How To Stop a One on One
by Jonathan Edwards, www.LacrosseGoaltending.blogspot.com
I had a coach early on in my career give me this great piece of advice. He said, “If anyone on your damned team was good enough they wouldn’t even NEED a goalie!”
If you find yourself up against a one on one, here’s what you should be thinking, “Nine guys on the field screwed up so bad that I’m the only guy left on the field to help out.”
With that being said, you still have a job to do and that is to stop the ball. Here are some things to keep in mind to help make that happen:
1) Believe you can stop the ball. You may hear coaches, parents or other athletes say, “Oh, well, you’re really not supposed to stop those one on ones anyway.” If that was the case, ask them how they’d feel if you just dropped your stick and started to walk out of the cage the next time a one on one came down the field!
They may say that to try and make you feel good but really, you’ve got to believe that you’ve got as great a chance as any to stop that one on one over any other shot you must face in a game.
The greatest goalies in the World all believe that they can stop every shot. It’s in their make up. They are programmed to believe that. So start believing you can stop them too.
2) Practice One On One’s. Many goalies are surprised by one on one’s in games because they don’t practice them in practice. So practice them!
Grab a teammate after practice and work on one on ones. Have your teammate replicate the situations you most see in games. Is it a pass down low to an attackman on the crease? Do you have to move from side to side and then make the save? Do them first in slow motion and know where the shooter is going to shoot. Have the pass go to the attack man (or imagine the pass) and come across with balance and make the save.
3) Move with balance. If you have to move across the crease to make a save it’s important that you do it with balance. Most goalies lunge and step and look like idiots on one on ones. Don’t. Visualize yourself moving into position and having perfect balance on your feet. Move to make the save with balance.
4) Don’t run out at the shooter. Lots of young goalies want to run out and try and deck the shooter with a good check. While this is sometimes recommended often it’s not. So forget running out to deck the guy for now. Here’s why:
When you run out of the cage it is very easy to shoot over you. A simple lob over the goalie and into the cage is an easy score. Usually you don’t get to hit the guy anyway. I understand, if this is the fifth one on one you’ve had in the game you’re pretty frustrated and you just want to hit someone. You'd probably go out there and kick him in the groin if the ref wasn't standing there. That’s not your job. Leave that to your defense and stay in the cage.
In most situations, if you keep your ground and stay balanced and ready for the shot, the shooter will try to take another step and lose his angle. He’s try and do one more fake to try and fake you out. Or he’ll try and make a pass to his open teammate. Any of those things can result in a dropped ball, a shot wide, or a missed pass. So stay home and let that attack man screw things up on his own.
By staying home you let the defense do their job too. As you get better, and the teams you play for get better, you will be playing with better defense. And I want you to create great habits so that when you play at that level you play solid. So you need to remember that in most cases your defense will be sliding to that man on the one on one just trying to lay him out. If you stay in the cage you will make that attack man think for a half second more. Maybe he’ll want to fake you one last time, or pass, or try to get cute with it. And in that half second that you’ve made him wait your defense gets a stick on the ball. Rubs the shooters elbow so the shot goes wide. Or lays that skinny little attack man on his butt. All because you stayed in the cage and played the shot.
5) Keep your feet still while your hands make the save. Here’s a little drill for you…turn and face the cage. (If you don’t have a cage handy go to Home Depot and buy some green painters tape in the paint section and mock up a six by six outline on your bedroom wall. Be sure to take the tape off every couple of days so the paint doesn’t come with it when you take it off.) Ok, so face the cage and get in your stance. This is going to give you an idea of how far you have to move to make a save on a one on one.
Now, your feet can move a little bit. I just don’t want you lunging left and right and getting too far out of position. Now, try and make saves moving your stick to all the spots on the cage. Imagine a shooter has just tried to fake you high to your stick side and is now tucking the ball to your left hip. You’ll have to move your hands to respect that high shot but you need to keep your balance in order to get your hands to your left hip fast enough.
