Goalie Training: Are Your Ready for the Playoffs?

With minor hockey teams leading into the final stretch before the playoffs over the next month, games are becoming increasingly important.  Unfortunately for goalies, team practices tend to begin taking more consideration into team systems resulting in extended rest periods and less high intensity workouts.  Although extended rest periods can be great for goalies to ensure that they’re at 100% for game days, they don’t help to ensure that a goaltender’s compete level or the intensity is where it needs to be from one game to the next.

So what are some of the things that can be done outside of team practices to help goalies be ready for every single game?

Goalie Training

Overlooked by team practices at times is the need for goalies to remain engaged.  Considered one of the most important positions in hockey by many, the goaltender encounters the least amount of (real) game play situations during their team practices due to the need to keep a pace going for the rest of the team, and in some cases due to the need for special teams practice.

By this time of the year, goalies, their parents, and team coaches will normally know what gaps goaltenders need to work on to prepare them for the upcoming playoff season.  Therefore, working directly with a goalie coach will have its advantages.

If assigned to a team without a goalie coach, goaltenders should seek one out around this time of year to ensure that they are getting the personal training experience that they require to continue to develop and close their gaps.  However, the goalie clinic environment may not provide the results or attention that some elite goaltenders require.

Goalie clinics are great throughout the season to provide goalies with continuous goalie-specific exercises so that they are able to train in ways which benefit them in their position.  Unfortunately for students, goalie clinics coordinate training with the goalie training provider’s development plan, and may not consider the individual needs of each student.  Although goalie clinics are great to obtain some coaching, and keep moving throughout the season, this time of year should place more focus on closing the individual technical and physical gaps of goalies.  The possibility of achieving this with 8-10 other students on the ice may prove difficult however.

Instead, seek out personal goalie training options to take place during team practices and split the cost of having the goalie coach attend the practice with the other goaltender’s parents.  This method may prove to be more beneficial as the goalie coach will only be working with 2 students for an hour versus the 8-10 students within a goalie clinic.  This method of goalie training will ensure that students receive more attention to detail and receive the feedback and coaching that they need to make the necessary adjustments, taking their game to the next level.

Looking for professional goalie training during your team’s practices?  Goalie Army Academy is mobile and available to work with goaltenders of all ages.  For information about this training option, booking availability, and session pricing, please contact us.

Mental Preparedness

During every playoff season, an underdog wins a game or series.  Ensuring athletes are mentally prepared can therefore be as much of an advantage to teams as physical preparation.

In order to be effective, mental preparation needs to start throughout the day of each game.  Not just upon opening one’s hockey bag when arriving at the rink.  However, the key is to ensure that the path to mental preparation on a game day doesn’t take too much out of the athlete mentally.

Leading up to the game, it is essential to remain positive in order for effective self-motivation to take place.  Coach Peter Russo wrote in his recent article, Internal Goals vs External Goals in Hockey, that people in general commonly make the error of making a result the reason for doing or achieving anything.  Instead, it’s more productive to emphasize the need for enjoyment.

Athletes commonly make the mistake of results driven self-motivation instead of focusing on more positive aspects.  Sure, winning against the team that beat your team 6-0 during your last encounter may sound positive, but is playing a game to beat someone else at it really a good reason to play?

Check out some of our other articles for more on the topic of mental preparation

Mental Preparedness Series: Self-Motivation

Mental Preparedness Series: Visualization

Mental Preparedness Series: Positive Attitude

Mental Preparedness Series:  Mental Toughness

Social Media

The hockey community is a small one, and what you post on social media can go a long way.  Some teams have social media bans in place for their athletes on game days in order to ensure that athletes are mentally prepared for their games.  For other young athletes, social media can be a distraction on game days which may have positive and negative effects.

Keep in mind that similar to posting for the whole world to see, upon logging in to a social media account, viewing others posts or comments may serve athletes poorly as well.  Because remaining focused on game days are essential, aside from posting to promote your team or develop your brand, it may be beneficial for athletes to steer away from their news feeds to ensure that social media does not impact their upcoming game negatively.  Worrying about the developing gossip from peers can play games with the minds of impressionable athletes at any age.  As a best practice, try to go without on game days.

Jeremy Whalen of the Social Athlete’s Guide wrote an exclusive article for Goalie Army Academy on the topic of social media on game days titled, Goalie Game Day.  For more information on this topic, please read the article, or check out his blog.

Health and Nutrition

Eating right for any athlete is essential for elite-level performance.  Equally important is the need for a good night’s sleep.

If you haven’t already, pick up a sports-specific cookbook for some game day recipes.  These types of cookbooks are normally filled with some great quick and easy meals for parents when time is so limited between travelling to and from the rinks.

If you’re not sleeping well, your play will suffer.  Poor sleep can be attributed to all kinds of things.  To do your best to avoid a poor night of sleep which will affect your game, be disciplined with your bedtime.  Get to bed early so that if you lay awake for the next hour or so worrying about the test the next day, or the upcoming game, you’re still getting a good night of rest.

The playoffs are filled with lots of hockey.  And if your team is fortunate enough to continue to advance, then remaining hydrated plays a significant role in your performance.  Therefore, ensure that you’re filling your body with plenty of healthy liquids to keep yourself in game form.

Tips and Tricks

For some, getting to the rink earlier than the rest of the team allows them to get “into the zone” for their upcoming game.  It enables the athlete to get a feel for their environment, stretch thoroughly, have better conversations with coaching staff, and obtain a good warm up.

One of the mistakes that we see periodically is athletes who don’t take their pre-game warm up seriously.  Enjoying time with your teammates is never a bad thing.  However, it should never be at the expense of a proper warm up which may result in a poorly played game or an injury.

For goalies, warming up the eyes is equally as important as warming up one’s arms and legs for a game.  Warm up time may be limited.  However, never sacrifice this essential aspect of your warm up.  Make sure to take the 5 minutes before every game after putting on your leg pads to bounce a tennis ball off of a wall and catch it with both hands while in your ready stance, picking up speed as you go.  Not only will this allow you to warm up your eyes, but it will warm up your arms at the same time to ensure that you’re able to react effectively as soon as you hit the ice.