When warming up as a goalie, what are the key areas to focus on? When first starting, skating and movement help the body find fluidity, activation and helps create mental awareness. I like to take my goalies through a systems check list of feet, eyes/hands and control saves. This sequence I find can be applied at any level and can be self led or can build into a goalie session.
Let’s focus on eyes/hands, as especially the hands are often over looked. In my experience warm ups at any level lacks focus on quality of rep. It is so important that goalies learn how to create a mind muscle connection. Warm ups should start off the ice, whether it be for practice or a game. Creating a self led program will develop consistency, which will build into confidence, and this starts as soon as you get to the rink.
It is important to start simple, with a tennis ball and your glove. If the goalie is warming up solo, throwing the ball off the wall and tracking it all the way into your glove is a great start. A parent/coach or goalie partner will have to help throw the ball for blocker warm up. To add complexity you can change the size of the ball or the density (bounce). Tracking is a term thrown around quite frequently now when talking about goalies. Tracking by definition as a goalie is the ability to not only see/find the puck but watch it all the way into your body, but back out on a possible rebound. I cannot stress the importance of having these routines be a staple in a goalie’s preparation to practice and play. In Europe, goalies attend training sessions for themselves or with the team, therefore they prepare to compete. The mentality in North America is very different, we have to develop consistent standards for our athletes.
"I cannot stress enough the importance of having these routines be a staple in a goalie’s preparation to practice and play . . . SEE MORE OF THE COACHES SITE Join The Coaches Site to access the latest drills, tactics & leadership lessons from hockey's top coaches. Already a member? Login
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Matthew Bourgeois
Matthew has been a coach and a scout for over 20 years at some of the highest levels. Matthew is coaching at Canisius College NCAA D1 this season. Matthew is a certified High Performance 1 coach and Goaltending Level 3 coach with Hockey Canada. Matthew works with the Ontario Hockey Federation, the Ontario Minor Hockey Association as well as the Northern Ontario Minor Hockey Association as a goaltending coach and mentor. Matthew’s passion lies in goalie development and guiding players to become the best version of themselves. Since 2009 Matthew has travelled to Europe, Asia, Australia and the US to work with some of the best hockey programs and is looking forward to sharing what he’s learned with the subscribers of The Coaches Site.
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