WAL — WALL BALL

Wall Ball University • LAX Goalie Hub Library, v2

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HOW TO USE THIS FILE

Wall ball is sacred practice in this program. It is the one thing on the entire list that, done for ten minutes a day, will change an athlete's hands more than anything else they do. It requires no partner, no coach, no field time, and no permission from anyone except whoever owns the wall.

This file is a reference library, not a workout. Daily emails will name a routine and its code — "Wall Ball Pyramid (WAL-09) — 12 min" — and this file explains exactly what that means.

The structure:

• WAL-01 is the setup entry. Read it first, before anything else. An athlete without an approved, reliable wall has no wall ball program, and a family that loses a wall over a broken window or an angry neighbor loses months of training.
• WAL-02 and WAL-03 are hands-only. No stick. These are for 3rd and 4th graders whose hands are not ready for a stick, and they remain a useful warm-up at every age.
• WAL-04 through WAL-08 are the stick fundamentals. Every athlete, at every grade, runs these. A 12th grader who has drifted into sloppy mechanics goes back to WAL-05 for a week and comes out better.
• WAL-09 through WAL-14 are the volume and tempo formats — pyramids, ladders, streaks, clocks, and timed sessions. These are the containers that fundamentals get poured into.
• WAL-15 through WAL-18 are the goalie-specific entries: outlet accuracy, save-position catching, quick release under pressure, and the full clear chain. This is where wall ball stops being a general lacrosse skill and becomes goalie training.
• WAL-19 covers adaptations: no wall, bad weather, small space, winter.
• WAL-20 is Wall Ball University — the belt system, White through Black, with pass criteria for each. It is the spine of the whole file, and athletes should read it early even though it sits last.

A note on volume. Wall ball is one of the few things in this program where more is genuinely better, within reason. Ten focused minutes a day beats seventy minutes once a week, every time. The daily email will prescribe the minutes; the athlete's job is to make them count.

A note on goalies and wall ball. Some goalies are told wall ball is a field player's drill. That is wrong, and it is why so many goalies cannot clear. A goalie throws the most important pass in the game — the outlet — under the most pressure, often with a rider closing, and usually to a moving target. Every rep in this file is a rep toward that pass, and toward the hands that make the save before it.

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THE CODES

Code	Name	Category	Grades	Solo/Partner
WAL-01	Finding and Keeping Your Wall	Setup and etiquette	3–12	Solo
WAL-02	Hands-Only Wall Ball — Two-Hand Rhythm	Hands only	3–6	Solo
WAL-03	Hands-Only Wall Ball — Single Hand and Weak Hand	Hands only	3–6	Solo
WAL-04	Wall Ball Setup — Grip, Stance, Both Hands High	Stick fundamentals	3–12	Solo
WAL-05	The Base Rep — Strong Hand Catch and Throw	Stick fundamentals	3–12	Solo
WAL-06	The Base Rep — Weak Hand Catch and Throw	Stick fundamentals	3–12	Solo
WAL-07	Soft Hands and the Give	Stick fundamentals	3–12	Solo
WAL-08	Quick Sticks	Stick fundamentals	4–12	Solo
WAL-09	The Wall Ball Pyramid	Volume format	4–12	Solo
WAL-10	The Wall Ball Ladder	Tempo format	5–12	Solo
WAL-11	The Streak Challenge	Volume format	4–12	Solo
WAL-12	Beat the Clock	Tempo format	5–12	Solo
WAL-13	The 100-Rep Routine	Volume format	4–12	Solo
WAL-14	Timed Sessions — 10, 20, and 30 Minutes	Volume format	6–12	Solo
WAL-15	Outlet Accuracy to Targets	Goalie specific	4–12	Solo
WAL-16	Save-Position Catching	Goalie specific	4–12	Solo
WAL-17	Quick Release Under Time Pressure	Goalie specific	6–12	Solo or partner
WAL-18	The Clear Chain — Save to Outlet to Sprint	Goalie specific	6–12	Solo or partner
WAL-19	Adaptations — No Wall, Bad Weather, Small Space	Adaptation	3–12	Solo
WAL-20	Wall Ball University — The Belt System	Testing and standards	3–12	Solo

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WAL-01 — Finding and Keeping Your Wall

Category

Setup and etiquette

Purpose

Secure a legal, safe, reliable wall the athlete can use for years — and keep it. This is the foundation entry of the whole file. Everything downstream assumes a wall exists.

Equipment

None to start. Eventually: stick, balls, chalk or painter's tape.

Space needed

This entry is about finding it.

Grade range

3–12 (parent-led for grades 3–6)

Solo or partner

Solo, with a parent for permissions

How to do it

Step 1 — Know what makes a good wall.

A usable wall is: - Solid. Brick, concrete, cinder block, poured stone, or a purpose-built handball or racquetball wall. Solid means the ball comes back true and the wall does not care. - Flat and unbroken, at least 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall, with no windows, vents, gutters, downspouts, light fixtures, doorbells, meters, or air conditioning units within the working area or 10 feet to either side. - Fronted by flat ground — grass, asphalt, concrete, or turf — with at least 15 feet of clearance and preferably 25. - Not somebody's living room wall from the other side. A ball hitting a wall makes a substantial noise indoors. Check what is behind it. - Legal for the athlete to use, which is the part most families skip.

Step 2 — Work the list of likely walls, in this order:

1. School handball or practice walls. Purpose-built, free, and usually available outside school hours. Best option.
2. Public parks and recreation centers. Many have handball or racquetball courts. Call the parks department and ask directly.
3. Gym or field house walls, through the school or a club team. Requires asking, but winter access is worth the ask.
4. The athlete's own house — a brick or concrete exterior wall, a chimney base, a foundation wall, or a garage door.
5. A garage interior wall, with a soft ball.
6. Church, library, and community center walls, with permission.
7. A built rebounder — a bounce-back net, a plywood-and-frame wall, or a section of rubber-faced board. Costs money but is fully controlled. See WAL-19.

Step 3 — Ask permission, in person, once.

For any wall the family does not own: knock on the door or call the office. Say who the athlete is, what they want to do, when they want to do it, and how long. Offer to stop if it is ever a problem. A 10-year-old asking politely with a parent standing behind them gets a yes almost every time. A ball hitting an unfamiliar wall with no warning gets a phone call to somebody.

Step 4 — Set the hours, and hold to them.

