Lacrosse Tryouts Can Be Tough For Lacrosse Goalies

In today’s post Coach Edwards shares a few tips for lacrosse goalies going into lacrosse tryouts this spring.

Coach Edwards here with another episode of the Lacrosse Goalie Tips newsletter.  It’s preseason and it’s that time of the year.  Things are getting pretty tense and lacrosse goalies are getting pretty uptight getting ready for tryouts.

First off, welcome to our new lacrosse goalies joining the community from:

Fairfield, CT
Summit, NJ
Edina, MN
Milton, MA
Manhasset, NY (Home to one of the worst lacrosse coaching experiences of my life.  NOt me coaching, but me getting coached)

Amboy, PA
GREENBORO, NC

We are getting some crazy towns and new communities. I love it.  That’s just a handful of new subscribers.

Lacrosse Tryouts Are Stressful

Listen if you’re seeing this you’re getting one of my free videos.  When you’re ready to take the next step I really want you to head over to LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com and get the three free videos that I’ve put together.  The content is amazing and then I want you to join to get everything we have to offer.

Here I want to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart…tryouts.

You’re getting ready to make the team you haven’t been on, or maybe you’re going to reset your authority on a team that you’ve been a part of.  So, there’s a wide spectrum for lacrosse goalies coming into this season, every new season to be honest.

There Is Lot’s Of Bad Advice For Goalies About Lacrosse Tryouts

Now, here’s the thing, I’ve seen a couple of posts go out about advice for lacrosse goalies for tryouts and how to make the team.  How to be loud and step it up and do all of these things that…

You know what?  While in your heart you may want to do that to put your best foot forward, it can rally set you up for failure.  What I want to talk to you about today is a way for you to really go into tryouts and put in your best effort and having your best results.  Ok?

If you’re a goalie a parent or a lacrosse coach watching this, it’s important that all three of those parties are on board so they are supporting the goalie to have their best performance.  Because the one thing that frustrates me more than anything is for a lacrosse goalie who is at a certain level go into tryouts and not perform at that level. It really doesn’t make any sense for that to happen.

Rule #1 For Lacrosse Tryouts:  No Pressure

Rule #1 about having a good tryout for a lacrosse goalie is…to not put too much pressure on yourself.  To really not care.  That might sound counterintuitive but here’s what’s going to happen…you’ve done either one of two things:  1)  You’ve worked hard and maybe done extra work this off season or 2) you’ve done nothing at all.  So what is amazing to me is that both of those goalies coming into the same tryout have the same nerves going on.  One is wanting to really make it happen and the other is wishing they had done more and hoping that they can make it happen.

Managing Nerves and Anxiety

What happens is that this floods the body full of hype and adrenaline and all sorts of stuff to help you perform. You are already going in at this highly stimulated level  You may feel this is “nervous” but we equate it as anxiety, and anxiety is a negative emotion whereas having adrenaline pumping through your system is actually going to help you.

One of the things you really need to understand is that what you are coming in with is what you’re coming in with.  You’re not going to all of a sudden, tap into a level that you’ve never tapped into before. Unless you relax and when you relax and you just let your body take over and do what it knows how to do naturally it’s actually step it up which is counterintuitive. But if we get your brain out of the way, from trying to do the right thing and impress the coach and make extra saves, that gets you so tied up and turns you into a bundle of nerves.

The flip side is that if you relax and just go, “You know what?  I’m here with the best me that I can be right now, and I’m going to come in rested and fed and watered and I’m just going to let my body do what comes naturally.” Then you’re going to have a really good performance.  So that’s the big rule #1.

Rule #2 For Tryouts: Fill Your Head With Good Stuff

Rule #2 is I want you to get in your head. Fill your head, not with doubt or thoughts of how you might do, or worry about how you might perform; but to step back and have confidence that you’re going to come in and you’re just going to let it shine.  That’s really the best I can say it.

The Story of My Best Lacrosse Tryouts

I had an opportunity when I was young to tryout for a pretty high-level team.  I was nervous and for all intents and purposes I as anxious and it really wasn’t a good mental environment.  What ended up happening was I blew the tryout.  I was overcooked.  I was just a bundle of nerves and wasn’t making saves that normally I would make and I left the tryout really upset with myself, and sure enough I didn’t make the team.

Ironically enough, I had the opportunity to showcase in a more difficult scenario against more talented lacrosse goalies, goalies who were older than myself, and I didn’t care.  I just didn’t care and was there for the experience and I really just shut my brain off and said, “Whatever happens happens.”

What actually happened was that I played out of my head and at a level that I hadn’t played before.  With that, I ended up making that team that I probably shouldn’t have made.

In your effort to put in your best effort, you actually put in your worst effort, just because you are this bundle of knots in your brain.  That’s kind of the way I view it, that you’re all tied up and you’ve got all of this pressure on yourself.  Just relax and let it go. OK?

Relax And Don’t Overdo You

To wrap it up, go into tryouts and just be you.  Don’t expect to perform at a level that you haven’t performed at.  Don’t try to do anything you haven’t done before.  Don’t make calls or extra calls to communicate too much.  That can just, again, put you into knots. Relax.  Have fun.  Let’s get your mind out of the way and let the body do what it can do natrrally and you’re going to surprise yourself as well as those coaches and those players around you.  Good luck!