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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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