Starting in Goal as an Adult

[IPv6Freely 2092]

24 minutes ago, psulion22 said:

A rule to live by - 

Always, ALWAYS, get something behind your glove when you cover the puck.  Your stick is the best option, but a pad or skate would be ok depending on the situation.  But get something there so you're covering it in front of you rather than reaching, and there's backup in case you miss.  Also try to get the heel or cuff sealed to the ice in front of the puck, and then cover like a clamshell.  At least you'd have a sloid edge to stop the puck.  Coming down from the top is asking for trouble,

For this goal, you should have been aiming to get your pad down in front of the puck rather than just covering it.  Compunding this play was that It looks like your skate was in the wrong place on the post.  Your toe and pad should be inside the post, with your pad engaged.  This way the puck can't get so far out of your reach.  That will keep you from having to pull your skate off the post when you reach to cover.  If your toe was inside the post, that puck would have hit you in the boot break when you went down.  That would satisfy the rule above, and you'd be covering the puck more in front of you rather than reaching.  If it had been going as far behind your skate as it did, it would have hit the side of the net.  I'd say that if you're finding yourself reaching for pucks like that, a better option may be to play it out of danger with your stick.

For your first point, yes absolutely agree. And you're right, my "covering technique" of just trying to smother needs work. Just something I need to work on... if I'm in a situation where I'm trying desperately to cover a puck, technique kind of goes out the window!

As for your second point, I know exactly what you're talking about in terms of pad placement. It would also keep me from getting my skate blade jammed under the post ;) I haven't been able to figure out how to get my foot where it's supposed to go. There's no space between my toe bridge and the toe of my skate. I also don't have the flexibility to properly get into a RVH. Hell, I can't do the VH either. It's like I just don't bend that way.

But I completely understand exactly what you're telling me. 

In this case I only dropped to cover it because it was late in the game and it was slow-moving. Covering it was the right play IMO, I just didn't have the pad in place and pulled away from the post because of my skate placement. Hell, I'd almost have been better off to have the FACE of the pad against the post (as long as I don't allow it to pull away as I turn to cover the puck). It was really just a couple things that all went wrong on the same play. 

[psulion22 402]

18 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

For your first point, yes absolutely agree. And you're right, my "covering technique" of just trying to smother needs work. Just something I need to work on... if I'm in a situation where I'm trying desperately to cover a puck, technique kind of goes out the window!

I hear you! In those types of situations, i tend to not even bother trying to cover the puck.  Too much can happen.  I would probably put the puck into the corner or behind the net for my defense to clear.

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As for your second point, I know exactly what you're talking about in terms of pad placement. It would also keep me from getting my skate blade jammed under the post ;) I haven't been able to figure out how to get my foot where it's supposed to go. There's no space between my toe bridge and the toe of my skate. I also don't have the flexibility to properly get into a RVH. Hell, I can't do the VH either. It's like I just don't bend that way.

But I completely understand exactly what you're telling me.

That it would! lol  I go boot of the pad all the way inside the post if I have to, or at least toe of the skate inside the post, with the boot of the pad out in front.  At least there is something sealing the entire space that way.  Maybe you would want to try bringing your skate all the way outside the post?  I know it seems a little unconventional, and would depend on the situation.  You could even come all the way to where the crease and goal line meet.  This would allow you to slide your skate past the goal line to get more of you center behind bad angle shots.  It's what old school stand up guys would have done.  RVH does require a lot of flexibility to seal all of the post.  I guess if you can't do it fully, why bother doing it halfway?  Might as well try something else that may be more effective.  Just a thought.  Regular VH may have worked too.  It would have put your skate and thigh rise of the other pad down in the way, and let you cover without reaching.  I'm not a big fan of VH because I think it's too rigid and leaves weird little holes.  But I do use it sometimes.

Quote

In this case I only dropped to cover it because it was late in the game and it was slow-moving. Covering it was the right play IMO, I just didn't have the pad in place and pulled away from the post because of my skate placement. Hell, I'd almost have been better off to have the FACE of the pad against the post (as long as I don't allow it to pull away as I turn to cover the puck). It was really just a couple things that all went wrong on the same play. 

