Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the DIY Goalie Podcast where hosts and goalie coaches Nathan Park and Connor Munday share their insights on how to become a better goalie.
Speaker: Hey goalies, welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. It is just me today. um i am going to be just hopping on for kind of a quick episode today. I just wanted to go through something that I've been kind of thinking about lots while building some programs. So some exciting things that we're kind of working on behind the scenes is building up what we have to offer, especially kind of away from the rink and especially on the virtual side of things. So stay tuned for some announcements on that once we kind of finalize how we're going to roll that out. But there's there's some cool things in the works. um So I've been working with one of our mentorship goalie clients um
Speaker: and we've kind of been talking about you know, what I kind of refer to as establishing our goalie identity. And i kind of wanted to get into that today with you guys. So a couple of months ago, I went through, I think it was ah a solo episode and I kind of went through playing to your strengths and trying to minimize kind of your James exposure to your weaknesses, right? So kind of trying to limit the situations that we find ourselves in where we're maybe not as strong and to try and maximize the situations where we definitely have our strengths. And this
Speaker: kind of ties into this a little bit, I guess our identity starts to lay that foundation that we can build off of. um So it's a little bit of a precursor to what we talked about when it came to the strengths versus weaknesses.
Speaker: um But the big thing that we're starting to really dig into and to dive into is the self-reflection, the introspection, like being able to have that awareness internally about you know what you're good at, maybe what you're not as good at and kind of who you are, not only as a goalie, but also kind of as a person, just because they do tie into each other quite a bit. um If you start to understand your personality, your personality type,
Speaker: how you learn, um how you process information, those sorts of things, that's when you can really start to see some magic happening in your development. Once you kind of understand a little bit more of what makes you tick, you can really dig into the things that you know, are more beneficial to you, right? Like just kind of an easy example is we've we've heard lots about learning types, especially when it comes to, you know, school and stuff like that. So you younger goalies, the kids out there, um some of you you might struggle with the traditional classroom setting of just sitting at a desk, you know, listening to lectures, trying to retain the information and all that stuff. Like there's plenty of studies on people being, you know, the doers, right? They have to be doing something while they're learning. There's the visual learners, the auditory learners, all of that stuff.
Speaker: And once people start recognizing how they can learn, that can really accelerate um how much they can learn in a shorter amount of time. So we talk lots in goaltending about efficiencies, and it's kind of similar there when we talk about the learning styles is, um you know, the efficiency of learning. So if you can understand how you learn, then you can start being efficient about it. And that's kind of the same thing with a lot of these you know, non-physical attributes, I guess, when it comes to goaltending. So our physical attributes is kind of related to, you know, our speed, um basically like our size, kind of how we move, you know, all of those sorts of things.
Speaker: But what I want to dive into a little bit more today is I guess more so kind of the, I don't wanna call them personality traits, but you know, kind of those those sorts of things, like I don't really have a good word to explain it, but the things that help shape our game away from just how we physically play on the ice. So when you guys are thinking about this, I want you guys to,
Speaker: basically have in the back of your mind how can I start to figure out who I am and what can basically be the most effective way that I can approach my development? And that's kind of where we're going to build our identity, our goalie identity. And we're going to kind of boil that down into something simple and something that we can refer back to over and over again. Right. So obviously there's,
Speaker: a lot more complication and a lot more nuance to this than just, you know, a couple of words or a sentence or a phrase or whatever. but It's it's something that kind of reminds us right? it it It gives us something to kind of pause and think and say, OK, why am I here?
Speaker: Why am I doing this? How can I you know tailor this to better suit myself? And and that's the sort of things that that you guys need to be thinking about.
Speaker: um so when it comes to our identity um the best way that i can kind of go through this with the goalie is to just kind of say i want you to list a few things that sums up what you are as a goalie who you are as a goalie so that could very well be that you're quick and you know that you move well. It could also very well be that you're a calming presence.
Speaker: It could be that you know you're a vocal leader on the team. It could be that you're a silent leader on the team. um These are the sorts of things that I want you to kind of think of. like What is it that makes you the goalie that you are?
Speaker: That doesn't necessarily mean like, I don't want this to be, you know, a strengths versus weaknesses thing. Like, yes, it kind of ties into that.
Speaker: But I want you to more think of what are the things that make me the goalie I am. And that could be battle, like your battle, your compete level.
