Question: Ryan from Virginia writes: Hey I play for a high school in northern Va and I am planning on restringing my eclipse and was wondering what mesh you think is best. I have 12d on now but it broke on the sidewall in my last game. I was thinking about trying hard mesh this time. I've heard putting lotion on hard mesh to soften it and get a large pocket works but i dont want to mess up the mesh, any ideas?
Answer: Hey Ryan. Sorry about UVA this weekend. I used to go to Dom Starsia's camp when he was at Brown so I'm a bit of a closet UVA fan now.
I'd stay with that 12D. You will have much better luck with the hard mesh. No need to soften it with any lotion. Just let it break in and you'll be all set. You'll like the mesh better once it breaks in without the lotion than with the lotion.
As for the sidewall. You probably won't have it wear again with the hard mesh like it did with the soft. You can string it right down the side with one lace OR a more advanced string job goes like this...cut a piece of sidewall lace that is three times the length of the sidewall. Then, take the sidewall lace and weave it up the side of the mesh starting at the bottom and then going all the way to the top. At the top of the mesh bring it over and tie it off on the plastic. Now you should have about a half to two/thirds of the sidewall lace left. String that lace between the plastic and the sidewall lace that you have woven through the mesh. Make sure you are looping it around the lace and NOT the mesh. This will give you an extra bit of give in the pocket and you won't ever bust out the mesh again. In twenty years of playing goal I've never blown out a mesh with this type of string job. It also gives you the ability to get more depth in the pocket but I doubt you'll need it with the 12D hard mesh.
Good luck with that and let me know how it goes. Make sure you check out my goalie blog and sign up for the newsletter. My email is on the front page of the blog.
All the best Ryan. Hey, what school do you play at?
Jonathan-
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
My Thoughts on the 2008 NCAA Lacrosse Championships
Well, it's over. Syracuse. Again.
Growing up it was Syracuse and Hopkins. It gets boring to watch after a while but they are still fun games and I always learn a lot by watching. Here's what I took away from this year.
1) High Percentage vs. Low Percentage Shots: I saw Duke take a lot of low percentage shots that Gvozden from Hopkins ate up. And then I watched Syracuse take a lot of high percentage shots that eventually went it. It comes down to this...your defense needs to usher the shooter out of high percentage areas so that the goalie has a chance to make the save. When I watched Leveille setting up in overtime I knew, if he hit the cage, that the game was over. As soon as he got position in the slot at around 8-10 yards I just knew that the second he got a shot off that it was going in. Bud Petit had no chance on that ball. It was perfectly placed off-stick low. At that distance poor Bud needed his feet to grow fast to make that save.
2) The best shooters, if given time and room, will pick their spots. Great shooters know where the goalie's weaknesses are. Off-stick hip, off stick high, off stick low. I watched Paul Rabil (I think) pretty much beat the entire Syracuse defense and then rip it into the top corner. In traffic! But I saw a lot of goals this year that were just awesome. We're talking inside the pipe. Off-stick. Great placement. The goalie has little chance of making those saves.
3) I didn't see one goalie with an overly long stick. They all pretty much were running in the 50-55 inch range. Nothing crazy long which is cool. I've believed in short sticks for goalies since high school.
4) Goalies need to work on their one on one defense: I saw Trevor Tierney get schooled at the Worlds when he went out to double the ball. I think it was Loftus from Duke who also did a poor job. Goalies need to work on their one on one defending. It's as easy as jumping into the defensive drills when you're a back up. I think if most of the goalies had worked a bit in practice instead of having a water break they would have had a chance to take the body and get those balls back for their teams. Goaltending is not just about stopping the ball. There are game scenarios where you need to get out there and play some defense. Be ready for that opportunity and take the body.
5) Nice to see both goalies in the finals wearing the sweats. Not sure if they are hiding any protective gear like football pads but they both know that a ball stings less when you're covered. And it was HOT in Foxboro. Gvozden even had long sleeves. So much for trying to look cool. Both those goalies are kind of skinny and the pants give the goalie some extra "meat" in the legs. If a shooter looks and sees two scrawny ankles guess where he's shooting? If he sees some beefy legs he'll think again.
That's it for now. I'm going to try and watch the game over the next day or so and write some more after that. Let me know what you thought of the games. Wish I could see the girls game to. Congrats to my old school-mate Kelly Amonte who coached her way to her fourth National Title in a row!
Nice job Kelly.
Jonathan -
Growing up it was Syracuse and Hopkins. It gets boring to watch after a while but they are still fun games and I always learn a lot by watching. Here's what I took away from this year.
1) High Percentage vs. Low Percentage Shots: I saw Duke take a lot of low percentage shots that Gvozden from Hopkins ate up. And then I watched Syracuse take a lot of high percentage shots that eventually went it. It comes down to this...your defense needs to usher the shooter out of high percentage areas so that the goalie has a chance to make the save. When I watched Leveille setting up in overtime I knew, if he hit the cage, that the game was over. As soon as he got position in the slot at around 8-10 yards I just knew that the second he got a shot off that it was going in. Bud Petit had no chance on that ball. It was perfectly placed off-stick low. At that distance poor Bud needed his feet to grow fast to make that save.
2) The best shooters, if given time and room, will pick their spots. Great shooters know where the goalie's weaknesses are. Off-stick hip, off stick high, off stick low. I watched Paul Rabil (I think) pretty much beat the entire Syracuse defense and then rip it into the top corner. In traffic! But I saw a lot of goals this year that were just awesome. We're talking inside the pipe. Off-stick. Great placement. The goalie has little chance of making those saves.
3) I didn't see one goalie with an overly long stick. They all pretty much were running in the 50-55 inch range. Nothing crazy long which is cool. I've believed in short sticks for goalies since high school.
4) Goalies need to work on their one on one defense: I saw Trevor Tierney get schooled at the Worlds when he went out to double the ball. I think it was Loftus from Duke who also did a poor job. Goalies need to work on their one on one defending. It's as easy as jumping into the defensive drills when you're a back up. I think if most of the goalies had worked a bit in practice instead of having a water break they would have had a chance to take the body and get those balls back for their teams. Goaltending is not just about stopping the ball. There are game scenarios where you need to get out there and play some defense. Be ready for that opportunity and take the body.
5) Nice to see both goalies in the finals wearing the sweats. Not sure if they are hiding any protective gear like football pads but they both know that a ball stings less when you're covered. And it was HOT in Foxboro. Gvozden even had long sleeves. So much for trying to look cool. Both those goalies are kind of skinny and the pants give the goalie some extra "meat" in the legs. If a shooter looks and sees two scrawny ankles guess where he's shooting? If he sees some beefy legs he'll think again.
That's it for now. I'm going to try and watch the game over the next day or so and write some more after that. Let me know what you thought of the games. Wish I could see the girls game to. Congrats to my old school-mate Kelly Amonte who coached her way to her fourth National Title in a row!
