new goalie advice

My 8 year old played about 12 games as goalie during his first year in mites. Needless to day, he's developed the bug. I need some tips for beginning goalies (skills, practice) and dealing with a loss. He's pretty tought on himslef for an 8 year old.

[Bernie]

My personal opinion is that kids under 9 shouldn't only be playing only one position, particularly goalie, or maybe not even only one sport for that matter. Particularly if your son is already so competitive he's already pressuring himself, it may be good for him to rotate through other positions which of course also helps him build puckhandling and skating skills as well as remove some of the pressure of playing goal.

It's also most imperative to keep the game fun at this level! Too much stress placed on winning the league etc is not good at this point in my opinion. Even my team of 12 year olds break into tears when they get a 2nd place pewter metal while the winning team gets 4 foot tall trophies! I can imagine the feelings for an 8 year old, but it happens. Some kids simply want to work harder for that trophy, but most of them feel dejected and want to give up.

If or when it is obvious that playing goal is what junior wants to really do, it's a good idea to get him on a team with a goalie coach, or at least one where the coach is a goalie. I am the only goalie who coaches a team in my area and I see all the time where goalies are just "thrown" into net and just told to stop the puck- and to stand up as much as possible ! It then won't be until the kid is 15 or 16 before he even hears about angles, anticipation, tracking the puck behind the net, etc... because these are things that your everyday coach either doesn't know about or even he did, he can't teach it! I actually bounce around between 8 goalies on 5 different teams to coach them because most coaches, as they put it, "We have this good goalie but I don't what to do with him besides give him shots."

Things to do:
+ Play catch, ping pong, raquetball, or any "hand-eye coordination" type games.

+ Encourage, encourage, encourage. Confidence is half the battle!

+ Work a lot on simple basics for now like stance, staying in center of net, skating, KEEPING THE STICK ON THE GROUND, playing the puck (not the shooter), etc...

+Watch goalies on TV to see how they play


Things to Avoid:

- Coaches who insist on dramatically changing the kid's style (for older kids). If a kid has already clearly adopted a goaltending style, the coach should try to improve on that style, not change it.

- "Book Coaches"- I.E. coaches who read a few books or seen a few videos on goaltending and thus think they know how to teach it. If your coach knows everything and anything about hockey but he can't skate- hmmmmmmm.

- Teaching advanced goaltending too early. There is absolutely no point in having a kid learn "telescoping" until he can skate backwards!

- Teams that actually dress a backup goalie. There should be NO benchwarmers on a team of 8 year olds.

- Coaches that place more emphasis on the team winning than on player development.

- Buying "me too" equipment. At this age your kid will grow out of stuff so fast and the shots aren't hard enough that buying top-of-the-line equipment is unnecessary, wasteful, and in my opinion, tacky! Let his performance speak for itself, not the equipment

Hey "Dad".

Been there. You wonder how it can be fun for him when he's crying his eyes out after a tough loss.

One thing I found helped a lot was to remind my son that it's a team game. That it wasn't necessarily the number of goals that he let in, but the number of goals his team didn't score. Remember, a goalie can have a perfect game, but if his team can't score a goal, the best he can get by himself is a tie!
To help with this, I'd keep a mental note of at least one really good scoring opportunity his team missed on. Then, if after the game he was blaming himself for a loss, I'd remind him of the missed play a how that could have made a big difference to the result.

Over the past few years I've given my son lots of suggestions for improving his GAA, but the one which has helped him the most is to have him ask himself after every game "did I play my best?". If the answer is yes, the numbers on scoreboard don't mean a thing.

Hope that helps.

[robbf]

Hey Martin, great closing question, I use sort of the same thing with my son when he gets down on himself after a game, if he can identify some specific plays he thought he really wiffed on we talk about how he might play the same situation next time, and I alway try to bring up a specific point about a save or play he made that really setup a good opportunity for his team.
I am also in the same boat as Bernie, in every league I have coached a team, I am the only goalie who is coaching, I usually get four to five guys that the other coaches ask me to 'work with' for an hour so they can stick them in the nets. In addition I am also a firm believer in what Bernie stated so well, to sum it up make it as fun as you can without damping the competitive nature of the kids. I can't wait till the season starts so my son and I can sit on the floor and watch a game and have some great discussions on how goalie X is playing the game, it will help him and give you some great opportunities to talk with your son. We even went so far as to buy some dry erase markers to mark up the tv screen the way we thought the play should have been made!
Best of luck to you and your son.

[TartanBill]

Here is a topic I hope one of our hosts will weigh in on!

I have had similar experiences to RobbF, my 7 year old has started "mites" this year.

