A practical guide for parents coaching their kids at home — no experience required. Start with the basics, build real skills, and make it fun.
Get the Skill StickUpdated: April 2026
You don't need to have played lacrosse to help your kid get good at it. The fundamentals — catching, throwing, cradling, scooping — are learnable in a driveway or backyard with a wall and 20 minutes. What your kid needs most isn't a coach with years of experience. They need repetition, encouragement, and someone to practice with. That's you.
Before anything else, focus on these three skills in order: (1) Catching — if the ball falls out, nothing else works. (2) Throwing — consistency over power, every time. (3) Cradling — keeping the ball in the pocket while moving. Everything else builds on these three. Don't rush to dodges or shooting until these feel natural.
Ages 6-8: 15-20 minutes max. Attention spans are short — end on a high note before they're bored. Ages 9-12: 20-30 minutes. Ages 13+: 30-45 minutes. Shorter sessions done consistently beat long sessions done occasionally. Three 20-minute sessions per week will show more improvement than one 90-minute session.
Correcting too much. Pick ONE thing to work on per session and only give feedback on that thing. If you're working on catching, don't comment on their footwork. Too many corrections at once leads to paralysis — the kid stops having fun and stops improving. Focus on one thing, celebrate progress on that one thing, and move on next session. Research from youth sports psychology shows that a 4:1 ratio of positive feedback to corrections keeps kids engaged and accelerates learning.
A stick for your kid, a wall (garage door, brick wall, concrete), and a ball. A tennis ball is the best all-around choice for backyard training — it bounces back from walls, won't damage property, and works for both throwing and scooping. A wiffle ball is ideal for shooting practice since it won't travel far on a miss. A foam ball works best for indoor sessions.
Updated: April 2026
This is the sequence every beginner should follow. Don't skip ahead — each skill builds on the last. Most kids spend 2-4 weeks on each level before moving on.
The cradle is the foundation. Without it, the ball falls out every time they run. Start here before any throwing or catching. The motion is a wrist rotation — not an arm swing. Dominant hand first, then non-dominant. Goal: cradle while walking without looking at the stick. Teaching tip: Have them imagine holding a glass of water — wrist movement keeps it from spilling, not arm swinging.
Catching is the #1 skill that determines if a kid sticks with lacrosse. Kids who can't catch quit. Start with soft, underhand tosses from close range — 5 feet (~1.5m). Gradually increase distance and speed as they get comfortable. The most common mistake: kids look away right before the catch. Teaching cue: 'Watch the ball all the way into the pocket.' Don't move on until they can catch 8 out of 10 from 10 feet (~3m) away.
Throwing before catching is a common parent mistake — kids end up chasing balls instead of building reps. Once catching is solid, introduce wall ball: throw at the wall, catch the return. Start at 5 feet. Gradually back up as accuracy improves. Key benchmark: 10 consecutive catches from a wall throw at 8-10 feet before moving on.
Ground balls are a game-changer and often neglected in backyard training. Roll the ball 5-10 feet away and have them scoop it up without stopping. The critical cue: 'Get your hips low BEFORE you reach the ball — bend your knees, not your back.' This prevents the most common scooping error (stabbing down instead of scooping through).
Once the first four skills feel natural, introduce simple dodges. Start with the roll dodge — it's the most beginner-friendly. Use a cone or trash can as a stationary 'defender.' The goal isn't speed at first — it's the plant step. One foot plants hard, the body rotates around it. Once the plant is right, speed comes naturally.
Updated: April 2026
The same drill can work across ages — the difference is distance, speed, and how much you correct. These drills are organized by age group but can be adapted up or down.
Parent and child stand 5 feet apart. Parent tosses the ball softly underhanded. Child catches and tosses back. Increase distance by 1 foot every time they get 5 consecutive catches. Stop at whatever distance produces a 70-80% success rate — that's the right challenge level. Too easy = boring, too hard = frustrating.
Key Focus
Eyes on the ball all the way into the pocket — don't look away early
Coaching Cues
Player stands 5 feet from a wall (garage door, brick, concrete). Throw the ball at the wall and catch the return. Start with dominant hand only. After 10 catches, switch to non-dominant hand. Back up 1 foot when they hit 8 consecutive catches. Key: they set the pace — no rushing between reps.
Key Focus
Consistent throwing motion — same arm angle every rep
Coaching Cues
Parent rolls the ball along the ground in a random direction. Player sprints to the ball, scoops it clean, and cradles out. Vary the direction — left, right, straight ahead — to keep it unpredictable. After the scoop, player throws back to parent. This drill builds two skills at once: ground ball technique and the habit of immediately securing and transitioning.
Key Focus
Low hips before the scoop — bend knees, not back
Coaching Cues
Set up 4 cones in a straight line, 3 feet apart. Player weaves through the cones cradling, then passes to a waiting parent or sibling at the end. Parent/sibling catches, passes back, and the player weaves back. This drill builds stick protection, cradling on the move, and passing accuracy after movement — a realistic game-speed skill.
