Question: Josh from Rhode Island asks what equipment he should buy and where can he find it cheap.
Answer: Hey Joshua. You're going to love being a goalie. Especially since you've already played and shot on other goalies. That experience will help you a ton.
As far as tips go, there are a ton of tips that I've written here, but there are also sixty articles on my blog at www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com They will help you a ton.
As far as good-but-cheap equipment I'd recommend looking on Ebay. Kajiji. And Craigslist.com Those are great places to look for used stuff. I would go online to a place like www.Comlax.net and look at the Warrior goalie equipment. Then see if you can get it used somewhere.
To places not to cheap out. Your stick. And your gloves. You want good gloves that will protect your thumbs. I would go with the Superfreaks by Warrior for goalies. As for a stick I like the STX Eclipse with a 10 or 12 diamond hard mesh.
If you start there you will be well on your way. Good luck!
Jonathan -
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
My Other Blog - AthleteSpecific.com
Over the years i've learned a lot of stuff.
From being an athlete. To learning about business. To thinking constantly about being a better lacrosse goalie. To learning about strength and conditioning. Much of it I wish I knew when I was younger.
There is a saying that, "Youth is wasted on the young." It is so true. So I started this blog to share some of the things I've learned over the years.
I call the blog, "Athlete Specific" because education and information needs to be specific to the athlete who it is given to. In this day and age much of the information we receive is painted with a broad stroke. It tries to touch everyone but really, your journey in this life is based on you. And you are a very unique individual.
So I hope you take some time to read these posts. They are more tidbits that i've learned and want to share with you in hopes that they will make your journey through this athletic world just a little bit smoother.
Good luck and please let me know if they've helped you.
Jonathan -
From being an athlete. To learning about business. To thinking constantly about being a better lacrosse goalie. To learning about strength and conditioning. Much of it I wish I knew when I was younger.
There is a saying that, "Youth is wasted on the young." It is so true. So I started this blog to share some of the things I've learned over the years.
I call the blog, "Athlete Specific" because education and information needs to be specific to the athlete who it is given to. In this day and age much of the information we receive is painted with a broad stroke. It tries to touch everyone but really, your journey in this life is based on you. And you are a very unique individual.
So I hope you take some time to read these posts. They are more tidbits that i've learned and want to share with you in hopes that they will make your journey through this athletic world just a little bit smoother.
Good luck and please let me know if they've helped you.
Jonathan -
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Lacrosse Goalies Throwing and Making Saves With Both Hands. When? Where?
Warning: The topics discussed in this post may cause you to think a bit. I'm all for talking about new topics and this is one of them. You might not agree with it, but it brings it up for discussion. If you've got a thought on this please comment so we can discuss.
Question: This lacrosse parent writes to tell me that his son is ambidextrous (can play with both hands) and wonders when the best time to switch hands in the cage would be. As you'll see from my response I feel that being able to play with both hands is a huge advantage especially when throwing and clearing. It is also an advantage when used as a surprise tactic when making saves (although this is a VERY advanced tactic) I'd mess around with this in practice before trying it in games.
Answer:
Andy I think that the most advantageous use of the other hand is when it is a surprise. This would happen:
1) When the offensive player is in a tight dodging situation (roll dodge) and shoots on the goalie thinking that the goalie is holding the stick in a certain hand.
2) When the player is mid shot from outside.
I've messed around with both, and while I feel it could be a tactic used by good goalies it needs to be tried in practice first. When I get shot on from the outside I will lower my stance which leaves a lot of net exposed up top. And while the shooter is winding up I will switch hands. The shooter (usually) is aiming off-stick high and is committed to that space while he is winding up. A shooter can't always adjust in mid shot so you tend to get a couple good saves out of this.
You are weighing your goalies ability to make the save to the off stick side versus switching hands and catching it (now) on the stick side. I think the move has merit at certain levels of the game. The goalie still needs to be in a ready position after the switch is made and before the shot is released. It wouldn't be good to be switching hands while the ball is in flight.
It's great your son is ambidextrous. Huge advantage really. Especially when he is throwing and clearing the ball up field. He would use the outside hand while being chased by an attacker. So if he's going up the left side of the field with an attacker on his right he'd be using his left hand no matter where he throws.
Let me know how that works for him or if you need clarification. Where does your son play?
Jonathan -
Question: This lacrosse parent writes to tell me that his son is ambidextrous (can play with both hands) and wonders when the best time to switch hands in the cage would be. As you'll see from my response I feel that being able to play with both hands is a huge advantage especially when throwing and clearing. It is also an advantage when used as a surprise tactic when making saves (although this is a VERY advanced tactic) I'd mess around with this in practice before trying it in games.
