drag flicking with footwork and stick diagrams and biomechanics

Drag flicking stages with foot work diagrams and

biomechanicsDerek Pappas

Learning to score

• Lets talk about the goal of the drag flick first before talking about biomechanics. Scoring goals. And what players and coaches should keep in mind during practice and when developing drag flickers

• After learning the drag flick the drag flicker needs to learn how to make the goalie go the wrong way.

• Learn how to place the ball low and high in the corners.

• The drag flicker must also learn how to deal with the suicide runner.

Derek E. Pappas Copyright © 2016

The ball travels in a straight line to the goal

•Remember the ball travels in a straight line to the goal

•The stick moves away from the player's feet as the hands are lowered (watch the drills in the Lehnn Aiyyapa video in the video below).

•The end of the stick does not travel in a stick line to the goal

•Note his point about the angle of the stick after tha hands are lowered


The path of the ball during the drag flick

• The ball travels in a straight line towards the target. During training put a piece of tape on the ground along the line that the ball should travel towards the goal

• The end of the stick does not travel down a straight line since the stick is extended past the ball during the drag phase and the ball in effect “rolls” up the face of the stick


Reasons for loss of power

•A failure to "roll" the ball 6-12"'s up the stick results in a major loss of power-see below.

• The biggest mistake with the drag flick is to fail to stay in a drag position after pickup until the middle of the final step. This results in a big loss of power


Setup for practice

• Cones diagonal outside the top of the D

• A line on the ground perpendicular to the baseline (tape)

• Mark the spots for the steps and ball with a small X (5 cm’s long) made with tape


Line on the ground

•The best drag flickers in the world put tape on the ground as a guide when drag flicking (from a Spanish national team drag flicker)


Practice your steps prior to ball pickup

• Practice the steps prior to ball pickup and don’t do anything else.

• Don’t move the ball

• Concentrate on the steps and right rotation


Practice movement from ball pickup to the release point

• Start at the ball and just practice the crossover

• Don’t move the ball!

• Move into the crossover

• After you have mastered the cross over the add the big step

• Delay moving the ball (the stick should be angled 45 degrees over the ball-covering the ball)


Drag flicking broken down by

stage


Drag flicking stages

•Break the drag flick down into stages.

•Practice each of these movements in slow motion in your living room or somewhere with a fast carpet or surface that is fast and won’t scratch.

•It takes a long time to train the muscle memory how to drag flick.

•The motion is counter intuitive.


2. Body rotates right to set up the crossover.

Right foot foot parallel to the baseline.

right footleft foot

Drag flick footwork1. Short step to adjust to the point

where the ball will be stopped

3. Left foot parallel to the baseline and close to the ball4. Crossover by right

foot. Both knees bent 90

degrees. 5. Big step towards the ball but not too big

6. Left foot rotates left and the right foot rotates around left foot along with the body, which routes 180

degrees to the left. The body ends up facing away from the line of the

ball.

2. continued Right knee 90 bent degrees

Ready to push off into crossover step


3 Steps to the ball• 1 short so that the flicker can make an

adjustment when the ball is pushed

• A normal step

• Then a step with the right foot so that the right foot is parallel to the baseline to begin the 45 degree turn right

• Then a step with the left foot parallel to the ball


Left hand touching the bottom of the right forearm

• At ball pickup the top of the left hand should touching the bottom of the right forearm

• The left hand should not touch the front of the right forearm


Approach the ball with the stick on the ground

• The stick should be at or near an angle of 45 degrees to the ground


The right step before the ball

• When the player steps with the right foot 90% weight should be on the right foot. The player must lean a little to their right to get their head over the right foot. The player explodes off of their right foot to create momentum into the circle.

• Why? The player MUST push off of the right foot behind the left foot. This is a rotation to the left of the running line. The direction of the run is changed 45 degrees or less to the left.


Setup prior to the crossover

•The the counter rotation prior to the crossover step and the placement of the left foot next to the ball in the correct position are critical to setting up the drag stage of the drag flick.

•You will hear a lot coaches talking about placing the left foot next to the ball. That is a minor point compared to the phase before.

•Learn the right foot placement and the counter rotation prior to the left foot next to the ball placement.


Ball pickup stick and body position

• The stick should be at or near an angle of 45 degrees to the ground and 45 degrees to the baseline

• The right forearm and stick form a straight line

• The face of the stick is 45 degrees to the baseline

• Left hand is rotated left


Left foot next to the ball• Then a big cross over step

• bend the left and right knees up to 90 degrees

• Create a spring to push off

• step behind the left foot

• Keep the body and head moving down the line during and after the cross over


right footleft foot

Drag flick footwork and stick angle

right footleft foot

stick


Big left step

• Use the spring created in the right leg (by bending the right knee 90 degrees during the crossover step a spring is created) to push off and make a big step to the left

• Point the left foot at the target, perpendicular to the baseline


The ball rolls up the stick

•The ball travels in a straight line and the the hands push down, pushing the stick end of the stick away from the feet, 90 degrees to the path of the ball

•This causes the ball to start rolling up the stick


Head level

• The head should be level during the drag flick and not moving up and down

• Use a stick to make the flicker get lower


right footleft foot


stick


Right hand moves towards the ground when the big left step is initiated after the

crossover step


The hands travel down at an angle and then up prior to release to lift the ball

• After the ball pickup the right hand drops down

• After the the hands continue to drop down


The stick is angled down/rotated left after the hands drop down


Hands pull back/push forwards before the release

• The right and left hands must pull against each other and the stick must be angled to the right of the target prior to the release

• There should be tension in the hands and arms

• This motion sets up the release for the drag flick


The shoulder rotation to the right is maintained up to the release

• Top drag flickers have their left shoulder lower than their right shoulder during the drag phase, up to the release


right footleft foot


right forearm right upper arm stick


The left shoulder is near the left knee at release

• Right forearm is near to parallel to the ground

• Right wrist is cocked 90 degrees to the stick waiting for the release


Rotate the body after release

• After the release of the ball and the rotation of the body, stick, … the feet should rotate 180 degrees to prevent any injuries and to continue the rotation


Left hand close to the left leg/side during the follow through rotation

https://youtu.be/H5p2ROiRw60

https://youtu.be/H5p2ROiRw60


Drag flick stick rotation on the follow through

Think about a circle. The left foot is at the center of the circle.


Drag flick stick rotation on the follow through

During the follow through the stick rotates around the center of the circle.

drag flicking with footwork and stick diagrams and biomechanics

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