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040 - Becoming More Strategic and How to Improve Your Movement
124 Plays3 months ago
Show notes are available at https://thediygoalie.com/pod040
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This week we dive into how strategy can play a part in your success and why preparing for different teams' systems can help you gain a competitive edge. We also provide some tips on how you can improve your movement so you can move around the crease better.
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Transcript
Introduction to the DIY Goalie Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the DIY goalie podcast where hosts and goalie coaches, Nathan park and Connor Monday, share their insights on how to become a better goalie. I'm all by myself today because Nathan doesn't love me. Hey, what's going on goalies. Welcome back to the DIY goalie podcast with your hosts.
00:00:30
Speaker
Connor Monday and Nathan Park. I'm kidding, of course. ah Nathan and I are trying something different today and it's not because we don't love each other or anything. It's because the schedules um didn't really align today when it came to when it came to recording.
00:00:47
Speaker
And so we are you're you're still gonna hear both of us in just a couple of seconds But I'm I'm gonna be taking over first here today um When it comes to this when it comes to the podcast today and and my segment ah We're kind of splitting things up to today You guys will hear kind of my voice and my my segment here to start for today and then we'll transition over to Nathan and his and he'll do his segment here today. And I think he's got an interesting one today. we'll ah We'll listen to it.
Updates from True North Goaltending
00:01:18
Speaker
Unfortunately, there's going to be no banter back and forth today, and I feel like that's ah that's ah that's fine. um Just kind of want to take care of some housekeeping items before we get started. If you are following us over on True North Goal Tending, which is our in in studio
00:01:35
Speaker
um goalie coaching company here in the Greater Edmonton area. We do have ah quite a few things happening at the moment, and it's very, very exciting that that we want to get into here today. So first off, what that ah that I want to get into here is that if you are happening to if you do happen to travel to the Edmonton area for tournaments, showcases, ah visiting family or whatever, then please feel free to stop by our open house, which is happening on February 4th and February 6th. 5 to 9 pm Mountain Standard Time. It's 50 bucks ah per 30-minute session. You'll get a one-on-one. We set up with our video app and yeah it's it's a one-on-one kind of private session there. ah We did kind of a similar thing where we did our our grand opening. It's like three, four months ago now. That's kind of wild, but that filled up fast and I think even spots for this.
00:02:31
Speaker
are filling up right now. So you guys will have until I think probably about February 3rd or February 2nd to kind of get your spots in. I know that they are they filling up fast. We will leave the link to that down in the show notes there as well. So yeah, please feel free to to reach out to us. so we've had ah We've had a lot of good feedback from the facility sessions, couple of kinks to work out.
00:02:56
Speaker
and Such but there's been a lot of great stuff happening that it is my home away from home. I do quite enjoy it there so yeah, go check us out true north goaltending calm and Yeah, 50 bucks for a 30-minute session on one-on-one February 4th February 6th 5 p.m. The 9 p.m. Mountain Standard time that is the first thing that we want to take care of today The second one is for all of you first your goalies
Special Offers and Events at True North Goaltending
00:03:19
Speaker
out there. We do have a special new year's none news a new special pricing for first-year goalies.
00:03:27
Speaker
for first your goalies um If you are new to goaltending and you want to kind of get a little bit more, for lack of better a better term, intimate with the position, um please feel free to check us out at truenorthgoldtending.com. We do have a special offer right now for a one hour, one-on-one for the price of $110 plus GST for the hour. you'll won't You won't find anything anywhere else. Ice in general is ah relatively expensive. I was going to say it's cheap. It's not. It is it is expensive. And especially here in the in the Edmonton area, it's like 300 bucks for like an hour ice time. That's prime ice time too. So it's do it for doing something like this at the facility, you get personalized one-on-one training.
00:04:10
Speaker
and you get to hang out with myself or Nathan or any of our other amazing people that we have on staff. um It is a great opportunity to learn the position. You get to work with experienced goal tenders and just getting to learn the position and getting to kind of learn kind of some of the theory behind it because goal tending to me is the best sport or is the best position and in in in the world. um and then you there's a lot of ah lot there's There's just a lot of great things when it comes to goaltending. We can talk about it for hours here. Unfortunately, Nathan doesn't let me on the podcast. but
00:04:46
Speaker
Regardless of that, so we do also have that happening there as well. So again, please feel free to check it out. Truenotesgoattended.com. One-on-one session. You will also get the video portion as well. We we record all of our sessions. We do upload them to the OnForm app. You will get set up with that. We'll help you set that up.
00:05:04
Speaker
and then you will be able to access your session video at any point in time. So it's great to it's a great offer. And then lastly, our camps are happening. Summertime is the the best time to get some goalie camps in. We do have two weeks worth of goalie goalie camps happening this year compared to our compared to our one. Well, I say two weeks, but the first one's like four days.
00:05:30
Speaker
um But yeah, True Notes Gold Tending, the bookings for our summer camps are now live. So again, you can go check us out, trudorithgoldtending.com. All that stuff will be linked down in the show notes, July 29th to July 31st, 2025. And again, August 11th to the 15th included in both camps.
