OBO Online Expert – Page 2

What kit to buy

qna
Question:
I’ve been playing the position goalie since I was eight. In 2005 my parents managed to buy me the OBO Cloud 9 Goal keeper kit.

I’m currently playing club hockey and have represented my Province as well as Zimbabwe Schools Hockey a number of times and played for the Zimbabwe U21 National Team. I’m currently training in the national squad for the All Africa Games later on this year.

I’m looking at getting new kit but can’t decide between the ROBO High Control or the ROBO High Rebound! Personally I’m looking at the High Control kickers and legguards mainly because I feel the rebound off any OBO kit is very good. For the hand protectors I’m thinking of going for the High Rebound Hand Protectors because the surface area is larger for the hand protector that holds the stick.

I would like to hear your opinion on which range do you recommend me buying?

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Answer:
Between the High Rebound and High Control pieces of the ROBO range, you can’t go wrong. Personally, I use the High Control kickers with the High Rebound leg guards and the High Control Hand Protectors but what’s best for you depends on your style of play. I like the additional surface area offered by the High Rebound legguards and the rebound qualities of the inner leg channel. I use a more active style of kicking and find I get plenty of rebound out of the High Control kickers while keepers who use a more deflective style of save/clearing prefer the High Rebound kickers. Lastly, hand protectors will also depend on your style of play. I tend to play with my hands and stick more forward so I want a lot of rotation with my wrist on my right hand so I prefer the High Control Hand Protectors. Keepers who play with their hand more out and back love the High Rebound Hand Protectors specifically for that larger surface area. As I mentioned, both lines are great it’s just a matter of thinking how you play and what’s best for you,

good luck,

Jon

Communication

qna
Question:
I’ve been playing for three years and all my skills have developed, all but my communication. Every team I play for has said that they look for a keeper with strong communication skills and I feel that if I can improve my communication I’ll improve my shot of making the teams I tryout for. I ask all the coaches I ever have what they want me to say, but I never get a clear answer. I was wondering what things I should be saying. I will yell at my players when I need them to mark someone or to call a ball “MINE” but other then that I’m lost.

I’m hoping to get into the Junior National Program and eventually represent Canada at the Junior Worlds in 2013 and if I can improve my communication skills it’ll help a lot.

Thanks,
Madeleine

Answer:
Hi Madeline,

I wrote a tip about Team Defense that has a section on Commuincation. Below is the link:

http://blog.obo.co.nz/2004/01/13/decision-making-and-team-defense/

In addition, there is a recent article in the Keeper’s Resources section that also covers a little on the topic, here is that link:

http://blog.obo.co.nz/2010/07/22/acting-analysing-deciding-and-decision-making/

Communication is essentially organizing your defense. It’s recognizing the position of your opponents in relationship to the ball and your goal and communicating to your teammates where you want them to be and what you want them to do. In my mind, that’s Team Defense and Decision-Making.

I’d start with reading the articles and please feel free to e-mail me if you have additional questions. I’ll add that I’ve played with a number of teams over the years and my experience has taught me that there is no one style of communication. I’ve played with teams where defenders do a lot of talking around the ball and my job is basically to keep them aware of upfield forwards or what I’m doing and then I’ve played with teams where I have to take charge and organize who is on ball and who is marking who. It will all depend on your team. Communication is about results and if players aren’t doing what you ask them, then it’s time to rethink how you’re saying things.

As you work on communication, conversations about situations on the field are very useful. Walk throughs where you place a ball on the field and move opponents and have to organize where you want people to go and what you want them to do are useful. It’s good to have common terms so that your teammates are all on the same page.

As I said, there is no one style of communication. The key is recognizing danger as an attack is developing and taking that away through positioning your help,

good luck,

Jon

Decision Making

qna
Question:
Hello, can you tell me what should I do, when the attacker is coming closer to goal and I come out but he shoot in this time before the 1-1 is there?