Answer:
Andy I think that the most advantageous use of the other hand is when it is a surprise. This would happen:
1) When the offensive player is in a tight dodging situation (roll dodge) and shoots on the goalie thinking that the goalie is holding the stick in a certain hand.
2) When the player is mid shot from outside.
I've messed around with both, and while I feel it could be a tactic used by good goalies it needs to be tried in practice first. When I get shot on from the outside I will lower my stance which leaves a lot of net exposed up top. And while the shooter is winding up I will switch hands. The shooter (usually) is aiming off-stick high and is committed to that space while he is winding up. A shooter can't always adjust in mid shot so you tend to get a couple good saves out of this.
You are weighing your goalies ability to make the save to the off stick side versus switching hands and catching it (now) on the stick side. I think the move has merit at certain levels of the game. The goalie still needs to be in a ready position after the switch is made and before the shot is released. It wouldn't be good to be switching hands while the ball is in flight.
It's great your son is ambidextrous. Huge advantage really. Especially when he is throwing and clearing the ball up field. He would use the outside hand while being chased by an attacker. So if he's going up the left side of the field with an attacker on his right he'd be using his left hand no matter where he throws.
Let me know how that works for him or if you need clarification. Where does your son play?
Jonathan -
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Is It Better To Be A Righty Lacrosse Goalie or a Lefty Lacrosse Goalie?
Question: A mom from New York just wrote me to see if it was a good idea to train her daughter as a lefty goalie versus a righty goalie. Here was my response.
Answer: Hey there Lisa. What a cool question! I love when I get intriguing questions that take some thoughts. You're crafty. Let's just start there.
The majority of goalies are right handed. Which means that the shooters on those teams are used to shooting on right handed goalies. If you throw a lefty in the cage it will catch them off guard and I would say that it IS and advantage to being a lefty goalie.
That being said, at a certain level of play that is no longer really an advantage. When your daughter goes up against really great shooters they will take that into account and will adjust. But for the majority of shooters, being a lefty goalie is an advantage.
Now, you did say that it was her non-dominant hand right now. Does that mean that she is right handed? Is her top hand on the stick her right or her left? Some goalies in hockey will shoot a normal stick with their right hand low on the stick but will catch with their left hand. I did. But some are the other way around.
The issue we are weighing here is the (Is it better being a lefty) versus (Is my goalie really good AS a lefty) as well as (Is it better being a lefty) versus (Is my goalie better as a righty instead of a lefty). These are the things you can keep in mind.
I would try it out. I wouldn't dismiss trying her as a lefty. If she picks up on it and does well then go with it. If it's awkward for her and she isn't really getting it then go righty.
But Lisa, here is the ultimate: If you can train her to be good at BOTH. No that would be awesome. I would sometimes switch hands in practice to screw up our shooters. I was pretty good at mid to high shots but not so good to the off-stick side. It was fun and I made some suprising saves on some guys. I would say the ability to be ambidextrous might just be the next evolution of the lacrosse goalie.
I hope that helps. I have thought about this question before. You're the first person who has asked me directly. I'll post this answer on my blog to see if I get any other comments.
Let me know if you need any more clarification. Good luck to your daughter and please stay in touch. My email is on the front page of my blog.
Sincerely,
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Answer: Hey there Lisa. What a cool question! I love when I get intriguing questions that take some thoughts. You're crafty. Let's just start there.
The majority of goalies are right handed. Which means that the shooters on those teams are used to shooting on right handed goalies. If you throw a lefty in the cage it will catch them off guard and I would say that it IS and advantage to being a lefty goalie.
That being said, at a certain level of play that is no longer really an advantage. When your daughter goes up against really great shooters they will take that into account and will adjust. But for the majority of shooters, being a lefty goalie is an advantage.
Now, you did say that it was her non-dominant hand right now. Does that mean that she is right handed? Is her top hand on the stick her right or her left? Some goalies in hockey will shoot a normal stick with their right hand low on the stick but will catch with their left hand. I did. But some are the other way around.
The issue we are weighing here is the (Is it better being a lefty) versus (Is my goalie really good AS a lefty) as well as (Is it better being a lefty) versus (Is my goalie better as a righty instead of a lefty). These are the things you can keep in mind.
I would try it out. I wouldn't dismiss trying her as a lefty. If she picks up on it and does well then go with it. If it's awkward for her and she isn't really getting it then go righty.