00:05:53
Speaker
Two and a half hours on ice a day. One hour of cognitive training with our so with our partners over at KH Performance. ah One hour in strength and flexibility training with our guy Chris Sharkey. ah One hour classroom session with Nathan. He will also be provided a ah ah lunch each day and a jersey and workout gear as well. I actually managed to, ah well, this will be our third year of doing camps. um I attended last year's. I unfortunately didn't get to do our inaugural camp.
00:06:22
Speaker
but I was at last year's camp. It was a great time. I've met a lot of great people um and looking to do the exact same thing again this year. So again, July 29th to July 31 and then August 11th to August 15th, 2025, lots of great stuff going on. You'll get to learn from a lot of different goalie coaches and you get to pick up on a lot of different things and then refine and fine tune your own skills is there.
00:06:47
Speaker
So we have a lot of great stuff happening right now. Nathan's on top of it. I got to give him credit for that. So it's exciting. There's a lot of great things happening with True North Gold Tending right now. So again, if you are in the Edmonton area or plan on coming down to the Edmonton area, or if I have managed to somehow convince you to come out to the Edmonton area, please check us out, truenorthgoldtending.com.
00:07:09
Speaker
and we will get you all set up. It's going to be a fun time. All right, let's get it here today. Like I said at the start of the pod, Nathan and I are kind of switching things up here today just because ah scheduling did not really work out the way that we had wanted it to. And so we're, uh, we're splitting up our segments this time. Uh, I'm going to talk for a bit.
Adapting to Opponent Strategies
00:07:30
Speaker
He'll talk for a bit. And then, uh, depending on how he, how he edits this, uh, it'll either be me doing the outro or he will do the outro today. He might even do the intro. So everything that I just said might not even be relevant, but I wanted to talk to goalies today. And cause there was a point from when we did our interview with walking gauge.
00:07:49
Speaker
ah that I thought was kind of interesting and something that I think maybe I can provide a little bit of of expertise on ah just kind of in my recent time being a goalie coach in junior hockey. and so I wanted to talk today ah kind of about adapting to opponent strategies as a goal tenor. It's not really something I don't think a lot of people would think about or would kind of really say a whole lot. i mean we've all we werere all We're at the point in the season now where we have probably played all the teams are in our in our league or in our division at least once or twice already.
00:08:25
Speaker
so we should kind of have So we should start to develop like ah like a book on on these teams. you know You'll hear NHL interviews. You'll say, like oh, you're going up against the Calgary Flames, let's say, for the Edmonton ones. You're going up against the Calgary Flames. you know They're a tough team. you know what What kind of insights do you have on them? or or anything of of anything of the sort. And, you know, the goal is, well, you know, like players will say, like the standard stuff. Yeah, they're a tough team and whatever else. But I will not be surprised, excuse me, if um they do kind of have like like a repertoire, like like a book. It's like, OK, when you're on the ice against Nazem Kadri, you know, he's, you know, he's a big guy and he can just likes to crash the net. Or if you have like a book on Conor McDavid, he'll likely try to pass it to Zach Hyman or Leon Drysotl.
00:09:14
Speaker
and stuff. So for us as goalies, we kind of need to know who we're playing against. right And before I go off on this tangent, we want to talk about you know coaches kind of being finicky when it comes to you know who's starting a goal, whatever else. I think it's beneficial for both goal tenders to be prepared to play. you know Obviously, it's beneficial to know who's starting like 48 hours beforehand. But I think just for the just for the sake of things is that As a team, you need to be able to you need to be prepared up for who you're playing against. And as a goalie, you also need to be prepared again for who you're playing against. So kind of developing that repertoire if you haven't already.
00:09:57
Speaker
So let's talk about it. So how do we as goalies prepare and adapt for if if we know that we're playing against specific players or for going up against ah specific teams? The first bullet point that I have here is team video. ah If you are ah in a league that happens to record or stream the games, or if you have a parent in the stands that that that records or streams the game over on Facebook or or whatever else, um basically grab that video and kind of go through and analyze it. Kind of similar take to stuff that we do on our iPads in a facility. Going through video is always a it's always a great tool to use. to So not only just to see how you're doing and in a net, but you can kind of see you get like a different view or a different angle in terms of how all the build up to the play, whether it be the save, the goal, the whatever it just so happens to be.
00:10:57
Speaker
Um, so that is an option. Obviously not everybody has that luxury. So
The Role of Video Analysis in Goalie Training
00:11:06
Speaker
the second point here, and then I think kind of goes hand in hand is what hand in hand is watching other teams in your league or your division, um, being in the, the, the greater city of Edmonton. Um, obviously teams fluctuate all the times when it comes to tearing and whatever else, sometimes a smaller town,
00:11:25
Speaker
Leagues have that have that capability of doing that um Not a lot of people do but I think if you have like if you take the time you know whether like it's a team that's in your division or a team that's in your league is playing after you or you don't have anything to do on a on a on a Wednesday night and like all the You go through the the league schedule whatever all these two teams are playing um You know go to go check it out um Even as well, and I'll tell you a little bit of a story here when I was in Think second year Adam, which would be you nine You've you you not no not you nine you 11. Sorry Yeah, probably about you 11 I was actually had a sleepover with a buddy of mine and
00:12:17
Speaker
And he's big boy. Um, everybody hated playing against him, but really, really good hockey player. And so before we went to bed, or I think even as we got up the next morning and we're having breakfast, he's.
