Top 30 Eye Hand Coordination Drills for Lacrosse Goalies

Hand-eye coordination is the processing of a visual input and coordinated control of your hands based on that input.

As a lacrosse goalie, it’s extremely important as the visual input is the shooter and the shot and our hand and goalie head is the coordinated control needed to make the save.

The better and quicker you’re able to translate a visual input into the proper hand movement, the better lax goalie you will be.

I recently chatted with Arthur Leibowitz from HandEyeCoaches on IG (podcast episode)

This IG account is a pure gold mine when it comes to eye-hand coordination drills. Here are my favorite 30 gold nuggets harvested from deep within his hand-eye coordination drill caves.

Note: I used to always say hand-eye coordination but as Arthur let me know in our podcast, eye-hand coordination is probably the more accurate term. Since it’s the hand reacting to the stimulus picked up by the eyes.

The good news for goalies is that even if you were not born with great eye-hand coordination, it can be developed.

As a part of balanced lacrosse goalie training routine, you need to ensure you’re mixing in eye-hand coordination drills. A lot of my favorite drills listed also combine explosion or lateral movement in addition to the visual training.

I previously discussed unconventional goalies exercises to improve hand-eye coordination but in this post I’ll show you some more conventional drills to improve this skill.

Even though some of these drills appear to for other sport’s athletes, they’re perfect for us lacrosse goalies too!

Top 30 Hand-Eye Coordination Drills for Lacrosse Goalies

 

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Always a fun tool to use! – The reaction ball calls for an intense relaxed focused, quick reactions and quick hands💯⚡️👐🏼 @procoachcricket

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Sep 14, 2018 at 4:29pm PDT

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💯Awesome dual focus drill – ⚡️Maneuvering through the agility ladder while staying focused on the ball – 🎾Making the catch and tossing it back, this drill trains the athlete to be able to focus on performing two tasks simultaneously – 💪🏽A skill needed not just in baseball but just about all sports. Tag someone who needs to see this! – – Via: @marmerida_baseball #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Aug 24, 2018 at 6:16pm PDT

 

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“Junior at Rock Bridge High School and @missouri_baseball commit @wrightp1208 keeping his hand/eye coordination sharp and working on lateral movement. Adding a couple of tennis balls to any agility drill is a great way to increase coordination and force the athlete to keep their eyes up while performing the drill 👋👀” – – Via: @breakthrough_sportsperformance #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Aug 23, 2018 at 4:43pm PDT

 

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“Think fast🤹🏼‍♀️ • Reaction time, speed and hand-eye coordination are important aspects to train and re-train after injury. How do you think you would do with this drill?🎾🤷🏽‍♂️ • Collin Morikawa working on attention and motor skill. One of the eight traits of Champion Golfers is “an above average ability to focus and concentrate.” It’s incredibly important to train your attention in various environments to optimize performance. @collin_morikawa certainly shows that in every single training session. #ugp #teamugp @jasonglasslab @benbrunotraining @calberkley @procedos @lgp_inc @theugp @mytpi “ – – Via: @leo_ugp @reactivephysio #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Aug 21, 2018 at 4:55pm PDT

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“🤸🏻‍♀️Wrapping up a balance week with some super tough drilling! You wouldn’t believe how hard this is. – – – 👀These are called VORs and I’m doing them in a ball of foot position using a light band for reflexive stabilization. I threw in the drop landing for good measure. As the head moves your eyes must stay on the target. – – – 🧠VOR stands for Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex. We have a vestibular system so that we know which way we are going and which way is up! The VOR reflex allows us to stabilize our gaze on visual targets when our head and body are in motion. The vestibular system is reflexively connected to our extensor musculature. It helps to calibrate appropriate muscle tone needed for postural demands. – – – 🙆🏻‍♂️So it’s pretty freaking important! – – – 👨🏻‍🏫 If your vestibular system is not smart you will likely lose your balance, sprain ankles, blowout your knees, make lots of movement mistakes and become a frustrated athlete. – – – 💁🏻‍♂️Want to know the secret sauce behind real balance and stabilization training? – – – 👉🏻Your head and eyes must move!! – – – 🤓Eventually you need to move past the dead bug and bird dog if you want balance that will serve you outside of the gym!” – – Via: @kruseelite #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Aug 10, 2018 at 4:01pm PDT