Nice job Kelly.
Jonathan -
Saturday, May 24, 2008
ESPN's Top 10 Goals of the Year. Alex Hewit!
Check out these Top 10 Goals of the year. Alex Hewit from Princeton is on there at number 6 I believe.
http://broadband.espn.go.com/ivp/splash2?ceid=3406586
Just watching the Virginia Syracuse game right now. Awesome. Will post my critique of the goals later.
Jonathan -
http://broadband.espn.go.com/ivp/splash2?ceid=3406586
Just watching the Virginia Syracuse game right now. Awesome. Will post my critique of the goals later.
Jonathan -
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Cool Article on Virginia Lacrosse Goalie Bud Petit
Cool article on starting goalie Bud Petit of Virginia at this years final four. He gets a lot of crap about being 24 and finally in his fifth year of college. Personally I don't mind at all and wish more athletes took advantage of the NCAA rules for eligibility. I would have been a 23 year old freshman at Notre Dame after having pursued my Olympic career. Go Bud!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Mom Wants To Know What Lacrosse Stick To Buy For Her New Goalie?
New Lax Mom Writes: Hi, My son is just completing his first season in lacrosse and is in love. He is a goalie and has borrowed his coach's stick this season ( we wanted to make sure he really liked the position before buying another set of lacrosse equipment) and I was hoping to get your suggestions on a shaft and head. I was hoping to spend $150 total since we're also getting him a goal and sending him to lacrosse camp at F&M in Pa. He is tall for his age, about 100 lbs and athletically inclined( he is captain of both his football and lacrosse teams)What should I get him without going overboard but not doing him a disservice? He really wants a custom stringing job in his teams black and red colors which I found at sportsunlimited.Thanks for the help,
A new LAX mom
Answer: Hey there Pam! Welcome to the wonderful world of the goaltending parent. In lacrosse however, the goaltending position is actually cheaper than playing anywhere else ultimately.
My suggestion on the stick is to get an Excalibur head by STX and then go with a very light shaft. I would wait on the goal for this year and buy him a titanium shaft if that is in the budget. It is one of those things where if you spend the money on the titanium now you will never need to buy him another shaft. I STILL have a shaft from high school that I still use. (I'm 36) That's eighteen years of playing with the same shaft. Anything less than titanium and you risk having it break, bend, or crack. Just my thoughts. That would be the ULTIMATE in a stick for your son but then you should never have him asking, "But mooooom (whiny voice) can I puhleeze get (another stick) this year???"
The thing about goalie sticks in general is that they don't change much. Not nearly as much as an attack stick. So if you invest in this stick now you will have to invest less later. The only thing I will warn you about in advance is that he should have two sticks eventually that are identical. That way if he breaks a head or a string in a game he has a back up that is ready to go. I almost feel you would be doing him a disservice with anything else. If you don't want to do the titanium you can buy him a good, inexpensive alloy shaft that will be light but not nearly as durable. The good thing about goalie sticks is that they don't take the abuse as often as other players sticks but if he does get caught out of the cage and gets stick checked then he's fair game for a breakage. I'm trying to save you money in the long run.
So if it's the goal or a cheaper shaft versus a better shaft now and a goal let's say next year then I'd go with the shaft. I would also save on the custom string job and go all white. He'll be bummed but if you have him look at the majority of the best goalies in the country they all have white sticks with white mesh and lacings. I had a custom string job back in high school for about a week untill I broke a lace. Guess what went in the stick? A white lace. Yeah, that looked REALLY cool with my black and orange string job that I spent extra money on. I looked like welfare goalie with the funky string job. If he wants to be a great goalie it starts right now and it starts with a very professional stick. Go all white with the Excalibur head, white hard mesh (10-12diamond) and a titanium shaft. You can do no better now it's up to him to play like a champ. He doesn't need the goal anyway, he's not shooting.
I know what it's like buying equipment for your kids. Will he like it? Will he stick with it? Sounds like your guy is fine and will stick with it. But don't be surprised if your $150 budget is a little low. In the long run you will save a ton of money by spending a little bit more now.
Oh wait. I just read that your son is 11. Skip the titanium for now because he is surely going to grow. Go with an inexpensive alloy that is light. You will be replacing that as he gets taller. Please, please, please don't make the mistake of giving him a long shaft that he can "grow into." That would be a major disservice. You want him to always have a shaft that fits his body. Not seeing him I would recommend a 30-35" shaft on that excalibur head. If he shaft is too long it will affect his play tremendously for the worse. If it's the right length it will help with his throwing mechanics and his movement when making saves.
Hope that helps Pam. Let me know if you need any clarification. My email address is on my blog so please keep me up to date on how your son does. Great job on sending him to a camp. That is one of the best things you can do for him. The more coaching he has at a young age the better he will be. You can always pass my email on to him if he has any question. He can email me directly.
Talk to you soon Pam. And remember, "Goals go in. And if his team was good enough they wouldn't need a goalie." Just some words I like to pass on to the parents.
Best of luck and stay in touch.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
A new LAX mom
Answer: Hey there Pam! Welcome to the wonderful world of the goaltending parent. In lacrosse however, the goaltending position is actually cheaper than playing anywhere else ultimately.
My suggestion on the stick is to get an Excalibur head by STX and then go with a very light shaft. I would wait on the goal for this year and buy him a titanium shaft if that is in the budget. It is one of those things where if you spend the money on the titanium now you will never need to buy him another shaft. I STILL have a shaft from high school that I still use. (I'm 36) That's eighteen years of playing with the same shaft. Anything less than titanium and you risk having it break, bend, or crack. Just my thoughts. That would be the ULTIMATE in a stick for your son but then you should never have him asking, "But mooooom (whiny voice) can I puhleeze get (another stick) this year???"
The thing about goalie sticks in general is that they don't change much. Not nearly as much as an attack stick. So if you invest in this stick now you will have to invest less later. The only thing I will warn you about in advance is that he should have two sticks eventually that are identical. That way if he breaks a head or a string in a game he has a back up that is ready to go. I almost feel you would be doing him a disservice with anything else. If you don't want to do the titanium you can buy him a good, inexpensive alloy shaft that will be light but not nearly as durable. The good thing about goalie sticks is that they don't take the abuse as often as other players sticks but if he does get caught out of the cage and gets stick checked then he's fair game for a breakage. I'm trying to save you money in the long run.
So if it's the goal or a cheaper shaft versus a better shaft now and a goal let's say next year then I'd go with the shaft. I would also save on the custom string job and go all white. He'll be bummed but if you have him look at the majority of the best goalies in the country they all have white sticks with white mesh and lacings. I had a custom string job back in high school for about a week untill I broke a lace. Guess what went in the stick? A white lace. Yeah, that looked REALLY cool with my black and orange string job that I spent extra money on. I looked like welfare goalie with the funky string job. If he wants to be a great goalie it starts right now and it starts with a very professional stick. Go all white with the Excalibur head, white hard mesh (10-12diamond) and a titanium shaft. You can do no better now it's up to him to play like a champ. He doesn't need the goal anyway, he's not shooting.