00:12:31
Speaker
on his computer, having his breakfast, and he's going through, here he was going through our um association's website, found our team, found the schedule, and then was looking at who we were playing that day. And I think it was i think it was one of the was one of the one of the teams here in Edmonton that we were playing against. And so he's going up and down the roster, you know trying to learn all the numbers, trying to learn the the names with him.
00:12:58
Speaker
Um, you know, it was kind of doing like a scouting report essentially. And sometimes the league or the website had the stats. Sometimes they didn't. Uh, and so he was going through that as well. And he was trying to find out, okay, uh, this guy seems like he's going to be their best player. So I need to.
00:13:16
Speaker
not run him over essentially, but I need to be the guy that that's that's going to do that. um Or that's that's gonna get up that's going to get under his face, so you know how how are the goalie's doing, anything of that sort. So if there's any resources online um that is able to help you do that, then I think that's ah that's also a great way of doing about it as well. It's just kind of it's just being prepared knowing who you're going up against. so And then, um, the last kind of bullet point that I have here is maximizing kind of your practice. You know, we talked a lot in, I wanted to start before I do that. I want to go back to my other point where I was talking about a team video, um, kind of by extension of that is, again, we talked about it earlier where, um,
00:14:07
Speaker
Not a lot of people watch hockey nowadays and generally it's not on TV or anything or whatever streaming apps that are out there flow hockey and whatever else is out there nowadays. I actually don't even know.
00:14:19
Speaker
um but But resources like that as well. Pick up an NHL game, pick up a PWHL game. I've actually been really getting into watching the PWHL lately. And just watch the game. See see what you can pick up. See we can see see what you notice. Do you notice any similar systems at all? When we play, hey, what the Ottawa charge is doing this is what the team that we played against two weeks ago did I now that I see that I know what to I know what to look for and and all that You know studying to play but like there's so many different options out there
00:14:57
Speaker
And so now I want to go back to talking about maximizing your practice. We've talked about it already you know in terms of maximizing or utilizing your practice effectively if you don't have a goalie coach for skill development. And it's still a really, really, really important tool. But when I was coaching juniors, we weren't really focusing on that a whole lot. We were still focusing on it to some degree because sometimes we had maintenance days, and where we just we had to go back to basics or we had to work on certain skill development. And when we when I was with my junior 18, we practiced every day at like two o'clock in the afternoon. And um I would so I would maybe get in that in that seven day period, I would maybe get to work with the bullies twice.
00:15:46
Speaker
Otherwise, like I'm just puck pushing and whatever else. But when I was working with the junior A team that I was with, the Northern Alberta Tomahawks, um I would spend the first day when I got to work with them, or even just kind of the first two practices when I got to work with them, working on skill development. um Because that was always kind of my number one focus is want to make sure that we're fine tuning skills and everything of the sort.
00:16:09
Speaker
And even when I wasn't working with them, I'd be watching in the corner. I'd be like, Hey, I'm noticing this. You know, let's clean it up. And then when we got into working in the practice, actually, okay, so here, let me do it this way. So when I was working, so I'm going to kind of lay this out in like a five day period, Monday to Friday, we were always on ice, uh, 2pm. So day one, Monday, if I was there, um, I would.
00:16:33
Speaker
Just watch the practice. That's what I would do. I would just sit, I wouldn't sit, but I'd be on my scbby and i while my skates, pushing pucks. And whenever we were running flow drills and everything, I would just be watching the goalies. And I'd be making mental notes and picking up on things that like, hey, here's what I'm noticing. You know, track down over the puck. You know, let's stay consistent with our, with our save execution. Here's what I'm noticing in your movement. So here's how you're going to be more effective in this drill.
00:16:59
Speaker
so on so far. When I got into day two, which would be a Tuesday, that would be the day that I actually got to work with the goalies. And so we would be working exactly on that. we would thatt's that's That's all that we would be doing is just working on skill development, tracking the puck, proper movements, rotations, just all all the basic skill development that that we would need.
00:17:23
Speaker
Day three comes around again, I'd be watching the practice again. Or sometimes, you know, I would actually I would get back to back opportunities to work with the goalies, particularly if they did power play on the other end. So I would continue working on I will work on and if so if they were working on power play, let's say I would work on kind of individual skill development. Day four. Oh, no, I guess it was four days because it was Monday, Thursday, because I forgot that we played Fridays.
00:17:49
Speaker
Okay. So day three or day four would kind of be hit or miss, but generally I would always either do kind of skill development or I'd be doing kind of, Hey, we're going up against the top seated team in our, in our league. What do we know about them?