Key Focus
Stick protection through the weave — keep the stick on the inside of each cone
Coaching Cues
Parent stands as a stationary 'defender' with arms slightly out. Player approaches, executes a roll dodge or split dodge around the parent, and takes a shot at a target (net, trash can, marked wall section). Parent gives slight resistance — just enough to make the dodge real, not enough to stop the player. Focus is on the plant step and clean release after the dodge.
Key Focus
The dodge lives in the plant step — hard plant, then explode
Coaching Cues
Run through all four skills in sequence with a 1-minute rest between stations: (1) Wall ball — 20 reps each hand. (2) Ground ball scramble — 6 scoops. (3) Cone weave — 4 trips. (4) Dodge to shot — 8 reps. This circuit is a complete backyard practice in 25 minutes. It builds all the fundamentals, keeps the pace moving, and ends with the most fun drill (shooting).
Key Focus
Quality over speed — every rep should feel controlled
Coaching Cues
Updated: April 2026
You don't need to be an expert to give good coaching. Most of what makes a great backyard coach is behavioral, not technical. These principles come straight from youth sports coaching research.
For every correction, give five pieces of positive feedback. Research from the Positive Coaching Alliance shows this 5:1 ratio is the key to keeping kids engaged. Not generic praise ('good job!') — specific observation ('that plant step was really strong'). Most coaches get this wrong and over-correct. The Magic Ratio keeps them receptive when you do correct them.
If they drop 3 catches in a row, resist the urge to immediately shorten the distance or simplify the drill. Give them one cue, then let them work through it. Struggling is where learning happens. Step in when frustration is peaking, not when they're just challenged.
The last 2-3 minutes of every session should be something they're already good at. End on a success. The emotional tone of the ending is what they carry into the next session — if they leave frustrated, they'll be less motivated to come back. If they leave feeling good, they'll ask to practice again.
Instead of 'You need to get lower on the scoop,' try 'What do you think would happen if you bent your knees more before the ball?' Kids who discover the answer themselves retain it better and feel more ownership of their improvement. This takes practice as a coach, but it's worth developing.
Keep a simple count: how many consecutive wall ball catches, how far back can they stand, how many clean scoops in 30 seconds. Kids respond strongly to visible improvement. Even a Post-it note on the garage door tracking their personal best makes practice feel purposeful.
Build it into every session from day one — at least 5 minutes on the off hand. This is the single highest-leverage habit in youth lacrosse development. Players who start non-dominant hand training early end up significantly more versatile. It feels awkward for weeks — that's normal. Push through it.
Updated: April 2026
A good backyard practice has a shape: warm up the body and the stick, build the main skill, end with something fun. Here are two practice templates — one for beginners and one for players with a few months of experience.
Minutes 1-5
5 min
Warm-Up: Cradling
Minutes 5-15
10 min
Main Skill: Toss and Catch
Minutes 15-20
5 min
Fun Finish: Shooting
Minutes 1-5
5 min
Warm-Up: Wall Ball
Minutes 5-15
10 min
Main Skill Block
Minutes 15-25
10 min
Dodge Work
Minutes 25-30
5 min
Fun Finish
Updated: April 2026
The questions every parent asks when starting lacrosse with their kid.
My kid gets frustrated and wants to quit after a few bad reps. What do I do?
Switch drills immediately — don't push through frustration, redirect through it. Move to something they're already good at, let them succeed for 2-3 minutes, then come back to the hard thing later in the session or the next day. Frustration is a signal that the challenge level is too high or they've been at it too long.
How do I know if my kid is actually improving?
Track one measurable thing per skill: how many consecutive wall ball catches, what distance they can catch from, how many clean scoops in 30 seconds. Improvement isn't always visible session-to-session — measure week-over-week. A kid who goes from 3 consecutive wall ball catches to 12 in three weeks has made enormous progress, even if it doesn't feel dramatic in the moment.
Should I hire a private coach or is backyard practice enough?
Backyard practice builds the foundation. A private coach accelerates it. If your kid is serious about playing organized lacrosse, a few sessions with a coach once they have the basics down will level them up fast. But don't wait for a coach to start — the reps you put in the backyard are exactly what allows coached sessions to stick.
What age should kids start lacrosse?
The fundamentals (cradling, catching, throwing) can start as young as 5-6 with age-appropriate equipment. Coordination develops significantly between ages 6-10, so the earlier you start building the motor patterns, the more natural they feel. Don't worry about 'proper' form at young ages — just get them comfortable with a stick in their hand.
My kid only wants to do shooting drills. Should I let them?
Yes — with a condition. Let them shoot for the last 5 minutes of every session as the reward for doing the foundational work first. Shooting is the most fun part and a great motivator. Use it as the carrot. 'Let's do 10 minutes of wall ball and ground balls, then we'll do free shooting.' They'll agree to almost anything if shooting is the finish line.
Do I need to know the rules of lacrosse to coach my kid?
Not to do backyard training. The skills you're building — catching, throwing, cradling, scooping, dodging — transfer to any lacrosse format. You can learn the rules alongside your kid as they get into organized play. Focus on the physical skills first. The rules will make more sense once they've played a few pickup games.
A wall, a ball, and 20 minutes. The Skill Stick is engineered for the balls you already have — tennis, wiffle, and foam. No field required, no backstop needed. Start building real lacrosse skills today.
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