I know what it's like buying equipment for your kids. Will he like it? Will he stick with it? Sounds like your guy is fine and will stick with it. But don't be surprised if your $150 budget is a little low. In the long run you will save a ton of money by spending a little bit more now.
Oh wait. I just read that your son is 11. Skip the titanium for now because he is surely going to grow. Go with an inexpensive alloy that is light. You will be replacing that as he gets taller. Please, please, please don't make the mistake of giving him a long shaft that he can "grow into." That would be a major disservice. You want him to always have a shaft that fits his body. Not seeing him I would recommend a 30-35" shaft on that excalibur head. If he shaft is too long it will affect his play tremendously for the worse. If it's the right length it will help with his throwing mechanics and his movement when making saves.
Hope that helps Pam. Let me know if you need any clarification. My email address is on my blog so please keep me up to date on how your son does. Great job on sending him to a camp. That is one of the best things you can do for him. The more coaching he has at a young age the better he will be. You can always pass my email on to him if he has any question. He can email me directly.
Talk to you soon Pam. And remember, "Goals go in. And if his team was good enough they wouldn't need a goalie." Just some words I like to pass on to the parents.
Best of luck and stay in touch.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Goalie Gets Smoked for 10 Goals. By One Girl! Goalie Is Now In A Funk. Help!
Question: Jonathan,
Since you’ve been a good source of knowledge so far, I’d thought I’d send along another message.
Ok so here’s a quick update:
The short of it is, she’s played a few ok games, and then today (or should I say yesterday since the game was Wednesday) she got shell shocked. Tomorrow or I should today (since the game is Thursday), we have an easy game against a weak team. Yes I can confidently say that. My goalie will let in a few goals in this coming game, but I’m more worried about her confidence. We let one player score 10 goals on us, 6 of which were in the last 2:17 in our game on Wednesday. In addition, the shots were well placed in the near post upper corner.
My goalie complains that she is having trouble seeing the ball. We’ve worked on having her face a wall and I shoot over the top of her and she makes the save. However, right now I think its mostly a confidence issue. She’s a good goalie when she’s on, but when she’s off, she’s definitely way off. I guess I’m writing to see if you have any suggestions on getting her confidence level back up before tomorrow’s game. She’s a hard work, a good kid, and man can she play ball, but she’s definitely struggling right now, and I don’t have answers for her. I’ve never been in the situation she’s in. We’re headed into post season play next week and I need to get her back on her A-game. She’s getting better about “lighting up the shooter” so thanks for that tip it’s really helped! Also she’s doing a much better job of trying to get her body to the space to save the ball. She wants to perform well all the time, she understands she’ll have her bad games, but she’s still in a funk.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
(Name held to protect the innocent)
Answer: Thanks for writing again. I always love to hear how things are going so I don't mind it at all.
First thing...what the heck is your team doing letting one girl score ten times? That's a coaching error. If this girl is running uncontested down the field and scoring once every 15 seconds that's a defense problem primarily. It has very little to do with the capability of your goalie.
From a confidence perspective you need to tell your goalie that the team let her down. Map out on a sheet of paper where all those goals came from. If they are coming from high percentage areas your goalie is only expected to save ones from a range that she is capable. If that's ten yards then anything inside ten yards is unreasonable for her to save at this point. I would always tell my teams, "Listen, this is a team sport. We have defenders and we have goalies. The defenders job is to give up shots from low percentage areas so that our goalie can save the ball."
Notice that I didn't say that a defenders job is to not give up any shots. That's impossible. What is possible is for the defense to usher the offensive player to a spot on the field where his or her shot is harmless. Or, the shot is from an angle that has a low percentage of going in. Too many times we expect the goalie to save everything from everywhere, and for the defense not to give up shots. That's an unrealistic expectation. What we need to be able to find is that range where your goalies save percentage is really high and get the shots from there.
If your goalie is "on" and then "off" that is a confidence issue. You are correct about that. You need to have her do the following: This is the most important thing that anyone can ever do in anything let a lone being a lacrosse goalie. Here it is: When she gets scored on I want you to have her forget about the goal that just went in and have her focus on the same shot in her mind. But this time she needs to see herself saving the ball. What we are doing is replacing a negative with a positive. We are wiping out the negative image that will ruin confidence and have her focus on seeing herself saving the same shot.
I used to do this, and I still do. It was taught to me while I was training for the Olympics in a completely different sport. The goal of the drill is to not let the mind focus on the negative. Right now she is basically reliving that bad goal over and over as the ref picks the ball out of the cage and walks it to midfield. Here's how it should work:
After ANY goal have your goalie say in her mind or out loud, "Reset" Just like the reset button on the back of a modem. She can use other words like, "Cancel" or "Power". Something that signals her brain to wipe out what she just saw and to replace it. Now she's going to visualize the same shot and she's going to move to it just as she would have but this time she saves it. It is THE most powerful thing she can do right now. Your job as the coach is to watch her immediately after the goal to see what she does. If she drops her stick and sulks a bit you need to get her attention and have her do the drill. Pretty soon, she will immediately go into the reset drill after the ball goes in. I got to the point where I didn't even bother picking the ball out of the cage. I had better things to work on. No where in any of my articles will you see me talk about the goalies technique for fishing the ball out of the cage! That's a worthless drill in my mind.
Ok, your over the shoulder drill is a fun drill but it's not going to solve her vision issue. You need to ask her a couple of question: Can she see your shots when you warm her up? Does she lose site of the ball among other players? Is it dodging and cradling where she loses it?
I'm going to guess it's the last one. If that's the case get another coach, or a back up goalie involved in the warm up. You want to shoot around that player similar to the shots she's seeing in games. Warm her up first, then do a bunch of those shots at the end of the warm up. You really need her to articulate what she means when she says she can't see the ball. Once you find out why you can work on that in practice.
Lastly, let's just touch on the confidence issue again. Now the guy in me tends to analyze the heck out of this and girls are well...a bit...different shall we say. (Think Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus Different) My thoughts would be to first, get her to realize that this is a team sport and she's not alone. If you can get the D involved by saying things like, "Ladies, we really left our goalie out to dry last week." They need to understand that it's a team thing as well. I'm always amazed at how well some girls really bond as a team. They are an emotional crew and can really stick up for each other if you have a good group.
Secondly, talk to her. Get her to share what she's feeling. If you can get her to articulate it she will just plain feel better about the whole thing. You may not be her confidant but if you can get her to open up you can start to uncover what she needs. She may feel like she's letting you down because you work so much with her every day. She may be bummed about school, or boys, or other things NOT involving lacrosse. She may be having her period. In the end she may not be in a funk about lacrosse at all.
