How To Be A Good Lacrosse Goalie

Well the lacrosse season is fast approaching, so hither are x lacrosse goalie tips to make this coming season your all-time always.

Now information technology doesn't matter if you're a loftier schoolhouse lacrosse goalie, or you're just starting out. These lacrosse goalie tips are fundamental tips that Any lacrosse goalie needs to apply equally soon as possible.  Some of the tips you may know, and others you lot might not be thinking of.  Read through them all and run into how you can improve your game starting today.

Lacrosse Goalie Tip 1 of ten:  Be More Athletic

Doesn't matter if your male person of female,  experienced or brand new, the more able-bodied you lot are, the amend y'all tin can be.

Why is that?  Well, if yous've read our post on The 3 Keys To Making Whatsoever Save you'll know that the third key is Moving In Front Of The Ball.

The more than athletic you are, the more explosive you lot will exist and the faster you will exist able to move in front of the brawl.  It's simple.

Merely what does "Be More Athletic" hateful?

• Work on getting stronger so you have the power to be more explosive.  Think "sprinter" and not "marathoner".  Every bit a lacrosse goalie you lot are the most explosive athlete on the field and so train that fashion!  Go far the gym.  Detect a forcefulness double-decker yous can trust and learn how to lift safely and then y'all can get stronger and learn to dear the gym.
• Avoid long runs and use sprints and High Intensity Training instead.  While the rest of your squad is running laps, piece of work on wide jumps up hills.  Sprints of x to 20 yards.  Med ball tosses and other explosive throws and movements are recommended.
• Work on your flexibility.  A tight muscle can't contract and when yous're looking for explosive movements you need muscles that are relaxed and long.  If flexibility is an outcome think of yourself every bit an athlete running around with a xxx pound back pack on your back. Not good, right?  Y'all tin't out-train bad flexibility.  Work on getting more flexibility and your power to move is freed up without even hitting the weight room.  Sugariness deal!
• Treat your trunk like a million dollar racehorse.  Eat clean.  Reduce the Red Bulls and the Monster Energy Drinks.  Limit the caffeine.  Reduce the fast foods.  Yous wouldn't feed a one thousand thousand dollar racehorse that crap, so why would you lot feed yourself that crap?

Mind, at that place's a ton more I could write here.  These are quick suggestions just one's I can give to 99% of the goalies out in that location.  Nearly goalies I take coached are weak, tight, and poorly conditioned.  And that goes for some of the professional lacrosse goalies I have worked with!  This odd'southward are this lacrosse goalie tip will work for yous too.

Lacrosse Goalie Tips 2 of 10: Amend Your Stick Skills

Your goalie stick is your tool.  Like a scalpel is to a surgeon, your stick is to you.  Information technology'southward the most important piece of equipment you ain. Primary it.  Call back Kung Fu Panda and his skillful use of Chopsticks. That's gotta be yous!

So how does a lacrosse goalie improve their stick skills?

Make Certain The Pocket Is Deep Enough For Your Strength Levels

New lacrosse goalies tend to put equally big a handbag in their stick as possible and then they don't give up rebounds.  That'southward bully, but they tend not to exist able to make a pass by the restraining line.  If y'all're really strong in your hands, forearms, wrists, and shoulders, you tin probably do that.  Only if you're non that potent you probably need to tighten upward the pocket a bit.

Your pocket doesn't surrender bad rebounds, your hands do.  I recommend using a tighter pocket in warm ups and practice to develop soft easily so you learn to non give up rebounds.

A shallower pocket will also help yous brand longer passes which gives yous more options on clears.

"Merely Coach!  I can't contrivance or faux with a shallow pocket!?"  I become it.  Listen, y'all're not a middie playing goalie, yous're a goalie starting time.  You're meant to make saves.  Practice your all-time to control the rebounds.  And then brand groovy outlet passes to your teammates and then they can become down the field and score.  That'southward your primary responsibility.  When you lot get stronger physically, then you lot can exercise all the fancy stuff.  Got it?

Make Certain Your Lacrosse Goalie Stick Is The Right Length

Gone are the days of long lacrosse goalie sticks.  I was a pioneer when it came to short goalie sticks so I've seen this for a very long time.

How long should your lacrosse goalie stick be?  Hither'due south a general guideline…hold your stick with your tiptop paw upwards by the throat.  At present drop your hand to your side so the head of the stick points to the flooring and the barrel end comes up behind the shoulder.

This photo is a screenshot from our "All About The Lacrosse Goalie Stick" Module within the Lacrosse Goalie Academy Vault. Click the image to learn more about LacrosseGoalieUniversity.

I recommend cutting the stick and so that the barrel cease is at, or slightly higher up the height of your shoulder.

If you're a lacrosse goalie who is however growing then go out the shaft a petty long.  But if you're done growing, you can cut it a little shorter.  This length works for most lacrosse goalies and it's one of my best lacrosse goalie tips I can requite to a goalie looking to have better saves and clears.

Striking The Wall…Or The Roof!

You've probably heard of wall ball, right?  Well, do it!

It doesn't have to be a lacrosse ball.  It can be a tennis ball.  A foam brawl.  Your sisters stuffy.  I don't care!!

What you are developing is the strength in your hands and your forearms and shoulders to be able to toss a ball (or anything, for that matter) at a target.  By having a lot of repetition yous are developing the fine motor skills in your hands to exist able to practice that.