But Lisa, here is the ultimate: If you can train her to be good at BOTH. No that would be awesome. I would sometimes switch hands in practice to screw up our shooters. I was pretty good at mid to high shots but not so good to the off-stick side. It was fun and I made some suprising saves on some guys. I would say the ability to be ambidextrous might just be the next evolution of the lacrosse goalie.
I hope that helps. I have thought about this question before. You're the first person who has asked me directly. I'll post this answer on my blog to see if I get any other comments.
Let me know if you need any more clarification. Good luck to your daughter and please stay in touch. My email is on the front page of my blog.
Sincerely,
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The STX Eclipse vs. the STX Guardian. Which One Should You Choose?
I had a question come to me asking about what I liked better, the STX Eclipse. Or the Guardian. I'm a big fan of the Eclipse over the Guardian. The main reason has to do with those black, rubberized strips on the Guardian. They say it does all this stuff to stop the ball from spinning, etc. But it doesn't. Over time those black strips start to peel away from the stick so they fall off anyway. I would stick to the Eclipse. It has a great shape. It's nice and stiff. And it's pretty bullet proof.
Jonathan
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Jonathan
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Should I Drop To My Knees Like Bud Petit Does?
Question: I have been playing goalie for six months. I am also 5'10 185. I watched Bud Petit play and noticed that he stopped bounce shots of his chest when he went down to his knees. I would like to know when should i go to my knees for bounce shots? Another question is should i start doing this? How much affect will this have on my game?
Answer: Hey there Trey. Great question. I watched the UVA Syracuse game again last night for you. I only got through the first half, and the overtime and I think I see the saves you were talking about. Here are my thoughts.
Going to your knees is usually not done on purpose. There are rare occaisions but they are really advanced and not something I would necessarily teach to a guy with your level of experience. That being said I'll explain to you why Bud went to his his knees: He didn't do it as his primary action to make the save. His dropping to his knees was actually a byproduct of moving explosively to the ball.
In the first quarter Bud made a save on this crazy pick up by the attack man just off the crease. The TV angle wasn't the best but from what I could make of it the attack picked up the ball and got a quick shot off. Bud kept his stick high but dropped low with his body and the player shot it into him. You don't teach that sort of save. It comes with a ton of experience. He kept his stick high to respect any shot that could come hight but because the player was so tight to the crease he dropped down like a hockey goalie to block the ball with his body. With his defense so close he knows that the attack is going to get checked pretty quickly and that any shot would be either a quick stick or almost a hockey shot off the turf.
Another save Bud made in the first quarter resulted in Bud dropping to his knees but it was the result of him firing his hands so hard to the off stick low side that he just lost his balance. The save was made before he went to his knees but it may have looked to you like he dropped to his knees to make that save. He didn't. It was just the result of moving explosively over a long distance that threw his balance off.
Now a save you may have in mind is that save he made in overtime. There was the feed from behind the crease to that attack out front. In this case Bud saved it with his chest because when he turned to the ball he was in perfect position. The shooter did the best he could but ended up hitting Bud in the chest protector. As Bud rotated from behind he turned and realized that since the shooter was so close one of the only places he can go is five hole. So as Bud sees the stick go down he's going to start to drop. (This mental processing happens in an instant too) So on that save he made the save with his chest and then dropped. It wasn't that he was dropping to his knees to make the save.
Does that make sense? It's easy to think that he was dropping on purpose. That's not the case.
Now I will tell you this. I have always taught lacrosse goalies to act more like a short stop in baseball. Or even a catcher. Get your hands out in front of you and get your body in front of the ball. If you play like that you will stop more shots with your body. Instead of picking the ball out of the air with your stick you're going to bend your knees more and "block" shots. A lot of them will hit you in the chest but that comes more from the style of goaltending than anything. A great drill is to get a hold of a righty and a lefty catchers mitt from the baseball team. Now hop in the cage and stop bounce shots. I guarantee you that you will take on a more aggressive athletic stance. And you will throw your body in front of the ball to stop odd bounces. It's a great way to learn. I find that when goalies put a stick in their hand they tend to lose great body position.
Bud Petit did a phenomenal job in that game and he's a great example of a solid goalie.
Now you asked if you should start doing this. The answer is no. Sort of. You wouldn't actuall practice dropping to your knees. But if you focus on snuffing out low shots like a catcher would in baseball you're going to start to assume the right body position. You may end up on your knees as a byroduct but it's not your primary technique to make the save.
