Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
071 - Mailbag Q & A Part 2
62 Plays1 day ago
Show notes are available at https://thediygoalie.com/pod071
This week we go through a handful of questions/topics brought up by goalies and goalie parents. We cover topics such as mental performance, when to seek private development, why coaches are afraid of goalies, and more!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to DIY Goalie Podcast
00:00:21
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.
Post-Camp Exhaustion and Recovery
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome back goalies to another episode of the DIY goalie podcast with your host Connor Monday and Nathan Park and we are probably gonna sound quite rough a little bit today as we about and well just under two hours ago finished our week-long goalie camp so We probably won't be bringing too, too much energy to to to the pod today, but so you know you can probably hear it in our voice that we spent an hour or the last week yelling, telling kids what what they need to be doing and stuff like that. so
00:01:14
Speaker
Sometimes it's hard to get our voices heard across the ice. I know I'm feeling it, but it was a good week and you know we had a lot of good things over the course of the week. yeah Had a lot of fun. and ah Bodies are a little sore.
00:01:30
Speaker
Energy is a little drained, but we're here to get through part two of our Q&A mailbag episode. So we'll ah We'll do what we can and we'll have a good one today. So how's the body feeling over there, Connor?
00:01:49
Speaker
Oh, the legs. The legs are what hurt the most, I think, out of anything. Yeah. Like, I don't, I don't prepare coming into this, you know, like maybe do like a, don't know, like kind get my body back into shape maybe a little bit before I, you know, spend two and a half, two and a half hours on the ice, give or take.
00:02:09
Speaker
Um, no, it was a good session all in all. And, you know, we had a, we had a lot of fun with it. Um, lot of new goalies that we saw out here. So that was pretty cool to see. Um,
00:02:20
Speaker
And then, yeah, like Nathan said, like the voice is gone. Like I was losing my voice by the first skate in the morning. So I no idea how that happened, but you know, it is, it is what it is. And, uh, we're back, uh, we're back for another pod app today. So it
Pregame Preparations and Anxiety Management
00:02:35
Speaker
should be exciting. So, um, we're going to dive right into it so we can get some R and R and, uh, decompress a little bit and poor Connor's back at work tomorrow morning. But, uh,
00:02:47
Speaker
you know At least the weekend shifts a little quieter. So we'll dive right into it. First off, this was from Darcy H. So the topic that he kind of wanted us to touch on was pregame prep.
00:03:02
Speaker
and how to handle poor performance slash mental performance. um So this is something that we've kind of touched on a little bit in previous episodes. um Full disclaimer, neither of us are psychologists or psychologists.
00:03:21
Speaker
you know, full on mental professionals. That being said, we can kind of speak a little bit from experience and speak a little bit on what we've talked to professionals about and all that stuff. We actually, uh, our classroom session, ah today at the camp was about kind of talking about anxiety and stress and burnout and kind of, you know, how we can cope with some of these things. Um,
00:03:49
Speaker
Just ah basically like when it comes to the nerves, um the anxiety before games, pretty common, like that sort of um response from our body is perfectly natural. Like it's our body's way of kind of dealing with ah certain uncomfortable situations.
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah. Basically, you know nervousness and excitedness is very similar in the way that it kind of comes through in our body. So if you are anxious or nervous or a little bit kind of worried before a game, um a lot of times that's a good thing to a certain extent, just because you know that means we're excited, we're ready to go, we care.
00:04:40
Speaker
um so that's that's good. I do think when it comes to pregame prep, um A lot of people kind of think that that starts when we get to the rink.
00:04:52
Speaker
um But we can be doing our pregame preparation, our pregame routine like the night before. um we can start doing visualization stuff.
00:05:04
Speaker
We can start, you know, working through kind of some of the positive self-talk or watching some highlights, listening to some music to start getting us into the zone. um eating well, sleeping well, hydrating well, all that kind of starts the day before um and then obviously carries through to the day of. So everything that we do is going to be a little bit different based off of each goalie, based off of each person, like what works for Me isn't going to work for Connor all the time. like All of what I do isn't going to work for Connor, and that's not going to work for you and your goalie partner and all that. So you've got to play around with it a little bit to see what works. um The best thing I can suggest is to journal and to write down what you do the night before and the morning of, and then write down how you felt before the game, during the game, after the game, and how you played, how you performed.
00:06:02
Speaker
um And then just on the mental side of things, um not only having a pregame routine, but having like a post goal kind of reset routine is another thing that can really help with our mental performance and our um kind of in game performance.
00:06:20
Speaker
um And just finding kind of some coping strategies that help you to deal with the anxiety, deal with kind of the stress and the pressure. So that could be certain breathing techniques like box breathing or the breathing.
00:06:36
Speaker
What is it, the Wim Hof method or can't even remember. I never remember what it's called, but there's a few different, a few different like breathing techniques that you can just search up breathing techniques, um grounding techniques like, god you know, doing the five things you can see for you can hear, feel or whatever it is.
00:07:02
Speaker
and and looking up grounding techniques, looking up breathing or breathwork techniques. And then um muscle relaxation techniques too. That was something that came up in our presentation today about about this sort of stuff. So anything that you can kind of do that works for you to help get that mental reset, to help kind of calm the body's response to the anxiety and the stress. So like the heightened heart rate, kind of the more shallow, rapid breathing.