Yep, I agree.  Having your skate over the goal line, whether inside the net or out, would probably have made that an easy cover.  Sometimes those slow shufflers are the worst.  Theyre too slow to react to instinctually.  So you get stuck in that thinking/reacting zone, and end up misreading the puck.

 

Edited April 11, 2017 by psulion22

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Completely agree with everything you've said. This was the perfect storm of a situation. Easy dribbler to the net, game almost over, and "oh I'll just smother it" and then... shit. Stopping it with the stick and throwing it right back into the corner would have been a better option if it was going to be a dangerous play. But I seriously thought my skate was against the post and I was just going to smother it and be done with it. 

In the other cases I mentioned it's usually a scramble in front and I'm already down and the puck goes off a skate or a leg or something and I go to pounce to smother it. I'm really thinking this glove doesn't seal the ice with the palm section of the glove very well, but I need to get the glove out tonight at home and try it out a bit. 

[Stewie 721]

I think that video also shows how not to play defense in a tie game with less than a minute left.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

4 minutes ago, Stewie said:

I think that video also shows how not to play defense in a tie game with less than a minute left.

😂

[badger_14 601]

My friend from medic school and I are trying to arrange our schedules to be able to play goal together - on opposite teams, of course.  But she works the night shift (so no morning hockey with me and the Russian Embassy) and of course, we're in class two nights of the week, and I'm working one of those nights... at least we're having a good time commiserating about our on-ice lives.  We're talking about playing in a tournament, but the only issue there is that she's far, far better than I am, and one of us has to lose!

We might have to settle for going gear-shopping/ogling, because I am pretty sure I need to upgrade my chest protector.  It's got to be an in-person thing, because I need a C/A that fits my dimensions (comparatively round in the torso, comparatively short arms) or it'll need to be modified after purchase.  And maybe a step up or two in protection. The past two weeks have been an exercise in bruising - upper arms, belly stingers (why must they shoot exactly in the spot where I do my med injections, why?), and today due to both poor positioning and poor rib coverage I've ended up with a massive bruise on my lats.  (last week I got a huge one through two layers of padding on my thigh, which literally cramped my style).  So, maybe it's time for a shopping trip.  I really can't afford it, but I also like not being in pain, so? 

This week was less good as far as stopping pucks went, but last week I think I stopped everything out of sheer, unadulterated rage, which isn't healthy or sustainable.  This week we played in the Incomprehensibly Hot Arena (Why Is It So Warm In Here This Is An Ice Rink) for about two+ hours and I might have been dying by like an hour and fifty.  I didn't stop as many pucks, but I felt so much better and enjoyed myself and may have spoken more than 4 or 5 words, it is rumored I spoke an entire sentence to someone.

I feel like going back and having another lesson with the folks down the street would be good, maybe two, to re-up on positioning and basics.

I was thinking I might try a cat-eye cage, or at least try one on in the store.  I have extremely poor vision in my right eye, and I wonder if a cat-eye style might make things feel a bit more balanced and maybe help the peripheral vision a little.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I've been trying to get better at playing the puck but don't seem to be able to get anything on it. The old glove I had was much easier to get a good grip on the shaft but the new one I'm having difficulty with. 

I'd do anything to be able to do THIS:

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

5-0 Shutout. But man, my feet and legs were so tired by the end. It's amazing how tired you get when you have absolutely zero adrenaline going. 

 

[jlt73 160]

8 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

5-0 Shutout. But man, my feet and legs were so tired by the end. It's amazing how tired you get when you have absolutely zero adrenaline going. 

 

The shutout dance made it even sweeter!

[psulion22 402]

On 4/16/2017 at 1:29 PM, IPv6Freely said:

I've been trying to get better at playing the puck but don't seem to be able to get anything on it. The old glove I had was much easier to get a good grip on the shaft but the new one I'm having difficulty with. 