Try this in a number of combinations and you’ll see yourself keeping your balance and making more saves. The more you can get a shooter to try and fake you the more chances you have of him screwing up, and that’s just as good as any save!
6) Know what the shooter is trying to do: Most shooters are taught to fake high, and shoot low. That first high fake is to make you leave your feet. As your momentum goes upward the shooter shoots low because you can’t get there fast enough. Just try to reverse you direction in mid air! So try and keep your feet and move your hands to respect that first fake, but keep your feet so you can explode down low as the shot goes there.
If you can learn what shooters tendencies are you’ll have a better chance of making the save.
6) Bait ‘em: You can always try and give them something to shoot at and then take it away. With less experienced shooters you can try things like looking big in the cage upstairs. Raise your elbows a bit more. Make it look like you are covering a lot of the top of the cage and make them shoot it down low. Now what you are doing, even though you are covering more of the upstairs, is to anticipate that they will go low. When you see the ball releasing low you explode down to try and shut it off. Hockey goalies are the best at this. They give the shooter the five hole between the legs and when the ball goes there they explode down to shut it off.
Baiting can be a bit tough to explain, but the bottom line is that you give the shooter a spot to shoot at, and then you take it away. Try this in practice. Take a half step to your left and give them more on the right side of you to shoot at. Be ready to jump to that right side once the ball is released and shut them down.
7) Visualize: Spend some time every day seeing yourself making those saves one on one. See yourself in a balanced position moving your hands and making the save. You can make incredible improvements just by visualizing yourself being strong in the cage so spend some time, just before you go to bed is best, visualizing yourself playing that one on one perfectly.
This should give you a lot to think about for stopping more one on one’s. Remember, believe that you can stop them all. The best goalies are the one’s who believe they can stop every shot.
Showing posts with label Sports Psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports Psychology. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tom Brady Is My Hero
In the same interview, Brady said, "I think it's a feeling like I've got it all figured out. There's nothing that can shock me anymore. There's nothing I haven't anticipated; so at that point, there is a calmness."
This was a quote taken from an ESPN.com article on Tom Brady, Quarterback of the New England Patriots. As I write this the Patriots are four days from becoming the best team in football history. And Tom Brady is the leader.
The story of Tom Brady is pretty cool. A good athlete through high school he was barely noticed by college coaches. Somehow he landed at one of the top football schools in the country. After college he was drafted almost as an afterthought by the Patriots in the sixth round. That year, seven other quarterbacks were drafted before him. And now he is considered one of the best quarterbacks of all time with four super bowl rings and now an MVP of the league in 2007.
But that quote above pretty much tells you why he's there at this point in his career.
He is prepared.
And he works harder than anyone else to be prepared so that he isn't surprised. Ever.
Parents. Coaches. And goalies all ask me "What can we do so that our goalie has more confidence?"
Help them prepare. Spend the time. Get the shots. Get a variety of shots. Help them feel safe. Give them the tools. Watch game film. Do it all.
And then do it again.
And again.
And again.
Fear only comes from a lack of information. And a lack of information comes from a lack of preparation.
There is no excuse for that. Laziness is an excuse.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?id=3219092&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1
Go check out the article and get inspired.
Goalies read it to see what preparation can do for you. That dot drill is amazing by the way.
Parents read it so that you can help your kids believe that they can, and will, be good. Someday. If they work hard enough.
Coaches read it and learn not to ever give up on a kid. Think past that athletes success on your team if they aren't getting good fast enough. Think about their long term athletic development and help them succeed long term.
Shoot me some comments or emails at jone94@shaw.ca
This was a quote taken from an ESPN.com article on Tom Brady, Quarterback of the New England Patriots. As I write this the Patriots are four days from becoming the best team in football history. And Tom Brady is the leader.
The story of Tom Brady is pretty cool. A good athlete through high school he was barely noticed by college coaches. Somehow he landed at one of the top football schools in the country. After college he was drafted almost as an afterthought by the Patriots in the sixth round. That year, seven other quarterbacks were drafted before him. And now he is considered one of the best quarterbacks of all time with four super bowl rings and now an MVP of the league in 2007.
