The Discover Your Game Throttle takes a popular drill for improving shot technique and perfects it. Every coach has yelled at some point to “SHOOT OVERHAND” and coaches like Dave Cottle have been incredibly successful with this shot so there is a definite reason to shoot overhand. But shooting over hand isn’t just about going over hand; you need to get your hands behind your ear, arms away from the body, snap your wrists at the high point of the shot and follow through.
When I was in school and until recently as a coach I have always used 1 goal about 12 yards in front of another and warned players not to hit the first cage as it could break their stick. This encourages weak shooting and assumes everyone is of the right height to make a 6 foot tall goal work to get the arms away from the body. I’ve coached several youth and assisted multiple high school programs and you know I noticed it before that this drill is flawed. Elementary school kids by and large are too short causing them to lob the ball over the top and making the drill feel worthless to them where high school players typically are in the 5’10- 6’3 range so with cleats on they are looking at the top of the cage anyway defeating the purpose of getting your hands high and over the goal and often causing a late snap release on the ball and poor shooting.
In the video I tell Garrett he looks a little cramped and having watched players from Maryland, New York, Florida, Georgia, and Texas on the field this is a common issue across every age group even adults. The issue only gets worse in the off hand and I have seen more than one stick break over a goal when people try to shoot offhanded and just muscle it.
Long intro I know but it was necessary the DYG Throttle does what we have done in swimming for years (my title has a reason I was a D1 level swimmer that decided to play lacrosse in college). By creating a tool that works technique with little to no chance of negative effect. The Throttle has a dual break away system allowing it’s swing are to breakaway forward and down so that if the stick hits the Throttle it will not break. Feel free to run drills on shooting through checks the Throttle can handle it. During the instruction videos Ryan Small (University of Maryland) the owner of the company runs question mark drills shooting through a check with no damage to the system. I decided to test this with my nephew who shoots in the upper 80’s and is looking at colleges, time and again he crushed the swing arm on the Throttle with no damage to either his stick or the Throttle itself. The dual break away system in the Throttle has provided a great system to work on following through on a check without risk of snapping sticks or hurting a player.
The Throttle also allows for quick adjustment for literally any height. The team I coach has players sizing from a very small 6 year old to a pretty tall high school player who is a long pole at 6’6. The Throttles vertical adjustment allows for all heights to be properly adjusted to and used with confidence. I worried with long poles in the upper height range that it may tip over, no need to worry here at all. The Throttle is not a light device and most of this is in the base of the structural support so even at nearly 12 feet in the air making contact the Throttle never budged. The setup for this is even easy as evidenced by two of my players, Aiden and Andrew, who were seeing the Throttle for the first time setting it up with about 15 seconds of instruction and immediately working on technique.
The Throttle does get some getting used to as you want the ball to pass over the flag and the stick to travel just underneath. Figuring out distance and not staring at the flag takes a few tries especially for younger players but as soon as it clicks to look at the goal the players immediately start improving. I ran this drill with about 60 kids here with Blue Skies Lacrosse and the parents and coaches watching went from “what is that” to wow these make a huge difference. My nephew now travels with the Throttle every time he goes to shoot knowing that his shot is improving (he hated the drill at first as he was cramping his left elbow but has since watched video and realized his shot has improved with use) and we use the Throttle at 1 practice a week. The shots on our team have gone from clunky sidearms to powerful overhands. The Throttle working on getting the arms away and free does work on sidearm and underhand shots as well as your shoulders loosen up and you become comfortable generating power away from the body and with the hips which can apply to every style of shooting (we are starting to work on behind the back releases as well for more advanced players).
These devices are not cheap but compared to other sports trainers they are not expensive either. The Throttle does save money in the long run and is an invaluable tool for any player or team. Discover Your Game (DYG) does have programs in place for programs to make some money getting these out to players in their area by purchasing at a discounted rate in order to resell. Ryan does not sound like many new company owners when you talk to him, its a business yes but his primary concern definitely appears to be improving the game and players skills. His team is full of pros who endorse the products and having the chance to watch Team 22 here in Florida coached by a DYG Pro and possibly the greatest lacrosse player ever, Casey Powell, you can see where it has improved his players. These kids at the even the U11 and U13 level were powering shots hard enough to make high school players cheer. Not only did they shoot hard but in any situation they were technically proficient, not just one star player but every player on the team even the long poles had amazing form.
At any level the DYG Throttle is a must for any program looking to improve their players skill to top notch levels. You will never be disappointed in picking up a Throttle and will notice improvement in as little as 15 minutes that can last a lifetime.