Greetings

Alex

Answer:
Hi Alex,

your question is a tricky one and a lot will depend on where the breakdown you’re describing happens. What you’re talking about is basically decision making. One of the biggest problems goalkeepers have is coming out for the sake of coming out. The two choices a keeper has is to either stay back and react to a shot, or come out and engage the 1v1. If you’re getting caught moving before being able to engage in the 1v1 you’re either coming out too late or should stay back in the goal. I wrote a tip on slide tackling a while ago and I think many of the same themes still hold true, below is a link to it:

http://blog.obo.co.nz/1999/10/20/slide-tackling/

good luck,

Jon

What should I use to clean the inside of my mask?

qna
Question:
I was wondering if you could tell me what I should use to clean the inside of my OBO mask…
Answer:
What you use to clean your mask will depend on how dirty it’s gotten. If you’re cleaning it fairly regularly you can wash and rinse with warm water and an anti-bacterial soap. If it’s pretty grungy I would recommend rinsing the mask thoroughly, then scrubbing it with a gentle plastic brush with something like Fantastic or Formula 409, followed by rinsing and washing again with a an anti-bacterial soap. It’s important that you dry the mask after washing to keep the hardware from rusting and any mold developing.

good luck,

Jon

How does the difference of the indoor game affect the keeper?

qna
Question:
My name is Josh and I’m not sure if you remember me but you were a coach of mine. I was a keeper in on the U-20 team in ’99 when Shiv cialis buy canada carried 5 keepers (I think it was 5). I had been an alternate on the U-16 the year before. That’s about all there was to my National Hockey carrier so I’m not sure how much I might have stuck in you mind. Anyway the summer after our goalkeeping camp with Ian Taylor I tore apart my knee, severely damaging my ACL, MCL and annihilating my medial meniscus. I hung up my pads (I’m still not sure why) and that was that. About a year ago I picked up a stick again, with a local club. I live in NYC now and found a club that plays on turf and has some real talent, lot of internationals. I keep very fit and hockey has been a welcome addition to my workout schedule. I have been enjoying playing the pitch, and now this winter I’ve picked up indoor.

Here’s where I have come to seeking you out. We are going to play in a mixed tournament in Baltimore at the end of January and I was asked to play in the cage. I’m game, it could be a lot of fun, but I haven’t had pads on in ages. I’ve been helping coach a few of the women keepers in the club so I’ve been getting it back in my brain, and in my body a bit. My question is: how does the difference of the indoor game affect the keeper. I can imagine that one needs to play very actively, it’s so fast. I’d really appreciate any advice you might have. I’ve found very little in the way of resources on the web, except the OBO page where I found your e-mail. I also will have a real mix of a kit. I still have my old helmet which is solid, first gen ROBO OBO gloves and groin guard. The club has a nice set of pretty new leggaurds, kickers, shorts and such. The only piece we are missing is upper body. I may have found a deal on one, Longstreath has TK 1.2 upper body armour for sale for about $150. I’ve always like TK but have no idea where in their range that item sits and what level of protection it will offer. My apologies, I know this is rather out of the blue and thanks again for any advice or ideas you might have. I really enjoyed my limited time on the team and wish I had been able to play before I was injured. Maybe this tourney will get me back into keeping…

Answer:
Hi Josh,

I’m glad you’ve rediscovered hockey. As far as indoor, it’s a challenging game for the keeper. Percentage-wise the court has a greater scoring area than outdoor hockey which allows the keeper a relatively greater area to be involved in the play.

Just as there are a number of styles for field keepers, there are a number of styles for indoor keepers and much of that depends on the style of play for your team and your athletic attributes.

The big technical advantage to indoor keeping is that you are the only player that can play on the ground (in the circle). This allows you a greater tackling surface when taking on dribbling players. That advantage is nullified though if you can’t set up a slide tackle and/or can’t recover to an upright position quickly.

It’s extremely difficult to explain a style of indoor keeping, but I think there are a lot of good examples if you go on youtube and look for indoor hockey. At the international level, indoor keeping requires excellent agility and speed as well as great reflexes and the ability to read the play.

On the equipment front, I play with a modified ice hockey goalkeeper upper body unit. I’ve seen the TK unit, but I think the ice hockey type units are more portective and better-constructed. If you’re looking in that direction, you can usually getg a good deal on a used one on e-bay or from the clearance section from a lot of the ice hockey internet stores. If you need ideas where to look let me know.

It sounds like you’re enjoying your hockey and it’s important to maintain that. The nice thing about indoor is that you have an opportunity to see alot of the ball. If a goal goes in, life goes on. It’s likely you and your team will have chances to redeem themselves. Have fun and good luck,

Jon

Recommended use, hot pants, groin guard

qna Question:

I play for club and school in Australia and I train with a division one team on the side. Last week during division one training I was hit in the belly of my kicker last years Yahoo and it kind of hurt. I was fine at the time and I continued to train. Afterwards when I got home and I rolled my foot and several bones cracked. After a physio trip I came out missing all three of my games that weekend. Now to clarify I don’t blame my gear for my injury or Obo but I was thinking there aren’t many warnings on the site for gear about maximum speed or recommended use. Just a suggestion. Tyson H-CPS. I’m in the market for groin gear and thigh protectors. I was wondering how far can the thigh protectors go around and do you put an athletic cup in the groin gear or is it good to go out the packet.