But that quote above pretty much tells you why he's there at this point in his career.
He is prepared.
And he works harder than anyone else to be prepared so that he isn't surprised. Ever.
Parents. Coaches. And goalies all ask me "What can we do so that our goalie has more confidence?"
Help them prepare. Spend the time. Get the shots. Get a variety of shots. Help them feel safe. Give them the tools. Watch game film. Do it all.
And then do it again.
And again.
And again.
Fear only comes from a lack of information. And a lack of information comes from a lack of preparation.
There is no excuse for that. Laziness is an excuse.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?id=3219092&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1
Go check out the article and get inspired.
Goalies read it to see what preparation can do for you. That dot drill is amazing by the way.
Parents read it so that you can help your kids believe that they can, and will, be good. Someday. If they work hard enough.
Coaches read it and learn not to ever give up on a kid. Think past that athletes success on your team if they aren't getting good fast enough. Think about their long term athletic development and help them succeed long term.
Shoot me some comments or emails at jone94@shaw.ca
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
I Can't Sleep. Can You?
It's four in the morning where I am. My wife and I just had our second baby. A girl named Makena (Because we were married on Makena Beach in Maui, Hawaii) And I can't get to sleep. My mind is just going. What about? Stuff. All sorts of stuff. It reminded me of a couple of goalie specific things that I'd thought I'd write about seeing that I can't get to sleep anyway.
Why You Must Fall Asleep At Night
Goalies tend to be worriers. They worry about letting in a goal. They worry about what their coaches/parents/teammates will think about them. They worry about making a bad pass that leads to a goal. They worry about getting hit in the balls (seriously). They worry about getting shelled. They worry about losing so bad that they will never want to play the game again. Ever.
All in all most goalies worry.
Now let me have you exchange the word "worry" and replace it with the phrase "plan to prevent"
Goalies tend to plan to prevent about everything. They plan to prevent letting in a goal. They plan to prevent a situation where their coaches/parents/teammates will think badly about them. They plan to prevent making a bad pass that leads to a goal. They plan to prevent getting hit in the balls. (Seriously!) They plan to prevent getting shelled. They plan to prevent so they never lose a game so bad that they will never want to play the game again.
When you read those to paragraphs do you see how some of the stress is taken out of the second one?
When you rephrase your worry it becomes much more productive. "Worry" is not a productive feeling. Worry is just a negative thought pattern where you tend to focus on bad situations. And what you focus on you bring on.
If I ask you to worry about a pink polar bear, what do you see? A pink polar bear.
Maybe that pink polar bear is doing something bad in your thoughts. Maybe the pink polar bear is showing it's teeth. Or running at you.
Now let me ask you to think about planning to prevent that white polar bear from doing anything bad.
First off, you are now seeing a white polar bear instead of a pink one. This shows you that you can instantly change any mental situation. From bad to good. From pink to white.
You may also have thought of that white polar bear in a cage. Or somehow in a way that prevents him from doing anything bad to you.
By planning to prevent instead of worrying you have changed a negative mental image to a positive mental image. Instead of worrying about letting in a bad goal why not plan to prevent one. By thinking in a positive way you are actually coming up with a positive game plan. You may now visualize yourself making a great play. Or maybe making a great call that gets your defense to slide to neutralize the ball carrier.
When you worry you tend to lose sleep at night. (just like I am as I write this.) But by focusing on "planning to prevent" you can fill your brain with positive images that will actually build your confidence and make you a player.
Just a quick thought. I think I'll catch some sleep now.
Jonathan -
www.LacrosseGoaltending.blogspot.com
Why You Must Fall Asleep At Night
Goalies tend to be worriers. They worry about letting in a goal. They worry about what their coaches/parents/teammates will think about them. They worry about making a bad pass that leads to a goal. They worry about getting hit in the balls (seriously). They worry about getting shelled. They worry about losing so bad that they will never want to play the game again. Ever.