00:07:33
Speaker
um Those sorts of things are going to be different for everybody, but if you can kind of figure out what works for you to deal with that sort of stuff, that's going to really help translate to a better performance on the ice. And just like I said, with pregame prep, start it earlier than you are, most likely. um It doesn't just start when we get to the rink.
Cute Interruption: Emerson's Guest Appearance
00:07:53
Speaker
Do it at home, night before, morning of, all of that good stuff. All right. So had to take a brief pause here for a second. We have a special guest appearance on the pod.
00:08:04
Speaker
Future True North goaltending coach Emerson is making her podcast debut here. So ah she was missing dad from being gone all week. So she needed to just be in dad's arms. say Yeah, exactly.
00:08:19
Speaker
Anyways, going back to the to the to the pregame stuff
Coping with Poor Performance and Mistakes
00:08:22
Speaker
here. um Yeah, we've done we've done episodes on it before. um you know, talking about, you know, just kind of different pregame techniques, breathing exercises and, you know, ball drills, wall drills, cognitive kind of training type stuff.
00:08:39
Speaker
um On top where the um how to handle poor performance. I mean, there was a quote that I recall and I recall mentioning on the pod a while ago where he Nobody, like like if you have a like a bad game in two, three, five days time, nobody's really going to remember that.
00:09:04
Speaker
You know, at the end of the day, you know, need to understand and remember that, you know, you have to keep you have to keep pushing forward and because if you keep focusing on what's behind you, then it's not it's not going to help.
00:09:17
Speaker
And that's kind of where the hockey plans, you know, kind of come really, really crucial. you know, into it, you know, your, your kid had a bad game, you know, the you don't, as as much as you want to, for lack of better term, lay into them and, you know, just kind of tell them everything that they did wrong.
00:09:32
Speaker
um You know, you don't, you kind of can't, you know, you have to be their supporter because, because your kid already probably knows that, you know, they that they had a bad game and, you know, that they're not, you know, that they're probably already upset with themselves and kind of how they performed.
00:09:48
Speaker
already so it's it's one of those things where it's just you know it's it's easier said than done you know just need to remember then about three to five days time nobody's really going to remember what happened in the game nobody's going to remember the score and everything and that such um top of the mental performance i mean again like we've talked about that on much as well and nathan kind of hit the nail in head with that Yeah.
00:10:11
Speaker
And another thing, too, that I brought up to the goalies in today's classroom session. um The point of hockey is to score goals, right? Like the whole purpose of the sport is for one team to get more goals than the other team.
00:10:30
Speaker
Goals are going to happen. And we need to be OK with that. We need to go into our game understanding that most likely a goal or two is going to go in right or more.
00:10:43
Speaker
Um, so the thing is, is we have to be okay with that and we have to kind of you know, have that goldfish memory, right? Like we can maybe make a quick mental note, like, oh, okay, next time I should do this a little bit better.
00:11:00
Speaker
um but after that, it doesn't really matter. The goal's already gone and we just got to kind of move on from it. Right. Um, I think some of the goalies, uh, that are most successful are the ones that can kind of compartmentalize that and just move on from there and and make uh you know make that next shot what's important and not what just happened right so i think that's that's a good talking point too because uh i think we get caught up on you know oh i can't ever let a goal in or like oh i let a goal and what did i do wrong and it's like you know what
00:11:37
Speaker
it happens and sometimes the other team makes a good play too that's uh that's a possibility as well yeah what do you think do you agree i think we agree um no dad i sleep in yeah i see so exactly um you got anything else or are we gonna hop to the next one No, I think we can hop over to the next one. I think we've kind of covered the the the kind of the topics on that. I mean, again, like we've we've touched back on a lot more about it in previous podcast episodes. So make sure you guys check that out because we've even had a few guests on that, you know, that have talked about kind of the mental kind of side side of things and how to handle that.
Challenges in Goalie Training by Coaches
00:12:21
Speaker
So, I mean, definitely, definitely would recommend checking those out.
00:12:25
Speaker
Yeah, so the Pete Fry episode and the Brad Wall episode are two that come to top of mind that deal with some of that mental stuff. um So next one we have from Chris e Why are coaches afraid of goalies? Is it because they're weird or because they haven't put the work in to understand them?
00:12:45
Speaker
I can easily answer this with one sentence because coaches are a word that I can't use on pod.
00:12:57
Speaker
Yeah. Because they're scared. Like they, they, they are. And I find, you know, that, Yeah, like not a lot of coaches, not a lot of regular head coaches will put the work in for their goalies, which is a shame.
00:13:13
Speaker
um And there's that stigma that, you know, they that they don't care, you know, it's like, oh, I don't know anything about goaltending. So I'm just I'm just I'm just not gonna I'm just not going to do it.
00:13:26
Speaker
I think recent memory is showing that, you know, we are kind of seeing that shift a little bit, maybe not a lot, but definitely a little bit um in terms of, you know, head coaches getting involved and getting like a basic understanding on how the position works. Yeah.
