Off season training for goalies

[Jukka Ropponen]

GoalieBlog - Jukka Ropponen: Goaltenders require specific attention during the off-season too!

I did a small writeup about this topic at my English blog with basic message being that goalies really do need specific training and goalie focused attention during the off-season.

I believe that this area is one where there is really a huge difference between North-American coaching and what we do here in Finland. The whole attitude towards summer / dryland training is totally different in here. Goalies accept it and even more so they have learned to demand it. If you want young talented goalies to join your organization you need to convince them on the quality of coaching that your organization provides. This is great as the competition for talent will also push our clubs to put more efforts behind developing their goalie coaching.

With my own goalies we have been working on the specific off-season program since week 19 and after next week Niklas Bäckström will also join the program.

Jukka

[The Wall33]

Jukka,

I recently reread your article [European Agility Training] in the From The Crease magazine. You wrote this article several years ago and demonstrated a number of exercises and routines.

Have you amended your thoughts since writing that article or do you find that your dryland training is primarily still the same? If possible, please provide an example or two of a routine you use with kids ages 12 - 15.

Thanks in advance.

Dave Wells

[CubanPuckstoppr]

Originally Posted by Jukka Ropponen

GoalieBlog - Jukka Ropponen: Goaltenders require specific attention during the off-season too!

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I believe that this area is one where there is really a huge difference between North-American coaching and what we do here in Finland. The whole attitude towards summer / dryland training is totally different in here. Goalies accept it and even more so they have learned to demand it.
Jukka

This is one of my biggest points of contention with the off season in the US. Rink managers and parents have evolved the system into one where there is no periodization.

What I would like to see is some down time in the spring or preferably a second sport. With off season conditioning starting in late May and running through
August, when on ice sessions mix in with the dryland. Since a number of youth leagues start in Mid-September, (Those who participate on school teams probably start later than some of the more traditional leagues which are USA Hockey members, use the DVHL's calendar as an example The Delaware Valley Hockey League ). August should be the heaviest workload of the year so players arrive in the best condition of the year.

What is happening in reality is parents think it is great for their kids to play in a spring/summer league, from April through the end of July. This is usually done at a lower level of competition than the regular season, and in August they take some down time, the reuslts of this are 1) kids show up in September in worse condition than they left in the spring, and 2) when it is time to hit the ice in September the kids are not as excited as if I had them off the ice for the past three months. BUT parents are entertained and rink managers make some off season money.

Note: there are exceptions to this where some players can benefit from summer select tournaments and festivals.

Note2 : I'm not against skill development on a year round basis, which is different than playing games on a year round basis.

[Brett]

Jukka,

I too am interested in seeing a sample outline of an off-season conditioning plan you set-up for an aspiring early teen goaltender. I appreciate you pointing out the philosophical differences you see 'across the pond' when it comes to training, and I would like to actually see an example of pen to paper, if you will. A sample student, your assessment of his/her game, the tailoring of an off-season program to meet his/her needs.

Thanks,
Brett