Finally, break it all down to the basics. When in doubt, break it down to the basics. You may be getting to a point where she is becoming a good practice goalie but her game isn't quite there yet. That's ok, that's just a phase to work through. Tell her that too. "Hey, you're doing great on these drills! It's all going to start coming together in one of these games. Just be patient." If you've ever golfed there is a saying that you need to be able to take your swing on the range out to the actual course. There are a lot of great ball strikers on the range. But when you get out onto the course it's a different deal.
By the way...if that girl smoked you guys for 10 goals she must be pretty good, right? As a goalie I always tried to do my best against the best players. If that girl was a stud (studette) tell her so! Reinforce things like,"Hey you're kicking butt against these other girls but this girl was one of the best in the league! You're time will come! It's all about progression. Sure we'd like you to stop all those shots but we don't expect that of you right now. Maybe in a couple of years. As long as you're improving you're going to be better than her someday and probably sooner than you think!"
On my blog there is an article on progression. Read that over and it should give you some more ideas.
Peter thanks for the update. I hope this helps. Keep firing off the questions and I'll be happy to help. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Jonathan-
Since you’ve been a good source of knowledge so far, I’d thought I’d send along another message.
Ok so here’s a quick update:
The short of it is, she’s played a few ok games, and then today (or should I say yesterday since the game was Wednesday) she got shell shocked. Tomorrow or I should today (since the game is Thursday), we have an easy game against a weak team. Yes I can confidently say that. My goalie will let in a few goals in this coming game, but I’m more worried about her confidence. We let one player score 10 goals on us, 6 of which were in the last 2:17 in our game on Wednesday. In addition, the shots were well placed in the near post upper corner.
My goalie complains that she is having trouble seeing the ball. We’ve worked on having her face a wall and I shoot over the top of her and she makes the save. However, right now I think its mostly a confidence issue. She’s a good goalie when she’s on, but when she’s off, she’s definitely way off. I guess I’m writing to see if you have any suggestions on getting her confidence level back up before tomorrow’s game. She’s a hard work, a good kid, and man can she play ball, but she’s definitely struggling right now, and I don’t have answers for her. I’ve never been in the situation she’s in. We’re headed into post season play next week and I need to get her back on her A-game. She’s getting better about “lighting up the shooter” so thanks for that tip it’s really helped! Also she’s doing a much better job of trying to get her body to the space to save the ball. She wants to perform well all the time, she understands she’ll have her bad games, but she’s still in a funk.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
(Name held to protect the innocent)
Answer: Thanks for writing again. I always love to hear how things are going so I don't mind it at all.
First thing...what the heck is your team doing letting one girl score ten times? That's a coaching error. If this girl is running uncontested down the field and scoring once every 15 seconds that's a defense problem primarily. It has very little to do with the capability of your goalie.
From a confidence perspective you need to tell your goalie that the team let her down. Map out on a sheet of paper where all those goals came from. If they are coming from high percentage areas your goalie is only expected to save ones from a range that she is capable. If that's ten yards then anything inside ten yards is unreasonable for her to save at this point. I would always tell my teams, "Listen, this is a team sport. We have defenders and we have goalies. The defenders job is to give up shots from low percentage areas so that our goalie can save the ball."
Notice that I didn't say that a defenders job is to not give up any shots. That's impossible. What is possible is for the defense to usher the offensive player to a spot on the field where his or her shot is harmless. Or, the shot is from an angle that has a low percentage of going in. Too many times we expect the goalie to save everything from everywhere, and for the defense not to give up shots. That's an unrealistic expectation. What we need to be able to find is that range where your goalies save percentage is really high and get the shots from there.
If your goalie is "on" and then "off" that is a confidence issue. You are correct about that. You need to have her do the following: This is the most important thing that anyone can ever do in anything let a lone being a lacrosse goalie. Here it is: When she gets scored on I want you to have her forget about the goal that just went in and have her focus on the same shot in her mind. But this time she needs to see herself saving the ball. What we are doing is replacing a negative with a positive. We are wiping out the negative image that will ruin confidence and have her focus on seeing herself saving the same shot.
I used to do this, and I still do. It was taught to me while I was training for the Olympics in a completely different sport. The goal of the drill is to not let the mind focus on the negative. Right now she is basically reliving that bad goal over and over as the ref picks the ball out of the cage and walks it to midfield. Here's how it should work:
After ANY goal have your goalie say in her mind or out loud, "Reset" Just like the reset button on the back of a modem. She can use other words like, "Cancel" or "Power". Something that signals her brain to wipe out what she just saw and to replace it. Now she's going to visualize the same shot and she's going to move to it just as she would have but this time she saves it. It is THE most powerful thing she can do right now. Your job as the coach is to watch her immediately after the goal to see what she does. If she drops her stick and sulks a bit you need to get her attention and have her do the drill. Pretty soon, she will immediately go into the reset drill after the ball goes in. I got to the point where I didn't even bother picking the ball out of the cage. I had better things to work on. No where in any of my articles will you see me talk about the goalies technique for fishing the ball out of the cage! That's a worthless drill in my mind.
Ok, your over the shoulder drill is a fun drill but it's not going to solve her vision issue. You need to ask her a couple of question: Can she see your shots when you warm her up? Does she lose site of the ball among other players? Is it dodging and cradling where she loses it?
I'm going to guess it's the last one. If that's the case get another coach, or a back up goalie involved in the warm up. You want to shoot around that player similar to the shots she's seeing in games. Warm her up first, then do a bunch of those shots at the end of the warm up. You really need her to articulate what she means when she says she can't see the ball. Once you find out why you can work on that in practice.
Lastly, let's just touch on the confidence issue again. Now the guy in me tends to analyze the heck out of this and girls are well...a bit...different shall we say. (Think Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus Different) My thoughts would be to first, get her to realize that this is a team sport and she's not alone. If you can get the D involved by saying things like, "Ladies, we really left our goalie out to dry last week." They need to understand that it's a team thing as well. I'm always amazed at how well some girls really bond as a team. They are an emotional crew and can really stick up for each other if you have a good group.
Secondly, talk to her. Get her to share what she's feeling. If you can get her to articulate it she will just plain feel better about the whole thing. You may not be her confidant but if you can get her to open up you can start to uncover what she needs. She may feel like she's letting you down because you work so much with her every day. She may be bummed about school, or boys, or other things NOT involving lacrosse. She may be having her period. In the end she may not be in a funk about lacrosse at all.
Finally, break it all down to the basics. When in doubt, break it down to the basics. You may be getting to a point where she is becoming a good practice goalie but her game isn't quite there yet. That's ok, that's just a phase to work through. Tell her that too. "Hey, you're doing great on these drills! It's all going to start coming together in one of these games. Just be patient." If you've ever golfed there is a saying that you need to be able to take your swing on the range out to the actual course. There are a lot of great ball strikers on the range. But when you get out onto the course it's a different deal.