It seems universal that once they find out that you're a goalie, they'll ask you to "work with" the youngsters. Not that I mind at all, it's just that I know what I don't know about teaching kids that age.

Any advice, references, or pointers would be welcome.

[TartanBill]

Hockeydad,

Our organization has pretty much agreed that mites is too early to specialize. We prefer to rotate the kids through goal and expose everyone to the position. Still, I am told if he has the bug, there is no stopping him.

I like to keep advice positive. Here are my suggestions, but keep in mind that I am far from an expert.

First, the object of the game is to win, but the object of playing is to HAVE FUN. Perspective is hard to explain to an 8 yr old, but it is an important lesson.

Second, As Martin suggested, point out OTHER turning points, but remember to keep it constructive. Explain how all players make mistakes and point out skills that must be worked on.

Third, try to point out things that just aren't his fault. Teach him the difference between a mistake, an unlucky bounce, and someone else's great play.

Good luck!

[Bernie]

Dry erase markers, Robb? I thought your son was supposed to run back n forth from the kitchen making sure your beer mug is full!

Actually, the dry erase marker thing is hilarious! That would be a lot of fun- what a great idea!

As far as Tartan's question, one thing I always do subconsiously but it really works is I have a uniform "method" of introducing what we'll be working on. I always tell the kids what we're gonna do, then I personally show em what we're gonna do, then I take them one at a time and help them do it, and finally they go on their own with me just supervising and correcting little things here and there. For example, if you want to teach a kid how to do a butterfly you can't just tell him what to do and then have him to do it. Conversely, you can't just get into a butterfly yourself and then have him repeat what he saw. And certainly you can't just take him and throw him to the ground and mold his arms and legs like a "bendy" toy and say "There- that's a butterfly." You must tell them "Today we are going to learn a new goaltending position called the butterfly... has anyone ever heard of this?" (If anyone knows then ask them to demonstrate etc.) Then, get down and show them exactly what you want them to do. Then take one of the kids and have him demonstrate it to the class. Then have the other kids demonstrate. Then, when everyone is on the same keel, you repeat the same exact process for the next thing. "Now that we know how to do a butterfly, we're going to learn how to quickly get back up to our feet. Does anyone how to do this?... Now watch me... Now lets see if Adam can do it... did he do it right?..." The trick is not only do they learn by demonstration- but they learn best when they are active in the demonstration by either doing the demonstration themselves or by critiquing others. You must make sure the kids that are "waiting their turn" are still participating somehow!

Bernie

[Bernie]

I just wanted to point out- one team I'm goalie coach on has this pathetic head coach that ONLY uses a chalkboard to show the 10 year old kids where they are are supposed to be positioned during certain situations. Amongst all the X's, O's,arrows, and squiggly lines- why does he always wonder why the kids never learn what he's tried teaching them again and again and again and again?

Bernie

[bashby]

Hi all, I've visited this bulletin board several times in the past and have learned a lot. I guess this is about the first time I've felt I could add something to the conversation so here are a couple of random thoughts. I'm in nearly the same situation, only in some ways worse. My son is also 8 and plays goalie in a local roller hockey league (squirts: nominally 9yrs-11yrs). The seasons run about 10 games with usually about 2-5 games in the playoffs depending on how far the team advances. Both my son and the team are doing quite well this season. This is his 3rd season (a new season starts as soon as the old one ends) and has been goalie for about 2 1/2 seasons.

The main reason I said my situation is worse is because I'm the coach, no goalie coach is currently available(could change rsn) and I have to admit, er, well, I've never played hockey. How this came to be is a long story(too long for now and off the subject and no I don't just draw x's and o's on a chalkboard).

Anyway, I would have to second the advice given so far with some elaborations. With my son, it is nearly impossible to suggest any corrections (and I'm talking just basic stuff that any non-hockey playing, non-goalie, book-reading, video-watching coach could spot) while he is in a drill with the rest of the team, he takes it too much as personal criticism and his ego is too involved. However, if I work 1 on 1 with him at home he is much more receptive to suggestions. And they are just that, I know my limitations. I give him a suggestion and he tries it out with me giving him a lot of shots. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have found it productive to just let him get some practice and try out some new moves in a non-competitive situation. A lot of times I just follow his lead,"hey dad, now shoot a lot of shots high on my blocker side". As a dad, it helps just to be a virtual boni machine.

I also believe that there is a lot of cross-over benefits from other sports. Both my son and I have taken Tae-Kwon-Do for about 4yrs now and his training in TKD has helped immensely his goaltending. It has helped his hand reaction-time (he has sparred competetively), his flexibility and agility (he can do the splits), his kick saves (all that kicking improves his leg strength and speed) and his endurance (one of the reasons he gravitated to the goalie position is because he can be on the ice/rink all of the time). Another goalie in the league has started TKD at our school and I have heard comments that this has helped him as well. I read that others also do TKD/Martial Arts, do you feel it helps from a first hand point of view?