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“👣Fast Feet ⚡️✋🏽Hand 👀Eye Coordination #PEPFast @ksb14_ @gryphonfootball “Learn How to MultiTask”” – – Via: @pierreseliteperformance #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jul 29, 2018 at 4:57pm PDT

 

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They call it🗣 – You catch it 👐🏼 – 🔴Red. 🎟Pink. ⚪️White. – – Via: @goaliesaara #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jul 14, 2018 at 5:38pm PDT

 

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Awesome drill working to improve hand-eye coordination, hand speed, fine motor control and dexterity – Tag someone below! 💯✊🏽 #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jul 16, 2018 at 1:28pm PDT

 

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First to 20 Wins!!!! – If you drop it you have to start back from zero! – ⬇️Tag someone you’d do this with! And comment who would win! 😁🤟🏽 – – #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jul 9, 2018 at 1:07pm PDT

 

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“Having fun with some hand-eye work” ✊🏽🤟🏽💯 – – Via: @weston.14 #handeyecoaches #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jul 8, 2018 at 12:15pm PDT

 

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“Finishing up his warm up prep with the tennis ball wall drill. Purpose – visual stimuli response, hand and eye coordination, hand speed reaction, stability work, full body coordination and balance. 🎾👋🏽🥅🏒🔥🔥🔥 “ – – Via: @samoanstrengthcoach #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jun 30, 2018 at 6:20pm PDT

 

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“Neuro-Visual Training🧠 Observation – Response – Speed ​​- Accuracy. One eye covered 👁” – – Via: @dynaoptic #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jun 28, 2018 at 11:14am PDT

 

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Agility Ladder and Hand-Eye 🙌🏼 – – Via: @goalrobber.hockey #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Jun 9, 2018 at 5:43pm PDT

 

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Lateral speed – Hand-Eye drills 🗝🔑 – – – Via: @eliteathletescoachaye #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on May 24, 2018 at 6:25pm PDT

 

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@coachjayfulco and @e_momah putting in some work! 💪🏽 “Yesterdays and todays sessions called for some hand-eye coordination and reaction training. 🖐🏽👀 🎾🎾” (Via: @coachjayfulco ) #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on May 12, 2018 at 10:40am PDT

 

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Great drill from @coachjayfulco … Great combination of reaction training and lateral movement. #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Apr 22, 2018 at 12:23pm PDT

 

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Catch the ball with the opposite hand. It’s harder than it looks. (Via: @coachjayfulco ) #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Apr 13, 2018 at 10:23am PDT

 

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Probably one of the harder exercises I’ve come up with. I would’ve liked to have my hips not turn as much but like I said, this exercise was tough. ▪ Great exercise for grapplers, fighters, climbers and anyone looking for a challenge. It definitely gets your heart rate up as well. ▪ Focuses on core and shoulder stability, timing, spatial awareness, kinesthetic awareness and hand eye coordination.💯💯📈 ▪(Via: @neuralmovement ) #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Apr 7, 2018 at 5:00pm PDT

 

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🎥: @callum98crawford – Getting creative with the drills. Love it! #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Mar 27, 2018 at 12:25pm PDT

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🎥: @coachjayfulco – Chances are, you aren’t a football QB, however I still think there is a lot to learn from this drill. Not only does the athlete have to react to the ball being dropped, but also has to have his brain fire and tell him in which direction to step based on which ball is dropped. Terrific drill from Coach Fulco! An athletes reactions and brain functions are vital parts to their game and are what can separate the greats from the average. For example, look at Tom Brady, he’s not the most athletic guy but his brain functioning and Vision are at such an elite level, he sees a play unfold and can make decisions more efficiently than the rest of the pack. He knows where the defenders are and he knows where the best place to put the ball is. His brain functions and reactions are superior but certainly not unattainable, keep working and one day you just might be at an elite level similar to my man TB🏈✋🏼☝🏼🏆 “Working on some reaction and foot placement with my starting qb @rhofmann his focus on the little things is what’s gonna separate him this season 😤😤🤙🏽” #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Mar 5, 2018 at 4:30pm PST