I used to shoot tennis assurance at my parents kitchen cabinets when they were gone.  (Don't effort this at abode kids.  Their cabinets were solid pine.  Yours probably aren't.  But if yous've got a foam ball become right alee!)

I as well used to throw lawn tennis balls on the roof and expect for them to bounciness down.  This actually helped my shoulders as the throwing motion was higher up and was more similar a clear.  I  had to reach out to catch balls that took funny bounces off the peak.  So exist artistic!

Like most things, if you lot spent merely 15 minutes a 24-hour interval doing this, you'd be an splendid goalie faster than you lot ever thought possible.  So put down the phone.  Put some music in your ear buds and go striking the wall.

Lacrosse Goalie Tips 3 of 10: Set The Goal To Be a Great Lacrosse Goalie

Can you see yourself being a great goalie?  "Well, no Coach.  I'yard just trying to be…meliorate."

I get it.  But that'due south not going to happen until yous come across yourself every bit a amend goalie.

Nearly athletes totally mess this up let lonely lacrosse goalies.  They'll start to believe they can be better once they encounter themselves go meliorate.  They are waiting for proof before they believe.  Only conventionalities comes starting time.  Proof comes subsequently.

Yous'll get ameliorate once you decide to exist a great lacrosse goalie.  Not just a good goalie.  A bully lacrosse goalie.  The sooner y'all decide you want to be a great lacrosse goalie the better.  Once y'all decide, everything else will autumn into place.

Take some time today to ready the goal to exist a great lacrosse goalie.  You'll see it happen, when you believe that information technology will happen. I created our

Lacrosse Goalie Tips 4 of 10: Develop Your "Save Library" By "Wiring" The Goalie

Equally a lacrosse goalie you are basically the best "catcher" on the squad.  No thing what "pass" is sent your way, you lot're going to become in front end of it.

When you lot take shots in practice, you're basically trying to be like a computer.  No thing what primal is pressed, you lot're going to take the right response.

If the ball is shot, stick-side-loftier, you're going to answer with your stick-side-loftier save.  If the shot is off-stick-low, you're going to respond with your off-stick-low save.  That's the right response for the right input.

The problem comes when a shot is going somewhere and we react with the wrong response.  Or a bad, what I call, "wiring."  We desire our wiring to be correct, efficient, and as fast as possible.

You can do this one of two ways:

• On your own with no shooter.
• With a shooter.

How To Work On Your Ain With No Shooter

Nearly lacrosse goalie tips centre on a lacrosse goalie getting shot on past an bodily lacrosse player with a lacrosse ball.  This is really limited thinking!!

The truth is you don't demand anyone to be shooting on you lot.  Yous tin get just as much "practice" by visualizing getting shot on which I comprehend in Lacrosse Goalie Tip #XXXXX

Once you go the hang of how you are supposed to move in forepart of the ball when information technology'southward shot at you, yous can spend lots of time (without a shooter) working on how you are supposed to movement when the ball is going to a certain spot.

The main shots we tend to work on are:

• Stick side high.

• Off-stick high.

• Stick side hip.

• Off-stick hip (higher up the belly button. Top hand over the bottom hand.)

• Off-stick hip (below the omphalos. Top mitt under the lesser hand.)

• Stick side low.

• Off-stick low.

• Five hole.

And for high school goalies and younger:

• Bounce shots to the same spots equally higher up.

You can practice all of these without an bodily shooter.  You lot visualize the shooter taking a shot, and you make the proper movement in front of the ball every bit you would if information technology were a real ball.  You lot are "wiring" in the proper response and past doing information technology over and over you are education the body how to reply as before long every bit your optics recognize where the ball is going.  With enough practice your torso's response becomes automatic.

Which leads me to…

Lacrosse Goalie Tips 5 of ten: Develop Your "Shot Library"

When we add a existent shooter to the mix we are adding a whole 'nuther layer to the experience.

An actual shooter tin can exist shooting anything.  A lacrosse ball.  A tennis ball.  A bunch of balled up socks. It doesn't really thing.  What we are doing at present is pedagogy the eyes and the brain how to recognize what a real shot looks like.  And so the body responds with the proper movement.

Most lacrosse goalies, and lacrosse coaches, think that getting shot on with an actual shooter is all-time.  This can exist truthful, to a point.

A shooter must be shooting with a stick with a proper pocket.  No "coaches sticks" that accept no pocket, or worse, a pocket that is too deep. (unless you're a box lacrosse goalie of grade.)

Why do nosotros want a proper lacrosse stick?  Because the release signal of the stick is of import.  When we are learning, we want to exist shot on by a stick that will shoot like i we will see on game day.  If the release point of the stick is off in practice, information technology will totally mess with how you respond to a shot on game day.

If the stick is shallow, a shot you retrieve is going stick side loftier could actually go off stick high.  Or vice-versa depending on the shooter. And that can create a ton of confusion for a new lacrosse goalie.  Then an important lacrosse goalie tip…make certain you're getting shot on by someone with a decent shot and a decent stick.

The sport of lacrosse has gotten so fast that a lacrosse goalie needs to learn what a proper shooting motion looks similar.  Considering a lacrosse goalie will offset to make decisions on where the ball is going before the shot leaves the stick.  It's important time a lacrosse goalie needs in society for the body to respond with the proper salve in front of the ball.

Ok, so that's it for this post.  Thanks for reading!!  Desire the next 5 tips?  Exist certain to be subscribed to our newsletter, or check back in a day or two for the link!

As e'er, leave me a comment beneath.  I read them all and want to hear how this helped you!

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