I'd do anything to be able to do THIS:

 

Do you go normal or Turco grip?  I find it much easier to get leverage and power going Turco because you can wedge the stick in the notch on the bottom of the glove without having to close it all the way.  The angle also has a lot to do with it.  I had real problems playing the puck with my Gnetik gloves.  The angle of the pocket and palm kinf of twisted the glove on the stick and didn't get good leverage.  With my G3, I get excellent contact and can flex the stick much easier.  The higher angle sets the stick in the notch well, and the ease of clsing the glove gives me a good grip.

Edited April 17, 2017 by psulion22

[psulion22 402]

On 4/15/2017 at 9:21 PM, badger_14 said:

 

We might have to settle for going gear-shopping/ogling, because I am pretty sure I need to upgrade my chest protector.  It's got to be an in-person thing, because I need a C/A that fits my dimensions (comparatively round in the torso, comparatively short arms) or it'll need to be modified after purchase.  And maybe a step up or two in protection. The past two weeks have been an exercise in bruising - upper arms, belly stingers (why must they shoot exactly in the spot where I do my med injections, why?), and today due to both poor positioning and poor rib coverage I've ended up with a massive bruise on my lats.  (last week I got a huge one through two layers of padding on my thigh, which literally cramped my style).  So, maybe it's time for a shopping trip.  I really can't afford it, but I also like not being in pain, so? 

 

Passau does custom c/as with different body and arm measurements.  But they aren't cheap.

Warrior also does hybrid configurations on retail units.  You can buy a G2 chesty with different body and arm sizes.  Look into those.

[badger_14 601]

2 hours ago, psulion22 said:

Passau does custom c/as with different body and arm measurements.  But they aren't cheap.

Warrior also does hybrid configurations on retail units.  You can buy a G2 chesty with different body and arm sizes.  Look into those.

I'll put those on the list... I looked at the G2 last time I was in a store, but they didn't have anything smaller than a senior large which was just too much.  There was also a Bauer that fit me nearly perfectly except the arm length.  If worst comes to worst, I know a couple of shops that could modify any C/A.

 

[Thinkingjack 51]

well, had a game Friday, good game too.   Camera somehow turned off after the first period, turned it back on, then some idiot missed the net by 5 feet and railed the cameras power button and got stuck and stayed off until last night, so heres 3 minutes of highlights lol

 

 

[rusty_black 17]

9 hours ago, Thinkingjack said:

well, had a game Friday, good game too.   Camera somehow turned off after the first period, turned it back on, then some idiot missed the net by 5 feet and railed the cameras power button and got stuck and stayed off until last night, so heres 3 minutes of highlights lol

 

 

Guy almost kills himself at 1.13 haha.     Your movement looks very lazy but its very fluid so it's cool to watch.  You got beat by a nice shot though near the end.   I'm got my second game this weekend so I'll see if someone can hook my camera up behind and take some footage, my movement will be very bad and I think i'l find my angles will be off, but hopefully some of the videos I've been watching might help.

I've gotta fiddle with some toe ties and see if I can get my straps sorted as I think I have them too tight, just don't have the ice time to play around with them here in New Zealand considering I live an hour away from the rink.

[badger_14 601]

I happened to have Wednesday off (was supposed to have a work training, but it was cancelled) and went over to a local rink for a pickup hour that I hadn't been to since I was still a skater.

I should have remembered how fast a skate it is.  It's more of a B than my Russian Embassy guys, which averages out to a good C.  I didn't play so well, not as well as I wanted.  I had one person telling me I needed to stay standing up (this usually comes from older guys, in their late 50s and 60s, and in fairness I do probably drop too much and too quickly).  But it was a good challenge and a good workout.

It turns out that when you wear a Russian jersey to pickup, it attracts the notice of Russians who might be playing, and they engage you in conversation (in Russian) and that is how I ended up with a couple more skaters for the Saturday pickup.  Also, it gives me more opportunity to practice my Russian. 

Today was another good challenge - we played about two hours, and I made some good saves.  No additional bruises.  The rink is still warm and I think my gear ended up weighing about 15lbs more with sweat.

[rusty_black 17]

Well had my game and went ALOT better than the last one.   1-1 tie  and 24 shots faced  (last week was 7/23).

Tried some home made toe ties and some knee guards and they worked wonders, only issues was the left one broke in the second period so my pad was very loose.

