The Handpass

Key Points

Hold the hurley in the dominant hand with the ball in the non-dominant hand.
Toss the ball from the non-dominant hand to below shoulder height, stepping towards the receiver with the dominant foot.
Swing back and extend the non-dominant arm
Keep eyes on the ball.
Strike through the ball in the direction of the receiver
The point of impact is where the fingers meet the palm of the hand
Follow through to pass the ball at head height of the receiving player.
Hold the hurley up and across the body throughout the pass for protection.

Technical Drills

Drill 1 - Basic - Hand Pass

This is a basic drill to practice the Hand Pass technique.
Divide the players into pairs, one ball per pair.
Partners stand facing each other approximately two hurley lengths apart.
Player A holds the ball in the non-dominant hand.
Player B adopts the ready position.
Each player in turn hand passes the ball to their partner who catches it and hand passes it back.

Drill 2 – Basic –Around the Square

This is a basic drill to practice the Hand Pass technique.
Mark out a square or circle using cones.
Position 1 player at each cone.
Players hand pass the sliotar to one another around the cones.
To increase the difficulty of the drill increase the size of the circle, or challenge the players to see how many times the sliotar can be hand passed around the circle in 1 minute without hitting the ground.
To vary the drill, position a second player at each cone
Divide the players into 2 teams.
One team passes the sliotar in a clockwise direction, while the second team passes the sliotar in an anti-clockwise direction.
The first team to have the sliotar back to the starting player wins.
If the sliotar hits the ground, it must be returned to the starting player to begin again.

Drill 3 Basic - Pressure Pass

This is a basic drill to practice the Hand Pass technique that requires the players to catch and pass in different directions.
Divide the players into groups of 3, with each group in a triangle formation.
Two players act as feeders, with one ball each.
The third player acts as the ‘central’ player.
The ‘central’ player must take and return a pass from each player in turn for a set period of time, for example, 30 seconds.
Reverse the roles to provide each player with an opportunity to be the ‘central’ player.
To increase the difficulty of the drill, the feeder players pass the ball as the ‘central’ player is returning the previous pass.

Drill 4 Intermediate - Run and Pass

This is an intermediate drill to practice the Hand Pass technique.
Divide the players into groups of 3.
Mark out a distance of 4 to 5 meters for each group using cones.
Players line up behind the cones as shown, one ball per group.
The first player in each line runs around the far cone and hand passes to the next player in line on the way back.
The player then returns to the end of the line.
Each player in turn repeats the drill
To increase the difficulty of the drill, see which group complete the greatest number of successful passes in a set time.

Drill 5 Intermediate - Hand Pass

This is an intermediate drill to practice the Hand pass Technique.

Divide the players into groups of 4.

Mark out a distance of approximately 8m using cones.

Players line up 2 facing 2 as shown, one ball per group.

Player A moves forward and hand passes to Player B before continuing to the end of the opposite line.

Player B hand passes to Player C and so on

The receiver moves to the ball each time requiring the passer to time and weight their pass accordingly.

Drill 6 Intermediate - Cross Running Hand Pass

This intermediate drill to practice the Hand Pass technique requires the players to receive and hand pass the ball while running across each other's paths
Divide the players into groups of 4.
Mark out a grid approximately 8m by 8m using cones.
4 players line up at each cone.
The front player in each group runs and hand passes to the front player at the opposite corner before continuing to the end of the opposite line.
Each player in turn receives and passes the ball across the centre of the grid.
To increase the difficulty of the drill, introduce a second ball to each line, where each player passes to the second person on the opposite side.

Developing the Skill

Grid Game 1 - Possession Hand Pass

This is a grid game designed to help players perform the hand pass under pressure.

Divide the group into two teams of 3 to 5 players each.

Mark out a grid approximately 10m by 10m using cones.

Team A begin in possession of the ball

They must retain possession by hand passing the ball to each other.

Team B gain possession by intercepting the ball, if the ball hits the ground or if the ball leaves the grid.

The player in possession may not be tackled.

Each successful catch may be awarded a score, or the team who completes the most passes in succession wins

Fun Game 1 -Hand Pass Captain Ball

This is a modified game designed to improve the players' ability to perform the hand pass in a team situation

Set up a playing area of approximately 30m x 20m.

Mark a goal area at each end using cones.

Divide the group into two teams of 5 players each.

One player from each team acts as the goal receiver.

The aim of the game is to retain possession using the hand pass and score by hand passing the ball to the goal receiver.

After each score, the goal receiver returns the ball to the opposing team.

The players are only allowed to hand pass the ball and solo.

Scoring is by hand passing only.

The hurley must be carried but may not be used to block the ball.