Answer:

I’m sorry to hear about your injury. All new OBO equipment comes with a warning that states that hockey is a contact sport and that injury is a possibility. I’m attaching a link from the OBO website that explains the recommended level of use for each range of equipment:

http://www.obo.co.nz/#Products/RangesOverview

It can be tough with equipment when you’re a younger keeper training up, but I think it’s really important that when you buy and use equipment you consider the level you want to play in the future as that’s often where you’ll train. As you know, players in your first team can consistently hit the ball hard.

On your last question, the ROBO hot pants do a great job of protecting the inner thigh region. They must be worn with an athletic cup in the groin area, playing out of the packet is not a good idea.

good luck,

Jon

Stick Choice

qna
Question:

Hi Jon,

Hope all is going well for you.

Tom’s hockey is continuing to go well – he is now 19 and studying Actuarial Science at the University of Cape Town and playing in their 2nd side. Both 1st & 2nd sides play in the Grand Challenge league, which is probably the strongest league in South Africa so he is gaining some valuable experience.

He is need of a new stick now. He has been using what I reckon is a predecessor to the Skinny, since age thirteen and it is finally now cracking slightly.

I think he should go for the Fatboy this time. His recent ability and confidence on his stick side has dropped slightly – last year it was stronger and he is trying to work out why this could be.

I read a couple of information sections about the merits of the Fatboy and the Skinny but I wondered if you could suggest which to go for?

Tom is physically quite strong and is about 6 feet 1 tall. I see there are two sizes 36.5 and 37.5 available – I presume that 37.5 would be best for him?

Any suggestions or advise would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Charlie

Answer:

Hi Charley,

Stick choice is really dependent on a lot of things, especially the style of goalkeeping Tom plays with his hands. Personally, I use the Skinny Thing Stick (37.5). I tend to play with my hands forward and about waist level so I take my stick back to make saves to my high right. This allows me to track the ball a little longer and since I’m taking the stick back most deflections off it are to the side. I like a light stick and I really like the weight and feel of the Skinny Thing. Some keepers prefer a little more weight and substance to their stick and the Fat Boy is for them. At 6’1″ Tom is best suited to a 37.5 stick, but Fat Boy or Skinny Thing is really up to him and his style. Hope that helps,

Jon

What glue?

qna
Question:

My son is a hockey goalkeeper and owns a Robo hockey helmet. We purchased this fantastic helmet about a year ago. The only, ongoing problem we have is that everytime he removes the sweatband from inside the helmet, the piece of velcro which holds the sweatband in the helmet comes loose.

We have tried so many different glues on the South African market and nobody can give us advise as to which glue to try. After every practise and every match (probably about 4x per week) we have to re-glue the velcro to the helmet.

We are afraid of trying acid based glues incase the eat the padding in the helmet.

I would be extremely grateful if you could advise me as to which glue I could use or any solution to the problem.

Thank you!

Cheryl

Answer:

Hi Cheryl,

I’ve had a lot of success with that very problem using a product available in the US called Gorilla Glue. Below is a link to their website which has a “Where to Buy” section.

http://www.gorillaglue.com/

Hope that helps,

Jon

Penalty flicks to the right

I have been goalkeeping for 3 years now and I am 16. I now play for the Cambridge (England) fourth team. I have noticed that penalty flicks are ever increasingly going to my right. When standing in the middle of the goal it is too far to make a save with our foot and too close to dive down with my stick. Can you suggest how I might be able to save these? I am also thinking of buying some Cloud 9 kickers and legguards. Would you say it is really worth spending the extra money for Robo legguards at the men’s level I am playing at?

qna Question:

Answer:

As far as penalty strokes go, I would suggest you think about your positioning. Unless you’re very big and flexible, it’s hard to get to the low corners with your feet. Typically, I’m most successful getting to those shots by diving. Work on keeping your feet about shoulder width apart with the weight on the balls of your feet. Look to explode, pushing off from both of your feet and try to get those shots with your hands or stick, especially for the low ones to your right. Penalty flicks are equal parts skill, reaction, intuition and sometimes luck.

The thing that I would offer to you when you buy pads is to think of the level you want to play at. If you plan on playing seriously for a while, I would recommend the Robo.