All in all most goalies worry.
Now let me have you exchange the word "worry" and replace it with the phrase "plan to prevent"
Goalies tend to plan to prevent about everything. They plan to prevent letting in a goal. They plan to prevent a situation where their coaches/parents/teammates will think badly about them. They plan to prevent making a bad pass that leads to a goal. They plan to prevent getting hit in the balls. (Seriously!) They plan to prevent getting shelled. They plan to prevent so they never lose a game so bad that they will never want to play the game again.
When you read those to paragraphs do you see how some of the stress is taken out of the second one?
When you rephrase your worry it becomes much more productive. "Worry" is not a productive feeling. Worry is just a negative thought pattern where you tend to focus on bad situations. And what you focus on you bring on.
If I ask you to worry about a pink polar bear, what do you see? A pink polar bear.
Maybe that pink polar bear is doing something bad in your thoughts. Maybe the pink polar bear is showing it's teeth. Or running at you.
Now let me ask you to think about planning to prevent that white polar bear from doing anything bad.
First off, you are now seeing a white polar bear instead of a pink one. This shows you that you can instantly change any mental situation. From bad to good. From pink to white.
You may also have thought of that white polar bear in a cage. Or somehow in a way that prevents him from doing anything bad to you.
By planning to prevent instead of worrying you have changed a negative mental image to a positive mental image. Instead of worrying about letting in a bad goal why not plan to prevent one. By thinking in a positive way you are actually coming up with a positive game plan. You may now visualize yourself making a great play. Or maybe making a great call that gets your defense to slide to neutralize the ball carrier.
When you worry you tend to lose sleep at night. (just like I am as I write this.) But by focusing on "planning to prevent" you can fill your brain with positive images that will actually build your confidence and make you a player.
Just a quick thought. I think I'll catch some sleep now.
Jonathan -
www.LacrosseGoaltending.blogspot.com
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Tennis anyone? Or lacrosse?
I got an email recently from a freshman who was inspired by an email I wrote a while ago. That email was also written to a tennis player thinking about switching to lacrosse. This time the tennis player is thinking about becoming a goalie. The following is an answer that I gave him on why I think he should switch from tennis (that is boring him, and the coach is a disaster) to lacrosse. Enjoy.
Answer:There is one major rule that I live by that I wish I knew back in high school and that is to seek out experiences that I know I would enjoy regardless of the outcome. Seriously, when we die the only thing we are going to be able to take with us is our experiences so why not load up on as many good ones as we can.
With that being said I would highly recommend you go out for lacrosse and play a little goal for a couple of reasons:
1) It's a new experience. If you feel you've had your run of tennis then why play something you are bored with when you can go play something new and exciting with your friends.
2) Yes, your tennis skills will carry over (especially if you were good playing up at the net). Your lateral agility makes you a natural to attack the ball. Just make sure you are outfitted with enough equipment that you feel safe to start. Eventually, as you get better you can shed excess equipment. But for now, pad up and stay safe. You'll get better faster if you do.
I would like to change your attitude about one thing you said, "I would personally enjoy lacrosse a lot more than tennis, I just don't want to join and be horrible since I'm not as experienced."
Prepare to be horrible. That's what new experiences are all about! If everyone could be good at everything there wouldn't be much fun in anything right? I just took up the sport of bobsled after having done the sport of luge for years. Just like your tennis carrying over to lacrosse my luge experience helped me but it was still new. And you know what I wished the most??? That I had tried bobsled much sooner and didn't wait so long! You don't want to be saying that about lacrosse.
You shouldn't worry about playing lacrosse and being bad, you should worry about playing lacrosse and being fantastic! Seriously, how pissed would you be if you realized you were a phenomenal goalie and you waited all this time to play! Get out there and play some goal and show everyone how good you are. Then write me back and tell me how much time you wasted playing tennis!:)
Kick butt Derek. I'm going to add you to my goaltending ezine. I've got a ton of articles for you on my blog to so be sure to check that out. Have a blast. And feel free to write me and tell me how it's going.
