Slow Warmup

[Timberwoof]

After a year's absence from organized league play, I've joined a team. Yay! The Ice Dragons have been playing for a year, and I've run one or two of their practices and yelled at them during games. They are near and dear to me, for they practice! And they get better!

However, an old pattern of mine is reemerging: I'm slow to warm up. In the first and second games, the other team scored four goals on us (one or two "dumb" goals) during the first period, and them my team scored in the second and third periods. Argh, eh? In the first game, we went into overtime ... and in the second game, we were actually ahead by one point until seconds before the end. (ArgH!)

I am pretty awful in the first period, but then once the other team has warmed me up, I'm really good in the second, third, and overtime periods.

Has anyone else had a consistent slow-warmup problem? How have you dealt with it?

[Dr Dave]

I have the same problem. Pre-game warm-ups never seem to be long enough to get me loose and feeling comfortable with the puck. I think this is in part an age related phenomenon. I have not found a good way to overcome this. I rarely have time to do much of a warm up before going out on the ice, but when I do it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Maybe the first period shouldn't count.

[stollie_the_goalie]

Same here. I never really get "into" the game until I've let in about 2 goals. I think it's because we don't get enough time for warmups. We get 2:00, and I usually get about 4 cruddy shots (most of them miss the net, and they're all slapshots).

My rink sucks. 2:00 warmups, and a curfew clock.

[sloth2946]

Pre-game warmup starts pre-game. Basically if you are having problems getting the juices flowing in the silly 5 minutes the refs allow you to see some rubber, then you need to start your pre-game warmup earlier. Like before you leave for the rink or put any of your gear on. Do some sprints in the hall way. Maybe some pushups or sit ups. A few frog jumps will also help. Throw a ball off the wall and catch it as well as some stretching. I will guarrantee you that will get you out of your slow starts.

[TartanBill]

I have to agree with Sloth. At our age, (I'm41) the warm up becomes more important. I allocate about 20 minutes for warm up exercise and stretching. This is prior to dressing. I do jogging, jumping jacks, plyometrics like frog jumps and (very few) knee bends. Then when warm I do a lot of stretching.

I then dress, and finish up with another 5 minutes of stretching (concentrating on game like extensions) in full gear.

I'm ready to go when I hit the ice.

[Timberwoof]

Exellenet suggestions... they even make sense. I'll give them a go once my left knee MCL heals.

[jens_iceman]

Timberwoof
I would suggest you get an pre-warm up before you put on your gear and then do some basic stretching and then do your on ice warming up followed by a long stretch .
Hopefully this works out for you !!!

[leafy_1331]

i too, don't get fully into the game early

i'm looking at all of my lacrosse games this season.. in 8 games this season, i've let in a goal on the first shot about 6 times, goal on the 1st and 2nd shot in about 3 games.. and once let in the 1st 4 shots

in those 8 games, i had a warmup in only 2 of them, and coincidentally, they are the only 2 that i didn't give up the 1st shot on....

i've never had a problem with not warming up before in the past 2 seasons....

my question. physical or mental thing? combo of both? or i just a second half goalie ?

[Timberwoof]

Leafy, from responses here so far and my own experience, my guess is it's a combination of the quality of the warmup you get from your team and your age. I'm 41 now, and it's been a couple of years since I had a good team where my goaltending could make a difference. It feels as though I'm slower to warm up than before, so the change I need to make is to start my warmup earlier before the game.

I don't want to settle for being a "second-half" goalie. I want my team to believe in me and start scoring right away instead of being all worried for the first period. That's where the psychology comes in.

[Old Swiss2]

1) I'd also do a self-diagnostic to see if there is a nutritional component to your slow start.

2) Along with the physical suggestions, I find that substantial pre-game visualization helps considerably.

3) Treat warm ups like the game. I find when I "lounge" my way through warm ups my performance isn't nearly as good as when I attack it like a 7th game overtime.


Old Swiss2

[leafy_1331]

Originally posted by Timberwoof

I don't want to settle for being a "second-half" goalie. I want my team to believe in me and start scoring right away instead of being all worried for the first period. That's where the psychology comes in.

hn

surprisingly, my team is the opposite, i'm really starting to think that they rely too much on me (i've heard that from a few opposition players i'm friendly with, and the opposition coach)

right now, i'm 16, so i'm starting to think it's more a mental than a physical thing..

i did a lil interesting experiment with my backup goalie..

in warmups, she usually gets scored on alot... and normally, she plays average after a warmup like that

i had the team deliberatly shoot so that she could save them easily, and lo and behold. amazing game followed

coincidence? i think not

[Roymond]

I do have 2 minute warm-ups, that how come i start to stretch in the locker room and i have players shoot at me off to the side where no one else is. So i get warmed. I also do alittle jogging and stuff to warm up and break alittle sweat.

[Timberwoof]

Leafy, that actually fits in with my theory on warmups: I feel as though I play better if during warmup I get to exercise each specific move a couple of times. If I don't get any shots to catch during warmup, then I don't catch well during the game.

[Supergoalie]

I think Ol' Swiss had an important point about being mentally prepared. Take the time to go through different scenarios and saves in your head before the game. Going through how you're going to move and react in your head will help when you have to do it during the game. That way you're focussed when they drop the puck at the start of the game instead of using the first period to get going.

[RedK]

I'm with Stollie on this one. I do 20 minutes of aerobics followed by 20 mintues of stretching before gearing up. Then I stretch a little more before getting on the ice. However we only get 3-5 minutes of warmups once we're on the ice, and that doesn't seem to be enough for me. There's always at least one bad goal in the first. Maybe it's a mental thing - my brain doesn't snap on until the puck gets my attention by going past me - but I feel more like my reflexes and vision just wind up slowly.

I've been considering trying to add some sort of puck/ball warmup in the locker room. A little juggling seems to help my glove hand, but I'm not sure what to do for the blocker, stick or feet. Any ideas out there?