Thread: Goalie Equipment need links or?

Originally Posted by HOCKEYAHOLIC

Since I got a few goalies attention now. How do I get him to stay upright when he drops to his knees? he has the tendancey to fall forward when he hits the ice. I think Lessons from Coach Tian at Pickwick are in the near future so he doesn't get any bad habits locked in. Tian was the goalie on the Chineese National team.

BTW, he won again Yesterday

Without seeing a picture, I assume when he's in the butterfly position (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), he's tipping forward? I can only guess if that's a gear issue or balance issue. Could be both. How long has he played the position? If he started recently, I wouldn't worry about it. It should work out with practice. When I started playing goal I couldn't believe how awkward some movements felt, and getting a solid butterfly took time and practice.

If he's been playing for a while and still has this problem, I'd hazard to guess that when he goes down to his knees he's dropping forwards, as opposed to down. If you have your skates together and fall forwards to your knees, such that your skates will be together behind you and your pads are sitting on their faces, you're in a much more awkward position, and keeping your balance will be a bit difficult.

If he wants to be in the traditional butterfly position, he probably needs to do two things. 1) keep a wider stance. The skates should be at about shoulder width apart. 2) Perhaps loosen the straps on the leg pads. If they are too tight, it will prevent them from rotating around his legs as he falls to the ice. This is why leg pads need to have adequate knee protection, to cushion the knee and prevent it from slamming on the ice (which hurts really bad. I speak from experience). If he does this, with practice, he should be able to come into a stable butterfly position on the ice. Once he gets acquainted with it, he shouldn't be tipping forward any more.

Also, one thing that I did when I first started playing was hopping up to get into the butterfly. Ideally, you should just collapse down. Much time is wasted by hopping up, just to get down. Think of it this way, say you're standing on the ice in a crouched position. You roll your ankles so that you're on the inside edges and the boot of skate is starting to touch the ice. If you let them, the skates will slide on the boot, away from each other, and you'd come to rest on your knees with your skates splayed apart at your sides. That is pretty much the exact motion I use to get into a butterfly.

Now, after having said all that, I'm no coach. So take this is simple advice, not instruction. It's up to your son to figure out what works best for him. Time and practice will help.

THe falling forward is a balance issue that he should be able to work out for himself after some more time playing in goal. Like Unholey said it is a matter of him falling forward to get to the ice instead of dropping down into some sort of a butterfly like position. Eventually he will take notice of the edges on his skates and learn how to push his feet to the sides and sink into a proper butterfly.

For now he should be working on getting side to side in his crease. Start with a T glide (i think that is what it is called) and eventually it will turn into a good shuffle.

The other thing I'd look for is stick placement. If he always goes 'paddle down' when he butterflys, thats going to automatically make him slump forward.



vs.

Well, it's kind of a butterfly position. Like I said it's his 2nd week playing goal and he is loving every second of it. He doesn't jump up at all. I am sure it's a mixture of all the things you guys & lady has spoke of. Balance, gear issue (since I put it on him) and paddle flat. Since there are not many kids he plays with that can lift the puck he finds it easier to "assume" they are going to try and slide the puck by him instead of shoot the puck with any lift. I know he will learn a lot through practice. One big problem is I am helping coaching him and I have never played the position. It's difficult to tell a 6 year old what to do correctly from what I have watched a billion times. Like I said, looks like a goalie coach is in his near future.

I really appreciate all the helpful advice from you guys (and lady). Feel free to chime in with any other suggestions you may think of.

-B

Originally Posted by Unruely35

My issue wasnt with the quality of the 1200-1400's... just the 'widowmaker' monacre. Its one of those things that is handed out as a nickname to one specific thing then passed around conveniently to anything else made by the same company. You know how that works.. Kinda like how half of LGK swears that the Kings have the first pick on lock if they tank the rest of the season and Stamkos is the future? Same thing. Just because someone says it is doesnt mean it is and just because someone thinks a product is crap from what they read on the 1n73rw3b2 doesnt mean it is.