• Never before 9:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. on any wall near housing. This single rule prevents most complaints.
• Avoid Sunday mornings entirely near homes and churches.
• If someone comes out to look, stop, say hello, and ask directly if the noise is a problem. Being the athlete who asks is what keeps the wall.

Step 5 — Protect the wall and everything near it.

• Walk the area before every session. Note every window, car, light, and person within range. Move if anything is inside the danger zone.
• Use the softest ball that still trains the skill. Tennis balls for young athletes and for tight spaces; lacrosse balls only where a lacrosse ball is genuinely safe.
• Mark targets with chalk or painter's tape, never paint, never permanent marker. Remove them at the end of the session on any wall the family does not own.
• Pick up every ball. A stray ball in a neighbor's flowerbed costs a wall.
• Never work a wall that is visibly damaged, crumbling, or has loose brick.

Step 6 — Have a backup wall. Weather, locked gates, and other people's schedules will take the primary wall away. Every athlete should have a second option identified before they need it.

Coaching cues

• "Ask first. It costs 30 seconds and it buys you four years."
• "Nine to eight. That is the rule."
• "Walk the danger zone before you throw the first ball."
• "Leave the wall the way you found it."
• "If someone comes out, stop and talk. The athlete who says hello keeps the wall."

Common mistakes

• Using a wall without permission and losing it permanently after one complaint.
• Early morning or late evening sessions near homes. The fastest way to end a wall ball program.
• Working a wall with windows to the side. A missed catch produces a ball rolling anywhere; a missed throw can go 20 degrees off line.
• Painting targets. Even on a family's own house, paint is permanent and reduces the value of the wall to the family.
• Using a hard lacrosse ball on a garage door — dents, noise, and a very short-lived arrangement.
• Not having a backup wall, which turns one locked gate into a skipped week.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Start with a garage door and a tennis ball at low velocity, indoors or out.
• Regression: Bounce-back net in a backyard while permissions are sorted out.
• Progression: A dedicated wall at a school or park with targets already marked.
• Progression: Build a permanent rebounder wall — a 4-by-8 sheet of three-quarter-inch plywood on a braced frame, faced with rubber mat, costs roughly 150 dollars and lasts years.

How to measure it

The athlete has a primary wall and a backup wall identified, has explicit permission for both, knows the hours, and has completed a danger-zone walk. That is the pass. Write both walls into the training log so a parent can find them.

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WAL-02 — Hands-Only Wall Ball: Two-Hand Rhythm

Category

Hands only

Purpose

Build catching mechanics, wall rhythm, and rebound reading before a stick is involved. A 3rd grader whose stick is nearly as tall as they are learns far more from a tennis ball and two bare hands than from a badly-held stick. It is also the fastest way to teach soft hands, because bare hands punish a hard catch immediately and honestly.

Equipment

One tennis ball. Approved wall (WAL-01). No stick, no gloves.

Space needed

15 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall at least eight feet wide.

Grade range

3–6 primarily; valuable as a warm-up at any age

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

1. Stand eight feet from the wall, feet slightly wider than the hips, knees bent, weight on the balls of the feet, hands up in front of the chest with palms facing the wall. This is the athletic ready position and it is where the hands live between every rep.
2. Throw the ball at the wall with two hands from chest height, at a spot roughly chest-high on the wall. Firm, not violent.
3. Catch the rebound with two hands, out in front of the eyes. Not against the chest, not beside the head. In front of the face where the athlete can see it all the way into the hands.
4. Give with the catch. As the ball arrives, the hands travel backward an inch or two, absorbing it. This is the exact mechanic of a soft-handed stick save and it is best learned bare-handed.
5. Immediately return to the ready position and throw again. No pause, no reset, no cradle. Find a rhythm and hold it.
6. Count out loud. 30 continuous catches, then rest 30 seconds.
7. Three sets of 30. Total time about six minutes.

Rhythm targets by grade: 3rd grade, 25 catches in 60 seconds. 4th grade, 35. 5th grade, 45. 6th grade, 55.

Coaching cues

• "Hands in front of your eyes." The single most important cue in this entry.
• "Give with it — let your hands ride back with the ball."
• "Knees bent. Wall ball is a legs drill that happens to use hands."
• "Same spot on the wall every time." Consistency before power.
• "Count out loud." Same reason as juggling: the count is the tempo and a rushing count predicts a drop.

Common mistakes

• Catching against the chest, which is a trap, not a catch. It works with a tennis ball and fails completely with a stick.
• Standing straight up. Removes the legs and makes it a lazy arm drill.
• Throwing too hard at first, producing a rebound the athlete cannot handle, which teaches flinching.
• Slapping at the ball rather than receiving it. Watch for a stiff, stabbing hand.
• Letting the throw spot wander all over the wall, so every rebound is different and no rhythm develops.
• Long sessions. Six to eight minutes is a full dose at this age.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Move back to 12 feet. Throw underhand. Use a larger, softer ball — a foam ball or a playground ball.
• Regression: Bounce the ball into the ground short of the wall so it arrives slowly.
• Progression: Move in to six feet, then four.
• Progression: Increase throw velocity.
• Progression: Add a movement between reps — catch, shuffle two steps sideways, throw.
• Progression: Move to WAL-03 (single hand), then to stick work at WAL-04.

How to measure it

Consecutive clean catches, and catches in 60 seconds at eight feet. Both go in the log. Grade benchmarks above.

Log it as: "hands-only two-hand — 41 in 60 sec at 8 ft."

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WAL-03 — Hands-Only Wall Ball: Single Hand and Weak Hand

Category

Hands only

Purpose

Develop two independently competent hands before a stick locks the athlete into a dominant-hand pattern. Every goalie will eventually make one-handed saves and will always be attacked on their weak side. This entry, run early, is the cheapest insurance in the program.

Equipment

One tennis ball. Approved wall (WAL-01). No stick.

Space needed

15 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

3–6 primarily; useful as a warm-up at any age

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

Run all five series in order. Weak hand always gets equal or greater volume.

1. Series A — Strong hand. Stand eight feet from the wall in the ready position. Throw and catch with the strong hand only, chest-high on the wall. 25 continuous catches.
2. Series B — Weak hand. Identical, weak hand only. 25 continuous catches, or as many attempts as it takes to complete 25. It will feel clumsy for weeks. That is the point.
3. Series C — Throw one, catch the other. Throw with the right hand, catch with the left. Then throw with the left, catch with the right. 20 each pattern.
4. Series D — High and low. Weak hand only, alternating throws at a high target and a low target so the athlete must catch above the shoulder and below the knee. 20 catches.
5. Series E — Cross-body. Throw at a spot on the wall off to one side so the rebound comes back across the body. Catch it with the far hand, keeping the shoulders square to the wall. 15 each side.

