Tag: Q and A

Question:

I have two questions, both with are a result of recent experiences indoors (I’m a great believer in the positive value of Indoor keeping).

1. Some indoor surfaces are very tacky, making sliding almost impossible, (I can usually manage about a meter on these surfaces). Do you have any suggestions on situations where you want to attack, but can not make full use of a slide? (e.g. one on ones)

2. If I don’t charge a short corner for whatever reason a get in the "set" position. However I used to play in goal for a foot ball team and I can set myself too low. A number of times the ball hits the net and the words stand tall ring round my helmet; but I think there is a more fundamental problem with my technique. When a ball comes straight at me the simplest thing to do is stand tall and let it bounce off my chest plate. Instead, and this is where football comes in, I try to play the ball with stick and glove. In order to do this I shift my weight so that I fall back and then twist my torso to bring round my hands. I know I should not, but it only happens on the fastest shots that are at my shoulders, either side of the helmet, when it is a reflex action. Do you have any suggestions/drills that will help me with these shots/my technique?

Answer:

In regards to your two questions, first about sliding on tacky, indoor surfaces. If you can generate a meter on a slide, that’s all you really need. The distance you slide isn’t as important as your position in the slide. The thing I find, when I slide on a sticky surface, is that my hip sticks and I almost end up rolling forward on my stomach. That prevents me from presenting as big a block when I slide. For that reason, the one thing I would suggest when sliding on a rubber floor is adjusting your slide so that your weight is slightly back, usually by keeping your top shoulder and hip slightly back. When you do plant and roll slightly forward, that will get you in a position where your hips and shoulders are perpendicular to the floor in your slide tackle position. The other thing about sliding, I need to be able to recover and get up after my slide tackle. That’s pretty difficult if I’m sliding two or three meters like you can on wood floors.

As far as indoor corners, I think the biggest thing you’re recognising is bigger is better. The closer you can get to the actual shot, the better your chances of getting hit with it. The problem that happens when most keepers slide, rather than going out and staying up, is that they don’t get close enough to the shot and a horizontal keeper two meters away from the shot isn’t much of an obstacle. If I’m charging on a corner, I don’t try to react to the ball if it’s going to hit me. I play with an ice hockey keeper’s body and arm pads and am very comfortable getting hit with shots straight at me, particularly the inside of my arms. That allows me a couple of things, one if I’m charging and the ball hits me in the upper body at the top of the circle, rebounds carry out of the circle. Second, the only thing I need to react to is shots wide of my body, which at that range might also be wide of the goal. I wouldn’t recommend falling backwards and trying to parry balls with your hands from close range unless you’re very good at it. It’s like swatting at flies, very hit or miss. Also, I don’t know how comfortable that makes the rest of your defence feel.

Finally, I don’t know that there are any drills per se, short of practising these situations. Work on forwards taking you on at the top of the circle. Do short corners ad nauseum. Repetition brings comfort and with comfort comes success.

Question:

I would like some help please. I am 16 and was playing for my local mens’ team on Saturday and had a ball drilled into my face from 4 yards. This shook me up loads but I wasn’t hurt. I then played in a national cup match on Sunday and played so badly. I was always on my line and wasn’t committing to take the ball and control my D. I knew what I was doing wrong but still I didn’t want to correct it. I was just wondering if you’ve had any experiences like this and if so what you did or if you have any advice for me?

Answer:

Welcome to the position! I can tell you I’ve had experience with your sensation. I started playing back in the day before head gear was required and can tell you, I was one of the idiots that played without a helmet or mask for my first two years. I thought that was the brave thing to do.

First off, don’t ever do it (play without head protection), even just knocking around in practice. The good news is your head gear works, you weren’t hurt. Still, it can be very unsettling. One of the first lessons I was taught as a keeper is “you’ve got to take the knock, son.” If you get hit, get back in goal and don’t let the last experience you have being injured. Sometimes that’s easier said then done. I think you’ve learned one important lesson, that when you play afraid, you don’t play effectively. Not only do you not play effectively, my experience has been that when I play afraid, that’s when I get hurt. Hang in there, if your equipment is good, you may get shaken up, but you won’t get hurt if you play with courage.