00:13:47
Speaker
I think my message to head coaches in general are, you know, you're we're not asking you to do what it is that we do with the goalies.
00:13:58
Speaker
and we We did a whole podcast episode about having goalie-friendly practices. So then that way you are inadvertently giving your goalies something to work on without going through the nitty-gritty like how we do it.
00:14:14
Speaker
um So I just I just I think it's a mix, honestly, of just like coaches want to learn, but there's so many resources out there that it's it is kind of overwhelming or they just straight up don't care.
00:14:27
Speaker
And so I've I've been with I've been I've seen both sides of the coin where I've worked with coaches who. care but they get kind of just a little bit overwhelmed or you know there's there's just a lot going on with the position and i've worked with coaches that you know just simply don't care and ah again we're starting to see that switch a little bit um so hopefully maybe we'll kind of see something later on but i think i think it's
00:14:58
Speaker
It's got to be started. It has to start being part of the the organizations as well as a whole to start implementing like, hey, you have to like this is a requirement of being a head coach at this point. Yeah.
00:15:11
Speaker
The word that I usually use is ignorance. Like they just, ah a lot of them don't know. And some of them are scared of the, well, no, like they don't know goaltending, right?
00:15:25
Speaker
Yes. Okay. Well, okay. All right. I'll, I'll, I'll let you say your piece and then I'll tell you where you're wrong. yeah Okay. Okay. Sounds good. Uh, we like to do that. We need to throw an, I hate you in there somewhere. Um, I, uh, yeah. Yeah. shadow roon There you go. i am I think ignorance is the word just because like coaches don't know the position.
00:15:49
Speaker
and like you said, some of them are either too scared to venture out to learn or yeah they they don't want to venture out to learn. But ah it's kind of two mentalities. There's either the I don't know anything about it, so I am not touching it with a 10-foot pole.
00:16:08
Speaker
Or the other side I see is the coach does try to help, but the problem is is they don't go out of their way to actually get proper information, and they base it off of what they've they think they know from when they played and stuff. So a lot of times the coaches are like, hey, stand up more.
00:16:28
Speaker
Hey, come further out. And that's kind of the gist of it. There's no understanding of the situational. part of the the position. um I also think too, like we, i don't know, we've kind of gotten to a point, like, like you said, it is getting better, but the frustrating part about hockey and the mentality around goaltending is that every coach out there is like, our goalies need to be better.
00:17:00
Speaker
but then they don't offer any opportunity for them to get better, at least through themselves. It's always, we have to go find a private goalie coach. We have to go get our own goalie coaching, or even if there is goalie coach on on staff, a lot of times they're there once a month or maybe once every two weeks, or even if they are there full time, they only get a goalie session once a month, or if that even, right?
00:17:24
Speaker
um So I think the the biggest thing is is, like coaches need to be comfortable getting out of their comfort zone and trying to learn a little bit about a position that they don't know anything about.
00:17:41
Speaker
um to be able to give them the proper support. I do think it is a lot because they don't put in the work to understand goalies. and again, like you said, that is a slight shift that's happening, but we do need to do a better job but of it for sure.
00:17:59
Speaker
So now why am I wrong? Okay, well, after you've explained it, I understand why you utilize that word. I don't think and see in my mind, and I think in today's state of the game, um that ignorance can really be the describing word to me anymore.
00:18:21
Speaker
it makes like It makes sense for like when you and I played, because goaltending, or at least the the art of goaltending was still in its infancy stage.
00:18:33
Speaker
um Ironic that I'm holding a baby in this instance. um But I think in kind of the the the stage of the game or the state of the game that it's in now,
00:18:46
Speaker
I don't know if ignorance I don't think ignorance can really be utilized anymore. There's no reason for coaches to be ignorant of the fact that they have to develop that they have to be a participating factor in developing their goalies as well.
00:19:01
Speaker
Everybody knows that there are two goalies on a hockey team. right Everybody knows that there is goaltending development out there. There's a lot of it, yes, and so I'll give them that. it can be overwhelming, and if you don't know where to look, then yeah, you can're you're goingnna it's it's going to be daunting, and you're just going to kind of want to shut down from it.
00:19:21
Speaker
But there is no reason for a coach in this day and age to say, I don't know anything about goaltending, so I'm just not going to deal with it.
00:19:34
Speaker
I don't know anything about playing defense. I don't know anything about playing forward, but I still take the time to understand the systems because that's how it can help me be a goalie because I have to be able to read those plays that's happening in my own end.
00:19:48
Speaker
You know, because the box plus one isn't exclusive to just my team. it's every team that utilizes that that strategy or that that structure or whatever you want to call it there's just absolutely no reason for ignorance to be a reason for coaches not to work you know to work to work their goaltenders anymore yeah so i totally agree with that like i i do agree that ignorance is the reason but it shouldn't be an excuse like i do fully agree that you know, there is a lot of resources out there. You don't have to go buy a 10 part VHS tape, uh, to learn about, you know, making a skate save anymore or whatever the case is Right. So, um, yeah. So I do think, uh, there needs to be more onus on, on trying to get better. And I don't think the ignorance is an excuse anymore, but I do think it is the reason I think that most coaches are, uh,
00:20:46
Speaker
are not helping their goalies as much. and like ah Sorry, just again, like I want to reiterate like earlier, like we're not asking these guys to, you know, come up with a full practice plan geared towards goaltending.
