For Coaches: Managing Fear in the Goalie, The Day I Stuffed Gary Gait

In high school I went to the Syracuse Lacrosse camp for a summer. MAN was it hot!

But it was a chance to see some of the hottest players in the game on the hottest team. And Gary Gait was going to be there. What could a young goalie want better than being shot on by Gary Gait!

So for the whole camp I waited for my chance. I always had my equipment on just so I could take advantage of a break when Gary was free and I could hop in the cage and he could shoot on me.

Finally my chance came. It was a water break at their turf field. It was a thousand degrees outside and all the other goalies had stripped their gear off to get some water. But there he was. Gary Gait. Shooting with John Zulbertti one of the greatest attackmen in the history of the sport. Here was my chance.

"Gary, you mind taking some shots on me?" I said nervously. I didn't want him to say no.

"Sure man. Hop in. You're pretty warm right?"

"You bet. Open it up if you want." I said. (Opening It Up" means that he doesn't have to do a traditional goalie warm up and shoot to spots. He could shoot anywhere as hard as he wanted.)

So Gary backed away from the cage a bit and I got ready. He tossed some balls out on the field and I anticipated my first shot by Gary Gait.

As Gary grabbed one of the new balls off the turf my mind started to race, "Man, I hope he brings it. I'm finally going to get to see what a real goalie sees in college! This is going to be awesome!"

And then he did it. He wound up. And he wound up big. Huge! And he didn't slow down! As far as I could tell he let it rip at about 90% of his max so this was still a ninety mile an hour ball coming at me and it was coming stick side high. I knew instantly that I had a chance to get it and then...BOOM!

I caught it.

This ball just came at me faster than any ball had before and I just snagged it. It was beautiful. Freakin amazing!

Then I realized he was standing just outside the restraining line.

Any good goalie had to stop that ball. It's a given. But a lot of goalies can't, so I was still pretty pumped.

I had Gary move in a bit. He did but he took a little off the ball so I asked him to move in and keep the pace high. A couple balls later I had him move in again so he was standing about five yards in. Now the balls were starting to blow by me a bit. The pace was just too much and I was starting to worry he might peg me with one.

All in all I got about six minutes worth of shots. About thirty balls or so. It was fantastic. And I learned a lot that I'll pass on to you now.

1) Just like weight training "progression" is the key to learning proper goaltending: You don't try and lift a heavy weight right away, you start small and then work your way up over time. I could stop Gary and his cannon when I had enough time to react to the ball. But when he moved back a bit I had enough time to react to the ball and could snag it.

2) It's no use getting shot on slowly from close distance: Never, ever, in a game does a shooter shoot slowly. Every shot by a player is as hard as they can throw it. And when that happens there is a certain release point by the stick. So it's silly to warm up a goalie with slow shots from in close. It's better to work on shots with some pace to them to certain places.

3) It's vital that the goalie feel confident and safe in the cage: When Gary was shooting on my I knew that he had amazing accuracy so the odds of him hitting my was small unlike my high school teammates. So even though he was winding up almost full speed I felt safe. And when a goalie feels safe he can focus on the ball and his saves. If a goalie starts to have fear in his head that he is going to get hurt then focus on the ball is lost.

By having Gary move in a bit I could find that point where my comfort zone was pressed. When I found that point I had him move back out until I was comfortable and then my saves started coming again.

4) Repeating the same shot after a goal in warm up is important to long-term success: If Gary took a shot and it went in I would have him shoot to that exact same spot so I could make the save. It's important for the brain to be able to reinfoce a positive. So if the ball went in (negative) I would either have him shoot until I saved it (positive) or I would immedieately visualize myself saving the ball (positive)

So here's what I would recommend you do with your goalies in practice to manage fear, increase confidence and increase the odds of them making a save in a game.

1) Give your shooters limits: By placing a stick in the turf, maybe even a spray paint line it tells your shooters you only want them to shoot from "here". This is a way for you to protect your goalie. Your shooters can shoot as hard as they want they just have to shoot from outside that point. This will keep your goalies confidence high.

2) As your goalie's save percentage goes up move the shooting line closer to the cage: Just like weight training you should see that line move closer to the cage as he gets stronger. Don't force him. Let him pick where he wants that line. This way he will internalize how he's doing. Having a bad day? The line goes out. Feeling strong? The line moves in.

