Throwing a lacrosse ball is one of the most important fundamentals in the game. Being able to accurately throw a pass or a shot on the goal is one of the first things any player should learn, and something every player should always be looking to improve. 

To throw a lacrosse ball, you want to combine body positioning and technique. First, you want to hold your stick properly. 

• Place your dominant hand in the middle of your stick, and your weak hand on the bottom or butt-end of your stick. Your dominant hand (top-hand) will be the most important aspect of throwing a good pass. The accuracy comes from your top hand, and the power comes from the bottom hand. 

Body positioning to throw a lacrosse ball:

• You want your body to be sideways when throwing a lacrosse ball. Similar to how a pitcher throws a baseball. You DO NOT want your body to be facing the target directly with your shoulders square. 
• Instead, you want one should facing directly at your target with your body sideways, your head turned to the side facing the target, your front foot  pointed towards the target (left foot if you are throwing righty)

Once your body and stick and in the right positing, you can bring the throwing motion. You will want to keep your hands and arms out away from your body. You also want your hands and arms raised up to be about even with your facemasks. 

Next, you will use your hands and arms to move your stick like a catapult. At the same time, you will bring your hands and arms across your body towards the target. Do these two motions simultaneously to increase power and accuracy. 

It is important to think about your stick and how the ball is being released from your head. Ideally, you want the stick to stay perpendicular to the ground, and for it to follow through directly overhead, so that the ball comes out straight out of the top center of the head. This will help with accuracy. 

It is common for people to naturally throw at a ¾ angle or even closer to a sidearm throw, but this is much less accurate. That should be used as you get more advanced. For beginners or people having trouble with accuracy, you want the throw to come all the way over the top. 

To get better at throwing, spend time throwing and catching with a partner or against a wall or backstop. Experiment by throwing with just one hand at a time (primarily your dominant hand.) Try to walk further and further away from your target while throwing hard, crisp passes. (not high looping passes. Instead throw passes on a “frozen rope” as many lacrosse coaches like to say)