Question: Jonathan –
Hi, I’m (Name witheld) and I’m a freshman at my high school in Pennsylvania. I just finished my first season as a JV lacrosse goalie – I was mediocre for a beginner, I had some great games and some terrible, but most of it was luck and basic practice. The thing is that I’m moving up to varsity next year to replace our senior goalie. It’s hard enough already to be a sophomore playing varsity but I’m also competing with an upcoming 8th grader who’s supposedly amazing. I can’t imagine anything worse than being replaced by a freshman next year. I can’t afford or even GET to some of the camps that it would take to get to varsity skill level and the only camp my parents will consider is only a week long for three hours a day in August. I’ve been doing some wall ball, but otherwise I don’t know what I can do on my own to train when I’m not with my teammates. You must get asked this a lot and I’m sorry, but do you have any other suggestions or tips???
Thank you so much,
Answer: Thanks for writing. You are not alone, there are a lot of goalies in your situation.
What camp are you considering? If it’s decent it would be worth going to. You will always learn something at a camp and seeing that you are new you will probably learn a lot.
On Wednesday the 17th I’m doing a free teleseminar with Rich Barnes former Head Coach and National Champ at Cortland on How to Make The Most Of Your Off-Season. You’ll learn some gems on that call if you can make it.
Also, my guidelines for your off season and what you can do alone goes like this:
1) Wall Ball: It’s awesome you’re doing that now but it will help you a ton. The more confident you are with your stick the more confident you will be in the cage.
2) Get in better shape. THE biggest improvement I see in goalies year over year is not in what they learn, it’s in their physical ability to apply what they learn. You will quickly get to a point where your brain knows what to do, your body knows where it should be moving, but it can’t move their fast enough. Play another sport over the summer, get to the gym, take taekwondo or kung fu and you will get better, fast.
3) Invest in yourself. I’ve got a free DVD coming out in the next couple weeks. Two hours covering the basics from stance, to moving in the cage, to equipment, etc. You just pay for production and shipping. Should be around $15. Make sure you’re on the newsletter for details.
4) Read all the articles on both of my blogs at www.inseasonhome.com and www.lacrossegoaltending.blogspot.com That will give you a good base. I will be releasing a bunch of DVD’s over the summer that will be ones you pay for but they will all help you.
5) Try and watch some games over the off season. It’s not the easiest thing to do watching games but you will learn a ton.
6) Shots. Shots. Shots. I know you wanted tips to do on your own but everyone’s got someone who can shoot on them. Even if it’s not a lacrosse ball. You can always play catch with someone. Parent. Sibling. Neighbor. It doesn’t even have to be a lacrosse ball. Baseball. Tennisball. Etc works just as well. A shot is a shot is a shot. I used to go down to a tennis court with buddy. He would serve balls at me with his racquet and I would save them. It was some of the best training in my life. Be creative. There’s lots of ways to improve your game.
You sound motivated enough to want to play and beat out that eighth grader. That’s awesome and it’s great to have the carrot in front of you to play varsity but also the stick in that eighth grader. You’ll be fine.
Do you play any other sports? My final recommendation is to round out your athletic ability by playing other sports. I played soccer, hockey and lacrosse and played multiple positions in each. I highly recommend rounding out your athletic education by playing something else. It’s a great mental break too.
Jonathan –
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