Question:

I am a varsity goal keeper in a high school at mass. I am a rookie goal keeper but this session I had made 13 shutouts. I was reading your articles & I noticed that its turf playing you are talking about. My high school has a wonderfully maintained grass field & all the other teams have grass fields also that I play. So I was wondering if the slide tackles or any other moves you know that would help my game on grass fields? Any information would be gratefully appreciated as I wish to play in college. Thank you very much & I love reading your articles!

Answer:

Basically all of the skills discussed on the web site are just as applicable on grass as they are on turf. I talk about artificial turf because most hockey outside of high school hockey in the United States is played on a surface other than grass. Slide tackling is certainly a skill that can be done on grass and well maintained grass fields are great. It’s when grass isn’t in good shape and you start to get adventurous bounces that technique starts to become an issue. You can try anything Rachel and I have spoken about in the different tips we’ve written on grass, you just need to evaluate whether they’re working for you on the surface and at the level you’re playing at. Thanks for reading.

Question:

I’m writing in regards to GK drills for Indoor hockey. If you have the time would you mind forwarding some to me?

Answer:

I don’t know that I have any brilliant drills for indoor as much as ideas on how to modify drills for outdoor to fit the technical and tactical requirements of indoor.

The big thing I try to emphasise with keepers for indoor tactically is the concept of defending the circle using the keeper’s privileges for using the whole body to tackle and defend. That doesn’t mean just going out and throwing yourself on the ground. Drill-wise, or more accurately situation-wise, I like a lot of forward and the keeper stuff from different approach angles in to the circle.

We’ll build on that and do two forwards versus a defender and a keeper, emphasising that the keeper has to mark as well as defend the goal. You can flip it so that the keeper is the primary defender on the ball and the other defender is marking the second forward. You can build on that and throw in a third forward with a recovering defender. Indoor is excellent for emphasising that the pass can be more dangerous than the shot. Anticipation and mobility is crucial.

Technically, nothing is more important than being able to control the shot. Rebounds and lifted saves are disastrous in the indoor game. We do a lot of repetition work with simple shots at the keeper focusing on having the skill to clear low shots on the ground and the patience to cover lifted shots by getting your body behind the ball, waiting for the ball to settle and playing it out.

I think the big thing to think about in setting up your indoor practices for keepers is the situations that happen in games that you want to recreate. Baseline balls, deflections, set pieces, odd-man situations, they’re all things that happen in games so set them up in practices. I hope that helps.

Question:

Thought you might want to add this to your penalty flicks answer – a goalkeeper passed this on to me and it works really well….always stand a little over to one side – the side you don’t want the attacker to pass to! The majority of time they will pass to the other side.

This has happened every single time for me … and I easily save the stroke on my stronger side!

Answer:

Thanks for sharing your experience. The one thing I would temper you with from is my experience has been that as soon as you think always, something else happens. I’ve seen keepers set up all the way to one post to give them the entire goal other side of the goal to shoot at and the stroker beat them going right where they set up at. Strokers like to play mind games just as well as keepers. I’ll never argue with what works, though, and if it works for you, keep at it.

Question:

I live in South Africa and am the 1st team keeper for Maties (University of Stellenbosch) Hockey Club and the Western Province U21 B side keeper. I only achieved this at the end of the past season. There is a great deal of competition between myself and the now 2nd team keeper and the Western Province (W.P.) U21 A keeper and I hear that there are a few more up and coming keepers coming to the club FOR next years season. As a result of my desire to stay in the 1st side as well as to get in to the W.P. U21 A side and maybe junior nationals, I would like to know what I can do in the off season to improve my performance for next year. By that I mean what sort of off-season training should I be doing?? Bearing I mind that I am in desperate need to get fit and lose some weight. I think that the biggest problem is not the training, but rather the motivation….could you help??

Answer:

One of my tips deals with off-season training so check out that. Everyone needs to have their own motivation. Obviously you see your weight and fitness as a problem. What you do about it is up to you. As an athlete, there are some things you can’t control. I don’t see these as those kind of things. Controlling the controllable is key to getting what you want.