One reason we try not to drop to our knees is that it takes a lot of time to get back up. And in that time a bad rebound can go in as a goal. I'm sure you saw how fast some goals were scored on rebounds during the tournament. IF you're on your knees you don't have a chance, that's why we like to stay on our feet. Also, because you are so tall it will take you even longer to get back up than it would for a shorter goalie.
I hope that helps Trey. This is a fantastic question and a really insightful observation on your part. I can really see that you're dissecting the game and the technique of a great goalie. You're going to go far. Good luck and let me know how things go.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Answer: Hey there Trey. Great question. I watched the UVA Syracuse game again last night for you. I only got through the first half, and the overtime and I think I see the saves you were talking about. Here are my thoughts.
Going to your knees is usually not done on purpose. There are rare occaisions but they are really advanced and not something I would necessarily teach to a guy with your level of experience. That being said I'll explain to you why Bud went to his his knees: He didn't do it as his primary action to make the save. His dropping to his knees was actually a byproduct of moving explosively to the ball.
In the first quarter Bud made a save on this crazy pick up by the attack man just off the crease. The TV angle wasn't the best but from what I could make of it the attack picked up the ball and got a quick shot off. Bud kept his stick high but dropped low with his body and the player shot it into him. You don't teach that sort of save. It comes with a ton of experience. He kept his stick high to respect any shot that could come hight but because the player was so tight to the crease he dropped down like a hockey goalie to block the ball with his body. With his defense so close he knows that the attack is going to get checked pretty quickly and that any shot would be either a quick stick or almost a hockey shot off the turf.
Another save Bud made in the first quarter resulted in Bud dropping to his knees but it was the result of him firing his hands so hard to the off stick low side that he just lost his balance. The save was made before he went to his knees but it may have looked to you like he dropped to his knees to make that save. He didn't. It was just the result of moving explosively over a long distance that threw his balance off.
Now a save you may have in mind is that save he made in overtime. There was the feed from behind the crease to that attack out front. In this case Bud saved it with his chest because when he turned to the ball he was in perfect position. The shooter did the best he could but ended up hitting Bud in the chest protector. As Bud rotated from behind he turned and realized that since the shooter was so close one of the only places he can go is five hole. So as Bud sees the stick go down he's going to start to drop. (This mental processing happens in an instant too) So on that save he made the save with his chest and then dropped. It wasn't that he was dropping to his knees to make the save.
Does that make sense? It's easy to think that he was dropping on purpose. That's not the case.
Now I will tell you this. I have always taught lacrosse goalies to act more like a short stop in baseball. Or even a catcher. Get your hands out in front of you and get your body in front of the ball. If you play like that you will stop more shots with your body. Instead of picking the ball out of the air with your stick you're going to bend your knees more and "block" shots. A lot of them will hit you in the chest but that comes more from the style of goaltending than anything. A great drill is to get a hold of a righty and a lefty catchers mitt from the baseball team. Now hop in the cage and stop bounce shots. I guarantee you that you will take on a more aggressive athletic stance. And you will throw your body in front of the ball to stop odd bounces. It's a great way to learn. I find that when goalies put a stick in their hand they tend to lose great body position.
Bud Petit did a phenomenal job in that game and he's a great example of a solid goalie.
Now you asked if you should start doing this. The answer is no. Sort of. You wouldn't actuall practice dropping to your knees. But if you focus on snuffing out low shots like a catcher would in baseball you're going to start to assume the right body position. You may end up on your knees as a byroduct but it's not your primary technique to make the save.
One reason we try not to drop to our knees is that it takes a lot of time to get back up. And in that time a bad rebound can go in as a goal. I'm sure you saw how fast some goals were scored on rebounds during the tournament. IF you're on your knees you don't have a chance, that's why we like to stay on our feet. Also, because you are so tall it will take you even longer to get back up than it would for a shorter goalie.
I hope that helps Trey. This is a fantastic question and a really insightful observation on your part. I can really see that you're dissecting the game and the technique of a great goalie. You're going to go far. Good luck and let me know how things go.
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Monday, June 9, 2008
Review of UVA Goalie Bud Petit in Semi-Final v. Syracuse
These are my thoughts on the first half saves of Bud Petit for UVA in the Semi's this year.
I'm going to start off by saying that it's always easy to critique a goalie after the fact. There are so many things going on in a game. So many distractions. So it's easy to nitpick when really a great save just isn't possible. I always try to give a goalie the benefit of the doubt.
Some early thoughts: In the first half of the game Bud was simply awesome. I think at the end of the first quarter he had five saves. The Syracuse goalie had one. Syracuse just dominated the faceoffs and had a ton of shots. If it weren't for Bud's great play UVA would have been in a hole. A really deep hole. Like a grave sort of hole.