By the way...if that girl smoked you guys for 10 goals she must be pretty good, right? As a goalie I always tried to do my best against the best players. If that girl was a stud (studette) tell her so! Reinforce things like,"Hey you're kicking butt against these other girls but this girl was one of the best in the league! You're time will come! It's all about progression. Sure we'd like you to stop all those shots but we don't expect that of you right now. Maybe in a couple of years. As long as you're improving you're going to be better than her someday and probably sooner than you think!"
On my blog there is an article on progression. Read that over and it should give you some more ideas.
Peter thanks for the update. I hope this helps. Keep firing off the questions and I'll be happy to help. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Jonathan-
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Stick Has Too Much Whip. Where Do I Put The Shooting Strings? How Do I String The Bottom Lace So The Ball Doesn't Fall Out?
Got this question from Alex today. More stick issues. Just a quick thought, I find a lot of goalies want an absolutely monster pocket so that they don't give up big rebounds but they can't throw the ball very far. If you want to have a big pocket you really need to have strong arms and shoulders to get the ball out of it with a good pass. But, as you get better you don't need that big of a pocket because your ability catch balls improves and because of the shallower pocket you can now throw the ball further. With a lot of young goalies I can usually solve a lot of problems just by tightening up the pocket. So keep that in mind prior to making this huge bag in your stick.
Here's Alex's Question: Im in 8th grade and i just started playing goalie. My head has alot of whip and when I go to clear the ball, it goes a few feet then drops. I need to know how and where to place the shooting strings, and how to string the bottom string so the ball won't fall out.
Answer: Hey there Alex. I recommend a couple of things:
1) Make sure the mesh of the stick is strung from sidewall to sidewall tight from the scoop to about a third of the way towards the throat. This is a general guideline but it's usually the first thing that helps. After you do that you'll need to...
2) Have at least three shooting strings. You can get by with two but for a guy your age and your strength level three will do you good. I recommend that the first shooting string be at least a row or two down from the plastic. (This will assume you are using at least a ten or twelve diamond mesh. I don't recommend anything larger than that.) I will use a sidewall lace as my top shooting string and make it very tight. This will set the tone for the top of the head and should make your releases a little bit better.
The next string should be another two rows down from the plastic. And the third row is two rows after that. The goal of the shooting strings is to create a ramp for the ball to come out of. If you have a whip a couple of things are happening. Either the shooting strings are too loose all together, or the mesh is too loose in relation to the lowest shooting string. It needs to be a transition, not a lip. Make sense?
As for the ball falling out it sounds to me like the lace down there is too loose. This is an easy fix but you're going to need more string. You can use a hockey lace if necessary. There should be four holes at the throat of the stick for this string. What I recommend is weaving the string through the mesh twice, once per hole. This is tough to explain via email but I'll try: Looking at the back of the stick, start on your left, bring the string from your left, through the plastic, up through the mesh, and then back out through the second hole in the plastic towards you. Now go back through the plastic through the second hole and back through the mesh and back through the fourth hole.
Now here's the trick. Tie the excess string on your left with the string you've pulled through on the right. You should use a square knot because it is the type of knot that won't pull apart. You can also use a slip knot for easy changing if you need to but that's not necessary if you string it up right. You just need to make sure that none of the holes are too big for the ball to go through and you should be all set.
Hope that helps Alex. Check out my blog if you need any more info. I'll post this answer on there as well so you can refer back to it.
Kick butt.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Here's Alex's Question: Im in 8th grade and i just started playing goalie. My head has alot of whip and when I go to clear the ball, it goes a few feet then drops. I need to know how and where to place the shooting strings, and how to string the bottom string so the ball won't fall out.
Answer: Hey there Alex. I recommend a couple of things:
1) Make sure the mesh of the stick is strung from sidewall to sidewall tight from the scoop to about a third of the way towards the throat. This is a general guideline but it's usually the first thing that helps. After you do that you'll need to...
2) Have at least three shooting strings. You can get by with two but for a guy your age and your strength level three will do you good. I recommend that the first shooting string be at least a row or two down from the plastic. (This will assume you are using at least a ten or twelve diamond mesh. I don't recommend anything larger than that.) I will use a sidewall lace as my top shooting string and make it very tight. This will set the tone for the top of the head and should make your releases a little bit better.
The next string should be another two rows down from the plastic. And the third row is two rows after that. The goal of the shooting strings is to create a ramp for the ball to come out of. If you have a whip a couple of things are happening. Either the shooting strings are too loose all together, or the mesh is too loose in relation to the lowest shooting string. It needs to be a transition, not a lip. Make sense?
As for the ball falling out it sounds to me like the lace down there is too loose. This is an easy fix but you're going to need more string. You can use a hockey lace if necessary. There should be four holes at the throat of the stick for this string. What I recommend is weaving the string through the mesh twice, once per hole. This is tough to explain via email but I'll try: Looking at the back of the stick, start on your left, bring the string from your left, through the plastic, up through the mesh, and then back out through the second hole in the plastic towards you. Now go back through the plastic through the second hole and back through the mesh and back through the fourth hole.
Now here's the trick. Tie the excess string on your left with the string you've pulled through on the right. You should use a square knot because it is the type of knot that won't pull apart. You can also use a slip knot for easy changing if you need to but that's not necessary if you string it up right. You just need to make sure that none of the holes are too big for the ball to go through and you should be all set.
Hope that helps Alex. Check out my blog if you need any more info. I'll post this answer on there as well so you can refer back to it.
Kick butt.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Problems Clearing The Ball for this Lacrosse Goalie. Stick Help
I got a great question the other day from Al. If you're having problems with your clearing this article will help you.
Question: I am a moderately experienced goalie and my recent season has just ended. the entire season i played on jv and felt as if i was a liability because i have serious clearing issues. I can pass well for moderate distance passes but i just cant clear right. Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick or i cant get enough distance. can you help me with my clearing mechanics. I have tried man different styles of clearing but i just cant get the distance i want( my clears only go 35-40 yds) and i think it is holding me back from being a goalie that is reliable enough for varsity play.
Answer: Al it sounds to me like you need a completely different string job in your stick. Or your hands are very inconsistent. Let me explain.
Your comment, "Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick" That describes two polar extremes. One happens when you get the ball stuck on the shooting strings as you go to throw, the other happens when you bring the stick too far back in your windup and it rolls off the lip of the stick completely.
Also,"or i cant get enough distance" this usually happens because the mesh in your stick is too sloppy and the ball gets stuck on the lowest shooting string. As it gets hung up there the ball has nowhere to go and it will only come out late in your follow through which sends the ball low.
