Creating a Positive Culture for Goalies Prepared by Joe Bertagna, Bertagna Goaltending Fall, 2016
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Creating A Positive Culture for Goalies Prepared by Joe Bertagna, Bertagna Goaltending Fall, 2016 What is in this packet: NOTE: Joe Bertagna and his staff of goalie • General program guidelines (Two Pages)) coaches will be providing goaltending instruction • Essays on Goaltending (Five Pages) and consultation for the following programs during Stick Discipline the 2016-17 season: “Reacting” vs. “Blocking” Billerica YHA Marblehead YHA Controlling Rebounds Cape Ann YHA Central Mass. Outlaws Follow Your Eyes Dedham YHA Reading YHA Dropping to the Ice: “Why” and”When” Duxbury YHA St. Sebastian’s School Framingham YHA Top Gun What constitutes a positive culture? — The best programs do one or more of the following: a) provide equipment for families who wish to try goaltending; b) provide instruction, either from within the program or from qualified outside instructors; c) emphasize positive reinforcement from inclusiveness at practices to discouraging negative comments directed toward goalies. Equipment — This can be expensive but there are programs being created by USA Hockey and certain manufacturers that make this more practical. And there are also plenty of older goalies within a given community who will donate used but still effective equipement if they are asked. Instruction — A few of the prgrams with which I work have set a great standard for providing meaningful instruction for their goalies. The best of these do so on their own ice and involve their program coaches and age-appropriate shooters, along with qualified outside instructors.This method allows the program’s instructors to join in the education, learn drills, learn how to “trouble shoot” and, in the process, become part of the year-long instruction the goalies will receive. the shooters also get an education on how goalies are taught and can learn from this themselves. Other programs will send their goalies to qualified instructors and while this also benefits goalies, it does not provide the benefits to the non-goalies in the program (coaches and shooters) and does nothing to educate the program’s coaches. Another way to accomplish this is to ask a goaltending consultant to offer an off-ice (or on-ice) session with coaches and goalie parents to discuss goaltending philosophy, drills, updates on rules and equipment, etc. This is a great way to start a season. Another early-season session that we encourage is to have goalies and defensemen on each team meet with their coach to reviw situations of common interest that will come up time and again (See Page Two.) Finally, in addition to providing basic instruction on movement, positioning, technique and game strategies, a complete instructional package should also include some actual game observation. Most goalies are different at practice, where they are usually quite comfortable in familiar surroundings. In games, a qualified instructor can observe what the goalie is really like when it counts. What are their game skills like? What is their compete level? How do they react when things are not going well? What does their body language reveal? How do they interact with their defensemen? Are they vocal? Positive Reinforcement — This might seem a little overly sensitive to a non-goalie but it is so easy to fall into the habit of verbalizing criticism of the goalie, particularly after a loss, and doing so in a way that implies that more blame falls to that position than others. Yes, there are some goals that are tough to watch and the goalie may be primarily responsible: a long shot that is simply missed, a soft rebound, a loose puck that isn’t cleared or tied up. On most goals, however, there are usually a few people who could have prevented the puck from ending in the net. The larger point here is to treat all the players the same and not focus attention on the goalie. The best goaltenders understand the responsibility they have and they step up and accept it after a tough loss. But program-wide, there should be an understanding that it is a team game and that goalie should not be singled out inappropriately. BERTAGNA GOALTENDING — 7 CONCORD STREET — GLOUCESTER, MA 01930 JOE BERTAGNA, DIRECTOR — 978-376-5494 — [email protected] Priorities for a Goaltender — For all the changes in equipment and technique, effective goaltending still comes down to three universal areas and priorities. These have not changed with time. 1. Positioning: it is still a key to goaltending. You need to know where to be and how to get there under control. 2. Puck Control: if you are sloppy with the puck and give second and third opportunities, you will give up more goals. 3. Timing: the best goalies have a sense of where the trouble lurks and where and when the play will come to an end. Types of Drills— Practices should resemble games, at least at times, so that goalies have a chance to work on those things that are causing them problems in actual games. There should be screens and rebounds. There should be crease movement drills. There should be drills where goalies can handle pucks and tie up pucks. There should be drills where the goalie doesn’t know in advance who will shoot and when. There should be drills that cause the goalie to change direction quickly and work on balance.And please make sure there are drills done in the actual goal crease. With the popularity of cross-ice games and teams sharing rinks, it seems that nets are being moved around and goalies not always getting to practice in an actual crease. This is a key component of precise movement in and around the crease. Goaleis need to work in creases. Game Management— Obviously, a goaltender’s ability to stop the puck will be how he or she is judged. But there are so many things that happen in a game that are not directly involved with making a save. A lot of this I like to call “Game Management.” Here are some of the things that fall under this heading: 1. Tying Up Pucks: How many times, particularly at younger levels, are goals scored because of the goaltender’s inability to cover a loose puck. Keep it in play, teammates get tired and sloppy, and bad things happen. 2. Keeping Pucks in Play: Conversely, if a team dumps a puck in and changes and the goalie has a chance to get to the puck and start a breakout, he should do so, rather than tie up a puck unnecessarily. Or what about the closing seconds of play in a period where a goaltender could keep the puck in play to a teammate rather than risk an in-zone face-off? 3. Being Vocal: The goalie is in a position to let defensemen know if it is an odd man rush, if there is a forechecker bearing down on them, if there is an open opponent out in front, or if the teammate is screening. They need to be heard. 4. Handling Pucks: Maybe not for younger goalies but the ability to handle and set up a puck behind the goal line is a skill that falls under “Game Management.” These are just some of the areas that come to mind. The complete goaltender needs to excel here as well as in stopping shots. Pre-Season Goalie-Defensemen Meetings— Picking up on the last section, I think it is a good idea for the head coach and assistants to hold a brief on-ice meeting with the goalies and defensemen. This allows a “walk-through” on such topics as avoiding screening the goalie, not fighting the goalie for a losse puck, verbal communication, setting up pucks beside or behind the net, etc. Better to go over situations in advance than face them in early games and not be on the same page. STICK DISCIPLINE By Joe Bertagna One of the key observations I find myself offering to goalies, and usually early in the educational process, is that we are, at our core, a collection of habits. We are our habits, both the good ones and the bad ones. Hand-in-hand with this observation is another that is usually met by blank stares: a lot of what makes a suc- cessful goalie is the repetition of simple things. Over and over and over again. A parent seeking state of the art goaltending instruction is hoping to hear some secret that no one has ever suggested to his son or daughter. They want to know how their child can move from good to great and there is an expectation that something exciting awaits them for their hard earned tuition fee. Yet, in the end, it is fairly simple. Most goaltending coaches preach positioning, puck control, and a respect for basic skills. Nothing is more basic, and more deadly when not under control, than sloppy stick discipline. How many times do we see a young goalie do the hard part, read a play and react with strong body move- ment to the right location, only to get beat because the stick came late, or not at all, and an average shot finds five-hole space en route to the back of the net? Or the goalie reacts to a deke to his glove side.The leg pad is there, but the stick trails the play, preventing the proper rotation that allows the goalie to get more than just that pad into the play. Or maybe it’s a young goalie with stick right up against the skates, setting themselves up for a kicked rebound back to the shooter or, worse yet, a toppling over as shoulders get ahead of feet due to this poor stick position.