 

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🎥: @coachjayfulco – Unreal drill here from Coach Jason Fulco, work on your brains processing speed in taking in sound, (the number being called out) and react to it by hitting that number. This drill also works on hand speed, notice how @jeremy_ruckert01 used the same hand to touch the number and catch the ball. This forces him to move his hand very quickly, thus building up his hand speed. #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Mar 2, 2018 at 6:31pm PST

 

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🎥: @samoanstrengthcoach – “Successful performance by an athlete depends heavily on his/her ability to react quickly. In sports performance, this usually requires the athlete to quickly decelerate and just as quickly accelerate. Weather it involves reacting to a starters pistol at the beginning of a running race, out-jumping an opponent for a rebound on the basketball court, or being able to hike an opponent on the football field, the athlete with greater quickness and better reaction time usually maintains a competitive advantage. Checkout elite hockey goalie athlete, @tanner_thomson33 back at it again. 💯👊🏽Loves it when we do hand eye coordination and reaction drills. 🏒💥🥅👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 – – Goalie drill: purpose – improve visual stimulus response, upper body reaction time (hand speed), foot work, ability to react (save goals), and coordination. – With most reactions drills that I do with my hockey or soccer goalies. I’ll always have them catch the ball rather than hitting it away. Just remember, catching the puck or ball resets the play. Hitting it away, allows the opposition another opportunity at goal. 💯💯💯” #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Feb 20, 2018 at 9:56am PST

 

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🎥: @increase_goaltending – “It’s all about hand-eye-coordination. Here you can see an easy but effective drill from our off-ice coach Gregor Grutschnig and VSV-goalie Lukas Herzog. All you need are some tennisballs and a gymnasticball. Have fun trying it at home!” #traindifferent #bettereveryday . . . . . . . #sportsvisiontraining #handeyecoordination #quickhands #balance #focused

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Feb 18, 2018 at 9:16am PST

 

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A @handeyecoaches Original: This one was built for baseball players but can be used by all athletes. The idea of this drill is build leg strength and coordination in fielding balls. Note how I used random balls for random bounces. You can add or take out anything you like from the drill. That’s the beauty of adding your own twist to it. You already know whose featured in this drill but I’ll say it anyway @vcubaseball Commit @brettyoung9 🙌🏼 #stud #traindifferent #bettereveryday . . . . . . . #sportsvisiontraining #baseball #baseballcoach #baseballtraining #baseballtrainer #baseballlife #baseballplayer #baseballplayers #vcubaseball #collegebaseball #highschoolbaseball #d1baseball #d3baseball #baseballfield #quickhands #quickfeet #legstrength #strentghtraining #visiontraining #vision #handeye #handeyecoordination #handeyecoachescertifiedathlete #handeyecoach #eyehand #eyehandcoordination #basketballtrainer

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Feb 10, 2018 at 5:09pm PST

 

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🎥: @samoanstrengthcoach – “Elite hockey goalie athlete, @tanner_thomson33 improving lower body power through the hips, mental processing speed, lateral reaction speed and agility. Hand and eye coordination.” -Coach Zion Afele #traindifferent #bettereveryday

A post shared by Hand Eye Coaches (@handeyecoaches) on Mar 1, 2018 at 2:39pm PST

Conclusion

A goalie’s hand-eye coordination skills are extremely important when it comes to making saves.

In addition to training the technical, physical, and mental elements of being a goalie, you should also incorporate hand-eye training into your lax goalie training routine.

If you’re looking for hand-eye coordination drills, look no further than HandEyeCoordination on Instagram.

Many of these drills appear like they’re designed for other sports but with a slight modification, you can envision how the drill could be customized for the lacrosse goalies.

Other drills work our eye-hand coordination perfectly and don’t need to be modified.

Until next time! Coach Damon

What are you favorite hand-eye coordination drills? Leave me a comment down below.