Drag flicking with footwork and stick diagrams and biomechanics

Drag flicking stages with
foot work diagrams and
biomechanics
Derek 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 foot
left foot
Drag flick footwork
1. 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 foot
left foot
Drag flick footwork and stick angle
right foot
left 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 foot
left 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 foot
left 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

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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