When Golfers Play Lacrosse | IMG Academy Cross-Sport Training

To play hard, you need to work harder. Practice is key to any successful athletic career, as IMG’s Lacrosse Coach Spencer Wright explains. “I tell players all the time: Lebron James and these great basketball players, they’re constantly working on their technique rather than just playing.”

Cross-training can be a powerful tool in strengthening motor skills and form. In this session, Coach Wright instructs a group of IMG golfers on how to toss a lacrosse ball against a wall. While the two sports seem disparate, the techniques in lacrosse can benefit a golf swing.

“How we approach our training is important,” Coach Wright says, “I tell my students to bring headphones, listen to music, and make it an enjoyable process. It’s a meditation.” As they get started, some players discover it’s not as easy as it looks.

“Well it’s very different,” explains IMG student-athlete Rodrigo Barahona, “I thought it was pretty simple, just tossing balls. It’s kind of hard to coordinate the hands.” Just as soon as Rodrigo gets comfortable, he makes a harsh realization. “Since I play golf, we don’t switch hands that much. Switching to the left is almost impossible for me. I can’t catch the ball. It’s really hard.”

After wall tosses, Coach Wright brought them onto the field for a shooting drill. In the same way a driving range allows golfers to work on their swing, this drill focuses on shooting from increasingly longer distances. If they miss, they have to retrieve their ball and try again. 

Watch the video to see how well these student-athletes adapt to a new sport. To sign up for a golf camp or a lacrosse camp, explore our boarding school programs, or to see all of our available youth programs, check out the links below.