3) Have your shooters shoot to spots: This is a great way to improve their accuracy as well. Oftentimes shooters just shoot at some open space in the cage and aren't really learning anything. I took this lesson from Golf when Arnold Palmer said he never made a golf shot where he didn't pick a target. Why? Because if the shot was off target he could make adjustments in his hands. If he didn't know where he was really shooting the ball he would never be able to make those adjustments. Makes a lot of sense.

Tell your shooters to shoot to a spot. This way the goalie knows where it is supposed to go so he can focus on seeing the ball, and then moving properly. Keep the goalie honest and he will learn tons.

4) Remind your shooters NOT to hit the goalie: Now I'm all for being the toughest kid on the field. I was and I think your goalie needs to be tough.

BUT!

It is never a positive experience if your goalie gets his ass kicked in practice b balls that come from bad shots. It's one thing for a goalie to step to a bounce shot and take one in the leg or the chest, it's another thing when a goalie gets pegged in the leg or the chest because the shooter sucks.

Now I've heard stories of goalies yelling at players for hitting them. I think that's stupid. But what it tells me is that the goalie has somehow gotten himself in a mindframe of fear and pain. This doesn't happen overnight. It happens from years and years of neglect in the cage that could be avoided.

Don't get pissed off at your shooters just remind them that they just took a really bad shot. Done.

Ok, so you've got some questions. Here goes?

1) If I shoot the ball from outside how does my goalie get any good on shots in close and in games?

Answer: Great question. First off, what we are working on here is the wiring of the goalie (more on that in another post) We are working on being able to see the ball, recognizing where it's going, then moving to the ball, and making the save. If we rush this process and are in too close the goalie never learns because the recognition of the ball is not there. The shot is on the goalie too quick and that learning process is lost. By moving out you give them a chance to do all those things that need to happen. As your goalie gets faster it takes him less time to do all that so you can then move closer to the cage. This takes months and years.

Also, stopping balls in a game is a lot different than stopping shots in practice. I relate it to being pregnant. It's pain with a purpose. When you add adrenaline to the picture amazing things can happen. I saw it first hand when my wife gave birth to my son at home. No pain killers. She was in the zone man. "Laborland" they call it. And your goalie is no different. In a game the adrenaline kicks in and your goalie will make saves he's never made before just because of that environment.

2)My goalie just needs to get tougher. It's good for him to get hit with the ball:

Answer: Frommy Olympic experience in the sport of luge I learned that this is just not 100% true. Having worked with a number of sports psychologists they would also confirm that this is not solid thinking.

Pain tolerance can be increased by inducing furher pain. But it is a long slow process. Why try and increase pain tolerance when you can put on more equipment and eliminate that instantly. I'd much rather see you focus on the positives in the cage and pain is definitely a negative. If you can give your goalie an environment where they feel safe and can work on their technique I know that you will have a better goalie sooner. If you just peg him with balls all day you are going to raise his fear levels, decrease his confidence, and you may ultimately force him from the position and even the sport.

I'm all for getting tougher, don't get me wrong. But it takes a very special person to hop in front of a ball to begin with. And if you've never been a goalie then you hop in the cage and see how tough you can get yourself.

3) If I tell my shooters where to shoot and they know where the ball is going, how are they going to get better? In games they don't know where the shot is going?

Answer: Great questions. What we are focusing on in practice is proper movement mechanics. The goalie needs to "wire in" proper movement to the ball. It's like dialing in a golf swing. Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. If we load up the goalie with too many balls that are all over the place their technique will suffer. So what we are trying to do is practice are team without ruining our goalie. Move them back. Tell them where to shoot and now your goalie can work on technique by knowing that he doesn't have to focus on all his saves, just a couple.

Let's say you tell the guys to shoot high. All balls high. As a goalie I don't have to think about all of my saves down low. I can now recognize that the balls are either high and left, right and center. It's easier for me to take a step and every time I make a proper step I'm accelerating my learning and making better saves.

In a game I'll see that ball and my body will react and I'll make the save.

I hope this post helps. I know it's a long one but it's full of some great info. Let me know what you think and by all means sign up for our newsletter.

Jonathan - jone94@shaw.ca