Critique My Technique

[srv2miker 0]

Hey All,

I've seen this on GSBB, but I thought I'd throw my pictures up here too in case anyone didn't frequent both boards. I've got some screenshots from a video of me working with a powerskating/hockey skills class, and I wondered if you guys might not have some feedback on how to improve my technique. There's three images below - basic stance, reactive butterfly, and blocking buttefly:

Basic stance, shooter coming in from my left.

Reactive butterfly. I think I usually have my glove higher, but the puck went 5-hole on this one (and into the net!)

Blocking butterfly, actually took this one of the arm a split second later.

Alright, tear me to shreds!

[Law Goalie 147]

Looking good, miker! You should post that video, if you've got the time and inclination.

Stance:

Your balance looks terrific: butt's down, chest is upright, knees are bent but legs look relaxed. My only two concerns are your glove and your stick. The positioning of the glove is great: nicely out in front, held up but not so high that it's effectively over the bar from the puck's perspective. What you could try is to cock your wrist and open your glove to face the puck on the shooter's stick. Think of the orientation of your glove hand. Right now, your index finger is point at the shooter; I'd like to see your thumb pointing towards the roof, with the pocket of your glove towards the puck. This is probably going to feel odd, but it does two very good things. One, it removes more net from the shooter's perspective; two, it makes for a more economical movement in catching the puck. When your palm is facing the puck, all you need to do is catch a shot is move your hand in a short arc, like you're wiping a window. In your current stance, you'd need to flick your wrist open AND move to the puck.

The other small issues are in your stick. First, it's not square between your feet; second, the blade isn't flat on the ice (the heel is up); third, it's quite close to your toes, and consequently, the angle of the blade is quite shallow. None of these are in themselves all that bad, but the shot that snuck through in Pic #2 is probably a result of their combination.

There could be a few ways to tinker with your stick positioning. The first could be to bring your blocker hand forward, moving it out in front of your body like the glove. This should push the toe of the blade over, centering the blade between your feet. The other GREAT things about moving the blocker in front of the body are that it puts your blocker out into your peripheral vision (making saves easier) and that it can keep the hands and stick a little more free in transitioning to the butterfly. You could also try to extend the stick-blade a little more: you want the blade angled roughly like that of a 3-iron, rather than, say, a driver or a 9-iron. You *might* also need to look for a longer paddle (which is a piece of advice I rarely give out), but I'd play with hand positioning first.

What's interesting is that these same issues come up again in each shot, though with varying manifestations.

Active Butterfly:

You nailed it: glove should ideally be up and further out, but in this case, it's not a sign of anything bad. On reacting to a low shot, you don't want your glove up at your nipple. In fact, if you look at highly skilled NHL goalies, they'll actually catch low shots in front of their pads - Toskala is amazing at this.

What I love about this picture is what your eyes are doing: you're so locked on the puck that you've actually tilted your head to watch it go right through your five-hole. That's gold. Once again, the chest is upright and your balance looks great; your pads are perfectly rotated, flared nice and wide but not to the point of being unnecessarily strained, and you've closed your knees up beautifully. That's damn near a textbook butterfly save -- except for the puck going by. :)

The thing I'd draw critical attention to again is your stick. It's still not centred, the toe is still off the ice, and it's too close to your knees. Again, these are all pretty small points; but their effects are not insignificant. See how your blocker arm looks a little awkward in Pic #2? If your stick were about 4-6 inches further forward and angled into a 3-iron, and your blocker hand a little further out, your blocker hand would be able to drop comfortably down - it would more or less where it is in your stance in relation to your shoulder and hip. I'd bet my bottom dollar that that puck went in because of what your stick was doing.

There's a way to practise this called 'Quiet Hands'. Basically, you run through your basic skating up in your stance and down in your butterfly, but with a concentration on keeping your hands as still and calm (ie. quiet) as you can. Ideally, you should be able to drop into an active butterfly and recover to your stance without moving your hands in relation to your shoulders, hips and eyes, keeping your stick in the same position on the ice. It's tricker than it sounds, but very rewarding.