Speaker: um The other things that it could be is even how quickly you learn and adjust, right? Like, You can basically, you know, if it's something like you can boil it down to being a sponge, right? if If that's the word that you like the best to kind of build your identity around, if if you boil it down to sponge, you know, I'm just throwing out examples, obviously, but these are the kind of things that I want you guys to be thinking of. So when you're building yourself a goalie identity,
Speaker: I want you to be thinking of those things that are not thinking of, but i actually want you to like write down the things that make you who you are as a goalie.
Speaker: And to start, just make a list, just jot down ideas, right? And again, it could be physical, it could be mental, it could be attitude or personality. Those are the attributes that I want you to write down. And I want you to kind of think of,
Speaker: how that shapes me. So just as an example, the goalie that I was working with, we were talking through this and we were kind of going through this exercise, writing a few things down.
Speaker: And after we started writing a handful of these things down, a bit of a pattern started to emerge. And that's kind of the point of this exercise is to start getting an idea of Okay, what do I notice with these things and what are some of the patterns that I can use to build off of? So for example, the goalie I was working with, we established that the pattern was preparation.
Speaker: And this goalie in particular felt that they were at their best and that a lot of what they did centered around their preparation.
Speaker: They are very much set in having routines to help them out, very much set in making sure that everything's packed and ready to go, making sure that you know they've gone through the things they need to go through, like good sleep, good eating, drinking lots, you know, stuff like that.
Speaker: And that's kind of what we boiled down the identity to. There's a couple other things that we we threw in there, too. But one of the biggest central themes that we kind of came up with was preparation or being prepared.
Speaker: And so now that this goalie kind of had that framework of you know, I am at my best when I feel like I'm prepared, that kind of gives us a sense of, okay, now how can we build what we do around that? If that's where you feel like you want to be as a goalie and where you feel like you're most effective as a goalie, then let's lean into that. How can we design our development around preparation? so
Speaker: it's It's going to be very individual, but just as an example, if we're sticking to the preparation theme, this goalie might think, okay, I want to make myself a specific game day checklist.
Speaker: Maybe I even make myself like night before checklist or something like that. And that helps me know that I am prepared and that I have done the things I need to do.
Speaker: I'm not saying this goal is doing that, but just as an example, right, if that's how you work and that's how you want to approach the game, then that kind of starts to give you a bit of a sense of the direction you need to go and the things you need to do to get to that point.
Speaker: And then the rest kind of you know falls into place from there a little bit once you have once you have that direction and that framework. um Another kind of example, I guess, like if you if you're kind of saying my identity as a goalie is being a calm and vocal leader. So maybe that means in the net you move really calmly, you're not flailing around. Maybe you swallow pucks pretty good so you don't give out a lot of rebounds, you can manage your pucks.
Speaker: um and maybe you're communicating a lot with your D during the game, maybe you're talking to your team ah in intermission before game, stuff like that.
Speaker: If that's you and that's kind of what you boiled down as your identity, okay, now that we have that framework, how can we build our approach around that? And that could be something like, you know,
Speaker: If I'm calm and collected, I need to make sure that I get into the right state of mind to be even keel, to be calm, right? I need to make sure that when I'm approaching my both off ice and on ice development, I'm making sure that I'm working on control and my body being, you know, I guess,
Speaker: Well, I guess controlled for lack of a better other term. But, you know, for example, in your workouts, instead of working on how fast and explosive I can be, maybe it's how controlled can I be slowing it down with good form, making sure I'm efficient in my lifts or in my jumps or whatever it is that you're doing.
Speaker: And same thing with on the ice. How can I approach my saves to be as calm as possible, my movements to be as calm as possible? And it's the same thing if you think that, you know, your identity revolves around explosiveness and compete or something like that. um So again, it it's a little bit parallel with the strengths versus weaknesses talk, but not quite. ah It's kind of more of a holistic approach. And it's also there to be able to fall back on because we all get into slumps. We all get into points in our season, in our games, in our careers, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker: um where things just aren't going our way. We're not performing to where we want to. We're not feeling confident, all of that stuff. And it's really simple to go back to this identity and this boiled down kind of framework of what our game is tailored around and how we are as a goalie and as a person.
Speaker: So if you're struggling and things aren't going well, you it allows you to take that step back you can go reflect on that identity that you've created and you can say, okay what am I doing right now that's gotten me away from this?
Speaker: How can I get myself back into this framework? how What can I be doing to kind of get back to who I am as a goalie and how can I kind of start building the confidence within that identity that I have? And that kind of helps provide some perspective and some something to fall back on and to kind of I guess, you know, work around.