Let's address the inconsitency issue first. This can happen because of two things. First, you're hands are inconsistent. During the act of throwing your hands aren't picking up the feedback from where the ball sits in the stick as you come through with your throw. In this case you're just throwing but each time the ball is in a different place in the pocket so it comes out differently. The only way to fix this issue is with tons of practice. Tons of wall ball. If this is indeed your problem I would recommend wall ball drills with tennis balls. The lighter ball is harder to feel in the pocket and it should make your hands more sensitive to where the ball is in the pocket prior to throwing.
The other main issue you may be having is the stick itself. The whole stick may be too long for you, or not long enough. (Confused yet?) But more of an issue than that is the pocket itself. It may just not be strung correctly. Without seeing the stick that is tough to answer. You can email me some photos if you'd like. Here are a couple things that may help right away.
1) Make the pocket shallower. That will help with the whip problem.
2) Use the sidewall laces to bring the mesh tighter to the plastic. But just on the top half of the pocket. Where the shooting strings are I like to have the mesh pulled tight from sidewall to sidewall. Then you can loosen the sidewalls for the bottom half of the pocket but not too much.
3) Your top shooting string should be very tight. The next one a little looser and a third one looser still. The ball needs to transition from the mesh over the shooting strings rather easily. If it's getting hung up either the mesh is too loose, or the shooting strings are too loose, or both.
Also, the ball needs to move a little bit as you go to throw. What I mean by that is when you bring the ball back in your wind up it needs to be sitting in the center of the mesh and not resting up against the first shooting string. If it's resting there you are just going to throw it in the ground. The ball needs a little momentum to travel from the mesh and over that first shooting string.
The only remedy to all of these problems is strength. The stronger you are physically the easier it is to throw with a bad stick.
Al I'm proud of your for even asking this question. Most guys wouldn't critique their own game like this and call themselves a "liability." But kudos to you for identifying a weak spot in your game that will hold you back if you don't fix it.
If you want to email me some photos, or if you have video of yourself just email me. My email is on my blog.
Let me know how it goes and let me know if you want me to clarify any of this. I guess that once you read this you'll be able to figure out that certain things make sense and certain things just aren't happening. Stay in touch.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoalending.blogspot.com
Question: I am a moderately experienced goalie and my recent season has just ended. the entire season i played on jv and felt as if i was a liability because i have serious clearing issues. I can pass well for moderate distance passes but i just cant clear right. Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick or i cant get enough distance. can you help me with my clearing mechanics. I have tried man different styles of clearing but i just cant get the distance i want( my clears only go 35-40 yds) and i think it is holding me back from being a goalie that is reliable enough for varsity play.
Answer: Al it sounds to me like you need a completely different string job in your stick. Or your hands are very inconsistent. Let me explain.
Your comment, "Whenever i try to wind up and launch one i cant it either goes straight up or falls out of my stick" That describes two polar extremes. One happens when you get the ball stuck on the shooting strings as you go to throw, the other happens when you bring the stick too far back in your windup and it rolls off the lip of the stick completely.
Also,"or i cant get enough distance" this usually happens because the mesh in your stick is too sloppy and the ball gets stuck on the lowest shooting string. As it gets hung up there the ball has nowhere to go and it will only come out late in your follow through which sends the ball low.
Let's address the inconsitency issue first. This can happen because of two things. First, you're hands are inconsistent. During the act of throwing your hands aren't picking up the feedback from where the ball sits in the stick as you come through with your throw. In this case you're just throwing but each time the ball is in a different place in the pocket so it comes out differently. The only way to fix this issue is with tons of practice. Tons of wall ball. If this is indeed your problem I would recommend wall ball drills with tennis balls. The lighter ball is harder to feel in the pocket and it should make your hands more sensitive to where the ball is in the pocket prior to throwing.
The other main issue you may be having is the stick itself. The whole stick may be too long for you, or not long enough. (Confused yet?) But more of an issue than that is the pocket itself. It may just not be strung correctly. Without seeing the stick that is tough to answer. You can email me some photos if you'd like. Here are a couple things that may help right away.
1) Make the pocket shallower. That will help with the whip problem.
2) Use the sidewall laces to bring the mesh tighter to the plastic. But just on the top half of the pocket. Where the shooting strings are I like to have the mesh pulled tight from sidewall to sidewall. Then you can loosen the sidewalls for the bottom half of the pocket but not too much.
3) Your top shooting string should be very tight. The next one a little looser and a third one looser still. The ball needs to transition from the mesh over the shooting strings rather easily. If it's getting hung up either the mesh is too loose, or the shooting strings are too loose, or both.
Also, the ball needs to move a little bit as you go to throw. What I mean by that is when you bring the ball back in your wind up it needs to be sitting in the center of the mesh and not resting up against the first shooting string. If it's resting there you are just going to throw it in the ground. The ball needs a little momentum to travel from the mesh and over that first shooting string.
The only remedy to all of these problems is strength. The stronger you are physically the easier it is to throw with a bad stick.
Al I'm proud of your for even asking this question. Most guys wouldn't critique their own game like this and call themselves a "liability." But kudos to you for identifying a weak spot in your game that will hold you back if you don't fix it.
If you want to email me some photos, or if you have video of yourself just email me. My email is on my blog.
Let me know how it goes and let me know if you want me to clarify any of this. I guess that once you read this you'll be able to figure out that certain things make sense and certain things just aren't happening. Stay in touch.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoalending.blogspot.com
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Do You Listen To Podcasts?
Yo goalies and coaches. I'm messing around with some audio podcasts on Mypodcast.com. What I need to know is if you listen to podcasts. Can you shoot me an email at jone94@shaw.ca and let me know if you do? And if so, what topics would you like me to cover. I just did three quick ones covering stance, fear, and progression of shots. They are about ten minutes each and I just whipped them up as a test. So let me know if this is a format you would like and I'll do some more of them.
Cheers.
Jonathan - The Goalie Guru
Cheers.
Jonathan - The Goalie Guru
Correct Stance? Good drills? What's a Good Save Percentage for the Lacrosse Goalie?
Got this question today from Jenna: I just began playing lacrosse this year. I got to (School Witheld) and play on the varsity team as a freshmen. Our team didn't have a goalie and because I play goalie for hockey I decided I'll give it a shot. And I ended up just sticking with it.
My coach keeps telling me to use the vertical stick feet togethet stance. But I tend to use more of a hockey goalie stance. I tend to get beat up high at times, but I am pretty confident with bounce shots, as I tend to do more of a "butterfly" style hockey save. I am about 5'4. What would you suggest for a stance and stick position??
I have read some things that a goalie is supposed to stop the ball with their stick, but also that it really doesn't matter unless you stop the ball.
My teammates tell me that I am one of the best lacrosse goalies that they have had at my school. But I get really frustrated during games and stuff, because I have the mind set of a hockey goalie. We lost our last game 10-4, but I had 39 saves out of 49 shots. I usually have a 70% to 80% save percentage.
