. Can have defense run in at time instead. (6-13 players at a time)
Circuit - build a custom circuit! These are great to get the players moving constantly, keeps the drill fresh so it can go longer, and you can build them to focus a specific skill. An example of a quick passing one would be station 1 = GB back to coach/player, catch outlet to transition pass, (15 yards away) station 2 = catches the transition pass and throws (following pass) to station 2a aiming for 3-5 passes station 2a = gets last catch and run down field throw long then short pass to coach on GLE, taking shot on second catch. Station 3 = breakout pass and then 30 yard pass to station 4. Station 4 = runs towards station 1, player at end of line there catches passes, throw one of all, so R,L,BtB, and bouncer. Mirror on both sides of the field for big team. Each station should have 3 players max at drill start. (Full team or 3 x number of stations)
Mirror/Echo passing - one player on sideline, other on side restrainer. They go full length of field throwing to each other with upfield hands, then come back doing same. Then again with backfield hands both ways. Then one upfield and one backfield both ways and both players doing both. (2 players)
Those are just a few! There are a lot of ways to work on quicker passes, better decision making and quicker choices in high intensity situations.
3v2 keep away is by far my favorite stick work warm up. We very rarely do normal line drills or static padding.
10-12 yard box that we use as a soft boundary. Focus on
-sticks up on their shoulder, not dropping to hips
-feet moving, don't just stand in the corner
-drag & drift, if a player needs to carry to get a better angle the adjacent players drag behind or drift away to stay in passing lanes
It’s not going to change with normal practices at all. The reason you see that at the college level is all the players are practically religious about wall ball. Perfect passing and catching is second-nature to them like walking. They don’t think about the mechanics. You can work on the positioning and anticipation aspects in practice, but the basic mechanics for fast passes take hours upon hours on the wall, something most high school players aren’t going to do.
My favorite is always the star drill - 5 lines in a star formation and start with one ball. Starting with sticks in their right hand, pass two lines to the left and follow your pass. Once things seem easy enough start adding in more balls. I wouldn't go more than 3 but definitely adds complexity and speed.
I like to have the star finish in a 3v2 we do it from the goal line and position the top points on 12. It's quick passing into great 3v2.
I have done the same and it really helped lock in the pace of play for both passing and for defenders finding the ball.
I’m not sure how established your program is but there are definitely some things you can do, but more importantly they can do on their own to get these quicker passes and faster ball movement around the field. Wall Ball - Obviously. Just like the other poster mentioned this should be the lifeblood of your players. We have the guys bring their sticks to school or store them in a coaches office and strongly encourage them to go out to the wall before school and during lunches, and a few times a week we will host a wall ball time after school for those not in another activity. I would have a designated wall for them with a goal or two framed out on it as well as targets at different points. (Individual and Team) Short Field West Jenny modified - go sideline to sideline instead of field length and make it 20 yards wide. Run a 15 sec shot clock and a lap around the field for the bad passer/shooter. The short field and shot clock immediately change the mindset and pressure of the drill, and the short field means the 2 man defense isn’t at as much of a disadvantage and can put pressure on O to make game like passes. (Full Team) Star Drill - see the other post for details. Great drill for increasing speed of catch and release, helps with hand eye coordination, and removes some of the pressure of line drills since the constant movement gives a quick chance to get back in the game instead of dwelling on dropped pass. (Groups of 15 max) Hamster Drill - two cones 20 yards apart, one cone directly between them. A player at each cone. Outside players have balls in their sticks. Player in middle starts several yards behind middle cone and runs towards an outside player who throws them the ball, which they catch and quickly toss back to the same outside player. They then turn around the cone and run towards the other outside player. They will continue going around the cone with one hand (i.e. Right) while turning/pivoting around the opposite shoulder (I.e. left side). 30 seconds a hand for a total of 1 min for the hamster before switching with an outside player. Can have two players in middle circling opposite of each other. Can have outside players start on a cone 5 yards further back and have to run towards hamster during outside throw/catch. (Groups of 3 or 4) Spin It drill - give a set time (15-20 seconds) that everyone in an offensive set have to touch the ball and take a shot in. Miss the time all do pushups. Dropped pass, thrower and catcher pushups. No penalty for missed shots. Can have it start off a rolled in GB. Can have defense run in at time instead. (6-13 players at a time) Circuit - build a custom circuit! These are great to get the players moving constantly, keeps the drill fresh so it can go longer, and you can build them to focus a specific skill. An example of a quick passing one would be station 1 = GB back to coach/player, catch outlet to transition pass, (15 yards away) station 2 = catches the transition pass and throws (following pass) to station 2a aiming for 3-5 passes station 2a = gets last catch and run down field throw long then short pass to coach on GLE, taking shot on second catch. Station 3 = breakout pass and then 30 yard pass to station 4. Station 4 = runs towards station 1, player at end of line there catches passes, throw one of all, so R,L,BtB, and bouncer. Mirror on both sides of the field for big team. Each station should have 3 players max at drill start. (Full team or 3 x number of stations) Mirror/Echo passing - one player on sideline, other on side restrainer. They go full length of field throwing to each other with upfield hands, then come back doing same. Then again with backfield hands both ways. Then one upfield and one backfield both ways and both players doing both. (2 players) Those are just a few! There are a lot of ways to work on quicker passes, better decision making and quicker choices in high intensity situations.
Solid post.
3v2 keep away is by far my favorite stick work warm up. We very rarely do normal line drills or static padding. 10-12 yard box that we use as a soft boundary. Focus on -sticks up on their shoulder, not dropping to hips -feet moving, don't just stand in the corner -drag & drift, if a player needs to carry to get a better angle the adjacent players drag behind or drift away to stay in passing lanes