7 Fun U8 Lacrosse Drills (That Keep Kids Moving)
At the U8 level, the best practice plan is simple: keep lines short, keep reps high, and keep instruction light. You want drills that build fundamentals while still feeling like play. The five drills below are great options for youth coaches because they combine movement, stick skills, and small moments of decision-making without overwhelming new players.
How to Run U8 Drills Successfully
- Coach with simple cues: one or two reminders at a time (ex: “eyes up” or “run through the pass”).
- Keep rotations tight: if a kid is standing still, adjust spacing or add another ball/line.
- Celebrate effort: good footwork, good spacing, good communication. The little wins matter.
- Use short rounds: 2–4 minutes, then rotate. U8 attention spans do better with quick resets.
What You’ll Get From These 5 Drills
This list gives you a balanced mix of games, skillset drills, and game-like spacing. You can run these as a “drill buffet” (pick 3–4) or run all five as stations. If you’re short on time, choose one defensive drill, one shooting drill, and one fun game to finish practice.
Coach Notes
If you want the biggest improvement fast, focus on two things: (1) catching and throwing on the move and (2) defensive footwork with a controlled stick. The drills below hit those priorities while still keeping practices fun.
Zombie Tag - Small Area Stickwork Game
This drill helps players work on their cradling, evading the zombies, and using teamwork to get their teammates back in the game! At U8, the goal is to keep it fun and engaging and a game like this gets everyone involved running around and having fun!
- Coach cue: “Keep the stick protection, run away from pressure (zombies), and groundballs
- What to watch: Kids stay moving, find teammates that need to be unfrozen.
- Simple variation: Make the kids who frozen, turn into the Zombies!
Great for: building confidence in cradling and body control.
3 Team Scoop to Win Relay Game
This drill helps players work on groundballs and supporting teammates! At U8, Its important to make sure the kids start learning the team concept and how we support each other with and without the ball
- Coach cue: “Run THROUGH the Groundballs” to get faster
- What to watch: Slow down when getting the ball or dont scoop 2-handed.
- Simple variation: Create Goals instead of gates and add in a shooting element
Great for: Teamwork, groundballs, and working hard!
Back to Back to Back Groundballs
This drill helps players works on gorundball battles. Kids will learn how to box out and win contested ground balls.
- Coach cue: “Use your body to box out, feet to kick ball to space, run through the ball”
- What to watch: non athletic stance, too tall and not low to the ground
- Simple variation: add in a 4th!
Great for: learning how to win contested groundball battles
Wing Dodges with Guided Defense
This drill helps players learn how to attack space. As early as possible, players should learn how to attack the space that the defense gives them, and finding ways to get hands free for a shot.
- Coach cue: “Take the Space! Am I shading high or low?”
- What to watch: Make sure they keep their feet moving to get their shot off
- Simple variation: Start from any other spot on the field
Great for: learning how to start thinking about dodging at an early age
Chaos Keep Away Game
This drill works on our ball control and cradling. It gets all the kids involved and emphasizes running away from pressure, finding open space, and keeping possession of the ball.
- Coach cue: “Find the open space! Keep the stick cradling close to the body”
- What to watch: Are they running into pressure? or finding the gap/space to run to?
- Make it fun: Do it for 1 minute, team with the most balls wins! do a best out of 5 contest
Best outcome: Stickwork enhances, and players start thinking about keeping their feet moving to space, rather than slowing down
Windup Shooting
An introduction to step down shots. We are going to emphasize the windup as we want young players to start thinking how to get “loaded” in a ready to shoot position. From here, we can add in other elements like fakes, and hitches, but this is a foundational drill
- Coach cue: “Get the stick loaded and ready” “Drive off back foot when we shoot”
- What to watch: Momentum is not moving forward, hands dont release through the shot
- Simple variation: Add in escapes
- More on Shooting: https://lacrossedrive.com/skill/shooting-the-ball-foundational-skillset-series/
Great for: learning how to shoot hard and an intro to our step-down shot!
Tic Tac Toe
A fun break from traditional lacrosse, and playing a game every kid loves! we want teamwork, positive attitudes, and great effort!
- Coach cue: “Find the next best move”
- What to watch: Are the running quickly?
Great for: Keeping it light and fun!