00:18:04
Speaker
What can we work on? And then we would, we would work, what, how are they, how are they constant? When we last played them last time, how are they beating us? What kinds of goals were we giving up? And so on and so forth. And so we would work, I would, we would pick a specific drill and we would hammer that home throughout the entire time. So when, so when we knew that, Hey, we're going up against the top seeded team and this is the type of drill or this is the type of play that we're going to do. We had a drill that sort of emulated it and um now we're better than before and so the percentage of goals given up with that specific tactic went down essentially. With my junior B team, I didn't exactly have that luxury because we only got to practice like twice a week
00:18:55
Speaker
And it was like 9, 11, 9, 10 o'clock at night. And so one practice would be for the team. The other one, we tried to do development, but again, it would just it would just depend on what coach was feeling. um So with that one, it was kind of harder to do so.
Strategies for Opponent Preparation
00:19:15
Speaker
But the premise was still the same. you know I would watch day one, I'd watch the first day's practice, um work in this ah fine tuning little thing. Say, hey, here's what I'm noticing. So when we do this drill again, here's what I want you to focus on. When it came to actually time to work with the goalies, I had to kind of think about what I wanted to do. It depended it depended on who we were playing against.
00:19:39
Speaker
who was who will Who was I working with? Who's going to be starting um that game or the games that we had um coming up? um so i would only Because we had like three to four goalies on the team, which is absurd, but regardless. um So I would only work with the goalies that we're playing, essentially. And so it kind of it kind of depended on like, hey, what's what's the greater need at that point in time?
00:20:08
Speaker
The point that I'm trying to make is that you want to give yourself every ample opportunity to succeed. And ah so when you are in a in a in a tough league or in ah in a higher playing league, um having those opportunities to kind of scout the team that you're playing against, going through your own video, utilizing practice the way it should be utilized. um Those are kind of how we as goalies kind of adapt to opponent strategies. It's always important, I think,
00:20:49
Speaker
to kind of learn how to be a player at the same time, you know, learn, learn the playbook, you know, pick up on the strategies, pay attention, you know, to what the head coach is saying when you guys are running flow drills or, or, or system drills or, or anything of the sort. Cause as goalies, again, and we talked about this in previous episodes where it just kind of being the voice for the goalies on your team.
00:21:13
Speaker
kind of helps give a new perspective on things you know say because when coach says oh dump the puck and you know goalie just leave it or whatever chime up and say like no like I should catch him release it because so then they're not coming all the way back to and we potentially give up the puck behind their own net or anything that's a terrible example but that's just kind of the the point that I'm trying to drive at.
00:21:31
Speaker
and so i think just
00:21:36
Speaker
yeah that's that that's That's just kind of what I'm going on about here at the end of the day. so i think just I think for me, you know for goalies, you know I think we always need to be thinking. and so if we if if we want to um be the best and so we we kind of that's that's that's how i think we just need to adapt to uh opponent strategies and just kind of those specific players or those specific tactics and such you know and so if you if you do if you are fortunate enough to you know have a goalie coach sit down talk with him and say like hey coach can we go through video from
00:22:10
Speaker
my last game, you know, there's, if there's a specific player that you want to, uh, that you want to, um, that you want to focus on. Be like, Hey, here's how I hear. I'm sorry. Where, this is where I'm struggling against this team. How do I do that here? This is where I'm struggling against this specific player. How do I, how do I do that? Or what can we do to focus on like, even with the coach as well? You know, if you are on a team that does go through video sessions and such, you know, pick up on things like that, you know, like even just in general stuff as well. Um,
00:22:40
Speaker
There's a, I'll kind of leave with this. There's a movie that I haven't watched, but it was a clip that showed up on my Facebook. It was some football movie. And so the team's going through video and they're trying to learn how to, I think the context of this, of this clip is they're trying to learn how to, you know, stop the offense of the opposing team or start trying to beat the defense or whatever. No, it's trying to stop the offense. That's right.
00:23:09
Speaker
And so one of the, I think this is actually based on True Story. One of the the the players had brought like their little brother in because whatever the plot of the movie was. The point being is that the little brother actually managed to pick up on ah on ah on a tell that the run, I think it was the running back, um you know, always tugged on his jersey if they were if the team was going to run the ball.
00:23:34
Speaker
So every time the opposing team ran the ball, the the running back or whoever, what that position is, I don't know enough about football, would always tug on his jersey and then um they'd pass the ball and then they'd run off. So that was that was the telltale sign there.
00:23:49
Speaker
so going through So doing something like that you know is what I'm trying to say. no Analyze the game. you know The PWHL is actually really great for this, and i'll look and and I will end off with this, you know for re-uploading the games on their YouTube channel. Unfortunately, we don't get them live for free anymore here in Canada. They're on TSN. But they do re-upload the full game afterwards onto on YouTube.
00:24:16
Speaker
um So I do spend a good amount of time just watching the game just because, but if there's something that I see, ah actually I will actually go back and rewind it and kind of nitpick the play. And it's not necessarily like a goal or a save or anything. It's ah it's ah it's a specific play, like a breakout or something. Oh, here's where these guys, here's where these girls, these ladies rather, I should say, um here's whether here's how they're setting up. So if I was to ever be a ah head coach or a defensive coach or a special teams coach or whatever, that would maybe be something I have in my arsenal, just something along those lines. So I think just, you know, video is again, a great tool, but I think, you know, learning the game itself is great. And then deep diving it further. It's like, watch, watch the people that you're playing against.