Session format: 8 to 10 minutes. Finish with 20 two-hand catches from WAL-02 to reset the rhythm.

Coaching cues

• "Palm to the ball." The hand rotates to face the ball; the arm does not swing at it.
• "Weak hand goes first, while you are fresh." Fresh reps to the hand that needs them.
• "Fingers, not palm." The ball is received on the fingers and the front of the hand.
• "Square shoulders on cross-body." Do not let the body turn to make it easy.
• "Elbow soft, not locked."

Common mistakes

• Doing the weak hand last and tired, so it only ever trains in a fatigued state.
• Turning the whole body to convert a weak-hand catch into a strong-hand catch. The most common cheat in this entry.
• Throwing too hard with the weak hand and losing all control of the rebound. Weak-hand throws start soft.
• Skipping Series D and E because they are unpleasant. They are the ones that matter.
• Catching with a stiff, locked arm, which produces bounce-outs.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Move back to 12 feet; throw underhand; use a softer or larger ball.
• Regression: Weak hand throws, two hands catch. Splits the difficulty.
• Progression: Move in to five feet.
• Progression: Add a goalie stance and reset the stance between every catch.
• Progression: Two balls, alternating hands.
• Progression: Move to WAL-06 with a stick.

How to measure it

Consecutive catches per hand, and the hand gap — weak-hand catches as a percentage of strong-hand catches. The gap is the real number.

Grade	Weak-hand consecutive catches	Target gap
3rd–4th	15	under 50 percent
5th–6th	25	under 30 percent
7th and up	40	under 15 percent

Log it as: "hands-only single — R 34, L 21 — gap 62 percent."

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WAL-04 — Wall Ball Setup: Grip, Stance, and Both Hands High

Category

Stick fundamentals

Purpose

Establish the physical position every stick rep in this file is thrown and caught from. A goalie's wall ball position is not a field player's — the hands sit higher, the stick sits more vertical, and the catch happens in front of the eyes. Getting this right on day one saves years of correction.

Equipment

Goalie stick (or a short stick for very young athletes learning mechanics), one ball, approved wall. Gloves recommended.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

3–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

1. Feet. Slightly wider than shoulder width, staggered very slightly with the lead foot toward the wall. Knees bent. Weight on the balls of the feet, not the heels. Chest tall — bend at the knees, not the waist.
2. Bottom hand. Grips the shaft low, roughly a hand's width up from the butt end. Grip is firm but not clenched. This hand is the engine of the throw.
3. Top hand. Sits on the shaft roughly 12 to 18 inches below the throat of the head, depending on the athlete's size. Fingers wrap the shaft with the thumb up the back. This hand is the steering wheel, not the engine.
4. Both hands high. The stick is carried with the head up around ear-to-helmet height, the shaft close to vertical, out in front of the body. This is the goalie's ready position and it is where wall ball starts and returns to after every single rep. A field player carries the stick lower; a goalie does not.
5. The head of the stick sits in front of the eyes, not beside the ear. The athlete should be able to look at the wall and see the stick head in the lower part of their vision.
6. Take the position and hold it for 30 seconds before throwing anything. Then check it in a window, a car reflection, or a phone camera.
7. Do 20 dry reps — no ball. Move from ready position through the throwing motion and back to ready. Feel where the hands go.
8. Now add the ball and proceed to WAL-05.

Re-check this position at the start of every wall ball session, for life. Thirty seconds. It drifts constantly.

Coaching cues

• "Both hands high. Stick in front of your eyes."
• "Bend the knees, not the back."
• "Bottom hand is the engine, top hand is the steering wheel." The most useful throwing cue in the file.
• "Light top hand." A death grip on the top hand kills accuracy and softness.
• "Ready position between every rep. No exceptions."

Common mistakes

• Carrying the stick low, like a field player. The most common goalie wall ball error and it undermines every save the athlete makes.
• Bending at the waist instead of the knees, which puts the head forward and the hands out of position.
• Top hand too high, choked up near the throat, which shortens the lever and weakens the outlet.
• Top hand gripping too hard, producing stiff hands and inaccurate throws.
• Feet square and flat, which removes any ability to step into the throw.
• Skipping the 30-second position check and drilling a drifted position for a month.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Use a shorter shaft or a field player's stick for very young athletes until they can hold a goalie stick in position.
• Regression: Hold the position against a wall or in front of a mirror with no ball at all.
• Progression: Hold the ready position while shuffling side to side, then throw.
• Progression: Take the position in full gear, in a goal, and check that it matches.

How to measure it

A photograph or a five-second video from the front and the side, checked against the checklist: knees bent, chest tall, both hands high, stick head in front of the eyes, top hand relaxed. Re-shoot it monthly and compare — this is one of the easiest things in the program for an athlete to self-audit.

Log it as: "setup check — passed, front and side, [date]."

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WAL-05 — The Base Rep: Strong Hand Catch and Throw

Category

Stick fundamentals

Purpose

The single most repeated movement in the entire program. Catch off the wall in the ready position, throw it back, return to ready. Everything else in this file is a variation, a container, or a complication of this one rep. It is worth doing perfectly.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. Gloves recommended.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

3–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

1. Set up per WAL-04. Ready position, both hands high, 10 to 12 feet from the wall for young athletes, 12 to 15 feet for 7th grade and up.
2. The throw. From the ready position, step slightly toward the wall with the lead foot, rotate the hips and shoulders toward the target, drive with the bottom hand pulling down and back while the top hand pushes forward. The stick head comes over the top, close to the ear, and releases toward a chest-high spot on the wall. Follow through toward the target.
3. Return to ready position immediately. Both hands high, stick in front of the eyes, before the ball comes back.
4. The catch. Watch the ball all the way from the wall into the head of the stick. Meet it out in front of the eyes with the stick head angled slightly toward the ball. Give as it arrives — the stick head travels back a few inches to absorb the ball, exactly like catching an egg.
5. No cradle. One controlled cradle at most for young athletes. Cradling wastes time; a goalie's outlet has to leave fast.
6. Throw it again. Rhythm, not rush.
7. Volume: 50 repetitions for grades 3 to 6, 100 for grades 7 and up. Count out loud in sets of 10.

