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Goalie Drills

April 28, 2009

The following drills will help you with the four different aspects of protecting the net.

Key:

MM - Muscle Memory
HE – Hand-Eye
P – Positioning
StkS – Stick Skills

7 Spots – This means stick-side high, off-stick high, SS (stick-side) hip, O-SS (off-stick side) hip, SS low, O-SS low, and between the legs (5-hole)

Drills to do Alone:

[Juggle]] HE
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Learn to juggle. This increases hand-eye coordination a ton. Start off slowly with two balls in one hand, and then work to 3 with two hands.

[Jump Rope]] MM
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Self explanatory. The reasoning behind this is to get used to staying on the balls of your feet, build up your calves and quickness stepping to the ball.

[Walk The Line]] MM , P, StkS
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Make sure you have your stick (you can also go full gear, but you don’t need to) and a line of some sort to walk down. You could even lay down a rope if you’d like. Take a 45 degree step and react to a shot that’s coming stick side high. Make sure your step is how it should be – no straight forward step and no side-to-side step. You should actually step over the line when you do this and wind up in a position like you made the save. Step back over the line and do it again. Do a line for each of the 7 spots, or two or three. However many you want.

[Wall Ball]] MM , HE, StkS
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Directly overhand – 25 throws with both the left and right hands
3/4 overhand - 25 throws with both the left and right hands
Sidearm - 25 throws with both the left and right hands
On the run – Run to your right and hit a spot on the wall. Catch it, tuck it and switch hands. This provides a game-like situation of having to throw on the run. Make sure to throw the same number of passes with both you left and right hands.

[Soft Hands]] MM , StkS
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A little well-known trick of the trade to develop soft hands is to tighten your bottom string (at the throat) to take a few shots with. Gently knot it up if you have to, but make sure that your pocket is shallow. A shallow pocket will force you to add some “give” when you make a save. After you’ve taken a dozen or so shots, put your bottom string back the way it was and you should notice the difference.

Drills to do with a partner:

[Basketball Toss]] MM , HE
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Stand about 4-5 feet from each other and have your partner chest-pass the basketball to you in the 7 spots, while making sure you are in your stance. Step to the ball, hands out and grab the basketball w/ both hands. The object is to catch the ball with both hands WHILE stepping to the ball, not having your body follow your hands. This works on getting to the ball with your hands and feet moving together at the same time, which helps you make the save faster. Return to your ready stance and take about 5-6 passes in each of the 7 spots.

[One-Handed Ball Toss]] MM , HE
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Take your top hand you’d play with (right for righty’s, left for lefty’s) out in front of you and put your other hand behind your back. Do the same thing as the basketball drill (toss to the 7 spots), but only grab the ball with one hand and make sure you’re stepping with that 45* angle.
A variation to this is take a few balls that are either numbered, lettered, or colored. Turn your back to your partner and have him toss one at you. While you’re turning, the ball should be in the air. You say the letter / number / color before you catch it. Don’t worry so much about positioning, just see the ball, call out and grab it.

[Mystery Shot]] HE, StkS
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Find a wall (side of a gym, inside a gym, wherever you can use) and put a goal about 6-10 feet from it (make it a challenge), facing the wall. It should be like, |wall| Goalie >cage. Turn and face the wall while your partner is shooting at the wall. DO NOT look back, and make sure you are looking straight ahead. This develops fast reaction time and the vision to see the ball from close range. Shots should not be rocketed (though they can be sped up once you get comfortable). THE GOAL OF THIS DRILL IS NOT TO MAKE SAVES.  THE GOAL IS TO SEE THE BALL AND STEP TO IT. Decrease the distance between the goal and wall and increase the shot speed once you get the hang of this. Make sure the shooter is changing location (ball coming from the left / right) and shot location (learn to hit the sides, corners, bounce, etc).

[Angle Play]] MM , HE, P, StkS
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Get a goal, and about 16 yards of rope. Tie one side to the bottom of the front post, and the other to the other post. The shooter will pull the rope until it looks like a giant V in front of you.  This will give the shooter a cone shaped area of what is availible. Pick up and move the tip of the cone from place to place after 20 shots and you will actually see what boundaries the ball has to make it in the goal. Once you get this down, you will “see” the cone while you’re playing and be able to play the angle in a game.

