Getting Off To a good start

Nine Downloadable Drills for Goalies and Coaches

Most associations are just getting tryouts underway, and I've been very busy trying to keep up.  When everything starts up in terms of team practices, I know I may have too many immediate commitments to be able to get out to all the initial practices.  As a result, I wanted to offer nine great "getting back to basic" drills that any assistant coach or volunteer can probably perform with their team's goaltenders.  These nine drills will form three full goalie training menu plans and each full plan should provide twenty-five to forty minutes of activity.  This will give the head coach ample time to work with his players without leaving the goalies hanging in the breeze.

 

Each training plan will have three drills.  The first being an almost exclusive skating drill.  This first drill will provide a warm-up and conditioning skate that will start with the basics and have many natural progressions for the more advanced goalies.  The second drill of the master plan will typically address a Footwork and Fundemental exercise that will allow the goalie to feel the puck and give them a chance to work on some movement and simple save selection.  The third drill of a training menu will give the goalie an opportunity to work on their Read and React skills.  The drill won't be too complicated but offer a chance for the goalie to build some timing and puck-tracking skills.  Many goalies are coming off a long layoff from the summer and after conditioning, a goalie's timing really suffers at the head of a season.

 

Check back with my blog or on the media section of the website to download the required drill in a handy pdf format as I upload them over the next few days.