Shooting with tennis balls

[cbhslacrossemid]

I read somewhere (it might have been IL) that Tom Merachek(sp.) used to practice his shot with tennis balls. What do you think good idea or bad?

[LCNlaxman]

Bad. A tennis ball is so much different. Way too light.

[Sesor]

Yeah, It is definetly way to light.

[laxngoalie]

I forget who it was, but someone did, stuff tennisballs with coins and taped em shut for extra weight if thats what your thinking of.

[LCNlaxman]

Yeah that's a good idea. Cut open a tennis ball and put pennies in it. About 1.30 in pennies though, start savin'! :thumbsup: It helps a lot but it's REALLY heavy so be careful when you first do it.

[RockStar]

You can practice cradling and fakes with an empty tennis ball.

Because it's lighter, it's a lot harder to hold than a laX ball.

As for throwing - no, it doesnt feel right. You need a very whippy stick to make a tennis ball fly right.

[laxjunkie]

Acually, tennis balls are great - it takes perfect form to throw a tennisball. So all these players complaining about not being able to throw with them - it's because their form is off.

During early spring pracitices when we're stuck in the gym, I have my players play dodgeball with tennis balls. University of Denver does the same thing. Big difference in the before and after with each player's form.

[LCNlaxman]

Acually, tennis balls are great - it takes perfect form to throw a tennisball. So all these players complaining about not being able to throw with them - it's because their form is off.


Hope you're not talking about me, because i didn't even complain, i just said it's a bad idea.

[ex-lax]

how come it would take better form to throw a tennis ball than just throwing a lax ball

[creaseattack]

how come it would take better form to throw a tennis ball than just throwing a lax ball
because of the weight it is not channeled into the middle of the pocket like it would be with a lacrosse ball because of the weight not pushing down in the center so you have to have perfect form to get it going where you want it to accurately.

[ex-lax]

so now that the season is over should i practice with tennis balls

[smooth87]

when we were stuck in the gym during crappy days, my coach would get tennis balls and a needle filled with water and put the water into the ball.. and since the hole isnt big from the needle the water wont come back out

[fallingupstairs]

but if you hit something wouldnt it squrt out a little

[goalieskcickay]

It would be fun to play dodgeball outside with water-filled tennisballs on a hot day. :crazy:

[When It Cuts]

It would be fun to play dodgeball outside with water-filled tennisballs on a hot day. :crazy:
No...it would just hurt :agree:

[laxmid20]

I used a tennis ball stuffed with pennies to help break in a mesh pocket. I works really well for hard mesh, but don't try it if you have a traditional pocket thats already broken in. If you do that, it will just **** up your pocket completely.

[CoachK]

We always keep a few tennis balls around. It does take better form, and more importantly, good feel and timing to throw a tennis ball. We don't use it as an everyday training tool, but if someone is having trouble throwing, or has started to lose form. 10-15 throws never hurts.

Pennies in the tennis ball is great for breaking in some meshes, but even better to develop wrist strength in cradling, faking, throwing. I never tossed the penny filled ball, but did takes lots of fakes, underhand cradles, and stick tricks. Worked wonders.

[MendelBomb14]

i would shoot with it b/c , i heard so feel free to correct me, the ridges effect the spin of the ball causing it to not go where u want it to when thrown very fast

[dj_kno1]

Actually, way back when (in high school), I learned how to cradle and throw using tennis balls. Much harder than a heavy ball, and takes more actual 'cradling' to hold it still while running, etc. Also teaches you to 'give' when catching, so that you don't smack at the ball when you catch.

I guess the point is it teaches finesse. My 5-yo can cradle better than some of the guys i've played with because of this (he's got a wicked hook shot too!)

[Lacrossepballer]

Me and my friends tryed the tennis ball filled with pennies and it made for an intresting day. It did take some practice to get it to go out of the pocket correctly. All I can say is don't play a game with it. We were just fooling around 2 on 2, no pads. I got nailed in the knee with it and i have a huge bruise. (But atleast he didn't score :clap:)

[xSURFERx]

i shoot with a tennis ball somtimes....it is harder, but good practise....also i notice i drop the ball more when like just running and cradeling, that might b because i suck tho.

pennies in the tennis ball would help with shot speed and stregth in the muscels u use to shoot. playing with a normal tennis ball will help with ur form

[EaglesLax22]

i tried the ball full of pennies it is real heavy and a lot harder to shot with.

[LaX303]

unfortuantly when i practice at home tennis balls are the only thing i can use. Where I live the houses are ridiculously close together and two kids in my neighborhood have already broken their neighbors windows. I have yet to break a window but i've had some close calls with lax balls. I try to stick to tennis balls.

[middie 101]

lax303 im in the same situation so i use tennis balls and im glad to hear it helps form because i always heard they stink and just use a regular lacrosse ball

[creeklax]

me and my lil brother use tennis balls too. no pennies just straight up tennis balls and it helps a whole lot.It's a whole lot harder to throw a tennis ball hard and accurate. If you want some real motivation stand 20 feet apart firing them at each other, each only allowed to move their stick. painful and lethaly effective. when ur trying to hit ur lil brother in the nads it's a lot more motivating to get a better shot.( for the record my lil brother is only like a year and half younger then me so it's not child abuse or anything :thumbsup: )

[kingdawgell]

thats real cute...hahahaha

for everyone who has a really pinched head... i have an e3... get a brand new tennis ball so its really bouncy and do wall ball for like twenty minutes.. its super hard to catch cuz if it hits the sidewall it bounces straight out. then throw with a regular lacrosse ball and i guarantee youll drop half as many passes that would normally hit the sidewalls and bounce out

[When It Cuts]

thats weird, for some reason when I got my E3 my catching improved alot.

[laxpro]

It would be fun to play dodgeball outside with water-filled tennisballs on a hot day. :crazy:
we played that with normal tennis balls and a kid still had his helmet and it got stuck in his face mask. very funny