00:25:07
Speaker
whether on the same team or on opposing teams, or even if it's a team that has no relevance to you whatsoever. Just sit down, watch the game, pick up on the strategies, analyze it, overanalyze it, and then you'll be pretty successful there. I know that was a long-winded rant. I don't know how much sense it made, um but I think that's just kind of... what I would do and what I have done when we have gone up against opposing teams that are stronger or that are weaker than us or on about the same playing field, especially when it came around to playoff time. That was ah that was a massive one there and i could I could go on about that as well. I hope that made sense to everybody. um I don't even know if, so I know it made it made sense in my head, but trying to
00:25:53
Speaker
Um, articulate the words wasn't exactly all there, but I think I got the promise. Uh, I will pass you guys over to Nathan now for his segment. I don't know exactly what's going on. If you are watching on the video feed, my cat is in a bookshelf right now. So that is kind of distracting. But anyways, um, I suppose on my end, uh, if Nathan isn't going to cut this out, thank you guys so much for watching and listening. It's much appreciated. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.
00:26:22
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:27:11
Speaker
Gullies, how are we doing today? It is my turn to hop into this episode for the podcast today. Uh, you guys already heard from Connor and as he mentioned, we had some scheduling issues that, uh, we worked around by just recording our segment separately today. So, uh, probably a little bit more straight to the point for you guys and and not a lot of, uh, tangents like we normally do when we get together. So.
00:27:38
Speaker
ah Probably a bit refreshing for you guys, but we will get right into my side of things It's been a while since I feel like we've done a for sure kind of deep dive technical um aspect of goaltending on an episode. So I figured that we'd kind of revisit that a little bit. And what I wanted to talk about is just what we can do to improve our movements. um It is a critical part about our game as to how good we can skate, how good we can move in the net. And
00:28:14
Speaker
I feel like a lot of goalies don't really work on that as much as we should, just because it's not really the fun thing to do. Um, it, it's like, nobody really gets excited about going out there, working on our skating, working on our movement. So it's, uh, it's something that I think might be a bit of, uh, a dying art or a lost art, I should say, maybe not a dying one, but a lost art, a lot of goalies don't, uh,
00:28:42
Speaker
aren't where they should be, I guess, when it comes to skating and movements. So I wanted to go through a couple tips to help improve our movements and some things to think of when you're actually working on them, um whether it's shuffles, T pushes, T push recovery, slides, all of that stuff. so um If you guys, a good starting point, if you guys haven't listened to the episode already is going back to episode six. So right near the start of when we started the podcast, um, that was before Connor was on board and it was just a solo episode myself. I think it was the first solo one we had. And it was talking about how to be a more efficient goalie.
00:29:23
Speaker
um So we touch a lot on the on the movement stuff there as well. i' Not quite as deep as we're going to get into today, but the starting point when we're thinking about our movements is how we want to be efficient in the net We basically want to eliminate any unnecessary movements. So anything that's not getting us to our goal of getting across the net and set for the next save or movement, ah we need to eliminate. So anything that involves us coming up or back, like
00:30:00
Speaker
our weight coming back, our shoulders coming up or back, anything like that, we need to get rid of. Anytime there's an extra swing of the hands, like a lot of goalies like to pump their hand back to kind of load their momentum to push. That's another one that we we kind of want to get rid of there. um So that's kind of our starting point is just making sure when we're thinking about our movement and you're breaking it down,
00:30:27
Speaker
How efficient are we and how much movement do we need to eliminate from how we move? So if you're looking at your game, if you have access to video, anything like that, that's something to keep in mind is thinking about, okay, am I doing anything that's taking away from my end goal of getting to my end position? If yes, what can I do to eliminate that?
00:30:52
Speaker
And again, we've talked about this a lots, but goaltending is a process. Building new habits doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen in one session, but just having that awareness is the first step to being able to building quality, good, new habits. Um, the other thing we talk lots about both in person with True North goaltending and on the podcast and all of that is the importance of rotations, being able to have that awareness and not to panic to just move. Like a lot of goalies don't understand that they do have a little bit more time than they think. And they just go, they just push. It usually ends up in them pushing flat so it they don't get into that lane.
00:31:38
Speaker
Or it takes longer to get into that lane because they're pushing flat. Um, and it, it just basically results in it making their lives harder. They have to stretch or, um, or make an adjustment at the end of their push, or it just takes a little bit longer. So yes, the rotation will take you a split second longer rate at the start.
00:32:02
Speaker
but you will get into that lane quicker and you will hit that spot a little bit more accurately. So like we talk or like we tell our goalies when we teach them in person, there are two things you need to do before you push and that's look.
00:32:17
Speaker
and rotate. So look to find your end point. If it's a pass, you're trying to beat the pass across. So you're actually looking for the blade of the stick and then you're rotating. So you're squared up to that point before you push. Cause then you get a nice straight line push on the proper angle and you're already squared to that position. So that by the time you finish that push, you're square, you're ready to go for that save or that next push.
00:32:45
Speaker
So those rotations are massive and they're game changing. If you guys aren't currently rotating before you push, it's a massive game changer. you're You just get there quicker. It's a lot easier, a lot more efficient, all of that good stuff. So again, look.
