Goalie coaching

Posted by audreytaylor on January 23rd, 2014

The goalie is perhaps the most important player in a lot of sports, and especially hockey.  Because goalies they have a defensive role in the team, their training has to be consistent with their tasks. Hockey coaches have to teach their players goalie drills which can help them develop quick reflexes and other skills; these will help them defend their ground successfully.

Some of the most important goalie drills any goaltender must master refer to speed. Obviously, the player will have to move rapidly across the crease. The role of these particular exercises is to create fast reflexes, which the player will definitely need. The hockey puck can pick up great speed during a hockey game, and so the goalie must have extraordinary reflexes in order to stop his adversaries from scoring goal after goal. The body must be trained, of course, but the mind also has to undergo training, as a person’s psychic has a very important part in sports playing. Mental training must be used in parallel with physical training, because the body may be able to perform well, but if they mind is not focused or it is discouraged, this could result in a clear defeat.

For the moment, we will focus on physical goalie drills and show how these contribute to acquiring mental confidence. Professional hockey players say that many less experienced goalies drop on their knees too fast during a game, when in fact, they should be striving to have a stand up position for as long as possible. Being on your feet helps you have faster reactions and cover a larger net area than going into the butterfly position. Goalies should remember theiropponents will take advantage of any situationwhen the goalie is down, and thus shoot the puck through the unprotected net area. Being on your knees leaves you little room for extensions and fast reactions, so this is what goalie drills should focus on keeping an upward position. The idea is to recover as soon as possible and get in a standing position which will allow you more freedom of movement, formore successful defensive actions.

Professionals advise beginner goalies to practice goalie drills as much as possible. Physical exercises to strengthen the muscles and stretch joints and tendons are essential before actually starting the specific drills. After warm up, allow a few minutes of exercise around the crease, without using the pucks. These exercises will help goalies develop speed skills and optimal stability and control, so it’s important to start with these drills. As they’ll pick up more speed and better control, goalies will also begin to feel more confident, because they’ll be able to stop more pucks and thus obtain their team members’ trust as well. As you can see, physical training has an astounding impact on the mental of a player, so the drills mentioned should not be neglected. These simple exercises can be tedious, but they will gradually start to bring very good results.

Becoming a good goalie implies lots of hard work and the proper goalie drills to help a player pick up fast reflexes and build confidence.