"Until my very last game, I never considered my hockey education complete"
the GREAT ONE of goalies

- Vladislav Trediak

I - THE MIND

A goalie's psychology is a very important aspect of playing and training the position.  But yet, it is by far, the most overlooked.  A goalie may smile at success, but cries internally or externally from failure.  It is common to feel like the world, or game, is on their shoulders. In addition, a goalie can get psyched up and lead a team to victory, or psyched out and lead a team to defeat.

You can find virtually zillions of books and videos on goalie physical training, but very few on goalie psychology.  Ian McDonnell's Technogoaltending series Vol. 2 "Psyche-up/Shut Out" is an excellent place to start.  I used his series the first year that I embarked on training my son as a goalie.  It helped him to find his zone, learn how to deal with goals scored on him, and many other physiological techniques. And, just like the physical portion of training, the psychological end must be constant.  The material was reinforced at practices, games and at home. It makes for good reading material at night before the goaltender goes to bed.

Of all the positions, a goalie can be most influenced by his psyche.  It is very important that a young goaltender learn to find his zone.  It is equally important that the coach/parent learns how to help get the player into his/her zone and psyche both before and during games.  Each goaltender has a different set of buttons that must be pushed to get them playing at an optimal mental level.  Sometimes the goalie simply can not get into his/her zone.  When this occurs, if there is no back up goalie, the coach must assist the goaltender to get through the game both physically and mentally.  This can only be accomplished if the coach knows the goalie's physiological buttons and can get the team to compensate, without them knowing, for the goalies off day.

The goalie must be able to perform the mental skills, like the physical skills, instinctively.  In addition, another positive offshoot of learning goalie physiology is that many of the techniques apply to everyday life, school and eventually business work ethics.

II - KNOW YOUR NET

A goalie must learn to have eyes behind their head to locate the goal at all times.  This can be accomplished with many different drills & techniques.  The one golden rule is that the goalie find the net with their stick or glove every time they leave it.  A net finding drill should be incorporated into every practice.  In addition, before the start of every game the goalie should ritually perform a net location sequence to determine where the net is in relation to the ice surface.  Every rink is different and the goalie needs to size up the rink in relationship to the net.

III - READY, READ, REACT, RECOVER, REPOSITION

The fives "R's" from Ian McDonnell's Technogoaltending Vol. 1 "Cobra In The Crease".  (Self explanatory)

IV - GOALIE STICK OUT 4" to 6" FROM THE PADS

The goalie stick should be positioned so it is not on the pads.  It should be 4" to 6" out from the pads.  When a shot is stopped by the stick, the stick moves in with the puck, to cushion it, and prevents rebounds in front.  In addition, the proper stick position allows the goalie to direct shots to the corner easier.

V - GOAL SCORED - ANALYZE AND FORGET

"If I get scored upon by a bad goal, or any goal, right before the next face-off I visualize the goal.  Then I visualize what I should do instead and it takes about 20 seconds.  After that I forget about it right away." - Dominic Roussel.  Paraphrased in a mite/squirts terms (from my son's eight year old mouth), "Think about it for 20 seconds, and think what you did wrong so it doesn't happen again; and, after the 20 seconds, you stop thinking about it like it never happened."

VI - STICK HANDLING, PASSING, SHOOTING & OUT OF THE NET

Today's game of hockey demands an offensive as well as defensive goalie.  That is why it is so important that the goalie learns to stick handle, shoot, pass and play out of the net.  Expand your comfort zone and start to wander out of the net.  Play the pucks in the corners, in the defensive zone and behind the net.  Let your coach know your intensions so they are patient with you and work with you.  Expect some bad goals to go in at first, but over time your offensiveness will be a great team asset.   A good aggressive goalie adds a 6th offensive player to the ice.

VII - SHARP SKATES & SKATING

Again, today's game of hockey demands an offensive as well as defensive goalie.  That is why it is so important that the goalie learns to use sharp skates like the other players.  Sharp skates give the goalie the confidence and thrust to skate offensively.  Dull skates will not give him the grip on the ice to do fast and quick skating moves.  If you are not use to sharp skates, over the course of several weeks, increase the sharpness of your skates each week.  In several weeks you will be skating with sharp skates and loving it!  A good skating and stick handling goalie adds a 6th offensive player to the ice.

