Foundation Clinic Series - Week 2
Our staff working separate stations and while our goalies get after the drills this Sunday.
Week 2 of the Foundation Clinic Series went off great, and was a step up from week one, especially in pace. We had a couple of new goalies with us that hadn't been able to make Week 1, but they jumped in quickly and we were able to move quickly through a number of stations and spend less time getting the basics in place than last week.
We started off by splitting into two groups, with one group split among two cages taking warm-ups by spot and the others going through a series of 4 different footwork/mechanics drills with Coach Kirk working them out. We then switched up so everyone hit both stations, before we split into three smaller groups.
Once we'd broken into our station groups, each group spent about 10 minutes going through 3 separate drills; 6ft shaft saves, goalie wall-ball, and swinging screens.
The 6-foot shaft, a Bill Pilat/Goalie School staple, serves to work on the underneath motion we need to make to get to offstick hip and low shots. Too often goalies rotate their hips and/or drop their hands back into their body, handcuffing themselves and losing some of their size and athleticism. When the goalie head is on a D-pole, and drop/rotation is quickly corrected as the stick hits the pipe or gets into the net.
Goalie Wall-Ball is a series of drills, one of which is a goalie facing a wall while the "shot" is taken from behind them, so they are reacting off the wall, without the ability to read a shooter.
Swinging Screens had our goalies working on saves on shots with two goalies swinging their sticks in front of the cage to obstruct their vision. The big coaching point is that in the end, we need to try and block out distraction and focus on the ball. Screens happen, but often it's the distraction that hurts goalies even more than the actual obstructed view.
All in all, a great day! As we turn to Week 3, get excited for the first Filming Session of the Clinic Series. Each goalie will be filmed for about 8 minutes, and will then have their film analyzed and sent to them with coaching notes online, free of charge! Bring your energy and let's get after it!
DP