Tip by Daniel Hart, Pulse Athletics VBC in Yorba Linda, CA.
When coaching athletes on passing I use 3 basic questions to get them to understand what they are doing!
Questions 1: Did the ball hit your "sweet spot"?
The "sweet spot" is when the ball hits both of your arms evenly at the proper place. Most athletes tend to have the ball only hit one arm, hit their thumbs, or the ball hits the arm to high. We encourage the athletes to track the ball to their platform and this will help with having the ball consistently hitting the sweet spot.
If the athlete can say yes to question one but the pass still wasn't good we will ask question 2!
Question 2: Was your sweet spot directed at target BEFORE the ball hit your platform?
Once athletes understand sweet spot then we can start talking about angles. What athletes really need to understand is that the angle in the platform must be presented BEFORE the ball hits the "sweet spot". Most athletes will pass the ball and then create the angle. This is why the ball is not going to its proper location.
If we can say yes to questions 1 & 2 then we can ask question 3 if the pass was not good.
Question 3: Did you add or remove power into the ball to get it to target?
If the ball hit the sweet spot, the angle was directed at target BEFORE the ball hit the platform then the only problem would be power (height and distance). If the athlete had an over pass they need to remove power. If the ball didn't make it all the way to the target they need to add power by creating a small swing.
I can guarantee if a passer has a good pass its because they said yes to all 3 questions!