Long aggressive pushes are an important aspect of goalie movements, but why? When you move around in your net with long passes side to side, it’s important for you to always have a proper position being on your toes and aggressive.
It is important to know the area you are covering and to make sure you are getting at every angle. For example, when positioned to the post and simulating a play in the corner with players skating around either near or far from the front of the net, it is valuable for you to know what is happening. This being said, you need to take the time to read the danger in front of the net. Visualizing a situation in your head while doing crease movement will help with your muscle memory and reaction time come a real game. By maintaining quick feet and moves, this will help in fast positional changes when the play moves from one side to another. These drills will mimic game play with recovery to your post after a good save. Let’s dive in by starting with our first drill.
DRILL #1: SITUATIONAL RECOVERY
STEP 1:Get in the effective proper position at your glove post. Use the helpful tips from Drill #1 in Focus #1 (Movement Techniques). T-push to the top middle of your crease. Keep this aggressive position for one to two seconds. The player is skating towards you, be ready.
STEP 2:Imagine that player is now skating towards your blocker side. Use two sharp and crisp shuffles to square on the player in case he shoots while moving. Stay quick on your feet, while keeping a strong stance.
STEP 3:Player takes a low shot on your glove side. You stop it with your stick. You need to recover with the foot of the drive leg (glove side) in front of the lead leg (blocker side). This will rotate you in angle in order to push back from the same post you started. Weight should be placed on the inside edge of your drive leg, and don’t forget to lead with your stick and glove. Repeat the drill four to five times on each side.
TIP: Once again, after you go down to make a save and you start pushing, do not forget to look toward the slot to identify any threat coming at you. By keeping your head up and eyes open, this makes you aware of any upcoming actions that may approach you.
DRILL #2: ZONE WORK WITH BUTTERFLY SLIDE
STEP 1:Start at your blocker post. Imagine the opposite player in the corner who won the battle against you d-man and looking for options in front, make sure before he is ready to make the pass, you already took your information and saw were the danger was.
STEP 2:Visualize he is making a pass to the high slot. You then need to make a hard push (t-push or long shuffle) to be aggressive in front of the player and have a proper visual line with the puck (weight on your toes, shoulders aggressive towards the puck).
STEP 3:Imagine he is making a pass to the player in the middle who is getting ready for a quick release. You should react with a quick shuffle and a butterfly down to make a chest save on the middle of your net.
TIP: Take the time to position yourself properly before every movement. This will make you understand and control every push. By perfecting the technique, this will be very beneficial when put in real game scenario. When mastered, start adding speed to the drill (to mimic real game speed) while always maintaining control.