00:21:02
Speaker
You know, we're not asking them to to do the drills that we did in this camp that we just had the last week. You know, we're because that because teams will have their specialized coaches, they have their defensive coach, they have their power play coach, they have their penalty coach, so on and so forth. So then on top of that, you'll have your goalie coach.
00:21:20
Speaker
But then you will have those practices where kind of all of those things kind of have to incorporate together, or at least you know, you're doing your systems and whatever else. So that's what we're saying in that instance. And again, that's what we talked about having goalie friendly practices earlier in the pod that I soloed on.
00:21:37
Speaker
That's that's as that's effectively is what you're saying is that when you're developing ah practice plan, coaches, you have to have your goaltender in mind as well as saying, yeah, this is going to be good for a forward and defense, but is this going to be good for a goaltender as well?
00:21:51
Speaker
because i think the mindset needs to shift as well as like when we're doing end zone stuff or flow drills or system drills or whatever okay that's also going to impact our goaltenders because their team the other team that you're going playing against whatever team that may be is going to be doing that exact same thing to your guy they're practicing that exact same thing so that focus needs to shift Yeah.
00:22:15
Speaker
And that brings up a good point. So building off of that, um now that I think about it, if we can learn to look for things
Improving Goalie Training and Resources
00:22:26
Speaker
about tracking, we can learn to look for things about skating and if we can learn to look for things about just general setup like hands, shoulders, knee bend, stuff like that.
00:22:39
Speaker
um And then That combined with if we can tailor better practices to help our goalies, which in my opinion also helps our players. So if we have more ah game realistic situation, so whether it's small area games, whether it's, you know, shots where there's net drives or traffic where you play out rebounds, stuff like that.
00:23:02
Speaker
If we can have more of that and more understanding about just the bare basics of tracking, skating, and just kind of general save execution, then at least, you know, you can have that bug in their ear to be like, Hey, your hands are low today. Get them up.
00:23:20
Speaker
Hey, you're not tracking a puck today. Track a puck. And Hey, our practice is giving you game like situations that you you can actually get better at game like situation. So in a game you will be better.
00:23:34
Speaker
um I think if we can hit those basics golden, that's all we ask. Yeah. Yeah, we'll have to bring back um Ethan Martin's pool, former guest of the pod and true north goaltending instructor and kind of ask him how he structures his practices and whether he does have that in mind because he is a goalie coach, right? but And we talked already about in the episode that he did, um you know, kind of his mindset, you know, and being a coach and being a goalie coach and all that. So we'll definitely have to bring him back on and just kind of talk to him about that.
00:24:09
Speaker
Yeah, and he's one that I've reached out to already. I've talked to him about that. Eventually, once the chaos of the start of the season kind of dies down and we get into a little bit of a better flow, um I do want to start including like...
00:24:28
Speaker
practice drills like team practice drills on our drills page that we have um as well as like team practice plans that are also goalie friendly so we can start putting that out into the world too so that's something that you know within the next year we'll probably see start to get rolled out um at some point. So over the next couple months, I want to work with him on getting some of that stuff out as well.
00:24:59
Speaker
um So stay tuned for
Youth Goalie Coaching Challenges and Equipment
00:25:01
Speaker
that. Hopefully we can maybe start to kind of change the narrative a little bit or help speed things up on on that shift that we're seeing.
00:25:10
Speaker
And I think think that'll be good as well. um Anything else on that or you know, and a hop to the next one. No, I think it'll translate nicely or kind of what we're talking about here. What kind of is kind of translating nicely into our next one here from Rick K. ah We're talking about goalie coaching and youth sports.
00:25:29
Speaker
I feel it often goes to the sidelines between periods. See, often they are neglected coaching moments of a game, especially in younger age groups, talking point, talking point about intermission that talks to goalies.
00:25:43
Speaker
Um, um, That one's kind of a hit or miss kind of deal. I know definitely with with my junior teams, you know, i would have so I would sometimes have goalies that just didn't want to talk to me between periods at all, which is totally fine.
00:26:02
Speaker
Yeah. The thing is, you know, with that, um i would say between games, like you kind of have to take, you kind of have to step back a little bit because, you know, they're already, your athlete is already being overloaded enough in the game. And so if you talk to them between every period and say, Hey, here's what you did. Great. Here's what you did wrong. Okay. They're kind of, they're, they're focusing on that a lot.
00:26:31
Speaker
when my dad coached he always says like, what's one thing that you want to accomplish in the game? And if I said like my skating or my tracking or, you know, making a save or getting sticking the stick to the corner, whatever that may be.
00:26:44
Speaker
um And that was kind of my one thing that I really wanted to accomplish you know throughout throughout the game. Because it it can be detrimental if you know you're pulling the goalie aside every period and you're saying, hey, here's what you did right. I like what you did this, this, this, and this. And oh, here's what you did wrong.
00:27:02
Speaker
This, this, and that. And then they don't really have a time to recuperate in between that period because that's what that time is really meant for is just taking a break for a second to get back out there.