Target on the wall: pick a specific spot — a brick, a chalk X, a seam — chest high, and hit it every time. Where the ball hits determines where it returns, and control of the return is control of the drill.

Coaching cues

• "Bottom hand pulls, top hand pushes."
• "Over the top, past the ear." Prevents the sidearm slinging that ruins accuracy.
• "Catch it in front of your eyes."
• "Give with it. Catch an egg."
• "Back to ready before it comes back." The stick should be up and waiting, not travelling.
• "Same spot on the wall, every rep."

Common mistakes

• Throwing sidearm or three-quarters, which is fast to learn and permanently inaccurate. Over the top, always.
• All arm, no body. The throw comes from the legs and hips through the hands. An arm-only throw is weak and inconsistent.
• Dropping the stick after the throw and having to raise it again to catch. Costs a fraction of a second on every rep, which is exactly the fraction that matters on a clear.
• Cradling after every catch. Slow, and it is not what a goalie does.
• Reaching out to stab at the ball instead of receiving it with a give. Produces bounce-outs.
• Standing too close for the athlete's control level, so every rep is a scramble. Back up until 8 out of 10 reps are clean.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Move back to 15 or 20 feet. Throw softer. Allow one cradle.
• Regression: Use a tennis ball for softer rebounds.
• Regression: Drop to hands-only (WAL-02) for a session.
• Progression: Move in to 8 to 10 feet, which shortens reaction time.
• Progression: Increase throw velocity, keeping accuracy above 80 percent.
• Progression: Remove the cradle entirely — catch and release (WAL-08).
• Progression: Add targets (WAL-15).

How to measure it

• Clean reps out of 50 — clean meaning caught, no drop, no scramble, thrown back to the target spot.
• Reps in 60 seconds as a tempo measure.
• Target accuracy: hits on a one-foot chalk square out of 20 throws.

Benchmarks at 12 feet: 4th grade, 40 of 50 clean; 6th grade, 46 of 50; 8th grade, 48 of 50 with 15 of 20 on target; 10th grade and up, 49 of 50 with 17 of 20 on target.

Log it as: "base rep strong hand — 47/50 clean, 16/20 on target, 34 in 60 sec."

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WAL-06 — The Base Rep: Weak Hand Catch and Throw

Category

Stick fundamentals

Purpose

Build a real off-hand. A goalie who can only throw with one hand has half a clearing game and telegraphs every outlet. This entry is identical in mechanics to WAL-05 and different in one respect only: it is harder, so it gets more volume.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. Gloves recommended.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

3–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

1. Switch the hands. The former top hand goes to the bottom of the shaft; the former bottom hand comes up to the top. The stick now sits on the opposite side of the body.
2. Re-check the setup from WAL-04 in the new hands. It will feel wrong, and the position will be worse than the strong side. Fix it deliberately: knees bent, both hands high, stick head in front of the eyes.
3. Twenty dry reps, no ball. Do not skip this. The weak side needs the pattern before it needs the ball.
4. Start further from the wall than on the strong side — 15 to 18 feet — and throw softer. The goal early on is a clean catch and a controlled throw, not power.
5. Run the identical base rep from WAL-05: catch in front of the eyes, give, return to ready, step, rotate, bottom hand pulls, over the top, follow through.
6. Volume: weak hand gets 1.5 times the strong-hand volume. If the strong hand did 50, the weak hand does 75. If the strong hand did 100, the weak hand does 150. This ratio holds until the hand gap closes below 15 percent.
7. Do the weak hand FIRST in the session, while the athlete is fresh and attentive.
8. Move in five feet closer every time the athlete can hit 45 of 50 clean at the current distance.

Coaching cues

• "Weak hand first, weak hand more."
• "Slow and clean beats fast and ugly. Speed comes last on this side."
• "Same mechanics. It is not a different throw, it is the same throw in a body that has not done it yet."
• "Bottom hand pulls." The weak side almost always reverts to an all-arm throw; this cue fixes it.
• "Nobody has a natural weak hand. Everybody who has one built it."

Common mistakes

• Doing the weak hand at the end of the session when the athlete is tired and bored. The single most common reason weak hands never develop.
• Half-volume on the weak side, which locks the gap in place permanently.
• Sidearm slinging on the weak side, which appears immediately because it is easier. Over the top, always, even if it means throwing softer.
• Standing at the strong-side distance, which makes every rep a failure and kills motivation.
• Skipping the dry reps.
• Comparing the weak side to the strong side day to day instead of week to week. Progress here is slow and real.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Move back to 20 feet, use a tennis ball, allow two cradles.
• Regression: Weak-hand catching only — catch weak, switch hands, throw strong.
• Regression: Hands-only weak-hand work (WAL-03).
• Progression: Match strong-hand distance and velocity.
• Progression: Weak-hand quick sticks (WAL-08).
• Progression: Weak-hand outlet to targets (WAL-15) — the real goal, since a clear to the weak side is often the open one.

How to measure it

Same metrics as WAL-05, tracked separately, plus the hand gap: weak-hand clean reps as a percentage of strong-hand clean reps at the same distance.

Grade	Target hand gap
4th–5th	under 60 percent
6th–7th	under 35 percent
8th–9th	under 20 percent
10th and up	under 10 percent

Log it as: "base rep weak hand — 38/50 at 15 ft, gap 81 percent — closing."

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WAL-07 — Soft Hands and the Give

Category

Stick fundamentals

Purpose

Isolate and train the catch itself. Soft hands are the difference between a save that stays in the stick and a rebound that sits on the doorstep. This entry strips away throwing, tempo, and volume and trains only the act of absorbing a ball.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball (start with a tennis ball), approved wall. Gloves recommended.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

3–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

Part A — The dry give, 20 reps. No ball. From the ready position, move the stick head as if receiving a ball: the head travels back toward the shoulder three to six inches, smoothly, with a relaxed top hand. Feel the movement before the ball demands it.

Part B — The slow catch, 25 reps. Throw softly at the wall — deliberately soft, so the ball returns slowly. Catch it with an exaggerated give, pulling the stick head back nearly a foot. The ball should die in the head with no sound and no bounce. Listen: a soft catch is nearly silent. A hard catch makes a distinct clack. Use the ears as the coaching tool.

Part C — The no-bounce standard, 30 reps. Normal throw velocity. The rule: any rep where the ball rattles, bounces up, or pops out does not count. Count only silent catches. Continue until 30 silent catches are logged, however many attempts it takes.

