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

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.