00:33:03
Speaker
rotate and push. And just with those rotations too, we always wanna rotate top down so that that head goes, which rotates our shoulders, our body, our hands, which rotates our hips and our feet, right? Because if we rotate feet first, which I do see a lot of goalies do too, um a lot of times our body kind of gets left behind a little bit, our hands are behind us, and we don't hit our spots because we haven't looked to find that spot.
00:33:31
Speaker
So anytime we do anything as goalies, the head leads us all the time, head and eyes. So make sure that we're rotating top down as well.
Improving Power and Movement for Goalies
00:33:40
Speaker
Um, the other big one too, especially in younger goalies is getting a proper knee bend. So the easy way out, and this is why a lot of goalies have this habit. The easy way is to be a little bit more straight legged, a little bit more upright.
00:33:58
Speaker
And as goalies, all our power is generated from that knee bend, right? Like if you think about it, our legs kind of act as our springs to kind of load up and then explode through that push, right? So if you don't compress that spring, so if you don't bend that knee and load up that weight, you're not going to get a good push off. You're not going to get a lot of power and that kind of,
00:34:26
Speaker
ends up, you know, you being a little bit short in your movement, or even if you do have enough juice in that movement to get to the end of your um push and the proper position. A lot of times you're a little bit later because it's taken a little bit longer since you don't have that full power. So make sure we really load those knees Bend those knees, load those legs. Um, I basically like to refer to it as load and explode, right? So bend that knee, load that weight, and then drive that through that push so that you can get that good explosive movement. Um, yes, it burns the legs a little bit more.
00:35:10
Speaker
But the more you do it, the more your body gets used to it, the stronger you get, the more stamina you have. So especially in practice, really emphasize that knee bend, emphasize staying low in that proper stance when you're shuffling, when you're T pushing, when you're waiting for shots, the more you can do it in practice or on the ODR or wherever you guys are getting your extra ice time, the more you can work on having those knees bent, the better.
00:35:38
Speaker
Even if you're at home, you're watching TV, like say you're watching your favorite team's game. Take five minutes of game time and spend that five minutes of game time in that knee bent stance to get used to it, to get into that proper, uh, habit.
00:35:57
Speaker
And then you can take a rest for a little bit. So set yourself up, say you're starting watching a game, give yourself, okay, once the clock gets to 15 minutes on the game clock, I am going to now relax and take a break. But until then I have my knees bent. I'm down in that stance position, getting used to that. So that's something you guys can do at home. That's nice and easy. That'll work on, uh, on helping build that habit.
00:36:26
Speaker
The other thing that's really important too, and we kind of touched on it with the rotations a little bit, but. We want to make sure that we drive kind of our upper body through that that movement. um Again, a lot of goalies I see kind of lead with their feet. And what happens is when they get to their end position, their balance is off. Usually their hands are back, their shoulders are back, they're opening up a lot of net and they're just not really in a good position to make a save.
00:36:56
Speaker
So what we want to do instead is as we make that rotation and we're pushing through our push or our movement, we want to drive our shoulders, our hands and our head basically through that movement so that our upper body is leading our body through.
00:37:13
Speaker
So that when we get that stop at the end of that position, our shoulders are forward, our head is forward and down looking at that puck. Our hands are out cutting off the angle. We're projecting those hands. All of that stuff, that's going to really allow us to be in a very good spot by the end of our push. So we need to make sure that we are leading with those shoulders and those hands and that head through that push. Um,
00:37:40
Speaker
One thing that's ah that's really important with that too is just general use of the body. That's probably another segment that I might do in the near future on on the podcast, but one of the most underused pieces in a and a goalie's arsenal is the body. It's your most area of coverage. um It's what kind of like,
00:38:12
Speaker
moves you around, I guess, right? Like it's your, it's, it dictates where your center of gravity is, all of that stuff. So the more you can use your body, the more you can kind of lead with your body, get it into the lane quicker. Cause again, it's, it covers the most area, uh, the better you can be in or the better spot you can be in. So that's something I think we'll dive a little bit deeper into another episode.
00:38:36
Speaker
Um, but just keep that in the back of your mind as to just how useful using that body is. So anytime you're moving, drive that body forward through that push. Don't leave it behind lead with the head, the shoulders, the hands, you'll be in a really good spot.
00:38:54
Speaker
Um, another mistake I see goalies do a lot is they bring themselves up during the push. So again, it's kind of that efficiency aspect. Like if you're bringing yourself up through the push, you're kind of losing some of that lateral momentum because, um, your body's.
00:39:15
Speaker
bringing some of that momentum vertically as opposed to laterally. um So that's a little bit of a thing there. Not only that, but you can end up when you stop at the end of your push, you can end up with your weight being back, which isn't good for our balance. It doesn't help us get set, get ready to make a save.