Part D — Progressive velocity, 20 reps. Throw a little harder every five reps while maintaining silent catches. The moment the ball starts rattling, drop back to the previous velocity and hold there. That velocity is the athlete's current soft-hands ceiling, and raising it is the point of the entry.

Part E — Weak hand, all of the above at half volume.

Part F — Off-angle catches, 20 reps. Throw at a spot off to one side so the ball returns at an angle. Give in the direction the ball is traveling, not straight back. This is exactly how a save absorbs an angled shot.

Coaching cues

• "Catch an egg." The best cue in the file; every athlete understands it instantly.
• "Listen for silence." A silent catch is a soft catch.
• "Relax the top hand." Tension is the cause of nearly every hard catch.
• "Give where the ball is going." On an angled ball, the give travels along the ball's path.
• "Meet it early, ride it back." The stick meets the ball out front and travels back with it.

Common mistakes

• Stabbing at the ball, meeting it with a rigid stick. Produces rebounds and, in a game, second-chance goals.
• Gripping the top hand hard. The physical root of hard hands.
• Giving too late, after contact rather than through it.
• Catching beside the ear, where the athlete cannot see the ball and cannot give properly.
• Counting rattling catches as reps in Part C. The standard is the whole drill.
• Using a hard lacrosse ball too early. Start Part B with a tennis ball; it teaches the same thing with less punishment.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Tennis ball only. Move back to 20 feet. Exaggerate the give enormously.
• Regression: Hands-only catching (WAL-02), where the give is unavoidable.
• Progression: Higher velocity while holding the silent standard.
• Progression: Off-angle and low-bounce catches.
• Progression: Soft hands from a save position (WAL-16).
• Progression: Silent catch into an immediate quick release (WAL-08 and WAL-17).

How to measure it

• Silent catch percentage: silent catches out of 30 attempts at a fixed velocity and distance.
• Soft-hands ceiling: the maximum throw velocity at which the athlete holds a 90 percent silent rate. Track by distance from the wall as a proxy — a closer wall means a faster return.

Benchmarks: 5th grade, 90 percent silent at 15 feet. 8th grade, 90 percent at 10 feet. 11th grade, 90 percent at 8 feet including off-angle.

Log it as: "soft hands — 28/30 silent at 12 ft, ceiling 10 ft."

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WAL-08 — Quick Sticks

Category

Stick fundamentals

Purpose

Remove every wasted motion between the catch and the throw. A quick stick is a catch and an immediate release with no cradle, no wind-up, and no repositioning — the ball is in the head for a fraction of a second. This is the mechanic behind a fast outlet, and it is the difference between a clear that beats the ride and a clear that gets stripped.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. Gloves recommended. A tennis ball is a legitimate substitute for grades 4 to 6 and for anyone learning the timing.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

4–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

1. Warm up with 20 base reps (WAL-05). Never start a session cold on quick sticks. The hands need to be awake.
2. Move closer than the base rep distance. Grades 4 to 6 start at 10 feet; grades 7 and up start at 8 feet. Closer means less time, and less time is the whole training effect.
3. Set the ready position (WAL-04). Both hands high, stick head in front of the eyes, knees bent. The stick does not leave this position except to throw.
4. Throw chest-high at your target spot.
5. Catch and release in one motion. The stick head gives back three or four inches as the ball arrives, and that same backward travel becomes the start of the throwing motion. There is no stop between them. Catch, give, go.
6. No cradle. Not one. If the athlete needs a cradle, they are standing too close or throwing too hard. Back up a step.
7. The feet stay quiet. The step into the throw shrinks to almost nothing. Power comes from the hips and the bottom hand, not from a big stride there is no time to take.
8. Count in sets of 10. Grades 4 to 6: five sets of 10 strong hand, five sets of 10 weak hand. Grades 7 and up: eight sets of 10 each hand.
9. Rest 20 seconds between sets. Quick sticks fatigue the forearms fast and tired hands drill sloppy mechanics.
10. Finish with 10 slow, perfect base reps to reset the mechanics before leaving the wall.

The standard is unbroken rhythm. A quick stick set is a metronome. When the rhythm breaks, the set is over — restart it rather than grinding through a scramble.

Coaching cues

• "Catch and go. The ball does not live in your stick."
• "The give is the wind-up." There is no separate wind-up; the absorption becomes the throw.
• "Quiet feet, busy hands."
• "If you cradled, back up a foot."
• "Rhythm over speed. Speed is what rhythm turns into."
• "Both hands stay high the whole set."

Common mistakes

• Sneaking in a cradle, usually one small one that the athlete does not notice. Film a set and count them.
• Dropping the stick head after the throw, then rushing it back up to catch. This is the exact habit quick sticks exist to kill.
• Standing too close too soon, which turns the drill into a panicked scramble and teaches flinching rather than quickness.
• Throwing harder to go faster. Quickness comes from removing motion, not from adding force.
• Letting the top hand tighten as tempo increases, which stiffens the give and produces bounce-outs.
• Grinding through fatigue. Once the rhythm breaks, the athlete is training sloppiness.
• Skipping the weak hand, which is where quick sticks matter most, because the weak-side outlet is usually the open one.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Move back to 15 feet, throw softer, allow one cradle for the first two sets.
• Regression: Tennis ball, which returns lighter and more forgivingly.
• Regression: Drop to WAL-05 base reps for a full session and rebuild the catch.
• Progression: Move in one foot at a time, holding an unbroken rhythm at each distance.
• Progression: Alternate hands within a set — catch strong, throw strong, catch weak, throw weak.
• Progression: Quick sticks into a target square (WAL-15).
• Progression: Quick sticks on a clock (WAL-12 and WAL-17).

How to measure it

• Longest unbroken quick-stick streak per hand — no cradle, no drop, no reset.
• Quick sticks in 30 seconds at a fixed distance.
• Closest distance at which the athlete can hold 20 unbroken quick sticks.

Benchmarks: 5th grade, 15 unbroken strong hand at 10 feet. 7th grade, 25 unbroken strong and 15 weak at 9 feet. 9th grade, 40 unbroken strong and 30 weak at 8 feet. 11th grade, 50 unbroken both hands at 8 feet.

Log it as: "quick sticks — R 34 unbroken at 8 ft, L 19 at 10 ft."