As an aside about the TV, my son is incapable of watching any hockey (ice hockey, roller hockey, pro beach hockey, whatever) without dragging out his glove and blocker (and a ball) and start practising moves , copying moves he sees on tv, etc. He also feels compelled be his own play-by-play announcer.

Well that's enough for now, I just want to thank all of the posters on this board for the information I have gotten. A lot of the suggestions I have given to my son have come from here and has helped a lot.

p.s. The only goalie coach I have found teaches on ice so my son is learning to ice skate just so he can take lessons (a promise of mine)

[daemyn75]

Dad,

Encouragement I must say is the most important. I have just started playing goal and I love it too I might have 2 bugs but when I started I had issues like all other goalies. My couch played goal for a little bit but not long. I learned most of it from this site. My coach did help me by shooting puck directly at me and letting me make the save. It helped build confidence in myself. I'm not sure this will be 100% effective for your 8 year old son cause I'm 24. Another thing is having fun make sure your son know that no mater how good he does or doesn't do if he is having fun it doesn't matter. and before i move on to Bernie's problem try watching hockey with your son and making fun of the other goalies when the mess up :-) works for me. Good luck to you and tell your son to stay tough.

Bernie,

With your X and O coach the kids might understand better if you paint X's and O's on there Jerseys so they know who they are on the rink :-) let me know how it works for you.

[Bernie]

Heh, that's a cute idea! Actually, I used to put rubber bands on their left or right hands to remind them if they are left or right wingers- I could stop the scrimmage and they could look at their hands to see who was out of position. On the very few times I used a chalkboard, I used their initials instead of X's and O's but of course my main method is to actually put them in their positions on the rink itself while showing them on the chalkboard. Repeat this several times with the proper drills and they'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Just the chalkboard alone on 8 year olds won't cut it no matter how many times you do it!

As for martial arts- I have started Tae Kwon Do about 8 months ago and am now a Blue Belt. What I've noticed however is somewhat the opposite effect that one guy pointed out. Taking karate has had no apparent effect on my goaltending, BUT being a goaltender has REALLY moved me along in karate!! I guess it's the combination of handspeed, balance, leg strength, endurance, and concentration or whatever, but I really feel I wouldn't have succeeded so well in TKD had I not been playing goal!

Bernie

[daemyn75]

Bernie where did that whole Tae Kwan Do thing come from what does that have to do with the price of pads in Korea? Thanks for that input though I'll take up martial arts for the heck of it.

My 8 year old is playing in his first year of mites and he is handling about 30 shots a game. He only plays half the game because there are two goalies. Naturally he's getting scored on. What my wife and I do that seems to help is sit where he can see us and give him a thumbs up hand signal when he makes a good save. This seems to boost him. I think the only thing that matters at this stage is that he is having FUN. Besides, what he needs most right now is experience and getting shot on alot is much better than dealing with only a few shots. We have also found that getting him aguainted with older goalies like high school age has really improved his moral. They seem inspire confidence and share a kind of comaraderie. My son recieved alot of encouragement and confidence from Jimi St.John of the UML Riverhawks which has helped him to be able to shrug off goals and get back into the game. When all else fails we buy him Pokemon cards, after all he's still a kid. One thing I should add is that because he's a goalie, he's in demand and is called on from time to time to fill in when other goalies are unavailible. There is point were he can be over played and turn off. Even pro goalies don't play a game every day. I think the goalies need to have down time where they can escape, decompress, and asimulate their experience. Sometimes when he is overwhelled we tell him "okay lets just watch, you don't have to play". We sneak the gear into the trunk and when he gets into the rink he just turns on and insists on playing. He's got the bug. What I think is most important is letting him know that watching him play even when he is loosing is the most fun a parent can have.

Just to let everyone know, I am appreciating all the input but probably did not give all the information that I should have. I agree with you that they should not specifiy positions for kids at this age and the philosophy of our association is. All of the kids who want to play goalie rotate through the position during the year. When they are not playing goalie they are placed in all the other positions on a rotating basis.

The only reason my son got more games in the net was due to a late spring league in which he and one other boyy were the only ones interested in the position.

Please keep the advice coming

[daemyn75]

Dad sounds to me like you have the situation well at hand. the older kids thing works well. We have a guy who just plays goalie with us while he is here for a few weeks. He has been a goalie since he was 5 and he is always telling me how good I am even when I screw up bad. So keep up what you are doing and things will be good :-)