Speaker: Right. and And it's that guidance that kind of reset to be like, OK, I need to get back to who I am. I need to get back to basics and I can kind of start to reset from there. And that's really good to have as a framework.
Speaker: before we get into these slumps so when it does inevitably happen because unfortunately we all go through it at some point and when it does happen then it's kind of that almost grounding factor we can get back to.
Speaker: The other thing I want to point out with this identity thing too and this is probably the last thing that we'll leave you off with but the the fact that This doesn't have to be concrete.
Speaker: It can change as we go. We all change as people. We all change as goalies. We all develop new skill sets. We learn more about the game. We learn more about ourselves. So this identity that we build can be fluid. It can change over time.
Speaker: Most likely it's going to be slow changes as we go, kind of tweaks here and there. And, you know, it's kind of like a 10 year thing. You look back 10 years and say, oh, wow, that drastically changed over the 10 years.
Speaker: But as we went, it was just small kind of incremental changes here and there. And that being said, nothing has to change. If you feel like that really...
Speaker: embodies who you are, that identity that you kind of established for yourself. If that doesn't change at all, then great. We don't have to change it just for the sake of change. But I also don't want you guys to feel like once we set it, it's set and I can't do anything else with it. Right. So it it is going to change slightly, most likely.
Speaker: um And that's going to change from goalie to goalie, individual to individual. But I do want to have you guys think about that, that it isn't a concrete thing. We can adjust as we go. We change, so our identity is going to change, and that is 100% okay.
Speaker: Just make sure that as you go, it's something that you feel you truly feel really embodies you as a goalie. And again, just kind of as that general person too.
Speaker: um So that's kind of all I have to say about this. I know, especially for the younger goalies, this might seem a little kind of cheesy, I guess, but It's really just one of those things that's, again, going to help you. like Your parents, your goalie coach, whoever doesn't need to necessarily know about this. like You can keep it to yourself. You can have a little piece of paper or a notebook or a journal where you have this written down if you like.
Speaker: something written down or however it works for you. You don't have to tell anybody about it. Or if you want, you can tell the whole world about it and say, this is what I see as my identity as a goalie. And this is what it I'm going to be using moving forward for my development framework. Right.
Speaker: Again, make it your own, make it work for you, but be honest with yourself and Try and establish almost like a catch-all kind of, you know, couple words, couple sentences, whatever the case is that embodies who you are as a goalie and as a person to be able to now start to focus your your development around that and kind of be able to build that framework around that. But that's kind of that core fallback, like in essence, this is who I am and everything branches out from there. um
Speaker: So it's not necessarily like a touchy-feely feel-good exercise. It's really more so just to get you guys thinking about that and it really makes your approach to development a lot easier.
Speaker: And it's it's not just kind of one of those you know cheesy icebreaker type exercises. like It's something... that if you really sit down, if you really have that self-reflection and you really hone in on this identity and commit to it and build around it, it can drastically make your development easier. it can help kind of guide you through as we go through the day-to-day grind and can really just, you know, give you that fallback grounding
Speaker: type of, i don't know, anchor to come back to, right? um So that's kind of all I have today. Again, we are building some really cool stuff around some of this. um We have one product for sure in the pipeline that's that's really cool with this. We actually are making like a physical in-season journal that's going to be Probably a couple weeks to a month out, depends on how busy camp season gets in August coming up here. But so that's coming down the pipe. And then, like I said, our programming, we're going to be offering some some cool stuff in the near future here that we've been building behind the scenes. We've been trialing with some of our goalies. So that's going to be something to keep an eye out for.
Speaker: um As always, guys, thanks for tuning in. Thanks for listening. Give us a like, a share, a follow. Send it to your friends. That's the best way to kind of grow the show, grow what we're doing. um You can follow us on social media at True North Goaltending, except for Instagram is at yeggooliecoach.
Speaker: um And you can always check out our website for merch, drills, some courses, a bunch of other stuff, some articles. That's all at truenorthgoaltending.com and then with that you can also book sessions with us. We're down to only one spot left in any of our camps um and that's our August 10th to 14th camp which we had a goalie pull out of so there's still that one spot available. Our beginner goalie camp spot got filled and the August 17th to 20th camp's already full. So last chance, if you want get in, get in, you can head to truenorthgoaltending.com.
Speaker: Thanks guys. Appreciate you listening. Take care of goalies and make some saves.
