Riding the Rails (Part 1)

Turning Training into Results

The 2011-12 season has been exciting and I have been privileged to work with close to 100 goalies this year.  Many of the goalies have received extensive goalie training with me or other professional goalie coaches.  It is fairly obvious when a goalie has had high-level instruction for an extended period of time.

On the positive side of this extensive training, is that the goalies usually show strong competence in basic save techniques.  The can execute most of their saves with precision, quickness and balance.  All three of those elements when exhibited can create the impression of an accomplished goalie.

On the negative side to this extensive training is something that I have started to call "riding the rails".  Many goalies can become very good at performing drills.  The more regimented and pre-determined the drill the more skilled the goalie appears.  But what often happens is that when more random elements appear in the drill or the goalie is asked to participate in a game-like drill with her teammates, she can have difficulty in translating her training in results.

I characterize this problem railroad tracks.  If a drill is clearly defined in terms of sequencing, shot release point and shot location, the goalie can perform like a bullet train.  But if one or more of these elements are changed to have a more random element, the goalie can struggle and the previous bullet train is forced off the tracks into less than optimal results.   

I have found that I have had to take goalies aside and encourage them to "get-off the rails" and ask them to be more dynamic during a drill.  The three major issues come down to the following breakdowns:

1. Not following the flow of the puck and play during team drills and mentally preparing for possible scenarios ("active mind") can cause goalies to have problems with sequencing of a drill.  The lack of "active mind" can result in goalies being in the wrong place or with improper shot preparation from not following the drill in a game-like manner.  Many goalies will try to "game" or cheat on a team drill, as well.  They will set up on the shot-release point prior to the puck or even player arriving there.
2. Getting set too soon when the play is still flowing is a common problem of shot-release point.  This is a situation that results from goalies becoming too dependent on goalie-specific drills where the shot-release point in the drill is determined by the instructor.  In a real game or dynamic team drill, the shot-release point is not so clear and many goalies plant themselves too early and do not make small lateral or depth adjustments to optimize position.  These small and attentive movements I term "KAIZEN" which is a Japanese term meaning "to make constant small improvements to get closer to perfection".  
3. Not reading the release of shots with active puck tracking (or "laser eye" as I like to call it), is a problem of random shot location.  The issue of not puck-tracking on the release of shots is more of a habit than a skill.  With goalie-specific drills, shots are usually placed in a consistent manner for the goalie to handle or practice a certain save selection.  It is very easy for a goalie to shutdown or go into "drill-daze" and make these saves in their sleep.  However, while they may be training their body for the movement, they are failing to train their mind/eyes to actively follow the pucks.

See my next post for solutions to "Riding the Rails" soon...