What are tips that you can give to a rookie goalie, regarding stance, stick postition, save type, etc??
Do you have any drills that I can work on myself, with a teammate, or even during practice that can help the whole team??
I've read a lot of things from this site and it has all been a great help!!
Keep up the great work with the site.
Jenna
Here's my answer: Hey there Jenna. Thanks for writing. I was a hockey goalie too at one time and I've watched goalies in hockey evolve over the years since I've played. Lacrosse goalies haven't evolved though so hopefully I can share with you some insight that will help.
Ok...as a hockey goalie with a wide butterfly stance you're not going to be making very "pretty" saves. Your coach has an old style stance in mind for you. The answer is to find a happy medium.
When you're in a wide stance you tend not to step to the ball as much as you should. It's just more difficult to do that. So while you're able to drop and get a lot of those low shots you're probably pretty set on your feet and just rotating your stick down to get them.
You're exactly right though...if you're making a save it's a save. You' just don't want to be giving up any rebounds.
I find that when I play my feet get a bit wide and that lowers me in the cage. I'm 5'8" and you're 5'4". But that's if we are standing straight up with our feet together. So for you, you have 8 inches above your head to the cross bar. If you get into a butterfly stance that drops you even lower so there is a lot of net upstairs to cover. To see just how much you need to move your stick to cover the top of the cage do this little exercise:
Stand on the goal line and turn and face the cage. Now get in your stance. Slowly look up without moving your stick. You can even have your coach take a tape measure and measure how far the top of your stick is to the cross bar. Now, without moving your body, reach your stick to the cross bar. Can you reach it? If the answer is no, you now know that no matter what you do a well placed shot is going to beat you. Try to reach to the off-stick high corner with your stick. So reach across your body. You'll have even more net exposed.
Now stand up a little. Move your feet together and see how far your stick is away from the crossbar. Can you make the save if a ball goes that high?
With all that being said, you never want to get too far from your natural stance. As a hockey goalie you have a stance that you work on daily so you're naturally going to want to get back to that stance. What you need to find is a happy medium between the two. What you want to find is your "athletic stance." Head up, chest up, hips bent, hands out, knees bent, ankles bent, ready to move in any direction. Think short stop in baseball. Think defensive ready position in basketball, or the ready position of a defensive linebacker in football. It's a more upright, more ready to move in any direction type stance. Then you add the stick and bring your top hand up towards your ear without bringing the stick closer to your body. Does that make sense?
If you ever watch Mikka Kiprusoff play for the flames he has two stances almost. He has a wide stance when the puck is in close, but when the puck is out at the point he stands up a bit. His feet come together and he gets nice and tall. That is the stance you want to adopt in the lacrosse goal. If you want to clarify any of this just email me. My email is on the front page of my goalie blog.
Your Coach: Whether or not your coach is a goalie doesn't matter. What he is trying to do is get you to look like all of the other lacrose goalies he has ever seen without truly understanding your height, your hockey background etc. He means well but he's probably just confusing you. I do think you need to stand up a little bit. Just from my experience being a hockey goalie and knowing what the tendencies are I think that's a safe bet. If you have some photos of you in the cage just email them to me and I'll give you a quick critique.
Save Percentage Mentality: Oh Jenna, Jenna, Jenna. I hear your pain on the save percentage thing. Please oh please don't get hung up on it though. The great thing about being a goalie is that we have a stat that no other player on the field has and that is the save percentage. At the end of the day when the scoreboard reads 10-4 and the team thinks they are really bad, we can smile and know that we just played our tail off. Stopping 70-80% of your shots is phenomenal. That's fantastic! 60% average. 65% stellar. 70% you're a stud (studette) 75% take off the princess cape. 80% tiara please. 85% fuggedaboutit. Seriously. From a lacrosse perspective you're doing great. Your team shouldn't be giving up that many shots to begin with. So you're homework is to focus on your save percentage and not the score. You're not going to be pulling down 90% and up like in hockey. The net is too big. The ball comes from all angles. It's just not the same. Got it?
Save Type: Ideally you'd like to catch everything but I think that is over rated. I've posted this on a couple of blogs and I'll repeat it hear: In every sport that has a goalie the goalie never reaches across their body to make a save. Sure, in hockey if someone dumps a puck in from the blue line you may reach across with your glove and pick it out of the air. But for some reason, in lacrosse, we think that should happen all the time and I think that is wrong. The game of lacrosse has gotten so fast that it's just impractical to catch everything with the stick. Over the last couple of years I've experimented with punching my bottom hand at the ball like a blocker in hockey on shots to my off stick hip. It makes no sense to me to try to catch the ball with my stick when I have a perfectly good piece of equipment there (glove) to deflect the ball.
Hockey goalie equipment has evolved over the years. First, pads got wider and were constructed to shut down the five hole. So goalies baited players to shoot there and they dropped to cover the ice. The pads do a lot of the work now. When I was taught to play hockey it was a strictly stand up, kick save style. Which seems really silly now. In fact, you would see goalies get "sloppy" and slip into a butterfly. Intuitively we knew better but coaching habits die hard. A hockey goalie is designed to really block, and deflect the puck. We are taught not to give up rebounds so we try to catch a ton whether that's with our glove or in our shirt. In lacrosse the goalie is basically...well...naked. It seems silly to put a goalie in a bigger goal, with a more active shooter and have him wear less equipment don't you think?
For you as a hockey goalie (and for those reading this who aren't) I think a great exercise would be for you to bring a lacrosse net onto the ice. Get in your hockey equipment and have a shooter with a lacrosse stick. Now get in the cage. Would you get in your butterfly stance? Probably not. Would you stand up with your feet together and your stick straight up and down in front of you? Probably not. Somewhere between the two you find a stance that makes sense for you and the cage that you are now in front of.
Drills: The best drill I can give you is more of a concept to use with you and your team. Here it is: When your shooters shoot in practice have them shoot to a specific spot. If they are working on one on ones have them come off their dodge and shoot stick side high. Or far pipe hip. Pick a place and make every one shoot there. They have to work on their accuracy and you can work on your technique. That's the biggest bang for the buck time saver I can give you. You become a better goalie. And they become better shooters. Also, have them shoot from a distance that you are comfortable with in practice. You don't want to be fearful of the ball at any point in practice. I have a couple blog posts on that topic.
So Jenna I hope this helps you. Please let me know if you have any questions. Shoot me an email and let me know what state you're in and keep me posted on your progress.
Kick butt and have fun. If you'd like your coach to get in touch with me you can pass on my email address to them as well.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
My coach keeps telling me to use the vertical stick feet togethet stance. But I tend to use more of a hockey goalie stance. I tend to get beat up high at times, but I am pretty confident with bounce shots, as I tend to do more of a "butterfly" style hockey save. I am about 5'4. What would you suggest for a stance and stick position??
I have read some things that a goalie is supposed to stop the ball with their stick, but also that it really doesn't matter unless you stop the ball.