All the best,
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Answer:There is one major rule that I live by that I wish I knew back in high school and that is to seek out experiences that I know I would enjoy regardless of the outcome. Seriously, when we die the only thing we are going to be able to take with us is our experiences so why not load up on as many good ones as we can.
With that being said I would highly recommend you go out for lacrosse and play a little goal for a couple of reasons:
1) It's a new experience. If you feel you've had your run of tennis then why play something you are bored with when you can go play something new and exciting with your friends.
2) Yes, your tennis skills will carry over (especially if you were good playing up at the net). Your lateral agility makes you a natural to attack the ball. Just make sure you are outfitted with enough equipment that you feel safe to start. Eventually, as you get better you can shed excess equipment. But for now, pad up and stay safe. You'll get better faster if you do.
I would like to change your attitude about one thing you said, "I would personally enjoy lacrosse a lot more than tennis, I just don't want to join and be horrible since I'm not as experienced."
Prepare to be horrible. That's what new experiences are all about! If everyone could be good at everything there wouldn't be much fun in anything right? I just took up the sport of bobsled after having done the sport of luge for years. Just like your tennis carrying over to lacrosse my luge experience helped me but it was still new. And you know what I wished the most??? That I had tried bobsled much sooner and didn't wait so long! You don't want to be saying that about lacrosse.
You shouldn't worry about playing lacrosse and being bad, you should worry about playing lacrosse and being fantastic! Seriously, how pissed would you be if you realized you were a phenomenal goalie and you waited all this time to play! Get out there and play some goal and show everyone how good you are. Then write me back and tell me how much time you wasted playing tennis!:)
Kick butt Derek. I'm going to add you to my goaltending ezine. I've got a ton of articles for you on my blog to so be sure to check that out. Have a blast. And feel free to write me and tell me how it's going.
All the best,
Jonathan -
www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Practice Doesn't Make Perfect
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
You may have heard the old saying “practice makes perfect.” Well, I’m here to tell you something….
It’s not true.
You see, practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Let me explain.
Let’s say I taught you how to sing Jingle Bells. We spent some time together and I made sure you got all the words down and the music and then I sent you home. And along the way as you were practicing the song you ended up switching some of the words. Maybe you weren’t paying attention or maybe you just made a mistake but along the way instead of Jingle Bells you started singing Tinkle Balls.
Stay with me here.
So off you go practicing. Every day. Twice a day. You even think about it before you go to sleep at night in your head. But instead of Jingle Bells it’s Tinkle Balls.
A couple weeks later you come back to see me and I say, “Sing me Jingle Bells.”
And you sing, “Tinkle Balls! Tinkle Balls! Tinkle all the way!!!”
Now I know you’re laughing a little bit right now but let’s look at this seriously. After you sang your version of Tinkle Balls I would look at you funny and think, “What the hell has this kid been doing the last two weeks?” And you’d tell me, in all seriousness that you’d been practicing!
So now I’d have to teach you how to sing Jingle Bells…again. We’re two weeks later and we have to re-teach the song. Sure you may have the music right but the words are off. Some of them are ok but the main ones are just plain wrong. So you learn Jingle Bells again and off you go.
You go home and you’re thinking to yourself, “Man, Jingle Bells sounds a little weird. Tinkle Balls sounded so much better! Jingle Bells sounds awkward and strange. Here goes…Tinkle Bells. Tinkle Bells. Tinkle All The Way!”
Ok. So now you’ve learned the song a second time and you still don’t have it right. But you practice and you practice and you practice some more. What do you think is going to happen when you come back and see me again? Right, you’re still going to think Jingle Bells sounds weird. But really, after four weeks if all you had practiced was Jingle Bells you’d have it dialed.
That is why practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
Sometimes coaches will ask me, “Jonathan, I know you want them to be perfect in practice but they’re just playing around. It’s nothing serious.” I’m sorry but everything is serious when it comes to the goalie. Even horsing around with your buddies can mess up a goalie for a long time.