00:27:14
Speaker
um especially for goalies when we're playing the full 60 minutes, depending on what age level that you're at. Um, you know, so I just, I, I, I honestly think for this in particular, it, there's, you, you gotta, there's a time and a place for it, I guess is what I'm, was what I'm trying to say.
00:27:35
Speaker
I'm, I'm all for goalie coaching on ever having a goalie coach on every single team. And I've spoken about that many, many times it throughout pod. um but yeah, for something like this, I don't necessarily agree with it.
00:27:50
Speaker
I don't disagree, but I don't agree with it either. Yeah. um A lot of goalies I know don't like the intermission chats as well.
00:28:01
Speaker
That being said though, I'm curious what your thoughts are. Is that because we are trained from a young age to be used to not being talked to at intermission? like Do you think that's why every goalie out there doesn't like to do it when they get to that higher level?
00:28:22
Speaker
Like, what what do you think? Do you think if it was more normal to be talked to at intermission that people like goalies would actually like that more? Like, what do you think?
00:28:37
Speaker
Because like, yeah, I don't I don't know about that. Like, that's something that I was thinking of when I saw this comment. I'm just like, you know what, is that why we are all conditioned to not want to be talked to at intermission? Because we're just so used to not being talked to at intermission. Like, I don't know, because by the time you actually get to the level where you have a goalie coach that could actually talk to you at intermission, you've probably gone through 10, 12, 15 years of working through higher levels of nobody talking to you.
00:29:11
Speaker
i suppose like like I suppose for myself, consider myself lucky because my dad was my coach. um So we would always kind of chat somewhat in between intermissions. like I kind of didn't really have an option in that instance.
00:29:27
Speaker
Yeah. But I suppose for everybody else, maybe. um i can't i don't know if I can definitively say that that's the reason.
00:29:44
Speaker
i just I know that I've had some goalies when I coached in juniors. Um, you know, they would say it's like, look, I just, I just want to stay focused. wanted, I want to stay in the moment. I want to, I don't want any distractions and I don't want to, I don't want to talk about kind of what happened in the last period. Cause I don't, I don't want that on my conscience.
00:30:07
Speaker
Um, where I was, i would have other goalies or sometimes I would still chat with the goalies between intermissions, but I would just kind of fine tune talking, kind of fine tune certain things. Hey, here's what I'm seeing out there. Here's what, this is what we need to do to correct that. And I leave it at that. I wouldn't say, here's what you did right. Here's what you did wrong. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:30:23
Speaker
So like, Hey, there's this one thing that I noticed. We got to clean that out because this is where we're getting beat. This is how going to help the team. And then leave it at that. Um,
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah, i i I don't know. i think it's just depend. I mean, like goalies are interesting creatures in themselves already. And, you know, we're so used to being on our own kind of little bubble. So, I mean, I guess maybe, but I don't, I can't say definitively for sure.
00:30:48
Speaker
Yeah, me neither. I'm just curious on that because you look at players and players are so used to getting feedback as soon as they get off of the ice almost every time after a shift, right? Like a lot of times the coaches there, hey, in this instance, you know, they get the whiteboard out there, X and O-ing up and, uh,
00:31:07
Speaker
Players are just used to that and they're getting that throughout the game. Like you never really hear about a player that says, hey, coach, don't talk to me during the game. I don't want to hear it. Right. yeah That's why I'm kind of curious as to if it was more the norm, would goalies be a little more?
00:31:23
Speaker
interested in that chat I do think I totally agree with you if it is to happen it's got to kind of be a little bit more simple um like I don't know I know obviously players deal with the mental side of things too but I I don't know what it is about goaltending but goalies seem to just get into their own head a little bit more and think a lot more than they need to but also Well, I'll say this. I think it's more so because we play an entirely different game compared to what the forwards and defense play.
00:31:56
Speaker
Yeah. Right. we we We play a reactionary style reactionary position versus the players. They play a, don't want to say proactive. That's not the word that I'm looking for, but they play a more systemized.
00:32:16
Speaker
Systemized. Yeah, that's a good word. they They play a more systemized game. We play a reactionary game. So the cognitive side of it is completely different when it comes to that, which is probably why, you know, for players and defenses be like, Hey, this is what we have to do. X, Y, Z, you don't versus goalies where it's like,
00:32:36
Speaker
No, we, we need to stay focused and be prepared for that next shot, that goldfish mentality that you were talking about. Right. So maybe that's why, because we play, like we like were playing the same game, but we're playing it two different ways, which is the way it should be.
00:32:52
Speaker
Yeah. And just a quick note before we move on, cause I know there is the mention of, ah just goalie coaching and new sports often going to the sidelines. I do think the big shift that we need in the sport for our position is just more resources for coaches and more coaches willing to accept those resources for that basic level. Like we kind of talked about before, like, like you said, ideally we'd like to have a goalie coach on every single team. Now that doesn't have to be a
00:33:23
Speaker
high level goalie coach like the NHL teams and WHL teams and whatever other level get. But if you have somebody on staff that can at least go through the basics and at least can pinpoint a couple areas of of improvement needed for goalies and just be able to actually have a conversation with goalies.
