Exercises for increased reflexes

Does anyone know any exercises or programs that will help increase reflexes for goaltending? A web page would be great.

All you need is a wall, and a tennis ball. The exercises that europeans like Tretiak first introduced ( I guess? ).. Lotsa different stuff you can do there. First try catching the ball (throwing high speed at the wall) with bare hands, throw catch, throw catch.. that way at least for me when you put on your gloves they it feels sooo much easier, and this helps. Once you get good at this, try throwing it with your eyes closed, and opening them when you hear the sound of the ball hitting the wall, and catching it there. I do this just as a time-waster during boring 2nd periods of NHL games on tv, afternoons when I have to kill time.. etc.

[Bernie]

I do a variation of the above drill when I coach, and the kids love it.

I turn the net towards the wall (the posts are still on the goal line so the distance from the wall, if I remember correctly, is 13 feet) and have the student face the wall while I throw tennis balls from behind the net so he can only react to the bounce off the wall. It is amazing to see how fast they can improve their reflexes! When they get better, I will move the net a few feet closer. Or, worst case scenario- use raquetballs! But this is usually too difficult.

One drawback is that in most rinks the student can see your reflection off the glass. In our practice rink however, one end of the rink butts up against an aerobics room and there is only boards rather than glass so we can use that end of the rink for this drill. Otherwise it would be necessary to cover the glass or something to really get the effect of this drill.

Another drill I do is I have the student sit in a butterfly and I hold a half a sheet of paper high over his head. When I let the paper go the student must pop to his feet and catch the paper. If the paper hits the ground, I make him do 5 of what we call "up-downs", obviously dropping to the butterfly and popping back to the feet (The skaters would do pushups). This drill the refelxes and also of course getting up!

I got several more but one other really good one is what I call the "R+R drill". R+R means "Relax and React" and I constantly chant that to my goalies (and myself during a game). For this drill you need one of those special shooters with a truly untelegraphed wrist shot. Have him stand as close as 10 feet away and wait until the goalie is fully set and concentrating (I have him chant "Relax and React" three times). The shooter obviously tries to peg the net but the goalie- in super concentration mode, has a better chance of reacting to the shot. Remember this is NOT a speed drill so make sure the goalie gets good and set before the shot.

Hope this helps

Bernie

Bernie.. I don't quite understand that paper drill. Since you've perked my curiousity, could you please elaborate a little. Is the basic concept there reacting to a falling piece of paper which would float any which way?

[Bernie]

Good question. See the point is the student must react immediately to the paper falling to have the best chance at catching it because if you wait more than a half-second it will float very randomly and become much, much more difficult to catch. I hold the paper vertically so it drops straight at first. One of my students can pop to his feet as soon as I drop it and catch it before it even starts floating. Others react/get up much slower and the paper starts looping around randomly and they end up diving on their stomachs to try to catch it, and usually end up doing the 5 "up-downs". Again the trick is the faster you move to try to catch it, the easier because the paper doesn't move around wildly at first!

I often joke when the air conditioning is on by saying: "We have to be careful where we are for this drill because it is too hard to catch the paper when it's in the path of the air vents. Now- everyone stand in front of the air vents!"
Well, the parents get a kick out of it at least.
I also joke by asking "What's the point of this drill?" and if a kid answers "To make us get up faster." I say "Wrong- it's to make you do up-downs!" and I immediately drop the paper 1 inch from the floor so he can't catch it!
Of course, if the kid answers "To make us do up-downs." I reply "Exactly right!" and I still drop the paper one inch from the floor so he can't catch it!

Gosh, ain't I a stinker!

Bernie

[Squealagig]

I like doing the tennis ball thing with a boulder ball. For thouse who have never seen one it's a bouncy ball about the same size as a tennis ball but it's not round it has all different angles on it so you never know which way it's going to go.

Where can you get or how do you make a boulder ball?

[Squealagig]

I don't know exactly where you could get one I got mine at the zoo. Try some little kiddies toy shop or if you still can't find one you could always try making your own with a large bouncy ball and a file. if either don't work I could probably send you one.

[This message has been edited by Squealagig (edited July 28, 1999).]

What I do is paint some lacrosse balls black and juggle frequently, and an hour before every game

[Squealagig]

I can't see how juggleing can be that much help as the key to doing it right is in the throwing of the balls once you get the pattern down you can almost do it with your eyes closed.

Heres one thing I do that I think may help speed and reflexes.

take two small balls in one hand and throw them both up simultaniously (the higher the better) then when they come down try and catch both one after the other in the same hand. It's easy to catch the first ball but you have to move pretty fast to get the second one (the higher you throw it the faster they go when they come down) If you can do that try 3 balls. I can now do 2 most times but haven't managed 3 yet.

I hope I explained it well enough.

[This message has been edited by Squealagig (edited August 24, 1999).]

I USE AN EXCELLENT DRILL IN THE DRESSING ROOM BEFORE THE GAME THAT I FIND INCREASES MY REFLEXES AND ABILITY TO FOLLOW THE PUCK..IT IS QUITE SIMPLE..PICK A SPOT ON THE WALL IN THE DRESSING ROOM(A CLOTHES HOOK OR MARK ON THE WALL).NOW TURN AWAY FROM THE SPOT.NOW LOOK BACK AND QUICKLY FIND THE MARK ON THE WALL..I START WITH BIGGER SPOTS AND WORK MY WAY TO SMALLER THINGS LIKE A SMALL PAINT CHIP...GIVE IT A TRY AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK...

[Bernie]

Tried your drill by looking at your message, blazer. I'm good enough now to where I'm ready to try it with lower case letters now.

[Aaron]

Bernie, you're too much sometimes

One thing I did when i was on my diet was run in place. I would run in place for 20 min. a day. I'd run slow, then go as fast as i could. Kinda like that training system (i forget the name) where you do an exercise as fast as you can, then rest for the same amount of time. A football coach told me it would make me have quicker feet. When I first started, I couldnt' make a pad save to save my life! Honest.. Now I've gotten some speed and some balance from it, and I'm more comfortable executing the save.

[Bryan]

Aaron, you said when you WERE on your diet. Are you down to your goal wieght ALREADY?!?!

[h0ck3yg0a1ie]

Hey, im a goalie of about 7 years... i havent played for about 2 years... ive been practicing for over a month, but i cant seem to get as good as i used to be... i can get my glove exactly where the puck is... that is, after it goes in... i need some sort of drill to get my glove to the puck faster... does anyone know what i can do that specially targets this weakness? anything will help!