The old five-hole

Hey, I'm having trouble with my five-hole.

Long range shots -- pretty easy cause there's lotsa time to see em' coming and get down.

Close range shots -- also easy cause I just throw the butterfly down and smuther it before it's even off the stick.

But medium range shots....

See, you can't go down too early cause then you get beat upstairs. But if you stay up and try to react on the shot, then it's gonna catch ya sometimes. That "sometimes" is a real aversion of mine.

Solutions?

1) Stick discipline. Stick on the ice. Mine sometimes (well, quite often) jumps up when I make that quick move to the ice, and the puck scoots under.

2) But what about a simple pad lean?

Anyone have any words of wisdom?

A GUY'S SHOOTING FROM THE SLOT, YOU'RE OUT ON A DECENT ANGLE. (best Keanu Reeves impression) "WHAT DO YOU DO? WHAT DO YOU DO?"

AB

[daemyn75]

If you have a decent angle with a guy in the slot stay up and close your pads so the 5 hole is not more that will do a few things

1. He will se it and have to go high and to the side.

2. he will go low and to the side.

3. He will shoot at you and waste his time.

on a medium range shot I find this is the best bet for me. I'm sure the guys will have other methods too so hey try them all and take the one that works best for you.

One more thing your stick comming off the ice is normal it happens to us all. try pushing down on the stick some when you drop or lean forward so you push the stick down. It takes practice but you'll get it.

[This message has been edited by daemyn75 (edited September 30, 1999).]

Stick off the ice when you go down - ouch! We tied 3-3 Saturday and the second goal went 5-hole when I lifted by stick on the way down. That hurt. I like Daemyn's suggestion about leaning on the stick as you go down.

[Aaron]

Damn if that didn't happen to me again, and it tied the game I went down and got beat 5 hole 'cuz my stick came up. I shall try that leaning method and see what happens.

[glovesave1]

Leaning doesnt work for me.The more i lean or the tighter I hold my stick the more it comes up.The thing that works best for me is making sure my knees are bent and my stick is out in front of me.If I do that my stick stays down.

[This message has been edited by glovesave1 (edited September 30, 1999).]

[TartanBill]

What do you mean by medium range? I am guessing those 20-45 ft shots.

Remember that you can time your reaction based on the wind-up as well. Just don't commit too early.

It's all in the timing. If you start low enough, and time the drop, you can close that 5-hole fast enough. A lot of goalies I see kind of "jump" into the butterfly, I just drop my knees.

[Bernie]

Agreement with Tartan here. He and I have mentioned before- the lower the knees to the ground the better. That's why a goalie stance is more bend at the knees than at the back. And I have seen LOTS of beginners who actually "jump" into a butterfly as Tartan mentioned. Their skates and everything actually leave the ground as they land in a deafening "thud" that looks like it must hurt! I'm sure you don't do that, Aaron, but I'm just jabbing the point that the closer to the ground your knees are the better.

But, most 5 holes goals I believe are from not keeping the stick down, rather than from going down to late. If the stick is down often you can stop the shot while you're still going down! It gives you that "whew, glad my stick was there" feeling. The problem is most goalies have a problem with slightly lifting there stick as they go down- myself included! This often gives the impression we are going down too late.

Bernie

That jumping thing is right on the mark. I get so excited that I just "Jump!" Also, I get so focused on my knees that I do everything I can to get the knees down and that includes lifting the arms (which lifts the stick.)

I think it's too easy to get fixated on getting the knees down at the expense of focusing on the stick. If my stick's on the ice, I don't even have to drop the knees on most five hole shots!

Anyway, thanks for the tips.

AaronB

[Bernie]

<<If my stick's on the ice, I don't even have to drop the knees on most five hole shots!>>

-BINGO baby!

Bernie

I don't know if this will work for you, but sometimes it works for me. Get your teammates, or drop-in guys to take some of those shots at you.. DO NOT use your normal save, use something else, 1/2 butterfly, stick only, take a glove swipe at it..

I do this if I develop a problem or a bad habit with a save. I find that forcing my self to NOT use that save helps clear the mind a bit. When I go back to it I usually drop back into my old routine, and waa la! problem solved. Perhaps a mental reset button if you will.

The added advantage for me is it pushes the envelope of what I can do with each type of save...

my $0.02

[Bernie]

I just had to come back and re-read my own advice.

Last night I had more getting me between the legs than Madonna!

Bernie

I've been really slow to challenge slot shots lately.

Last night I was god. I stopped everything. Everything. Until later, when defenses started to get tired and guys kept walking into the slot and ripping me high glove side (and almost blocker side too!)

Instead of just stepping to the crease, I'm gonna take another step and really shut down the top corners. I found the real advantage of cutting down the angle is that it takes away the high shot REALLY quickly. I imagine the more you come out, the more hulking you look.

And the less those forwards see of the net, the more omnipresent (omnipotent) you as a goalie must seem. Good feelin'.