These times are from the first quarter:
12:35 Bud makes a great save with his right knee or his shin. Wasn't pretty but it doesn't have to be. Get something on the ball. Anything so that it doesn't go in. Great save in my opinion.
9:20 Question mark dodge by Leveille ends up in a goal. Upon review it looks to me like Bud needed to take about a quarter step off the near pipe. He was giving the shooter far side but the shooter had too much to shoot at and Bud couldn't get there fast enough. If he had stepped about a quarter step off the pipe he would have improved his angle without giving up a shot to the near side pipe.
8:23 Another goal. This is a tough one. The ball still went to the far side and Bud just couldn't get there in time. When a shot is coming from so close you need to respect that the ball can go anywhere but you need to know where the percentages are. The odds are the shooter is going to go far side because that is what he sees more of. So you have to play the odds and explode far side. Bud just didn't get there in time but the shot is coming from so close that's hard to do.
5:26 TV angle is tough to tell what really happened here. But it looks to me like Bud made a great body save just trying to get something on the ball. Nice job staying with it.
5:14 Beautiful one on one save. Just stayed patient. Didn't over commit to any fakes and followed the shooter. Got his hands and stick to the ball once the shot was taken. Fantastic save.
4:34 Syracuse hits the pipe. This is always a sign to me that the offensive side is a little snake bit. They are trying to be too perfect and they ring one off the pipe. Bud has made some great saves and now Syracuse is trying to sneak them in just inside the pipe and now they are missing. Shots that hit the pipe are not luck for the goalie, they are a sign that the goalie is good enough to scare the shooters into trying to pick corners. Nice job Bud.
:56 Save. Bud gets down to his knees to make this save but he hits his knees AFTER he gets his hands to the ball. Dropping to his knees is result of moving explosively to the ball with his hands. He does not drop to his knees to make the save, it is the after effects of moving so explosively too the ball.
All in all a fantastic Quarter for Bud Petit. He really kept UVA in the game at this point. One hell of a lacrosse goalie.
I'm going to start off by saying that it's always easy to critique a goalie after the fact. There are so many things going on in a game. So many distractions. So it's easy to nitpick when really a great save just isn't possible. I always try to give a goalie the benefit of the doubt.
Some early thoughts: In the first half of the game Bud was simply awesome. I think at the end of the first quarter he had five saves. The Syracuse goalie had one. Syracuse just dominated the faceoffs and had a ton of shots. If it weren't for Bud's great play UVA would have been in a hole. A really deep hole. Like a grave sort of hole.
These times are from the first quarter:
12:35 Bud makes a great save with his right knee or his shin. Wasn't pretty but it doesn't have to be. Get something on the ball. Anything so that it doesn't go in. Great save in my opinion.
9:20 Question mark dodge by Leveille ends up in a goal. Upon review it looks to me like Bud needed to take about a quarter step off the near pipe. He was giving the shooter far side but the shooter had too much to shoot at and Bud couldn't get there fast enough. If he had stepped about a quarter step off the pipe he would have improved his angle without giving up a shot to the near side pipe.
8:23 Another goal. This is a tough one. The ball still went to the far side and Bud just couldn't get there in time. When a shot is coming from so close you need to respect that the ball can go anywhere but you need to know where the percentages are. The odds are the shooter is going to go far side because that is what he sees more of. So you have to play the odds and explode far side. Bud just didn't get there in time but the shot is coming from so close that's hard to do.
5:26 TV angle is tough to tell what really happened here. But it looks to me like Bud made a great body save just trying to get something on the ball. Nice job staying with it.
5:14 Beautiful one on one save. Just stayed patient. Didn't over commit to any fakes and followed the shooter. Got his hands and stick to the ball once the shot was taken. Fantastic save.
4:34 Syracuse hits the pipe. This is always a sign to me that the offensive side is a little snake bit. They are trying to be too perfect and they ring one off the pipe. Bud has made some great saves and now Syracuse is trying to sneak them in just inside the pipe and now they are missing. Shots that hit the pipe are not luck for the goalie, they are a sign that the goalie is good enough to scare the shooters into trying to pick corners. Nice job Bud.
:56 Save. Bud gets down to his knees to make this save but he hits his knees AFTER he gets his hands to the ball. Dropping to his knees is result of moving explosively to the ball with his hands. He does not drop to his knees to make the save, it is the after effects of moving so explosively too the ball.
All in all a fantastic Quarter for Bud Petit. He really kept UVA in the game at this point. One hell of a lacrosse goalie.
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