Mathematics of Goaltending: Don't Be Shutout!

Having spent the last several years informally interviewing over one thousand goaltenders of all levels of hockey from mite to professional, I have concluded how negligent we are as coaches teaching the basic math fundamentals of goaltending to our students/players. The competency level of angle geometry and dimension knowledge is of poor level. We must teach goaltenders the basic math terminology before we can expect them to understand angle perception and line movement. Angles and anticipation which makeover 80% of saves can be extremely improved through math dimension knowledge.

See how you score on the following competency exam!

1. What are the dimensions of the goaltender's net?
2. What is a radius?
3. How many degrees is there along the round crease?
4. What size radius creates the round crease?
5. What size is the rectangular crease?
6. How wide is the round crease along the goal line?
7. East to West or West to East straight movement is called what type of movement?
8. The puck at 90 degrees should be mirrored at what degree?
9. What are the dimensions of a puck?
10. What is a diagonal line move?

Answers to Quiz

1. 4 feet high 6 feet wide.
2. Any line segment that joins the center of circle with any point on its circumference.
3. 180 degrees.
4. 6 foot radius.
5. 4 feet by 8 feet.
6. 12 feet.
7. Horizontal or lateral movement.
8. 90 degrees.
9. 3 in. by 1 in.
10. A diagonal line is a line joining two vertices of a polygon.
Hope you weren't shutout! Remember goalies, the net is 24 square feet. That's alot of net to cover!

This article was contributed by Mike Geragosian of Mike Geragosian's All American Goalie Camps

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