00:39:33
Speaker
The other thing was staying low too. If we pull ourselves up through the push, it takes a little split second longer when we get to the end of our push to have to come back down, right? um So again, as goalies, we can't really afford to add time to the things we do. Like we don't have the luxury of being able to afford a split second. Cause a lot of times that's the difference between a save and a goal. And unfortunately for us,
00:40:01
Speaker
we just can't afford that. So anytime we add a split second here or there, that can make a big difference, right? So if we don't have to come back down to get set at the end of our push, if we can just stay low all the way through that push and then get a stop, hard stop, which we'll talk about in a second. But if we get that hard stop, we're already low, we're already set. We don't have to do anything else. We're just ready to go, right? The point of,
00:40:29
Speaker
Um, or what we want to accomplish, I guess, when it comes to a lateral play is we want to turn a lateral play into a straight shot because straight shots are our bread and butter. Those are the easiest to, uh, the easiest plays to make when we are set and somebody is just shooting on us.
00:40:49
Speaker
that's probably the easiest thing to do as a goalie. If we're still in our movement or still trying to adjust or make little tweaks in our positioning because we're not fully there, that's what makes it a lot harder on us. So our goal is to turn any lateral play just into a straight shot and any extra time like we talked about just kind of takes away from that, right? So what I like to do is I like to kind of hold my stick up at shoulder ah height.
00:41:17
Speaker
for the goalies when I'm working with them. And I just basically hold that stick parallel to the ice. And I say, this is where I want your shoulders to stay. So we're not coming up over that stick to come back down. And we just want to maintain that same height with our shoulders the whole way through that push, whether it's a shuffle, a T push, anything like that.
00:41:39
Speaker
We don't want bobbing up and down. We don't want pulling up. um The other thing I see a lot of too is when goalies rotate. That's a big spot where goalies like to pull themselves up. So don't look around your shoulder or over your shoulder when you're trying to rotate, look around your elbow. That'll keep you low. That'll help that shoulder or those shoulders maintain that consistent height through that push. um But just in general,
00:42:09
Speaker
just be thinking of that when we're working on those movements. We want to make sure we're staying low the whole way through that push. um When it comes to the actual push itself,
00:42:21
Speaker
A lot of goalies, like our thought processes is when we're pushing because we're pushing to one side or the other. A lot of times when we go to push mechanically, our leg wants to go out to the side, right? Because we're trying to propel ourselves to the other side. I know that's kind of... doesn't make the most sense, but basically when as goalies, when we are trying to push across the net and we're loading up with that back leg, a lot of times the thought process is like, and it's usually subconscious, we don't really realize it, but we're trying to extend that leg out to the side when we push against the ice to propel us to the other side.
00:43:07
Speaker
One thing this can do, especially on inside edge pushes or butterfly crawls, whatever you call them, this can lead to blowing out, right? So where we don't actually catch that ice and our foot just extends out and we don't go anywhere, right? We don't push.
00:43:25
Speaker
um So what I like to tell my goalies is when you're making movements, load your weight down. Your point of contact is below you. The ice is below you. It's down. So when you go to push, load that weight down into the ice, not to the side. It's a little different if you are on your post because then your post is to the side of you and you can push off that post. But if there's nothing beside you,
00:43:51
Speaker
load that weight down. That's where that contact with the ice is. And then you can really grab that edge to make a nice explosive push. So think less of extending that leg to the side. Think more so of loading that weight down and pushing down to get that power through that push. That's going to really help you get a nice explosive push. It's going to really help you hold that edge a little bit more and kind of prevent blowouts a little bit.
00:44:19
Speaker
So just think of that when you're doing your movement. Um, the other thing too is feet positioning. So if we get too wide, this isn't the most common one is seeing goalies get too wide. Um, especially after watching like the Russian goalies, like you look at Vashtalesky, you look at Bobrovsky, you look at just how wide they get in their stance and all the goalies out there, they watch these goalies, they see them be successful and they try and emulate them.
00:44:49
Speaker
The problem is, is you need an unreal amount of edge control and ankle stability to be able to move when you're that wide. And most of us don't have that skill set, right? There's a reason those guys are at the top of their game.
00:45:05
Speaker
or at the top of and um the world, I guess, when it comes to, uh, comes to where they're at with their game. And for most of us, we're not there. So we can't afford to get that wide because what happens is we get railroaded as I like to call it. So we get so wide that we're caught in the tracks and we can really only go forward or back.
00:45:30
Speaker
Um, it makes it harder to move. It makes it harder to drop. You've got a massive five hole, all of that stuff. So getting too wide is one common thing. I see a lot of goalies do that. I think it's because they're just watching these and NHL goalies that do it, but it just doesn't work for everybody. Right. Um,
00:45:51
Speaker
The other thing too, though, especially younger goalies, uh, newer goalies, they can be too narrow as well. Right. And when you're too narrow, usually you're kind of standing straight up. You don't get that good knee bend. Um, and the other thing is too, is you're just not in a good spot to drop into that butterfly. Right. So you're basically in a position that you're hoping the puck hits you and you're not really getting any good, um, any good movement, any good, uh, power.
00:46:21
Speaker
because there's no knee bend there, right? So we need to make sure that we're around shoulder width with our feet. I usually like to say just outside of shoulder width, that's kind of the sweet spot for being able to move properly, being able to push, but still be able to go down, make a save, react to those shots well. So just make sure that we're not too wide, we're not too narrow and those feet are just nice and Nice and neutral in that position and also make sure the weight is on the balls of our feet. We don't want to be on our heels, but we also don't want to be on our toes because then we're prone to falling forward or just kind of on the balls of our feet with a nice neutral.
