Stand-up...Hybrid...B-fly...Hybrid...Stand-up...i'm confused

[RichMan]

I remember when i was a teen and the hybrid style had taken over the stand-up style. Then in the early '90s, the b-fly style was starting to take over the hybrid style.

All over the web and in schools, all you could find as instructional styles was the b-fly. Suddenly, some videos are coming out with the Hybrid style. What will come in the next 10 years...the Stand-up style...again?

Is this due to the game changing? Is it due to the goalies changing? Is this the influence of a select few pros who's game has greatly impacted the sport? Could it actually be the echoing of Bulletin Boards stating what might of/could of/should of been the obvious?

Why did it take so long for the coaches and schools to realize that a b-fly style alone might not be the most beneficial style to play successfully at an elite level, or at ANY level for that matter?

I can't be the only one who's noticed...right?

[Damion]

Clever clever marketing that is all you are witnessing

If I run a camp and say come learn standup kids will write you off as old school but a few parents will sign up there kids anyways because they think its the best way.

If i say come learn butterfly then you get a beter response but many parents will shy away becase of how many times they have been told that junior needs to stand up more.

If the propaganda talks ab out hybrid style you offend nobody and make more money.

Without a drastic change to the rules we will never again see a standup era.

without getting to much in to it (there is already a thread going) Butterfly is here to stay.

However fundamentals patience and being very athletic will still be prerequisites for success with any style.

[Timberwoof]

The best thing I read on the subject is "Butterfly is a save technique, not a goaltending style."

When I started playing hockey about twelve years ago, the descriptions of leg pads talked about butterfly, hybrid, and (not so much) stand-up styles, so I went and looked for information on what they were. My first team taught me stand-up, and I have an exceedingly goofy-looking photo of me from then. (No, I will not post it; you'll laugh "with" me.) Then I got a real goalie coach who taught me a better stance ... and then I moved to ice.

I've been to a number of different goalie clinics, and the coaches at a few of them have said something like this: "This weekend we will teach you some things. They may or may not be your style of play, and we don't care what you do after this camp. But try these techniques. If they work for you, great. If they don't, that's okay, too."

The first time I tried the butterfly save, my knees had words with me. We've come to an agreement: Half-V is as far as I'll go. At 47, I've got to work on a style that makes it look easy; no fancy saves like Hasek. It turns out that the "hybrid" "style", which is what my first camp taught me, works well for me.

YMMV.

[geojedi]

There is no correct answer here.
Fundamentally, it's all about angles and positioning. The save selection only improves your chances of making the save after that.
What works for Jimmy may not for Johnny, play to the strengths of your game.

[ariesgroove]

I teach at a goalie clinic and all the instructor teaches is butterfly. I don't mind that the goalies are learning a certain style, because it will only help them develop into better goalies and at a young age the butterfly style gives them better odds at stopping the puck. I think that's why most young goalies prefer that style, they are playing the % game.

My only issue with the style is that it doesn't allow the goalie to be creative or break away from the style when they need to make an adjustment. I don't know how many times I've seen a goalie make no adjustments to a shot during the practice, after I've shot the puck in the same spot 5 times in a row.

Not every goalie can execute the bfly style, so they should look to alternatives to help them out. whether it be standup or hybrid. I like the hybrid style since I grew up playing standup. My theory is...If you can stop the puck to help your team win, that's all that matters!

[RichMan]

Geo and Aries...i'm quite in agreement with what you say. Use what you can and do as you can with it.

I'm not questioning the styles per say...i'm simply pointing out how every coach/school/clinic made such an effort to market and teach the b-fly as "the thing" to do, and only recently has the "hybrid" approach been pushed more. I find that amusing cause that is pretty much how 90% of goalies were, and are in general. It's nothing new, yet they seem to be making it as so.

You can't re-invent the wheel...know what i mean?

[Slapshot011]

Originally Posted by RichMan

You can't re-invent the wheel...know what i mean?

But you can always rename it!!!!

.... Oh and charge more for it of course

[puctrgt]

Add 10% for graphics, as we all know they intrinsically repel pucks.

[Timberwoof]

How about if you print an image of velcro on your jersey? Will that help?

[geojedi]

Personally, I think it's a reflection of the shooters.

Stand-up style.
Wait, 80% of the goals are scored in the bottom foot of the net...
Butterfly style.
Wait, shooters are just waiting for us to drop and throwing them over the shoulders...
Hybrid style.
Keep 'em guessing.

There is a correlation with the successes any goalie may have in the NHL.
i.e. So&So plays this way and his stats were off the hook, I need to copy that and I'll be the toast of my league too!
As more people adopted the Roy-Quebecois BF and made the NHL, more of us pulled a lemming on our style.
Today there are more goalies that don't BF for everything and are successful (Brodeur, Ellis, Nabokov, Kipprusoff, Osgood, Turco, etc.) Time to play a new style....

[ukgoalie19]

I totally agree with most of the posts here; its all about marketing, people rename something thats already been done/there and teach it as something new that they have developed and are leading the way with. The one example I find funny is how some schools or instructors have renamed the T-push a 'power-stride'. Next they'll rename the butterfly the 'Megasave' or something fancy! That said butterfly could do with being renamed, after all its hardly manly....

Standup with never come back, that type of way was a hangup from when goalies didn't wear helmets or have decent C/A and therefore wanted to make all their saves with their pads and stick. Butterfly is the overall % save but the bigger the toolbox the more likely you'll be able to have the correct save for each situation.

[damagician]

Hey guys, I just thought I'd explain a few things to you.

Hybrid from back in the days and today's hybrid isn't the same at all.

In the days, a hybrid goalie was someone who would stay up on the first shot, and then go down on the rebound. That was the philosophy back then and there was nothing more to it.

Hybrid today means REACTING to the shots. Which means, using the blocking butterfly when the puck is in the blocking zone. The reacting butterfly when the shots are coming from the reacting zone usually lower than your waist. Standing up when the shots are from the reacting zone and very high.

Blocking zone: Close range shots
Reacting zone: Shots coming from the H marks ans higher
Blocking Butterfly: Keeping the gloves low and elbows in on the shot (no reacting at all)
Reacting Butterfly: Keeping the gloves high in order to make a proper save

Nic
Okanagan Hockey School Instructor
Goalie Development Center Counsultant