00:33:44
Speaker
I think that in general would help just, you know, goalie coaching and youth hockey um and just kind of younger goalies as a whole.
00:33:57
Speaker
Again, I'll tell you you're wrong. There needs to be a goalie culture on every single team. needs to happen now. um um Okay, realistically, I know you're over in Fantasyland over there. um Yeah, okay, fine.
00:34:14
Speaker
um No, I think, again, like for the resources part of it, um I don't know if we need more resources. i mean, like obviously, more resources, the better. But I think there needs to be a kind of designated resource, I guess. That's the organizational resources. How is that organizational reorganized resources? I suppose um to say, Hey, here's, here's what's here's what,
00:34:48
Speaker
a parent coach can receive in order to do what that is that they're doing. And that's where USA hockey is really striving with that is because there's more organized resources when it comes to that more structured resources when it comes to that versus again, we've, we've, we've talked dirty about them before with hockey, Alberta and hockey, Canada you know, not doing that.
00:35:15
Speaker
But again, we are starting to see that shift to an extent. But again, with it being hockey in Canada, it's still kind of being gatekept a little bit. Yeah.
Advice for New Goalie Parents
00:35:28
Speaker
All right.
00:35:29
Speaker
I think we can move on to the next point here. and think this will be our last one because we have one more at the end, but I think that might a topic for...
00:35:40
Speaker
Well, I was going to say, I think that might be a topic for a half episode or a whole episode on its own. That last. Well, I i was like, I was just going to say that but we can probably just touch on it quickly.
00:35:53
Speaker
um i think just with this one from David M would love to learn more about what to expect coming into your draft year. Pass for goalies, late bloomers, feedback advantages, different advantages of the different leagues.
00:36:04
Speaker
I don't know everything about the different leagues that David's mentioning to us here. I know of some of them, not a lot of them, but I think just kind of what to expect coming into your draft here is just the biggest thing to note that you're not, there's no guarantee that you're going to get drafted.
00:36:22
Speaker
um There is the development should stay the same. Again, I, I, I can't say for certain cause I've never been drafted anywhere. yeah,
00:36:33
Speaker
by i don't For me, I would say the development just doesn't stay or just stays the same because I i think if you put too much time or focus into it, then it can it can get messy and can put on potentially hurt your chances.
00:36:48
Speaker
Pass for late bloomers, for goalies and late bloomers, i would just like like there are definitely a lot of different paths out there. um whether it be through mainstream hockey or through non-mainstream hockey.
00:37:02
Speaker
ah Again, Nathan might not like this comment I'm about to say, but like you have these outlawed tier two junior junior leagues, which I know that don't sit well with some people. But for me, I think those are semi-decent options to have.
00:37:18
Speaker
It is not going to be a straight line to the wherever it is that you want to end up. in a pro fashion, but I think it is an option for you in that regard, but it can't be considered gospel. again, I know there's, there's no, there's, i know there's stuff with that.
00:37:36
Speaker
I'm just saying I've been in that league. We've had, we've, we've sent some kids off to some good places. um And then yeah, advantages and different advantages of different leagues. I think we would probably maybe want to bring on a scout or something for that. Cause I can't say for certain.
00:37:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, that's something I think if we really dove into that comment would be better suited for probably its own episode. One thing I will say, the only thing that really bugs me about the Tier 2 junior teams, and it's not every program, like some of them are good.
00:38:08
Speaker
It's mostly just the ones that are strictly cash grabs, like they're pulling kids from Europe saying, Hey, you can come play junior in Canada and it's going to cost you $22,000. Oh, by the way, our roster has eight goalies on it.
00:38:23
Speaker
And it's like, yeah well, like, so those ones bug me. um But that's, that's not all of them. um But yeah, well, we can dive into that more, I think on its own episode. We'll do our last one here with, or I guess from Jerry M.
00:38:43
Speaker
who I think is also Mr. Gammon3YT from YouTube on the other side that we talked about last episode. I could be wrong on that, but so just just the way he was commenting and mentioning that He watched the video um earlier. It kind of seems like it's the same one. I could be wrong.
00:39:04
Speaker
But um he kind of mentioned a few things. I just condensed it into a little bit of a list. So intro for new goalie parents. When is a good time to start seeking private development?
00:39:17
Speaker
um So kind of two different things, kind of similar. um it is on my list to eventually kind of make like a little handbook for new goalie parents or something along those lines.
00:39:29
Speaker
I think the biggest thing when it comes to new goalie parents is. Really try and understand, like which pieces are equipment are important, like a lot of times.
00:39:46
Speaker
parents go full out on the pads, full out on the glove and blocker, and then they go and get an enemy three or Bauer 930 or something like that on the helmet side.
00:39:57
Speaker
And that is the one thing I think you should prioritize first is the helmet. ah Make sure that it's appropriate for the level that your goalie is playing.
00:40:09
Speaker
um and then don't skimp out on some of the extra stuff like i know some kids really hate the dangler um the thing with the dangler is if you tie it properly it actually isn't that noisy um and it won't really get in your way as much as people say that does to me when a kid says their dangler gets in the way too much or makes too much noise that just tells me that it's not tied properly.