00:47:03
Speaker
ah weight distribution, I guess. And, uh, basically like, I like to tell my goalies, like, you should almost feel like you're ready to just like bounce, right? Like you're kind of on the balls of your feet. You're kind of ready to just explode, just bounce, just do something. Right. So that's kind of when I find we're in the sweet spot with our weight distribution is, uh, when we're kind of just, you know, eager and ready to do something ready to just move to explode. Right. So, um, um
00:47:35
Speaker
The other thing is, is at the end of our push, we need to make sure we get a good hard stop. I know the recoil and kind of the, you know, little bit of flow or fluid motion is becoming pretty popular at the NHL level, which I do see the benefits of that. But for most of the goalies who aren't at that position yet, that extra little bit of movement and trying to kind of time your play a little bit doesn't really work, right? Because our timing's off. We don't know how to, you know, make sure that movement works for us. A lot of times that extra movement just ends up hindering us. We end up sucking too far back into the net.
00:48:23
Speaker
and opening up more net or we're drifting too far out, which makes it hard to push back if there's a pass across. But movement also makes it harder to drop to make a save or just execute a save in general. um So if we get that push across, we want to get a hard stop. We want to set those feet and that's it. We're just waiting for whatever is going to happen, a shot, a pass, whatever the case is. um If we try and add any sort of drift or if we're not getting that good hard stop, right? It adds time, it adds extra movement, and it just adds the stuff that that really hinders us. And the other thing too I see a lot of is a long drawn out stop where goalies start their stop and it takes like a half second for them to actually finish their stop.
00:49:14
Speaker
That again just creates a delay. It creates a half second before you're actually set and that's a half second we cannot afford. So make sure you get that good hard stop. It should be a split second stop and then you're ready to go and that's it. We're just waiting for whatever is going to happen to happen. Last kind of point that I have is just make sure that your push leg comes back underneath you, um especially with T pushes. We see a lot of times where goalies make a T push, they kind of leave that push leg behind them and then they get really kind of extended out, really stretched out and they lose a lot of power that way, right?
00:49:57
Speaker
So when you load that leg and you make that push, that leg's basically got a snap right back to where it needs to be for your setup. So again, that shoulder width apart, it needs to come right back to that spot and be ready to make that save. Shuffles too.
00:50:15
Speaker
um A lot of times I see goalies actually kind of bring that leg too far over to the point that their feet are basically together in that shuffle. So that's another thing too though is don't bring that foot too far back um so that your feet are basically together. We're too narrow like we talked about earlier. So we just make that push.
00:50:38
Speaker
that feet comes right back or that foot comes right back to shoulder width apart and then we're ready again to make a save or to push again whatever happens there but that leg has to come back quick. The other one too that I see lots of is if goalie's make an inside edge push or a butterfly slide they'll have their lead knee down on the ice but that back knee is just hanging off the ice and it takes them a while for them to put it back down or they never do and again that doesn't help us seal that leaves the five hole open and that's just something that when we are sliding
00:51:17
Speaker
Usually the puck's in tight and we need to be as sealed as we possibly can. So leaving that push leg up, leaving that knee off the ice just doesn't help us to do that. So anytime you're making a push, make sure as soon as that leg pushes off, it's back right where it needs to be, whether it's under you if you're on your feet or whether that knee is on the ice if you're on your knees. But either way, as soon as you push, that leg's got to get to where it needs to go and then we're ready to go.
Tips on Goalie Movement Efficiency
00:51:47
Speaker
um So just in general to wrap up again guys ah Movement such an important part of our game. We need to get into position We need to be in position early and that's gonna make our lives so much easier So if you can kind of incorporate some of these tips um It just helps you be more efficient. It helps you to be a little bit more powerful and it helps you to be a little bit quicker and without physically having to be quicker. So just make sure that we're thinking about these things, we're implementing them anytime that we yeah we can work on those movements and anytime we're doing skating.
00:52:25
Speaker
um Thanks again, guys, for tuning in today. I know it was a bit of a different different setup, but as always, if you guys can leave us a rating on whatever podcast platform you're listening to, um if you can subscribe to the show on YouTube or your podcast platform, share it with a friend because that really helps us to get the the message out there.
00:52:50
Speaker
um You can follow us on socials at the DIY goalie on pretty much any social platform, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, ah Twitter. We also have our in-person goalie coaching a company called True North Goal Tending. You can check that out at truenorthgoldtending dot.com. We do have our 2025 summer goalie camps live for booking now. So if you guys want to make a trip to Edmonton, um well, just outside of Edmonton in Beaumont,
00:53:20
Speaker
You guys can work with us for either three days at the end of July or five days in the middle of August We do offer lots of good value for the camp. We always get really good feedback on them and we'd love to have you guys out You can also follow us at true north goaltending on Facebook or YEG goalie coach on Instagram um You can check out the DIY goalie.com for merch, articles, videos, all of that good stuff, drills. um Yeah, and as always, we appreciate you tuning in. Hopefully you have a good day. Goleys, make some saves.