Lacrosse Warm ups for kids

by Abigail
(UK)

I am trying to devise warm-ups for kids aged 7-11 and 12-15. 15 mins each one. A lot of them have never played before. Any suggestions???

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Answer Revised 02-04-10
Thanks for the clarification.

There are two aspects to warming up that I think are important to help prevent injury and improve flexibility. One is warming the muscles to prepare them to work by circulating blood flow and increasing oxygen, and the other is stretching the muscles for flexibility which provides many athletic benefits and to help prevent injury and things like pulled muscles.

I am not a doctor, so I am always cautious to say the things I suggest are from personal experiences. Because I'm not an expert in sports medicine I rely on information from places like my friends at the Stretching Institute for recommendations concerning stretching and warm up information.

The Stretching Institute has put together a very detailed website specifically addressing warm up, stretching, and sports injury prevention. I have posted some good articles on the subject here:

Lacrosse Warm Up
Lacrosse Stretching
Lacrosse Cool Down

Personally, I would always start with a short run. Many coaches will tell you that there are more efficient uses of practice time than running laps, but it is hard to argue that a quick lap around around the field for a quick simple warm up is not effective. It gets there hearts pumping starts to loosen up their cold muscles and generate heat. it should be very slow pace just slow jog around the field or track if you have one. I like to make it single file, so they are already working as a team and then jog them into your next activity.

Just a note I always prefer to have my kids carry their sticks. Unless you don't have sticks yet I think it is good that they have their sticks at all times even when they are warming up. I just have them put them down beside them when they stretch.

After stretching I would go right into a stick drill of some type. could be just throwing the ball back and forth. I prefer to have them do that together and pass to each other on the run. two lines 10-15 yards/meters apart and just slow jog pass the ball back and forth. This works stick proficiency but it also helps in the warm up of their muscles.

For stretching, again the Stretching Institute has great resources to teach you how to correctly perform stretches in order to prevent injury. I would strongly recommend their tools if you are searching for anatomically and correctly performed instructions for stretching.

The Stretching Institute

Hope this helps and please if anyone would like to add your own comments on warming up, we always love the input.

Jamey