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A couple short points to add on to an already well discussed thread. I think it bears mention that shooting the puck is not "handling the puck", but instead is but one component (albeit an important one) of handling the puck.
Lots of Bernie's points make sense when it comes to learning how to shoot. Maybe I passed over it above, but did anybody mention the neccessity of scrounging up 10 pucks, throwing a piece of plywood on the ground, and shooting several hundred pucks a day at the fence from your forehand, backhand, and with just your blocker hand for a couple years. When it comes to shooting, quick fixes simply do not exist, and young (10-14) goalies USUALLY don't have the wrist strength to let go much of a rocket. Practice, practice, practice...
What young goalies most defenitely can learn from a young age is how to make decisions when they are out of the net. The single largest mistake I see goalies of all ages make, under pressure or not, is that they simply do not have their head up surveying the "scene" as they make their way to the puck. Thus, rather than getting to the puck with a pretty good idea of what they want to do with it, they stop the puck, look up (hopefully) and get overwhelmed by the options and pressure coming their way. That obviously leads to mistakes over time. I know it sounds simple, stupid, and is easily overlooked, but you might be surprised if you watch for it next time you are hanging around watching the game after yours. (Because we never do it, of course) There will be plenty of times that split second descisions need to be made and properly executed, and the fluttering heart that is mentioned several times in posts above can up the ante, but I venture to say that there are many times we can use our time in "transit" better to prepare us and reduce
mistakes.
Alot of the anxiety and mistakes made by young goalies playing the puck would also be relieved if they switched their computer off, removed their headphones, and stepped outside to play a lot of road hockey. Confidence from experience perhaps...
[This message has been edited by Brett (edited September 17, 1999).]
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