InGoal Magazine April 2012 - Summer Camp Edition : Page 50
The importance of visual habits and puck tracking in your game G By Mike Valley and Mike Lane, Elite Goalies Mike Valley is the Dallas Stars goalie coach and the owner and operator of Elite Goalies. The Elite Goalies Camps have been designed to develop and hone a goaltenders skills in a detail intensive environment. The dynamic coaching staff and unique instruction format provide students with an experience where they will learn the most cutting edge training methods available. The highly structured camps propel students to improve their skill level, self-esteem, concentration, confidence, coordination, discipline, physical and mental conditioning. For more information please visit elitegoalies.com “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” oaltending success at any level comes down to habits. You have the choice every time you step on the ice to form good habits or poor habits. They play a role in all facets of the game and when in place properly allow us to act instinctively under pressure– the fastest possible reaction and one that cannot be clouded by judgement. goaltender finds when “in the zone” is absolutely the result of the implementation of key positive disciplines and habits in their game. One of the keys factors – one that literally slows the game down – is having strong visual habits and puck-tracking discipline. Our position requires an incredible amount of visual acuity and eye-hand coordination. Goalies must constantly sense and respond to a wide variety of stimuli. For example, we must master the ability to perceive the subtleties in a shooter’s movements. Goalies must recognize if an attacking player is shooting (and if so, to which quadrant) and the type of shot he is taking (slap, snap, wrist, backhand). Often, when goaltenders are struggling, they are He must also recognize when a puck carrier not watching the puck properly. Inconsistency may elect to pass (to where and to whom) and creeps into their game as they guess, rather than factor in a multitude of other perceived threats track, simply dropping and blocking, hoping (e.g., screens, tips, back door, rebounders). the puck hits them rather than reading a puck off the blade and tracking it to make the correct To read such a variety of cues goalies learn to recognize and sense very subtle signs including save selection. things such as hand positioning, blade Of course, the opposite of that is also true. positioning and angle, and foot positioning. When a goalie is in the zone we often remark that he just seems to see everything. The game And once a player has made their decision, we must choose how to respond—our save is said to slow down for him. selection. Our decision speed is determined by When a goaltender is struggling we are quick the length of time it takes a goalie to sense the to find fault in their habits, but when they have puck carrier’s stimuli and select an appropriate success the “slowing down” of the game has response. The ultimate goal is to be able to almost a magical quality to it. But the success a respond quickly and instinctively. David Hutchison photos 50 InGoal Magazine April 2012
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