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WAL-09 — The Wall Ball Pyramid

Category

Volume format

Purpose

A container, not a new skill. The pyramid takes the fundamentals from WAL-05 through WAL-08 and organizes them into a rep structure that climbs, peaks, and descends. It builds volume without boredom, it produces a clean number to beat, and the descent trains hands that are already tired — which is when hands fail in the fourth quarter.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. Chalk optional for tracking rungs.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

4–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

The pyramid climbs by fives, peaks, and comes back down. Each rung is a set of that many reps, alternating hands rung by rung.

The standard pyramid (grades 4 to 6):

5 – 10 – 15 – 20 – 15 – 10 – 5. Total 80 reps.

The full pyramid (grades 7 and up):

5 – 10 – 15 – 20 – 25 – 20 – 15 – 10 – 5. Total 120 reps.

1. Warm up: 20 base reps (WAL-05), strong hand, easy tempo.
2. Rung 1 — 5 reps strong hand. Perfect mechanics. This rung is a mechanics check, not a workout.
3. Rung 2 — 10 reps weak hand.
4. Rung 3 — 15 reps strong hand. Continue alternating hands every rung the whole way up and down.
5. At the peak rung, hold the same mechanics. The peak is where form quits first. Slow down before you break down.
6. Descend the same way. The descending rungs are the important half — the athlete is tired, and clean reps while tired are the ones that show up in games.
7. A dropped ball does not end the rung. Pick it up, reset the ready position, and finish the rung. Count the drop in the log.
8. Rest 20 to 30 seconds between rungs. No more; the pyramid is meant to run warm.
9. Finish with 10 silent catches (WAL-07) as a cool-down for the hands.

Variations that use the same shape:

• Soft-hands pyramid: every rep must be a silent catch (WAL-07 standard).
• Quick-stick pyramid: every rep is a quick stick (WAL-08). Brutal and excellent for grades 8 and up.
• Target pyramid: every rep must hit the chalk square (WAL-15). Missed target reps do not count toward the rung.
• Weak-hand-heavy pyramid: the weak hand takes every rung on the way up, the strong hand takes the way down.

Time cost: the standard pyramid runs 10 to 12 minutes. The full pyramid runs 15 to 18.

Coaching cues

• "The way down is the real workout."
• "Slow down before you break down." Tempo is negotiable; mechanics are not.
• "Every rung starts from ready position."
• "Alternate hands. The pyramid is how the weak hand gets its volume without noticing."
• "Count out loud. A rushing count means a drop is coming."

Common mistakes

• Racing the rungs and turning the pyramid into a speed test. It is a volume container; tempo stays controlled.
• Quitting on the descent, which removes the entire point of the format.
• Giving the strong hand the big rungs every session, which widens the hand gap while feeling productive.
• Resting too long between rungs, which lets the hands cool and turns the pyramid into nine separate short drills.
• Letting form degrade at the peak rather than slowing down.
• Stacking a pyramid on top of a full wall ball session for young athletes. For grades 4 to 6, the pyramid is the wall ball session.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Half pyramid — 5 – 10 – 15 – 10 – 5, 45 reps.
• Regression: Hands-only pyramid with a tennis ball (WAL-02) for 3rd and 4th graders.
• Regression: Longer rest, 45 seconds between rungs.
• Progression: Add rungs — take the peak to 30 or 35.
• Progression: Convert to the quick-stick or target variation.
• Progression: Double pyramid — run the full pyramid, rest two minutes, run it again. Grades 10 and up only.

How to measure it

• Completion: did the athlete finish every rung.
• Drops per pyramid, logged as a single number. This is the cleanest trend line in the file.
• Total time for the pyramid, which should stay stable while drops fall.

Benchmarks: 5th grade, standard pyramid with 6 or fewer drops. 7th grade, full pyramid with 5 or fewer. 9th grade, full pyramid with 3 or fewer. 11th grade, quick-stick full pyramid with 3 or fewer.

Log it as: "pyramid — full, 4 drops, 16 min, quick-stick variation."

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WAL-10 — The Wall Ball Ladder

Category

Tempo format

Purpose

Train the hands across a range of speeds inside one session. The ladder steps tempo up rung by rung to a maximum the athlete can still control, then steps it back down. Where the pyramid manipulates volume, the ladder manipulates speed — and speed control is what lets a goalie play fast without playing frantic.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. A phone timer or metronome app. Chalk to mark distance lines on the ground.

Space needed

25 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall, with room to move toward and away from it.

Grade range

5–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

Tempo is controlled by distance. Closer to the wall means a faster return and less time. The ladder is therefore a set of chalk lines on the ground.

1. Mark five lines with chalk or cones at 16, 14, 12, 10, and 8 feet from the wall. Grades 5 and 6 use 18, 16, 14, 12, and 10 feet.
2. Warm up: 20 base reps at the furthest line.
3. Rung 1 — furthest line, 20 reps strong hand, 20 weak hand. Controlled tempo. This is the baseline.
4. Step in to the next line. 20 and 20 again. The ball comes back faster. The hands must be up earlier, and the throw must be quicker.
5. Keep climbing rung by rung until the athlete reaches the line where they can no longer complete 20 reps without a break in rhythm. That line is the ceiling for today. Note it.
6. Step back one line and hold there for 30 reps each hand. This is the working rung, the tempo just under the ceiling, and it is where most of the adaptation happens.
7. Descend the ladder, 10 reps each hand at each line on the way back out, finishing at the furthest line with slow, silent catches.
8. Total: about 15 minutes for grades 5 to 8, 20 minutes for grades 9 to 12.

The rule of the ladder: the athlete never climbs past the rung where mechanics break. The ceiling moves over weeks, not within a session.

Reverse ladder (grades 8 and up): start at the closest line while fresh and step outward, which trains quickness first and endurance second. Use it in pre-season.

Coaching cues

• "Distance is tempo. Step in to speed up."
• "Find the rung where it gets ugly, then work one rung out from it."
• "Hands up earlier every time you step in."
• "The ceiling moves in weeks, not minutes."
• "Same mechanics at every rung. Only the clock changes."

Common mistakes

• Climbing to the closest line out of pride, collecting 20 minutes of scrambling. The ladder is honest or it is useless.
• Eyeballing distances instead of marking lines, which makes the whole measurement worthless week to week.
• Throwing harder as the wall gets closer, which compounds the difficulty instead of training the tempo.
• Skipping the descent, which is where the hands consolidate what the fast rungs demanded.
• Running the ladder strong-hand only. Every rung is both hands, always.
• Changing the marked distances between sessions, which destroys the trend line.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Three rungs instead of five. Start at 20 feet.
• Regression: Tennis ball, which slows the effective tempo at every distance.
• Regression: 10 reps per rung instead of 20.
• Progression: Add a closer line at 6 feet.
• Progression: Quick-stick ladder — every rep at every rung is a quick stick (WAL-08).
• Progression: Reverse ladder.
• Progression: Ladder with a target requirement at each rung (WAL-15).