As far as motivation, for me personally, I can tell you that I did struggle with fitness and I know that it did affect my selection. I took the line that no one was going to work out me. Every time I went out to train in the off-season, I went out thinking of my competition. Whether they were doing the same training I was or not, I imagined them doing it and pushed myself to work that much harder. There’s a lot in the tip about training ideas, but it starts with setting goals that motivate you and that are attainable. Work hard, there is a pay off to it.

Question:

I have always incorporated distance running into my training, especially in the off-season, but recently someone told me that extensive aerobic exercise like distance running can slow down your reactions, which is not exactly a good thing if you’re a keeper. I know that sprinters refrain from doing long aerobic exercise, as it slows their sprinting time. Do you know if there is any concrete evidence to support this claim?

Answer:

There has been research done and the basic principle is that goalkeeping is a fast twitch position and to reinforce that with fast twitch training. Longer, aerobic workouts can be construed as reinforcing medium twitch training and probably isn’t considered as productive as sprint and explosive exercises. Having said all that, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with keepers doing aerobic workouts. I actually encourage our keepers to do it. You need to balance distance work with sprints, but as long as they are done with moderation, I don’t see a problem.

If you’re looking for scientific reference, check sports medicine/training books/journals. My reference is the US Olympic Committee Strength and Condition Director.

Question:

I recently got a set of cloud 9 kickers there brilliant just the front strap keeps coming up over my runners, how do you stop it happening?

Answer:

Make sure they’re pulled back as far as the kickers will go on your feet. This should pull the front toe strap back far enough that it doesn’t slip. If the problem continues, you can use a thin strip of duct tape to secure the front and back straps so that your foot won’t slip out. Here’s an excellent solution from Athol Hill if you’ve got shoes that will work:

“I noticed you made mention of using tape to tape the front and back straps together to keep them from falling off the boot. One method that I have used very successfully, and has removed a high portion of strap wear is to use a boot with a large number of little studs. (I think mine are Olympic, but there are a number in this design) I have now cut away the studs where the straps come across with the following results:1. Strap wear is greatly reduced as the remaining studs extend beyond the straps reducing their friction on the ground/astro. 2. Boots must be left inside the kicker when removing. It sounds difficult at first, but becomes easier as you are putting on the boot and the kicker at the same time. 3. There is NO way in hell, that the front strap will slide off. 4. You have far more grip on your toes when running as the studs extend far enough to keep the grip levels high. The final result manages to remove problems associated with the strap slipping problem. I previously broke a toe because of it, and decided to take action to prevent it happening again…ever…”

Question:

I’m a Goalkeeper that searches all the time for new skills. Can I turn my left hand in 90° when the ball comes? But only the hand, nothing more. I do this often when the players shot in the training, but I don’t make this in the tournament because the referee can say that was a penalty. So can I do that?

Answer:

As long as you are not “batting” the ball, you are allowed a certain amount of freedom in deflecting the ball to safety. You are right to try to do that by angling your wrist and hand. The thing most umpires are looking for to determine if you are “batting” the ball is movement from your forearm and elbow. If you are very concerned that you might be called for a stroke, ask the umpire before the match what he thinks. I’ve been surprised by how much umpires have allowed as far as the keeper deflecting the ball over the end line by angling his hand, but I’m also not going to complain.

Question:

My daughter is a 10th grade High School varsity goalie in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, USA. When she is on the left post, what is the best way quickly get to the right post to defend a quick shot across the front of the cage for a deflect shot on the right post. She is stronger to her left and needs a better technique to get to the right faster to cover these quick shots to the right post when she is set on the left post defending stick activity there.

Answer:

If the ball is moving quickly and the player on the other side of the goal is not going to have the time to stop and control the ball, then I need to get across quickly. Usually, I’m trying to take away an area, like the backboard as I go across and will dive to cover as much area as I can. If the ball is slow and the player on the other side has time to stop and control the ball before they shoot, I want to be upright and try to make a play of that ball while I’m on my feet. In either case, as the ball goes across the goal mouth, I don’t want to chase after the ball. I want to go to the goal post, covering as much of the goal as possible. Ultimately, the shooter wants to put the ball in the goal. It makes sense that I take the most direct path to where they want to go. Experiment. There is no set way to play this type of ball as long as you’re successful.