Why This Lacrosse Goalie Can’t Explode To The Ball

When it comes to exploding to the lacrosse ball, some goalies have a real challenge with this until they develop some strength.  But most coaches and parents miss the really good things that a lacrosse goalie does despite not being able to explode to the ball.  With a little bit of patience EVERY lacrosse goalie can explode to the ball.  Here’s what you need to look for.

For my Lacrosse Goalie University members I’ve uploaded an additional twenty minutes of footage on this specific topic.  If you’re not a member of Lacrosse Goalie University be sure to join today and get HOURS of coaching footage to improve your lacrosse game.  Click Here to learn more.

How To Get Your Lacrosse Goalie To Explode To The Ball

Hey there everybody, Coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com. Welcome to another edition of the lacrosse goalietips.com free videos, audios, however you’re absorbing this right now.

Hey, this week I got a question from a lacrosse goalie named Mike in Georgetown, MA.  Funny story, Mike is related to Eric Mabius who you may have seen on television.  Eric and I go way back when he and I did our first ever luge clinic when I was fifteen.  Eric was this stud wrestler athlete before he got all movie-like.  It’s kind of a small world moment when I get an email from Mike in Georgetown, Mass.

Before I get started with this email.  I’ve shot about twenty-plus extra minutes inside Lacrosse Goalie University for our members.  Click here to  join today and get access to all of the coaching videos I have in there.

The point is this:  What I’m about to talk about is, Mike is young, however this topic applies to lacrosse goalies of all ages.  OK?  From Pro goalies all the way down to AAU lacrosse goalies like Mike.

The question is this:

Coach Edwards I’m in 6th grade and I play for an AAU team.  I’m good but I can’t seem to explode to the ball fast enough so that I can make a proper save.

Now, here’s the deal.  I had a question this week with a Pro goalie as well as a Pro lacrosse coach, and we had this interesting discussion about what you would want more in a goalie: a goalie who can save the ball or a goalie who can catch the ball.

I believe that first and foremost that if you can keep the ball out of your cage then you have the opportunity to chase the ball down and get it down field.  If it’s IN the cage and it goes back to a face-off, no your face-off guy…if he’s good then great, you get the ball in the offensive zone and you have the chance to score.  If he’s horrible then it’s back on defence and you get another shot on cage and if the goalie is no good it’s in the net.

There are a couple things to talk about here.  I just want to touch on one of them in this video, but again, for our Lacrose Goalie University members we go into much more depth.

What Young Lacrosse Goalies Miss

Here’s what I want to discuss about Mike;  A lot of young goalies, new goalies, weak goalies (physically) they get two out of the three keys to making every save right.  They see the ball, they know where it’s going, and then they move to it.  But the MOVE part is slow.  If you haven’t seen my videos on that you’ll want to check out Lacrosse Goalie University. com there are three free videos that I put on that website.  You’ll want to grab those free videos.

You want to see the ball, know where it’s going and then move to it.  What happens, especially with young goalies it that you get to the point where they see it and they know where it’s going but they just don’t get their fast enough.  They might be getting there but they might be ticking the ball off the stick but they’re giving up a rebound. To me…what I always do with young goalies is this…if the ball goes in the net on a young goalie, I go listen, did you see it?  Then they tell me yes or now.

If they say yes, I say GREAT!  We’ve got thirty three percent of this down.  Did you know where it was going?  Yes, I knew where it was going.  But then you moved to it and you were way slow. That’s fine, OK?  What happens is, when we look at a goalie developmentally over the long-term, yeah it’s great, this goalie is in sixth grade and we’d love for him to make every save but that’s an impossible thing to request at that young.

What happens at this age is that the velocity of the ball starts to travel than that young goalie can explode to it.  Because the goalie just isn’t physically there yet.  That will come.

So what’s really important, and I stress this with every parent, coach and young goalie who is watching this right now, is do everything you can NOT to get frustrated about the result.  Yes, we would love for the goalie to make the save but sometimes they are physically not able to do that just yet.  They just don’t have the physical ability to move as fast as that ball is travelling to them.

What Lacrosse Parents and Coaches Miss

If you’re a parent do everything you can to keep your lacrosse goalie positive and take the step back.  Don’t just look at the goal, ask “did you see the ball?”  Did you see it leave the players stick.  Awesome.  If they say no then, wait a sec, we can’t even make a save on a ball that we can’t see.

Did you know where it was going?  Well, yeah I saw it and knew where it was going and then I moved to it.  Did you move properly?  Were you just slow when you moved?  Did you think you were slow?  Well, then that is going to come.

What I like in those instances is when I get a young lacrosse goalie and I tell them, “listen, did you see it did you know where it was going and did you move to it?  Yes, I just didn’t move fast enough.  Great, what is cool is that we now have an “anchor”.  That anchor now opens up with the goalie, “Listen, if we get you a little stronger physically, your’e going to move faster to that ball.”  And that goalie goes, “Well how do I do that coach?”  That opens up another conversation about training and strength and physical fitness and all sorts of things like that.  I talk a lot about that for our Lacrosse Goalie University Members.

How To Make It Better

It’s so important to understand that with these young goalies, new goalies, weaker goalies…take the time and back it up.  Goalies beat ourselves up all the time.  We are the one that has the scoreboard showing every error we made in the game. Doesn’t show the guy who missed the ground ball.  Doesn’t show the face-off guys who lost every face off. Doesn’t show the attackman who got the penalty in the offensive zone.  The goalie sees all that stuff. It’s so important that lacrosse parents, coaches and goalies…to understand, listen, within that goal that just went in on me, and I wasn’t able to explode to it properly…here’s the thing…did I see it?  Did I know where it’s going?  That’s the foundation.  The moving to the ball will come.  That’s where we can start to get more in depth in the gym.  And waiting for a goalie to develop.

I would much rather have a lacrosse goalie in grade six who is confident and can see the ball.  Knows where it’s going and I know that strength is going to come.  Hang in there.

Mike, thanks for the great question.  If you’ve got a question for me feel free to email me.