Video drill - Combination

[Jukka Ropponen]

GoaliePro.com - Resources - Goaliedrill - Combination - Shot from narrow angle and breakaway

I am working on the videos we did shoot of all the pro's this summer on our ice sessions and putting feedback CD's together for them. At the same time some of these videos also serve a purpose as resources/example articles and this is one of them.

On the page the drill and focus areas are explained.

Jukka

[The Wall33]

Jukka,

Thanks for the video.

I have a question for you: in the video Ari stops with the outside leg (glove leg in this sequence) during the initial push out. Do you have any preference which leg your goalies stop on while challenging out on angles like that?

I have examined both methods of stopping (middle ice leg and outside leg) and have not found it to make much of a difference in most applications. If you have a solid rationale for using one leg over the other I would appreciate if you could share it with us.

Cheers,

Dave

[jf-laflaire]

Thanks for the drill Jukka. Much appreciated. I have been thinking alot lately about skating and the proper foot stopping technique.

I dunno if this helps, but I think [not 100% sure but pretty sure] Keeks teaches stopping on the inside foot. I teach it & really harp on goalies to do it that way now (just recently within the last year).

I rationalized it as such:

If you stop on the outside foot on an angle you are shifting your body toward the middle of the net, mainly with respect to squareness.

If you stop on the inside foot on an angle you are shifting your body toward the angle & are more square to the angle shot. Further because you are this way you can direct rebounds back to that side instead of back infront of the net. You are also "loaded" to move laterally across the crease because of the slight turn of your body. I found that when the pass gets booted across this slight turn has put your weight on the inside foot, already in position to push.

I found that if the weight was on the outside foot, butterfly sliding was not as effortless... you had to push with the same leg you will later land on. It made it a bit slow to close, especially if caught by surprise.

For beginners, when teaching the butterfly slide I have them practice lifting their leg to get the idea of weight transfer and find that they really developed it quickly this way. The stopping just reinforces those aspects from what I found.

Dunno, just sayin'. Hope this helps somewhat. Please anyone let me know if I am teaching this wrong so I can fix it

[The Wall33]

JF,

I have always taught the inside leg too, for the same reasons you have stated (rebound control and squareness). After examining this technique in depth (with lots of game & practice video) I have concluded that it very rarely, if ever, negatively affects the outcome of a play. This is particularly true if the goalie has time to get set and square prior to the shot release.

Having said that, I still believe the inside leg is the best method and I personally use it when I play. In practice, with most goalies I work with, I have found it gets to be too much trouble convincing them to convert to this method. You have to pick and choose your battles and it's one that I don't fret about with most goalies, especially those who are a little older (past 12 years old).

DW

[Densetsu]

Love the videos, Jukka. Keep 'em coming.

One question on breakaway technique, realizing this is only a drill. In game situations, do you support the poke check on breakaways when they're in close? I'm just a beer-league goalie, but most good players I've faced have the puck on a thread and can just stickhandle or toe-drag the puck away in a split second. Meanwhile, the goalie is on his knees at the top of the crease while the skater either goes left or right to shoot into an empty net.

Ironically enough, I've only had moderate success with the poke check in a knee-down post-hug when the attacker is coming in on a narrow angle.

Would a sweep check be better on the breakaway, like what was shown in a video?

[jf-laflaire]

Hey Wellsie,

I do the same you do. If they are rather young & really need to learn everything about skating I teach it specifically, but if they're older, I suggest it, but don't really enforce (similar to what you do). I agree with you & feel there are other things to really hone in upon & not this specific aspect of skating.

Just like yourself, I would rather see a guy who can really skate well, nomatter what technique. I find there are some reputable goalie coaches (in the US from what I've heard) out there who don't teach say, the hop-step & feel its completely wrong. I would rather work them on all techniques & let them chose.

[Coldaccord]

a bit curious why you teach a short poke as a regularity due to the exposure it leaves, especially if the goalie bites on a fake. thanks in advance for the response

edit: also in the vid he brings his blade pretty close to his skates, opening the 6 hole and giving away his poke;

[Ryeno42]

On the leg issue - I just stop on the opposite leg I'm going to react to.

On the poke check- It depends on the situation and how far out you are and if the player has his head down or not.

[MetropolisPt31]

Originally Posted by The Wall33

JF,
Having said that, I still believe the inside leg is the best method and I personally use it when I play.

Well, I'll be darned. I had never really gave much thought to this about my game but I realized that I always stopped with my outside leg. I'm completely untrained, so I'm happy that I don't stop with the same leg all the time but I can't pinpoint when/where/what influence me to stop with the outside leg.

[Jukka Ropponen]

As a rule of thumb I do teach to stop with outside leg when possible. The main reason is that your lateral movement is most propably going to be to the opposite direction and now your weight is already on the outside leg and you can push right away. If you stop with inside skate and have to move to that direction it will take too long time to shift the weight from one leg to another before you can push.

Naturally there are situations where you have to stop with inside skate like when you come quickly out from the post and stop right after the push. Not possible to pus and stop with the same skate on short distance.

I have had goalies who have been teached to stop on the inside skate, but most of the goalies I work with use outside skate and are very succesfull with it. Naturally stopping foor is just 1 piece of the puzzle and wwe should always look at the goalies whole skating and moving ability & technique.

Jukka

[The Wall33]

Originally Posted by MetropolisPt31

Well, I'll be darned. I had never really gave much thought to this about my game but I realized that I always stopped with my outside leg. I'm completely untrained, so I'm happy that I don't stop with the same leg all the time but I can't pinpoint when/where/what influence me to stop with the outside leg.

Most people give it little thought and I would say for 99% of the plays it makes no difference, as long as you can get set and squared prior to the shot release. If you have the time, no matter what skate you stop with you will be set and square.

The advantage, IMO, of stopping on the inside leg (ie. the one closest to the mid-ice corridor) is that it squares you up to the puck and allows you to keep the puck on the same side of the ice in the event of a quicker than expected shot release. Mentally I believe it reinforces the whole pre-shot sequence and emphasizes being square to the puck, especially during outside corridor shots.

An outside leg stop can leave you undersquare and potentially acting as a surface to deflect the puck into the weak side. It may give you a quicker start to a backside push in the event of a pass to the opposite side, but this eventuality should be (IMO) accounted for by a reduction in depth and, of course, a good read on the potential of the pass.

The key is to be on angle, set and square prior to the shot release which is goaltending 101 but is a skill that too often is not executed properly.

Wellsie

[Jukka Ropponen]

Wellsie is quite right that there are a lot of situations where it really does not matter which foot you use to stop, but there are a few key situations when it makes difference. I'll see if I can find a video to show example of stopping and going to butterfly slide.

One really key thing is also not to do too extreme stops one way or the other as it will be hard to stay square to the puck that way.

Jukka