Throwing in the widowmaker thing in this thread I think is a little misguided simply because of who was asking the question. Why instill a fear of the quality of a product when it isnt necessary? I agree that the lower series masks arent a great idea for adult hockey at any level that isnt copper or lower, but a 1400 Itech with a certified cage will be perfectly fine for a 6-8 year old so theres no reason to scare him off of one.

If you notice I did specify the model of the Itech mask, not Itech masks in general. I have used both masks that I identified and the 1400 was a piece of crap. Every puck I took to the head rang my ears and that should not happen. It was not until after I upgraded to the 2500 that I heard the name widowmaker and I understand how it could have gotten its name. The mask is just not built well and unholy points out.

I am not trying to scare the guy about his kid playing goalie, just to buy a much better product for a little more money. He is at an age that the helmet could stay with him for a few years. The level of play will increase greatly within those few years. Why not invest a little more now than have to pay for a brand new mask down the line.

Originally Posted by HOCKEYAHOLIC

Well, it's kind of a butterfly position. Like I said it's his 2nd week playing goal and he is loving every second of it. He doesn't jump up at all. I am sure it's a mixture of all the things you guys & lady has spoke of. Balance, gear issue (since I put it on him) and paddle flat. Since there are not many kids he plays with that can lift the puck he finds it easier to "assume" they are going to try and slide the puck by him instead of shoot the puck with any lift. I know he will learn a lot through practice. One big problem is I am helping coaching him and I have never played the position. It's difficult to tell a 6 year old what to do correctly from what I have watched a billion times. Like I said, looks like a goalie coach is in his near future.

I really appreciate all the helpful advice from you guys (and lady). Feel free to chime in with any other suggestions you may think of.

-B

Do a google search for "hockey goaltending drills" and you will come up with a good start.

Originally Posted by HOCKEYAHOLIC

Well, it's kind of a butterfly position. Like I said it's his 2nd week playing goal and he is loving every second of it. He doesn't jump up at all. I am sure it's a mixture of all the things you guys & lady has spoke of. Balance, gear issue (since I put it on him) and paddle flat. Since there are not many kids he plays with that can lift the puck he finds it easier to "assume" they are going to try and slide the puck by him instead of shoot the puck with any lift. I know he will learn a lot through practice. One big problem is I am helping coaching him and I have never played the position. It's difficult to tell a 6 year old what to do correctly from what I have watched a billion times. Like I said, looks like a goalie coach is in his near future.

I really appreciate all the helpful advice from you guys (and lady). Feel free to chime in with any other suggestions you may think of.

-B

Ah, since he's just starting out, it's more about him just getting used to the movements. With time and practice it should work out.

If there is one thing I would caution, it's to not let him become dependent on the "paddle down" style too much. It is a very effective technique for wrap-arounds and when the puck is close to him in a crowd, however if a shot is coming from farther out, he should stay as "big in the net" as possible. Staying erect, with the blade of the stick covering his five-hole, not the whole paddle. While the paddle-down seals off the majority of space down low, it also leaves the high corner exposed. A well timed shot and the goalie will have a tough time pulling their body and arm up in time to block the shot. This isn't a big deal now, since your son isn't facing serious snipers, but I would be worried about this becoming a bad habit in the future.

But as I said before, the main point of this is for him to have fun, no matter if he plays well or not. If he wants to progress and become better, then it's time for some coaching.

Some good basic advice here. Especially the articles near the bottom, going over basic stance and butterfly technique:

Goalie Resources

BJ: We're just gonna have to agree to disagree on the widowmaker thing, otherwise we're gonna end up going in circles on semantics. As far as I ever knew, the nickname was for the recalled masks with the cat eyes because it was those wires that liked to blow... then after various messageboards got ahold of the first nickname it was passed around to any Itech with questionable materials.

Bottom line, it's neither here nor there. I'm lookin at a Profile 960.