Passive Butterfly:

Again, overall, it's outstanding. Your pads and core body and all squarely facing the shooter, and you've closed up your arms, leaving no holes that are visible: you've forced the shooter to pick a corner, and if the shooter's left-handed, it's safe to say he's got next to no daylight. You could have your glove a *bit* higher, so that it's actually resting on top of your pad, but that's a quibble.

Once again, I'd look to your stick. Now, granted, in a passive, blocking butterfly, the stick is never in an optimal position. That said, if possible, if should still be on the ice, squarely in front of the five-hole, but extended further out in front of the body with the blade sitting more like a pitching-wedge. I wouldn't be concerned about getting that kind of ideal placement. What concerns me a little is that your stick is not only off-centre but that only the apex of the heel is touching the ice - that's NEVER good thing. You've gone from over a foot of stick-blade on the ice to an area about the size of your butt-end, which means that in terms of making stick saves, you might as well be trying to play pool with the balls in motion.

Like I said, these are all pretty small, literally peripheral issues. What I'm seeing is extremely solid technique for someone so young in the position. You've translated your natural athleticism to the net, which is by far the hardest part. If you were going to work one ONE thing your next ice-time, focus on the hands; the stick will usually follow on its own. If you still don't feel it's optimal, once you like what your hands are doing, then focus on the stick.

Post that video!

[HDF150 0]

basically get the glove off to the side more. also get down lower u look very high.

[dumbpolak9 1]

keep stick straight in butterfly, dont want to get it to far in front on an angle shooter could use it as a ramp

[Law Goalie 147]

Like I said, 3-iron vs. 9-iron.

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

sorry this question is not directly related to this topic, but I saw some of the pictures and it got me thinking about my own technique.

sometimes in the butterfly, I feel like I get sniped a lot glove side, so I experimented keeping my glove hand in butterfly up, just as I do in my stance. I thought that a shot could either go top corner or close to my body (on my left side) and it would make sense to keep my arm halfway in between. am I not supposed to do this?

[goodguy 7]

sorry this question is not directly related to this topic, but I saw some of the pictures and it got me thinking about my own technique.

sometimes in the butterfly, I feel like I get sniped a lot glove side, so I experimented keeping my glove hand in butterfly up, just as I do in my stance. I thought that a shot could either go top corner or close to my body (on my left side) and it would make sense to keep my arm halfway in between. am I not supposed to do this?

What Law said earlier makes sense: keeping the arms close into the body and not showing and holes, you are forcing the shooter to pick the corners. Obviously there is no way to prevent every goal but just cutting down the odds with good technique/positioning seems to be the key. What I am telling my seven year old just starting out in net..."do your best to get into a good position and MAKE them beat you" in other words, if you did the best you could and took away most of the options and they still beat you , then so be it...they were just a very good shooter and so be it...get ready for the next one.

That being said, perhaps your positioning or situational experience is at fault (not trying to be critical, anything but) but in my case looking at our young goalies - even if they can move well and have some basics down - they still get beat the same way often (high blocker side, etc) and I am guessing that is just a positioning and experience thing with them. They just havent seen enough situations to know the probablity of a shooter going to their weak spot - they are just not reading the shot/play correctly yet. There is a reason they are getting beat at that spot again and again - and perhaps the other team knows the weakness and is picking at it.

Good luck.

[Law Goalie 147]

There needs to be a careful distinction between Active & Passive Butterflies. The Active Butterfly is more or less what OMGIOF describes: gloves up and out in front of the body, just as in the stance, with the stick in the 3-iron position. This is what you want to use in situations where you have time to react. It's basically a secondary stance that is better suited to certain aerial-angle situations (eg.when the puck is close enough to the goalie that the shoulders and gloves are above the crossbar from the puck's perspective).

The Passive Butterfly is a blocking position: you seal the arms to the body (resulting in a 9-iron stick) with no holes and throw that wall at the shooter. It should only be used in situations where the shot will come too quickly (too fast with too quick a release) to react, eg. one-timers in tight to the net, screen shots etc.

It's all about proper use. Using a Passive Butterfly in situations where both you and the shooter have time to read and react will get you lit up to the high corners against even moderately talented opposition. Using an Active Butterfly on tight one-timers and screen-shots will result in lots of cheesy goals through the body and under the arms (ie. the 6 & 7 holes).