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Drill of the Month - February

Lateral Movement

Lateral movement is one of the most important parts of goaltending. Your goal as a goalie is to beat the puck to its intended destination. When a goalie is caught still moving or cannot get there in time is when most goals go in. To combat this, the goalie should always most on his/her pushes.

This is why in the warm up patterns we stress a good hard push and a good hard stop. When a goalie is set he/she has a much better chance of making a save.

For this drill you will need one but preferably two shooters. The first shooter will be P or the passer. The second shooter will be S the shooter. If you have only one shooter obviously he/she is S the shooter.

The drill begins with the goalie on the post. He/she will push to the angle the passer is one. Once the goalie is set the passer, passes to the shooter. The goalie will have to move laterally and get set for the shot from the shooter.

Coaches, remember, pass at the speed the goalie would see in a game at the level he/she is playing. Also at first let the goalie get set, it is better to do the drill slower at first so the goalie can get the technique down, and then speed it up.

There are many variations to this drill. As long as the final movement is cross crease you may put a couple of movements prior to the pass.

(click on image to enlarge)

Selected photos courtesy of OHLPhotos.com
Page last modified on May 24, 2007, at 04:14 PM

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