 

Here's a video of my outing, if you've got 20 mins free and see anything you thinkI can work on let me know.   I definitley tried to keep an eye on my posts a bit more.

There's a lovely tumble at 4.30 that should give you abit of a laugh.

 

 

Edited April 24, 2017 by rusty_black

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Had pretty good pickup last Tuesday. Unfortunately the video is a bit washed out for some reason. Dirty lens? I also somehow managed to include the first clip from last time, and really can't be bothered re-exporting it. 

 

 

Following that, I had a horrible game last night. Lost 7-3 I believe. Everything went in. At least 4 of those goals were deflections on pucks I was screened on. I even let a slapshot go in from the blue line. I HATE shots along the ice. I also had some dipshit snow me after I covered a dump-in, when it was 6-2 at the time. TBH it felt kind of good though.. lol. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

13 hours ago, rusty_black said:

Well had my game and went ALOT better than the last one.   1-1 tie  and 24 shots faced  (last week was 7/23).

Tried some home made toe ties and some knee guards and they worked wonders, only issues was the left one broke in the second period so my pad was very loose.

 

Here's a video of my outing, if you've got 20 mins free and see anything you thinkI can work on let me know.   I definitley tried to keep an eye on my posts a bit more.

There's a lovely tumble at 4.30 that should give you abit of a laugh.

 

 

You're a full wrong? I can't help you... 

[Jamarquan 201]

18 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

You're a full wrong? I can't help you... 

What's wrong with full wrong? I played full wrong when I was in goal (which I think would be fun to try again).

[Thinkingjack 51]

On 4/18/2017 at 1:04 AM, rusty_black said:

Guy almost kills himself at 1.13 haha.     Your movement looks very lazy but its very fluid so it's cool to watch.  You got beat by a nice shot though near the end.   I'm got my second game this weekend so I'll see if someone can hook my camera up behind and take some footage, my movement will be very bad and I think i'l find my angles will be off, but hopefully some of the videos I've been watching might help.

I've gotta fiddle with some toe ties and see if I can get my straps sorted as I think I have them too tight, just don't have the ice time to play around with them here in New Zealand considering I live an hour away from the rink.

That guy actually left the game so I think he got hurt 

 

and thank you, I think to make it feel natural and comfortable

to my style of movement. If it looks lazy, it's cause I'm being lazy, this is more laidback

than Anything.

 

as for the straps it's all to everyone 

I would suggest starting semi loose and work

your way around. 

 

Personally, I don't use boot straps  and the pads I used leg straps on

it was 2.5" at the toe ties before I switched to the monster hockey bungee style ones that are able to extend and go back to normal since they're elastic.

 

for leg straps I had a loose knee strap and a semi loose calf one.  Plus the elastic straps  that's it 

 

with these warriors I use the elastic toe ties and the three leg elastic straps including the one below the knee for a very open knee landing 

[Thinkingjack 51]

not much action, i felt i faced better quality shots in the other side of the ice and didnt take the camera with me 

i'm in the yellow jersey 

 

[Thinkingjack 51]

Got another 

 

 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I am a garbage goalie. I don't know where to even start. Strength? Flexibility? Goalie coach? All three? 

We're trying to save for a house now so not a lot of money to throw around, but even without hiring somebody I just don't know where to start. 

The honeymoon period where I knew I wasn't very good and it was fine because I was new to the position is over, and now I'm getting frustrated by my play. I'm not used to doing things I'm not good at and I'm really bothered by being this bad. 

Sometimes I wonder if I actually prefer the idea of being a goalie and having cool pads as opposed to actually getting on the ice and playing. I love hanging out with the guys but going to the rink is starting to be a chore. 

I'm lost.

[Jamarquan 201]

5 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

I am a garbage goalie. I don't know where to even start. Strength? Flexibility? Goalie coach? All three? 

We're trying to save for a house now so not a lot of money to throw around, but even without hiring somebody I just don't know where to start. 

The honeymoon period where I knew I wasn't very good and it was fine because I was new to the position is over, and now I'm getting frustrated by my play. I'm not used to doing things I'm not good at and I'm really bothered by being this bad. 

