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By Fred Quistgard
By now you are looking at the title of this article and
thinking, “Why would I want to RAISE my goals against average?
Shouldn’t I be trying to LOWER it?” Well, yes, you would be correct
in asking the question. However, based on my observations when it
comes to working with the many goalies I come across each season it
seems like many of you are making the game a lot harder on
yourselves than it has to be. Many of you go about things the wrong
way whether it’s how you practice or how you play. I thought I’d
tackle some of the most common errors I see each week…..
1) Don’t Try Hard in Practice
I know…I know…
You are that “special” goalie that is a “gamer”. You want to save
your energy in practice so you can put on a show during games. Yeah,
right… I hear this excuse every year. When it comes to goaltending,
like the old saying goes, “You reap what you sow”. In other words,
if you are screwing around in practice, not paying attention,
goofing off with your teammates and not actually PRACTICING, how do
you expect to get any better? I’m not saying that every waking
moment you should be as serious as Abraham Lincoln, but a little
focus goes a long way. Do you have personal goals for each drill? If
not you are going through the motions and that will increase the
opponents scoring opportunities when you play your games.
2) Have Temper Tantrums When Things Don’t Go Your Way
You just got beat 3 times to the top shelf on your glove side.
Now you are going ballistic, swearing, banging your stick against
the cross-bar and having a big ole’ temper tantrum. Keep it up! If
you don’t face the facts as to WHY those pucks keep beating you on
the glove side, those goals will keep pouring in. Goalies who have
lower goals against averages may get mad for a moment, but then they
make adjustments in their technique to see if playing that type of
shot in a different manner will bring better results. But, if you
want to keep fishing pucks out of your net, go right ahead and act
like an idiot.
3) Glide Backwards on your Heels
Before the Shooter is Anywhere Near the Goal
If you
want to increase scoring chances for the other team, glide backwards
into the crease early and often. By gliding backwards on your heels,
you will open up lots of scoring and back-door passing lanes for the
opposing shooters. That will allow them much better scoring chances.
Oh, sometimes you will make an acrobatic save, but for the most part
you will give up goals that would easily have been stopped had you
held your ground or the shooting angle would have been so limited
that the shooter would avoid taking the shot in the first place.
4) Be a Puck Receptacle
I know it’s a
bother to pay attention to what’s happening in front of you if there
it doesn’t look like a shot is coming any time soon. Who cares
whether the puckcarrier is a left-shot or right shot? Who cares if
the player in the slot is a lefty or righty? I know my D doesn’t see
the player on the back door, but it’s not my job to tell him or her
so why bother? I know I could have blocked that pass to the slot and
prevented the goal..oh well. If you never pay attention to what is
going on around you, goal scoring situations will increase because
you don’t know what to do long before the shot is taken. If you are
a “puck receptacle” ( a goalie who waits for an obvious shot to
occur before getting ready), then you will give up goals on plays
that should have been harmless had you read what was going on in
front of you before the shot was actually taken. A little pre-shot
prevention goes a long way, unless you like being scored on…..
5) Never Learn New Things
Goalies that
don’t want to learn new skills as they get older get worse.
Transitions occur at each new level because players are bigger,
faster, smarter and more skilled. What worked in mites, will not
work in high school. What worked last year will not guarantee
success this season. What worked in the ‘90s may not work for your
adult league in the 21st century. If you’re not open to refining and
enhancing your game, you will stay the same old predictable you and
that will make the opposing shooters very happy!
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