How to measure it

• Ceiling distance: the closest line at which the athlete completes 20 unbroken reps per hand.
• Working rung: one line further out than the ceiling.
• Ceiling gap between hands, in feet.

Benchmarks: 6th grade, ceiling at 12 feet strong hand. 8th grade, ceiling at 10 feet strong and 12 weak. 10th grade, ceiling at 8 feet strong and 10 weak. 12th grade, ceiling at 8 feet both hands.

Log it as: "ladder — ceiling R 8 ft, L 10 ft, worked 30 reps each at 10 and 12."

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WAL-11 — The Streak Challenge

Category

Volume format

Purpose

Train focus under accumulating pressure. A streak is a count of consecutive clean reps that resets to zero on any drop. It is the closest thing wall ball has to the mental demand of a game, where one lapse costs everything and the athlete has to keep the next rep clean anyway. It is also the most motivating format in this file, and the one athletes chase on their own.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. A notebook or phone to log the record. Chalk optional.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

4–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

1. Warm up properly: 30 base reps each hand. A streak attempt on cold hands is a wasted attempt.
2. Pick a fixed distance and write it down. A streak at 15 feet and a streak at 8 feet are different records. Never compare them.
3. Define a clean rep before starting. Caught in the head of the stick, no drop, no bobble, no ball off the ground, thrown back to the wall from the ready position. For older athletes, add: no cradle, and the throw must hit the target square.
4. Count out loud, every rep. The count is the drill. Silence in a streak means the athlete has stopped paying attention.
5. On any drop, the count returns to zero. Say "zero" out loud. Do not argue with it, do not award half credit, and do not restart the clock in your head at 20. The reset is the training.
6. Take three attempts per session, maximum. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between attempts. More than three and the hands are too tired to set a real number.
7. Log the best attempt of the session, per hand.
8. Run streaks on the strong hand and the weak hand separately, with the weak hand going first.

The Reset applies here. After a broken streak, the athlete uses the same reset routine they use after a goal (MEN-01): breath out, reset the stance, next rep. A streak challenge is a legitimate place to rehearse it 20 times in ten minutes.

Session formats:

• Personal best attempt: three tries at a fixed distance, chasing the logged record.
• Target streak: the athlete must reach a set number — 25, 50, 100 — and the session ends when they do.
• Sum streak: add the three attempts together. Rewards consistency rather than one lucky run.
• Two-hand streak: alternate hands every rep. The count runs across both.

Coaching cues

• "Count out loud. Every rep."
• "Zero is not a failure. Zero is the drill."
• "Breathe out at every tenth rep."
• "Do not chase the number at rep 40. Throw rep 41."
• "Slow the tempo down as the number climbs. Streaks break from rushing, not from fatigue."

Common mistakes

• Rushing as the count climbs, which is what breaks nearly every streak above 30.
• Awarding partial credit on a bobble. The standard has to be absolute or the number means nothing.
• Attempting streaks cold, which produces low numbers and frustration.
• Ten attempts in a session, which fatigues the hands and lowers the ceiling for weeks.
• Comparing streaks across distances or hands and concluding the weak hand is hopeless.
• Only ever running strong-hand streaks, which is the fun one and the useless one.
• Emotional collapse after a break at a high number. This is the exact moment the Reset is being trained. Coach it, do not skip it.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Move back to 18 or 20 feet. Allow one cradle per rep.
• Regression: Hands-only streaks with a tennis ball (WAL-02) for grades 3 and 4.
• Regression: Lower the target number so the athlete finishes successfully.
• Progression: Move in five feet.
• Progression: Quick-stick streak — no cradle at all.
• Progression: Target streak — every throw must hit the chalk square (WAL-15).
• Progression: Alternating-hand streak.
• Progression: Streak under a time cap — reach 50 clean in under 90 seconds.

How to measure it

• Personal best streak per hand, at a stated distance. This is a headline number and belongs on the front page of the training log.
• Session best and three-attempt sum.

Benchmarks at 12 feet: 4th grade, 20 strong hand. 6th grade, 50 strong and 25 weak. 8th grade, 100 strong and 60 weak. 10th grade, 150 strong and 100 weak. 12th grade, 200 strong and 150 weak.

Log it as: "streak — R best 118 at 12 ft, L best 71 at 12 ft, three attempts."

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WAL-12 — Beat the Clock

Category

Tempo format

Purpose

Put a timer on the hands. Every other format in this file is measured in reps; this one is measured in seconds, and it trains the athlete to work at a pace they do not choose. Games do not let a goalie set the tempo, and neither does this.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. A phone timer, ideally with an interval function. Chalk for targets.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

5–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

Format A — Max reps in a window. Set the timer for 30 seconds. Complete as many clean reps as possible at a fixed distance. Rest 60 seconds. Repeat four times, alternating hands each round. Log the best round per hand.

Format B — Fixed reps against the clock. Set a rep target — 25, 40, or 50 — and time how long it takes to complete them cleanly. A dropped rep does not count toward the total, so drops cost time. This is the format that most honestly rewards clean hands.

Format C — Interval rounds. 20 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest, eight rounds. Alternate hands each round. This is a conditioning format for the hands and forearms and belongs in winter build and pre-season.

Format D — The countdown. Set 60 seconds. The athlete must complete 30 clean reps before it expires. If they finish early, the remaining seconds are rest. This teaches pacing rather than sprinting, and it is the best introduction to timed work for a 5th or 6th grader.

Running any format:

1. Warm up 30 base reps each hand. Timed work on cold hands is how forearms get strained.
2. Set the distance and write it down. As with the ladder, a time at 8 feet and a time at 14 feet are unrelated numbers.
3. Start the timer, then start throwing. Not the reverse.
4. Count out loud so the number is honest and reviewable.
5. A drop costs the athlete the retrieval time. That is the penalty, and it is enough. Do not add a rep penalty on top of it for younger athletes.
6. Two formats maximum per session. Timed work is taxing and it degrades mechanics faster than any other format here.
7. Finish with 20 slow silent catches (WAL-07) to put the mechanics back where they were.

Ball retrieval matters. Place a second and third ball at the athlete's feet so a drop costs three seconds instead of twenty. On timed work only — every other format benefits from the walk.