Sometimes I wonder if I actually prefer the idea of being a goalie and having cool pads as opposed to actually getting on the ice and playing. I love hanging out with the guys but going to the rink is starting to be a chore. 

I'm lost.

Disclaimer: I've played goalie for all of about 10 hours, just kind of throwing ideas at you here.

First off: Temper your expectations. you started playing a difficult position at an older age than most people start. You've put in a lot of time and money on being a goalie. But this stuff takes a while.

The best place to start is to identify the problem, which should be fairly easy to do considering you've got dozens of games on YouTube (and probably more that aren't on the Internet) where you can see what you do well and what you need to improve upon. If it's flexibility, that stuff is easy to improve / fix with Googling some excercises, maybe some cheap equipment like a resistance band and excercise balls for your glove hand. The two are about $20. Strength might be a little more difficult, especially if you don't have the space or equipment. Some stuff is easy to do at home: squats for legs, twists / planks for core, etc. If it's just that you need to be a better goalie, not a stronger one, there's literally thousands of videos online, and a whole community here at MSH that can help in place of expensive goalie coaching. Write some notes down from those online videos, then try to get into a pickup session and work on them. Roberto Luongo did this the first time around with the Panthers, even with no shooters. He'd just go into the rink and imagine scenarios around him, and then react to them. (Source: Jamie McLennan's book.)

I took a break in writing this to watch some of the GoPro videos. Again, I have virtually no goalie experience, but you seem uncomfortable / slow to move in the butterfly, like you're shuffling on your knees as opposed to sliding, so leg and core strength seems like it would really come in handy there. 

And use your teammates. Tell them to try to cover the cross crease passes, because it requires you to move the farthest laterally.  Make sure somebody is home for the rebounds. Little things like that. 

You're going to have things that take more time to be good at, or that you maybe just aren't good at yet. Again: this stuff takes time. It takes time to get good, or at least competent, at everything, but if you decide to stop after putting in a little bit of time because the results aren't there, then you'd probably have quit a lot of things by now.

If nothing else, maybe take some time away from goaltending, or hockey in general. You said you're saving to buy a house. I'm not an adult, but that sounds incredibly stressful. 

 

[marka 526]

Howdy,

6 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

I am a garbage goalie. I don't know where to even start. Strength? Flexibility? Goalie coach? All three? 

We're trying to save for a house now so not a lot of money to throw around, but even without hiring somebody I just don't know where to start. 

The honeymoon period where I knew I wasn't very good and it was fine because I was new to the position is over, and now I'm getting frustrated by my play. I'm not used to doing things I'm not good at and I'm really bothered by being this bad. 

Sometimes I wonder if I actually prefer the idea of being a goalie and having cool pads as opposed to actually getting on the ice and playing. I love hanging out with the guys but going to the rink is starting to be a chore. 

I'm lost.

 

First, there's no shame in cutting back.  I mean, don't leave folks in the lurch, but don't keep doing stuff if you're not having fun at it either.  The question is if you're not having fun because you think you suck or if its just not as fun as it was before to put in the time/energy and you wish you were doing other things.  The only help for the 2nd one is to go do those other things and see if you prefer having your time spent there.

But for the first one...

I get the "not improving" frustration.  I started playing a year and half ago and all of the easy to see big steps seem to be done.  I was getting a little discouraged.  Talked with my wife and other people some and they pointed out various small things that I take for granted now that I couldn't do as well six months ago.  They were small enough things that I didn't think of them as "improvements", but once pointed out, I remembered being frustrated by not being able to do that stuff.

And so now I look at smaller stuff when I'm looking for encouragement.  Like lately I've been working a bit on elevating the puck on in close shots and playing with that in warmup for games, etc.  I'm seeing a way that that works now, whereas before I just couldn't ever make it happen.

 

Your "honeymoon period" is a great phrase.  To me, the honeymoon period is when you're making huge strides every time out, having fun even if you totally suck, etc.  I think that exists in any skill (it certainly does in motorsports, my other big addiction).  The trick, for me, of going beyond the honeymoon period is to look for the smaller improvements that you ARE still making and accepting that those improvements still matter.

Mark