00:40:38
Speaker
um And you can tie it in a way to to do that. I also like we've talked about this a little bit before, but I know some new parents might not think that knee pads are a necessity, but I do think they are.
00:40:53
Speaker
And we even had a ah question this week from one of our goalie parents from the camp who he's a new goalie. this is He's going into his first full year as a goalie.
00:41:07
Speaker
And he was asking about goalie skates. And we kind of gave him the answer that, yeah, you want you want to get goalie skates as early as you possibly can. That being said, we understand like financial stuff and whatnot, like maybe wait till he...
00:41:22
Speaker
grows out of this current pair of player skates if you can't afford the goalie skates right now, but they make a big difference in the movements around the net and stuff like that. So goalie skates are a big difference.
00:41:36
Speaker
As soon as you can get into them, get into them. um You don't need the latest model or the flashiest stuff when you're starting out. find something used on marketplace as they get better you can get better stuff but don't skimp out on the helmet um the other thing too is you have to understand that it's a lonely position both for the goalies and the parents um they're Like there's a lot of gross things that happen in minor hockey as a whole, but it seems there's some situations where the goalies kind of get even more of that.
00:42:20
Speaker
um Like, I don't know, there's always parents kind of crap talking other, like the goalies on the team or whatever and stuff like that. People don't understand that.
00:42:32
Speaker
there isn't very much support for goalies. So if you are a new goalie parent, you you'll learn that real quick, but understand that you're your kid's in a position that isn't very well supported and day they might struggle with that mentally as well as their game just because they don't get the resources that other players get and they kind of you know fall behind a little bit in their development.
00:43:02
Speaker
Um, and, uh, yeah, I don't know if you have anything you want to add for new goalie parents before we kind of dive into the private development.
00:43:14
Speaker
Well, as a future new goalie parent, um, I, I don't mind know, I guess,
00:43:23
Speaker
um
00:43:28
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, definitely when it comes to the equipment side of things, you don't want to skip out the helmet. I would even say you don't really want to skimp out on the chest protector either. i Definitely, yeah, definitely the skates. I understand the skates um definitely for like a first year goalie, but if you get through that first year and if they decide that they want to continue, then yeah, then they're going to need to upgrade essentially to, to proper goalie skates.
00:43:57
Speaker
um But I think beyond that, it's more so just about just
00:44:08
Speaker
wanting to just make sure that they're going to enjoy the position first over anything. i for me, I, I wouldn't really worry about development until maybe their second year, the third year, what have you.
00:44:24
Speaker
for for right now i would say it's just understanding what the position entails kind of what it's about before getting into any more of the the nitty-gritty type stuff um yeah i don't know i mean like i said like like potential new goalie parent five years down the line six or seven years down the line whatever um but that would, that would be just the thing for me. It's just like, I would just want to put her in hockey and just make sure that she enjoys it first before going all out when it comes to, um, doing all, doing all that stuff. But yeah, you want to definitely make sure that you're well, that your kid is well protected in the noggin, in the chest and in other areas before, uh, um, stepping on the ice.
00:45:12
Speaker
Yeah. And I would suggest if they, do dive in and they enjoy it and they take it seriously and they want to you know pursue it as you know a high level if if they are interested i do think um getting in touch with like a sports psychologist is another thing that I think kind of gets, you know, not really put in the spotlight as much as it should.
00:45:43
Speaker
Like I know of a few goalies that were fantastic goalies and I hear that they went back to player and it saddens me because they were fantastic, but they just didn't have,
00:45:56
Speaker
the mental skill set or tools to be able to handle the, the, you know, unique problems, I guess, that come with the, the position or the you know I don't know the, the kind of pressure, I guess the pressure and the outside noise and the lack of support and the isolation and kind of some of that stuff that comes with the position.
00:46:25
Speaker
like It is probably one of the hardest positions in sports if you think of the expectations versus the support that goalies get.
00:46:37
Speaker
I feel like there's probably very little... um other positions in sports out there that that is so skewed like it is in goaltending.
00:46:48
Speaker
We are expected to do a lot and not given very much to support those expectations. So that's something to be aware of, too. Yeah, I agreed on that.
00:47:01
Speaker
I think just yeah spending that first year or so, just getting an understanding of what this position entails before spending any more dollars but into into the position. Because it is it is a it is an investment at the end of the day, right? So we want to make sure that it's going to be something that's going to be a good fit.
When to Seek Private Goalie Development
00:47:27
Speaker
for you and your athlete before really kind of diving into it. So I don't know if there's really like a list of accomplishments in one day, as Jerry had put it. I think it's more so just, uh, here's what to expect in your very, very first year as a goalie and as an athlete.
00:47:50
Speaker
And then here are the certain, for lack a better term, I guess milestones that you'll wanna hit before year two or whatever.
00:48:01
Speaker
That little side note in the brackets was me that added that, that it was on the list on my list to accomplish one. Oh, okay, all right. Okay, all right, I apologize then. but and But yeah, so we can kind of dive in quickly into the second part of that is like, when is a good time to start seeking private development?