It’s Harder to Fix a Bad Habit than To Get It Right the First Time
When learning a new skill it’s imperative that you learn it right the first time. Because learning the wrong skill is so hard to correct. It’s like letting your feet dry in concrete. You know how hard it is to get your feet out of there? It’s really hard!
That is why I warn coaches that their lacrosse goalies are just a bad habit waiting to happen if you leave them in the cage and let their buddies’ fire away on them. Until the goalie has a fair bit of experience and has proper movement patterns to the ball you don’t want to just let them in the cage and let the kids fire away. If those movement patterns aren’t dialed in yet the goalie will regress. He will actually get worse and you will then have to re-teach everything in a safe environment again. If you keep the goalie safe he will actually get better sooner than if you just throw him to the wolves so-to-speak.
Let me know how you feel about this. Can you remember a time when you, or a lacrosse goalie you coached actually got worse before he got better? Maybe they were doing great and then they got bad and never recovered.
You may have heard the old saying “practice makes perfect.” Well, I’m here to tell you something….
It’s not true.
You see, practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Let me explain.
Let’s say I taught you how to sing Jingle Bells. We spent some time together and I made sure you got all the words down and the music and then I sent you home. And along the way as you were practicing the song you ended up switching some of the words. Maybe you weren’t paying attention or maybe you just made a mistake but along the way instead of Jingle Bells you started singing Tinkle Balls.
Stay with me here.
So off you go practicing. Every day. Twice a day. You even think about it before you go to sleep at night in your head. But instead of Jingle Bells it’s Tinkle Balls.
A couple weeks later you come back to see me and I say, “Sing me Jingle Bells.”
And you sing, “Tinkle Balls! Tinkle Balls! Tinkle all the way!!!”
Now I know you’re laughing a little bit right now but let’s look at this seriously. After you sang your version of Tinkle Balls I would look at you funny and think, “What the hell has this kid been doing the last two weeks?” And you’d tell me, in all seriousness that you’d been practicing!
So now I’d have to teach you how to sing Jingle Bells…again. We’re two weeks later and we have to re-teach the song. Sure you may have the music right but the words are off. Some of them are ok but the main ones are just plain wrong. So you learn Jingle Bells again and off you go.
You go home and you’re thinking to yourself, “Man, Jingle Bells sounds a little weird. Tinkle Balls sounded so much better! Jingle Bells sounds awkward and strange. Here goes…Tinkle Bells. Tinkle Bells. Tinkle All The Way!”
Ok. So now you’ve learned the song a second time and you still don’t have it right. But you practice and you practice and you practice some more. What do you think is going to happen when you come back and see me again? Right, you’re still going to think Jingle Bells sounds weird. But really, after four weeks if all you had practiced was Jingle Bells you’d have it dialed.
That is why practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
Sometimes coaches will ask me, “Jonathan, I know you want them to be perfect in practice but they’re just playing around. It’s nothing serious.” I’m sorry but everything is serious when it comes to the goalie. Even horsing around with your buddies can mess up a goalie for a long time.
It’s Harder to Fix a Bad Habit than To Get It Right the First Time
When learning a new skill it’s imperative that you learn it right the first time. Because learning the wrong skill is so hard to correct. It’s like letting your feet dry in concrete. You know how hard it is to get your feet out of there? It’s really hard!
That is why I warn coaches that their lacrosse goalies are just a bad habit waiting to happen if you leave them in the cage and let their buddies’ fire away on them. Until the goalie has a fair bit of experience and has proper movement patterns to the ball you don’t want to just let them in the cage and let the kids fire away. If those movement patterns aren’t dialed in yet the goalie will regress. He will actually get worse and you will then have to re-teach everything in a safe environment again. If you keep the goalie safe he will actually get better sooner than if you just throw him to the wolves so-to-speak.
Let me know how you feel about this. Can you remember a time when you, or a lacrosse goalie you coached actually got worse before he got better? Maybe they were doing great and then they got bad and never recovered.
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