Lacrosse Goalie Needs Tips On How To See The Ball Out Of The Shooters Stick Better and How To Reduce Reaction Time

Question: Zach writes: ive been playin goalie for a little over a year but ive never had any coaching at teh postiotion i was a d player. but i was wondering if you had and tips on how to see the ball out of an offensive players stick any better and also any private drills i could do to work on reaction time

Answer: Zach to see the ball out of an offensive stick requires a ton of concentration first of all. You really need to be zoning in on the ball at all times. This takes a ton of practice and you really need to be aware of what you are focusing on. Here are a couple tips.

1) When the ball is in the other end of the field practice focusing on the ball at all times. Watch it go from player to player. Don' take your eyes off it at all. If you catch yourself seeing more than just the ball just try an refocus until you can stay on the ball for a length of time. At first you will notice all sorts of other things and that's ok. Just work on trying to see only the ball moving from stick to stick. When the ball comes in your end of the field this drill will help you a ton.

The first step of making any save is seeing the ball. And you must be extremely aware if you are getting a little lazy and not following it perfectly.

2) Now another thing that you might be having problems with is how the ball is coming out of the players stick. This can be completely different for all players and your ability to read it only comes with practice.

I've been living in Canada for the last seven years and I've played against a lot of great shooters. In my opinion Canadians have some of the best shots on the planet. Many of them have this deceptive little dip in the head of their stick as they follow through on a shot and it is tough to read. There was one guy in particular who I was having trouble with reading his stick. So I asked him, "what the hell are you doing when you shoot like that?" After he explained it to me I had no problems.

It's important to understand what a shooter is doing. But what will help you the most is repetition. Just get the best shooters who give you the most trouble and have them shoot on you. But don't just have them shoot anywhere. Have them shoot to a spot. Make it easy so you can focus on what their stick is doing and you can read the ball. Try to get one different guy on your team to take shots on you daily. Tell him, "Hey, can you give me twenty shots." Have him do those twenty and you'll learn a ton. Ask each one where they like to shoot andwhy. Become an expert in shooting the ball and you will become and expert in stopping the ball. I wish all lacrosse goalies did this but few ever do.

So as far as private drills go for reaction time? Hmmm. Let's talk real quick about what makes up reaction time.

First it's seeing the ball. I gave you some tips above so that should shorten things up a bit aready.

Second, you need to recognize where it's going. Again, that second tip should help there as well.

Third, you need to be able to move to the ball. Once your brain knows where the ball is going it sends a signals to all the muscles in the body responsible for moving there. If those muscles are super slow then you aren't going to move that fast. But if those muscles are conditioned to be quick and explosive you're going to stop more shots. Now talking about training is pretty complex and is too much to talk about here. In a nut shell you need to train explosively. If you have a good strength coach at your school talk to him. If not, go find one who can help you. Goalies need to train explosively. High repetitions will just make you slow. If you need more advice on that just email me at jon94@shaw.ca and I can give you some more resources.

Zach I hope that helps buddy. Make sure you check out my blog and sign up for my goalie newsletter. There are a ton more tips there. And of course please pass this on to any other goalies who would find this info useful.

Good luck. If you need anything else just email me. I'm going to post this answer on my blog as well.

Jonathan Edwards -
www.LacrosseGoaltending.blogspot.com