OLD DOGS: SESSION #7 RECAP AND SESSION #8 ANNOUNCEMENT
Hi Old Dogs!
Thanks again for a great session on Thursday of last week. I just wanted to touch base with a few ideas for what we worked on that day and how we use the backside-edge push or butterfly shuffle. This is a popular go-to move for high-level goalies and I think all goalies must use this well when situations warrant it.
The main purpose of the backside-edge push is to be able to follow a rebound that has come out after a save and still cover low. The rebound must be within 15 feet or less. If a rebound is further out than this a full recovery and push to the new shot angle is highly recommended unless there is an imminent shot off the rebound.
The technical breakdown of the backside-edge push starts with a strong head/shoulder and visual lead as with all our movements. The head lead is the puck-tracking element that is so important for our second save efforts from rebounds. With the head and shoulder lead, the goalie's body will start to square up to the new shot angle. The backside leg must recover up with the skate edge as perpendicular to our new squareness as possible. It may be a little hard at first, but your center of gravity should be leaning or over your backside-edge skate when you drive your push. This will minimize the friction of the lead pad leg and help get a smooth drive to the new show angle. Many goalies that are starting out with this technique will find themselves lifting their lead pad off the ice and loosing the on-ice coverage to the lead leg side. As you get more skilled in the technique and the weight transfer issues (moving your center of gravity from push leg to lead leg and back over both your knees), the lead pad leg should stay on the ice through out the movement more frequently.
The other elements of this save/re-positioning technique that I did mention, but we will focus on more in later sessions is,
(1) good hand and stick discipline
(2) strong lead leg flare and not tucking the lead leg behind the body
(3) have a high-body to maximize upper net coverage (being "HIGH in the FLY")
(4) have the backside-edge or push-leg close up the five-hole gap quickly after the push
In the puck drills that we did, I made sure we had a chance to put the backside edge push when we had momentum in the direction we wanted and when we had to use a momentum reverse. Both ways are much easier than using our backside edge from a static position (without momentum), but it is very useful to be able to do this.
Corey Wog of Wogtech Goaltending does a great job in explaining and demonstrating these factors. Please watch both his front and back demonstrations of this. He also talks and demos a bit about recoveries which is also helpful.
GDI also has a pretty good video showing a young female goalie practicing the backside edge push with momentum reverses. It is also a good demonstration of the lifting of the lead leg that can happen on the momentum reverse that we should try to minimize or at least be aware.
Session #8 will cover plays originating behind the net. We will only require t-pushes for this session, but I'll add a rebound element too so that we can work on butterfly recoveries and some backside edge pushes. Our warm-up skate and skate station will add some extra work on the backside edge pushes and butterfly slides. I hope to see a lot of you there on the 8thSession on Sunday, April 29th at 8:00 pm at Cole Harbour Place Scotia #1 Rink .