Coaching cues

• "The clock does not care how you feel."
• "Clean reps only. A drop costs you more time than a slow throw does."
• "Pace it. Sprinting the first 10 seconds costs you the last 20."
• "Hands up before the ball comes back, or you lose a half second every rep."
• "Breathe. Holding your breath is why round three falls apart."

Common mistakes

• Sprinting the opening seconds and collapsing. Nearly universal on the first exposure.
• Counting scrambled or bobbled reps to inflate the number, which makes the metric meaningless.
• Throwing harder to save time, which produces wilder rebounds and more drops.
• Dropping the stick head between reps, which costs a fraction of a second on every single rep and is the biggest available time saving.
• Running timed formats every session. Once or twice a week is plenty; the rest of the week is mechanics.
• Ignoring the weak hand because the number is embarrassing.
• Holding the breath, which shows up as a sudden failure in the third or fourth round.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: Format D with a generous target — 20 reps in 60 seconds.
• Regression: Move back to 15 or 18 feet.
• Regression: Tennis ball.
• Progression: Shorten the window, raise the target, or move in.
• Progression: Quick-stick requirement (WAL-08) on every rep.
• Progression: Add a target square requirement — off-target throws do not count (WAL-15).
• Progression: Format C with movement between rounds — a shuffle or a sprint-back between intervals.

How to measure it

• Reps in 30 seconds per hand, at a stated distance. The primary number.
• Time to 40 clean reps per hand.
• Round-four drop-off: reps in round four as a percentage of round one. Under 15 percent is good; over 30 percent means the athlete is sprinting the openings.

Benchmarks for reps in 30 seconds at 12 feet: 6th grade, 22 strong hand. 8th grade, 28 strong and 22 weak. 10th grade, 33 strong and 28 weak. 12th grade, 36 strong and 32 weak.

Log it as: "beat the clock — 30 sec: R 31, L 26 at 12 ft; drop-off 11 percent."

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WAL-13 — The 100-Rep Routine

Category

Volume format

Purpose

The daily standard. One hundred reps, fixed structure, roughly ten minutes, every day it is prescribed. This is the routine an athlete can run without reading anything, in any weather, at any age, for ten years. It is deliberately unglamorous and it is the single highest-return habit in the program.

Equipment

Goalie stick, one ball, approved wall. Gloves recommended. Grades 4 to 6 may run the entire routine with a tennis ball.

Space needed

20 feet of flat ground in front of a solid wall.

Grade range

4–12

Solo or partner

Solo

How to do it

The routine is always the same ten blocks of ten. Weak hand carries the majority.

1. Reps 1–10 — Weak hand, slow. Deliberately slow, perfect mechanics, silent catches. The weak hand goes first while the athlete is fresh.
2. Reps 11–20 — Strong hand, slow. Same standard.
3. Reps 21–30 — Weak hand, normal tempo.
4. Reps 31–40 — Strong hand, normal tempo.
5. Reps 41–50 — Weak hand, quick sticks (WAL-08). No cradle.
6. Reps 51–60 — Strong hand, quick sticks.
7. Reps 61–70 — Weak hand, to the target square (WAL-15). Accuracy is the standard here, not speed.
8. Reps 71–80 — Strong hand, to the target square.
9. Reps 81–90 — Weak hand, athlete's choice of emphasis — whatever was worst today.
10. Reps 91–100 — Alternating hands, silent catches (WAL-07), slow. The routine ends the way it started: slow and clean.

Running it:

• No warm-up block is built in because blocks 1 and 2 are the warm-up. That is why they are slow.
• Rest is 15 seconds between blocks. The routine should run continuously in 9 to 12 minutes.
• Count out loud in tens.
• Weak hand receives 50 reps, strong hand 40, and 10 are alternating. That ratio is deliberate and it does not flip when the athlete gets bored.
• Drops are counted but do not stop the block. Retrieve, reset, continue, and finish the block at ten.

Grade scaling:

Grade	Version	Ball	Distance
4th	60-rep version — blocks 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10	Tennis ball	15 ft
5th–6th	Full 100	Tennis or lacrosse	12–14 ft
7th–8th	Full 100	Lacrosse	10–12 ft
9th–10th	Full 100, or 200 by running it twice	Lacrosse	9–11 ft
11th–12th	Full 100 minimum, 200 in off-season	Lacrosse	8–10 ft

Coaching cues

• "Same hundred, every day. That is the whole idea."
• "Weak hand first, weak hand more."
• "Blocks one and two are your warm-up. Do not rush them."
• "Ten at a time. Nobody does a hundred reps; everybody does ten reps, ten times."
• "Finish slow. End the routine cleaner than you started it."

Common mistakes

• Rearranging the blocks so the fun ones come first. The order is the routine.
• Flipping the hand ratio so the strong hand gets 50. This happens quietly and constantly. Audit it.
• Skipping blocks 9 and 10 because the athlete is at 80 and feels done.
• Treating blocks 1 and 2 as a race rather than a warm-up, which is how forearms get sore.
• Doing the routine three times a week instead of daily. The value is in the daily repetition, not the rep count.
• Adding volume before the mechanics hold. A clean 100 beats a sloppy 200 at every age.
• Never moving in. The distance should shrink over years, and it will not unless someone tracks it.

Progressions and regressions

• Regression: The 60-rep version. Tennis ball. 15 feet.
• Regression: Hands-only version for 3rd graders — 60 reps of WAL-02 and WAL-03 in the same block structure.
• Regression: Split the hundred into two sessions in one day.
• Progression: Move in one foot when the athlete finishes a full 100 with three or fewer drops for a week straight.
• Progression: 200-rep version — run the routine twice with a three-minute break.
• Progression: Add a save-position block (WAL-16) in place of block 9.
• Progression: Run the whole routine on a clock and track total time (WAL-12).

How to measure it

• Drops per hundred. The headline number, and the one that trends most clearly over a season.
• Total time, which should hold steady between 9 and 12 minutes as the athlete moves closer to the wall.
• Current distance, logged every session.
• Streak of consecutive days completed. Track it. This is the number athletes protect.

Benchmarks: 5th grade, under 12 drops at 14 feet. 7th grade, under 8 drops at 12 feet. 9th grade, under 5 drops at 10 feet. 11th grade, under 3 drops at 9 feet.

Log it as: "100-rep — 6 drops at 11 ft, 10:20, day 34 of the streak."

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