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Face Off Techniques and Moves

April 28, 2009

The most fundamental aspects of FO are your stance and grip.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Stance
Your stance must be:    Athletic
•    Balanced
•    A stance from which you can execute and defend
against all moves,  with 360 degree mobility
•    Front foot already planted prior to “down” call

Grip
Things to remember:
•    Right Hand: CONTROL HAND: Up to the plastic, as
far as ref will allow you to go
•    Left hand: POWER HAND: 10-18 inches from control
hand
•    Stick in the fingers, not fingertips or palm
•    Hold stick lightly, just as with ball handling, with
thumb and forefinger

Moves:

The Clamp
Think of the field as a clock:

1) If the mid-line of the field runs parallel with 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock, your first movment off the whistle is to punch your left hand forward explosively such that your butt end goes from 9 to 11 o’clock, giving you leverage against your opponent’s stick for strength as well as pulling the biggest part of your stickhead away from his

2) Your right foot should follow your left hand punch so you are now straddling the ball, bringing your body closer to the play in case of a tie-up

3) Immediately following the left hand punch and right foot step, drive your stick down the line to the right so the ball with get lodged down at the throat of the head

4) Drag your stickhead back to your left foot while you transfer your weight to that foot, and lift the butt end of your stick up to your chest and facing 12 o’clock as you push forward for a break (QUICK CLAMP)

5) You can also ensure your clamp by putting heavier weight on the stick head as you follow through, then pull the ball back through your legs for possession.  The weight and strength you put on your hands will provide leverage to follow through and win the clamp.  When doing this you must remember to properly box your opponent out by staying low and wide so they don’t get access to the loose ball as you are turning. (POWER CLAMP)

The Jump (aka Jam, Punch, Top)
The counter to a clamp:

1) Contrary to popular belief, you do not want to travel too far over the ball.  There should be very little clearance and room from your stick/glove and the top of the ball.

2) Low center-of-gravity is key here, as you want to bury your helmet over the midline and into your opponent to stand him up and make him unathletic.  It will also prevent him from seeing the ball and reacting to a tie-up of hands if there is one.

3) Punch your left hand forward just as you would on a Clamp, as this will push the opponent off of his Clamp, and also move your hands forward and to the right as you would in a Drive Clamp (Clamp Down the Line).

4) If you travel over the ball cleanly, use your shaft or fist of your glove (while still on the stick) to rake the ball back between your legs, or if you move your hands far to the right on the jump your left glove hand will be near the ball and you can use your fingers to flip it through your legs or out to a wing.  Be inconspicuous with this as it is illegal and is a lazy way to lose a draw if an official sees you.

5) If you end up in a tie-up of hands and sticks, keep driving your helmet and body into your opponent to gain leverage, and this is also a great time to grab your opponents stick and even rake the ball between your legs with his stick if he started to get a good clamp on it.  Keep your hands on your shaft while you do this.  Should not get seen by officials if you got your body over the ball properly.

6) The key is to get as close to and over the ball as you can after the whistle.  This will give you the strength, leverage, and athleticism over your opponent to control the draw.

The Reverse Plunger: 
Run a break out the back door:

1) The left hand punch is essential here.  It will help with winning the Clamp, but will aid the right hand in rotating the stick into the Clamp.  Unlike a front plunger, which is a half-Clamp, you are almost doing 1.5 Clamps.  If done properly, this will be a quick move that gives you a ton of control over the ball.

2) Your left foot should follow your left hand with the initial punch on the whistle.  This gets you closer to the ball and ready for a tie-up, but planning to win the draw and run by your opponent to your right rather than convetionally to the left.

3) Hands should remain very light on the Clamp just as prior to the whistle.  Instead of flattening the head on the ground with a regular Clamp, keep rotating the wrists forward so that the open face of the stick is towards your opponent.  Press right hand down for Plunger effect, yet still keeping bodyweight balanced on balls of feet for mobility.

4) Now you should have ball clamped in back of stick with ball facing you, and open part of head facing opponent.  Step right and lightly bring arms into body (alligator arms) so ball pops up to shoulder height when stick pinch expands.

5) Turn your back to seal off opponent, and ball should drop right into your pocket when you flip stick right side up.  Even if you pull back too hard, ball should be bouncing behind you for an easy pickup off a hop or slight roll.

6) You can throw the ball out to either wing, through your legs to the left, or push your hands hard down the line while continuing to rotate wrists forward to throw out to right wing.

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