VIII - STRETCHING and STRENGTH TRAINING

Stretching both on and off the ice should become a regular routine for a goalie.  The goalie must become a "Gumby" in the net if they expect to excel.  Ignoring stretching, on or off the ice, will also increase their chances of getting hurt.  In addition, a goalie must learn to perform splits, half butterflies, etc., and stretching is the key to achieving these skills.  There are several books and web sites that can guide you in this area.  VERY IMPORTANT, never stretch cold!  Always warm up the muscles first.

Strength training is important for all positions, especially goal.  But the goalie must move their heavy gear into the most awkward positions & recover to a standing position in split seconds.  The stronger the goalie the quicker they can react.  Young goalies can do exercise type strength training such as pushups, sit ups, pull ups, squats with light weights etc.  See my section on Physical training.

IX - EAGLE EYE, OWL EYE ©  DENNIS FREED

The two metaphors below help to demonstrate and animate the goalie mind set during a game.  It is easy for the players to remember and fun too.  

When the puck is in your defensive zone (behind your blue line) the goalie is to have EAGLE EYES . An eagle is a predator with sharp focused vision and able to catch fast moving animals.  Goalies keenly observe the fast action in the zone and must catch fast 
moving pucks.

When the puck is out of the zone (outside the blue line) the goalie is to have OWL EYES .  An owl is a wise bird who watches and studies the world around them.  When the puck is out of the zone the goalie wisely watches the game constantly observing and trying to anticipate the next play.

X - PRACTICES ARE MORE THAN JUST SHOOTING PRACTICE

Shooting at a goalie is just one of many parts of developing a goalie.  A well-balanced practice should consist of the following drills:

    * Skating - every practice
    * Form and technique - every practice
    * Positioning and knowing the net location - every practice
    * Psychology - every practice
    * Rebounds - every practice
    * Passing
    * Stick handling
    * Playing the puck out of the net
    * Goalie shooting the puck
    * Game play

As indicated, some of the skills should be practiced at each and every practice session.  A minute or two is all that is required for the skills which are known well, however, always reinforce them to keep the goalie sharp.  No less than ten minutes should be dedicated to skating - no matter what the time allotment is.  I incorporate some basic goalie skills with skating to accomplish both tasks at the same time (see the skating drills I have devised to teach skating and positioning at the same time).  In addition, the drills must be conducted in a fun and challenging way to get the most out of your goalie.  Young goalies do not fully appreciate the concept of practicing hard to reach personnel goals which have been set.  For them, that is a concept that has not been fully developed (mentally) yet.  Their motivation for practicing hard includes having fun, knowing it will help their team win and also to achieve certain simple, personal achievements.  As mentioned in my other sections, the player must leave the ice dripping with sweat and brimming with a smile.

XI - CROSS TRAINING

Goaltending uses every mental and physical part of the anatomy to its absolute fullest potential.  However, if a goalie were to practice - in goal -12 months a year, they would burn out from the intensive pressure.  Therefore, participating in other sports is both essential and beneficial.  Read the article from Tony Raffo for more information on this subject. Click Here

XII - REST

The goalie position, again, is very demanding both mentally and physically.  The goalie needs both mental and physical rest in several forms.   

    * A good nights sleep before the game or practice.
    * Rest after playing numerous games consecutively.
    * Rest at the end of the season.
    * Rest when he/she appears mentally or physically exhausted.

XIII - LEARN

The goalie position is a complex and demanding position.  It has so many techniques and nuances.  Read, view videos and watch professional games.  As the great one of goalies, Vladislav Trediak, says ....  "Until my very last game, I never considered my hockey education complete"

XIV - EXPAND YOUR VISION

A good goalie knows the player with the puck in front of them.  A great goalie knows where all the players are.  Know where your opponents are as well as your own players.  Use your peripheral vision.  If a player is taking a shoot on you it is foresight to know who else is in the crease area if you need to save a rebound or stop a deflect or one timer.  When you go out of the net to play the puck you must know where the players are before you reach the puck.  Expand your vision and your game will improve drastically.