Tag: Understanding the angles

To help you gage where you are when you cialis 5mg move on or off the post, you can use your hands effectively to help you out: the further you are away from the post, the further you have to reach back to find out where you are in relation to the goal and your angles. Once you’ve found the goal post, you should be able to step backwards successfully onto the post, ready to cut off a possible shot. This allows you to reset your angles and set your positioning for a potential save or block: aware of where you are in relation to the amount of net space you cover (by standing over or away from the post) according to the expected shot; ready to move off, into a save off and outside the post, if the shooter decides to target that area instead.

 

Knowing your angles is essential to finding your whereabouts in order to move around the posts in order to make saves. If you happen to watch GB’s current no. 1, Alistair MacGregor of Loughborough Students, you’ll notice this is a technique he has perfected down to a tee.

 

‘Tapping’ the posts

When moving off your glove side goal post to step out into the play, you can reach back and out with your glove arm; tapping the post with your glove to check your positioning in relation to the goal. Just like soccer goalkeepers that ‘punch’ the post with the side of their bunched up fist, or tapping with their fingers, you can tap the inside post with top of your glove, or push against it with your palm. You can basically ‘feel’ your way around to work out where you should be standing. This way, you are able to find where you are in relation to the post (and goal in general) and then reset your angles accordingly to deal with the action around you.

 

 

For movement onto and off your right post, you can use a similar technique to find the goal post with your stick; swinging it round to tap against the post to check the line of angle. Like ice hockey goalies who regularly tap their posts to check their bearings, you can use your stick actively; pushing out to tap the post. Check the noise made; the louder, the better. Theoretically, the louder the sound is, the closer the post is (helpful if you are too busy focusing on the play to look at the post itself), whereas the quieter it is, the further away the post is. The distance you have to reach out with the stick will also tell you how far you are from the post – if you have to extend the stick to reach it, then you are too far away from it.

 

 

First picture comes from England Hockey; the second is supplied by Alex Master’s action photos – www.alex-masters.com

The principal of angles dictates your whole game; playing the angles and setting up in front of a shot is all about cutting down shooting space, giving you a greater chance of making the save, rather than leaving too much open and having to make every save by throwing yourself around. Learning the different angles made by standing at different will affect how you make the save and your ability to.

The centre line

When the play starts breaking around them, and they become locked in a scramble for the ball, it can become easy for the goalkeeper to get lost and forget their angles. The goalkeeper should be central to the ball; using an imaginary line to get square to the shot. Working on getting to know your angles will mean you know where you are in relation to them when challenging out.

The centre line is the basis of every save and every movement around your goal: the middle of the goal and the goal line determine your angles; coming off the line makes the angle smaller and moving to the side cuts down the angle on your closest post, whilst making the angle to your other side larger. By checking the posts to see they are in a good position, the keeper can work out their angles to decide how far to come out.

Below are diagrams representing angles set up from left and right post and central shots; the red line stands for the centre line, with the lines drawn out from the corner posts, as you would when stepping out from the goal line. Understanding the angle you cover with your positioning will help you close down the shooting space available to the attacker.

Playing the angles

Learning to play your angles will help determine how and where you make the save. By stepping out along the angle, you can actively cut down the shooting space, making it much easier to make saves as a result. Hanging back on your line leaves too much open space, turning your goal into a shooting gallery for incoming attackers to pick their spots openly. Instead, try to ‘narrow’ your angle to help you make the save; challenging the shooter for their shot.

Post angles

At a tight angle, with the ball in the corner or near the base line, the goalkeeper’s angle covers a small area (blocking off the post) against a shot, so they can stay near the goal. This allows you to cut off the shot tight to the post, stopping the shooter scoring there. Make sure you get your foot right on the post to stop a low ball squeaking past you!

However, to prevent you deflecting a shot into your own goal, you want to stay inside the near posts. At tight angles, you always want to position yourself so any deflected shot will go outside the post. Always be square to the ball (if on the post, getting at a right angle, so you are sideways-on): use your centre line to give yourself the advantage in covering shooting space.

A quick way to tell if you are outside the near post is to point your arms straight sideways when square to the ball; the arm nearest the goal should point outside the near post. If it points inside the post, you need to take another step or two out.

As the ball moves away from goal, the near post is not as much of a concern; your focus now is to move further out to cover the angle of the middle and sides of goal.

Again, Jeff Benjamin should be credited as a source in writing this article.