My teammates tell me that I am one of the best lacrosse goalies that they have had at my school. But I get really frustrated during games and stuff, because I have the mind set of a hockey goalie. We lost our last game 10-4, but I had 39 saves out of 49 shots. I usually have a 70% to 80% save percentage.
What are tips that you can give to a rookie goalie, regarding stance, stick postition, save type, etc??
Do you have any drills that I can work on myself, with a teammate, or even during practice that can help the whole team??
I've read a lot of things from this site and it has all been a great help!!
Keep up the great work with the site.
Jenna
Here's my answer: Hey there Jenna. Thanks for writing. I was a hockey goalie too at one time and I've watched goalies in hockey evolve over the years since I've played. Lacrosse goalies haven't evolved though so hopefully I can share with you some insight that will help.
Ok...as a hockey goalie with a wide butterfly stance you're not going to be making very "pretty" saves. Your coach has an old style stance in mind for you. The answer is to find a happy medium.
When you're in a wide stance you tend not to step to the ball as much as you should. It's just more difficult to do that. So while you're able to drop and get a lot of those low shots you're probably pretty set on your feet and just rotating your stick down to get them.
You're exactly right though...if you're making a save it's a save. You' just don't want to be giving up any rebounds.
I find that when I play my feet get a bit wide and that lowers me in the cage. I'm 5'8" and you're 5'4". But that's if we are standing straight up with our feet together. So for you, you have 8 inches above your head to the cross bar. If you get into a butterfly stance that drops you even lower so there is a lot of net upstairs to cover. To see just how much you need to move your stick to cover the top of the cage do this little exercise:
Stand on the goal line and turn and face the cage. Now get in your stance. Slowly look up without moving your stick. You can even have your coach take a tape measure and measure how far the top of your stick is to the cross bar. Now, without moving your body, reach your stick to the cross bar. Can you reach it? If the answer is no, you now know that no matter what you do a well placed shot is going to beat you. Try to reach to the off-stick high corner with your stick. So reach across your body. You'll have even more net exposed.
Now stand up a little. Move your feet together and see how far your stick is away from the crossbar. Can you make the save if a ball goes that high?
With all that being said, you never want to get too far from your natural stance. As a hockey goalie you have a stance that you work on daily so you're naturally going to want to get back to that stance. What you need to find is a happy medium between the two. What you want to find is your "athletic stance." Head up, chest up, hips bent, hands out, knees bent, ankles bent, ready to move in any direction. Think short stop in baseball. Think defensive ready position in basketball, or the ready position of a defensive linebacker in football. It's a more upright, more ready to move in any direction type stance. Then you add the stick and bring your top hand up towards your ear without bringing the stick closer to your body. Does that make sense?
If you ever watch Mikka Kiprusoff play for the flames he has two stances almost. He has a wide stance when the puck is in close, but when the puck is out at the point he stands up a bit. His feet come together and he gets nice and tall. That is the stance you want to adopt in the lacrosse goal. If you want to clarify any of this just email me. My email is on the front page of my goalie blog.
Your Coach: Whether or not your coach is a goalie doesn't matter. What he is trying to do is get you to look like all of the other lacrose goalies he has ever seen without truly understanding your height, your hockey background etc. He means well but he's probably just confusing you. I do think you need to stand up a little bit. Just from my experience being a hockey goalie and knowing what the tendencies are I think that's a safe bet. If you have some photos of you in the cage just email them to me and I'll give you a quick critique.
Save Percentage Mentality: Oh Jenna, Jenna, Jenna. I hear your pain on the save percentage thing. Please oh please don't get hung up on it though. The great thing about being a goalie is that we have a stat that no other player on the field has and that is the save percentage. At the end of the day when the scoreboard reads 10-4 and the team thinks they are really bad, we can smile and know that we just played our tail off. Stopping 70-80% of your shots is phenomenal. That's fantastic! 60% average. 65% stellar. 70% you're a stud (studette) 75% take off the princess cape. 80% tiara please. 85% fuggedaboutit. Seriously. From a lacrosse perspective you're doing great. Your team shouldn't be giving up that many shots to begin with. So you're homework is to focus on your save percentage and not the score. You're not going to be pulling down 90% and up like in hockey. The net is too big. The ball comes from all angles. It's just not the same. Got it?
Save Type: Ideally you'd like to catch everything but I think that is over rated. I've posted this on a couple of blogs and I'll repeat it hear: In every sport that has a goalie the goalie never reaches across their body to make a save. Sure, in hockey if someone dumps a puck in from the blue line you may reach across with your glove and pick it out of the air. But for some reason, in lacrosse, we think that should happen all the time and I think that is wrong. The game of lacrosse has gotten so fast that it's just impractical to catch everything with the stick. Over the last couple of years I've experimented with punching my bottom hand at the ball like a blocker in hockey on shots to my off stick hip. It makes no sense to me to try to catch the ball with my stick when I have a perfectly good piece of equipment there (glove) to deflect the ball.
Hockey goalie equipment has evolved over the years. First, pads got wider and were constructed to shut down the five hole. So goalies baited players to shoot there and they dropped to cover the ice. The pads do a lot of the work now. When I was taught to play hockey it was a strictly stand up, kick save style. Which seems really silly now. In fact, you would see goalies get "sloppy" and slip into a butterfly. Intuitively we knew better but coaching habits die hard. A hockey goalie is designed to really block, and deflect the puck. We are taught not to give up rebounds so we try to catch a ton whether that's with our glove or in our shirt. In lacrosse the goalie is basically...well...naked. It seems silly to put a goalie in a bigger goal, with a more active shooter and have him wear less equipment don't you think?
For you as a hockey goalie (and for those reading this who aren't) I think a great exercise would be for you to bring a lacrosse net onto the ice. Get in your hockey equipment and have a shooter with a lacrosse stick. Now get in the cage. Would you get in your butterfly stance? Probably not. Would you stand up with your feet together and your stick straight up and down in front of you? Probably not. Somewhere between the two you find a stance that makes sense for you and the cage that you are now in front of.
Drills: The best drill I can give you is more of a concept to use with you and your team. Here it is: When your shooters shoot in practice have them shoot to a specific spot. If they are working on one on ones have them come off their dodge and shoot stick side high. Or far pipe hip. Pick a place and make every one shoot there. They have to work on their accuracy and you can work on your technique. That's the biggest bang for the buck time saver I can give you. You become a better goalie. And they become better shooters. Also, have them shoot from a distance that you are comfortable with in practice. You don't want to be fearful of the ball at any point in practice. I have a couple blog posts on that topic.
So Jenna I hope this helps you. Please let me know if you have any questions. Shoot me an email and let me know what state you're in and keep me posted on your progress.
Kick butt and have fun. If you'd like your coach to get in touch with me you can pass on my email address to them as well.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
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