00:48:21
Speaker
um the business side of us at true North goaltending is immediately and come to us and come train with us. Yeah, exactly. Don't go nowhere else. Make the trip. If you're from the States or we have listeners in and what flight at Singapore or whatever.
00:48:38
Speaker
here So make them, make the flight, you know, come, come, come train with us. Don't come with anybody else and just, you'll be fine. Yeah. ah But no, seriously, um when it comes to private development, whether it's like semi-private sessions, whether it's goalie camps, whether it is um private session, whatever the case is,
00:49:01
Speaker
um I would say the best time is once you know for sure that your kid wants to do this and they're all in, they enjoy the position.
00:49:14
Speaker
and if it works for you, both financially and time wise, and if you have a good provider somewhere around you and there's going to be different ways you know, I guess needs as your kid goes through the levels and what they might get out of private development um when they're eight is going to be different from what they get at 14.
00:49:43
Speaker
And so you might change providers as you go or the approach might change. Like you might start with just doing like goalie camps and then maybe move to semi-privates, then maybe move to privates or whatever the case is.
00:49:57
Speaker
Um, but do think that you want to wait until they seem to for sure want to dive full into being a goalie. I wouldn't do it any time before that while they're feeling it out, unless you're maybe going to like a tri-goalie event or maybe a you know, kind of just fun private development skate.
00:50:21
Speaker
Um, something not too serious. um But I will say from a goalie coach's perspective, there's nothing that bugs us more than running an hour long session with a kid that is just there because mom and dad told them to be there.
00:50:37
Speaker
um So do us a favor and wait until they're ready to make that commitment. Like if they're at the point that they love the position so much that they want to do whatever they can to get better.
00:50:51
Speaker
and they're willing to learn and all that stuff, to me, that's the right time to start looking. um
Engagement and Upcoming Evaluations
00:50:58
Speaker
and And before that, kind of let them figure it out a little bit on their own and and see from there.
00:51:06
Speaker
That's just kind of my opinion on it. Yeah. um No, I agree with you saying that you know once when you or your athlete have agreed or have come to the understanding that this is something that you want to invest your time and dollars into then.
00:51:24
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um You know, start looking around. um Again, you want to, you want to make sure that you're not overdoing it as well too.
00:51:38
Speaker
um But yeah, I would think that's just, that's definitely just the answer to, to that specifically part of it is just, yeah when you're When you know that you want to put the time time and energy into it, then that's when it's a good time to to seek it.
00:52:00
Speaker
I do think if you have that conversation with your athlete and you say, do you love this enough that you're willing to get through the not fun parts? right like We had a lot of kids this week.
00:52:17
Speaker
um at our camp that were not happy with the amount of skating that we did during the week. And there were some kids that were asking for more skating, right?
00:52:28
Speaker
So the skating part isn't fun, but it's an important part of the position. And if you have a goalie that either enjoys or at least can tolerate that, to because of the greater goal, like they can see the forest through the trees um and they're okay with getting through those not so fun parts and little tougher parts about the position, then to me, I think that's a great time.
00:52:53
Speaker
um And that's when you should really start looking for that development. um that i would Yeah, I would just, um I would just again say just, if it's something that you want to invest yourself into, then Yeah, that's it.
00:53:09
Speaker
um Yeah, I got nothing else on that. Yeah, you want to take us home then? Because I think that was about all we have for today. Yeah. ah Well, it I am certainly glad to be back on the pod.
00:53:24
Speaker
um And it's going to be a fun time throughout this year. We're going to to do another NHL goalies prediction episode because the last one went so well. i don't know.
00:53:34
Speaker
I don't even want to acknowledge that that episode exists.
00:53:40
Speaker
It shows how much NHL hockey I watch, which is very little. So, yeah. All right. Well, fair, fair enough. All right. Well, we'll leave it at that goalies. So that is ah fair enough.
00:53:53
Speaker
All right, goalies. Well, that is another edition of the DIY goalie podcast presented by true North gold tending in the books. If you are watching over on the YouTube side of things, make sure you hit that like and subscribe button.
00:54:06
Speaker
Leave a comment about maybe what you liked about this episode today, or if you have any other questions, For the questions for us that we can answer, we will definitely be happy to do that um Make sure you hit that share button as well because the more people that we are able to bring to our little community, the better. If you are listening on the podcast side of things, whether that be on Apple, iHeart, or Spotify, or whatever it is that you get your podcast, make sure hit that follow button and that share button because, again, same deal. The more goalies that we can bring together.
00:54:34
Speaker
the better. Make sure you guys follow us on our social media platforms, all at true North goaltending, except on Instagram, because we like to be different. That one is a Y E G goalie coach. You can follow myself on Instagram at Monday GC.
00:54:47
Speaker
Go check out our website should be done here within the next little bit. I'm putting that out there now. So Nathan has the incentive to get it done by September 1st, 2025. Beyond that, um yeah, nothing else. Glad to be back.
00:55:05
Speaker
Hopefully everybody had a great summer, and hopefully everybody's having a fun off-season training, and then good luck in the valuations that are expected to be happening sometime in the next little bit.
00:55:18
Speaker
Until then, that is another edition of the DIY Goalie Podcast, presented by True North Goaltending. Make some saves, goalies. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.