Get Better Faster By Being More Athletic

The number three tip to get better faster is to be more athletic. You want to be an athlete who is a lacrosse goalie and not just a lacrosse goalie who is trying to become more athletic. It doesn’t quite work that way.

0:12 – Coach Edwards shares his third tip for getting better faster – become more athletic.
0:52 – Cross Country running can actually set a goalie’s development back instead of forward.
1:52 – Crossfit isn’t good for most people and can bring out any hidden injuries you may have.
2:44 – Olympic lifting is its own sport, and gyms tweak their crossfit programs for better balance.
3:32 – Lacrosse goalies need to increase their athletic ability to move to the ball easier.
4:22 – Choose another sport to become more well-rounded athletically and your lacrosse game will drastically improve.

Introduction

Coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com and today we’re going to talk about my #3 tip for getting better faster.

The Third Tip for Getting Better Faster

After you’re protected and your confidence has increased and you can work on your skills more and you get your stick in your hand, the #3 thing you can do is to become more athletic. To become more athletic I highly recommend doing other sports. I’m always shocked at kids who really start to specialize as a field lacrosse goalie when they’re 8, and the excuse you usually get from the parents is that, “Oh, little Jimmy just loves to be a goalie.” Well, the problem is that little Jimmy is going to turn into a fat and most likely not very mobile lacrosse goalie who is going to get passed over later.

Get Athletic

We want to get little Jimmy and little Sally athletic, and getting out and doing other sports. Playing sports like soccer and football or rugby. Football and rugby develop really powerful, explosive, multidirectional athletes, which is everything you need to be an excellent lacrosse goalie. The worst sport you can do? Cross Country running. We only need to develop our cardiovascular system so much as a goalie, and by working on the endurance slow-twitch side of the scale, you’re actually hurting your goalie game. It’s fun to be athletic and really enjoy the burn of endurance sports, but it’s really killing your fast-twitch explosive muscle development, so keep that in mind.

The Problem With Crossfit

A question I get a fair bit now is, what about something like crossfit? You know, crossfit is okay if you have a coach who is not just a crossfit coach. I’ve done crossfit and I was a strength and conditioning coach for years and while I’ve known about crossfit for years, and pretty much every strength and conditioning coach that is well trained and well-read will tell you that crossfit is not good for about 99% of the population. It will bring out pretty much any injury that you have that is hidden beneath you. If you are not a hyperflexible athlete, it’s going to bring something up for you.

Crossfit Programs in Gyms

Olympic lifting, there is a lot of Olympic lifting in crossfit, Olympic lifting is a sport unto itself and any Olympic lifter will tell you that they never do sets of 20 of a snatch or things like that. But here’s the thing, while here are some strength coaches that own gyms that have crossfit as part of their gym because it’s really popular right now and it’s a big money maker for them. They usually tweak it a little bit so that they’re able to address imbalances and they’re able to address flexibility issues. Some kids are like sponges and they’ll be good at anything. You can put them in martial arts. You can put them in rugby or Jujitsu or Tai Kwon Do, and all that stuff’s going to help.

Athletic Goalies Move to the Ball Easier

The point is that we just want to increase your athletic ability so that you’re able to move better to the ball. Remember the 3 keys to any save. See it, know where it’s going, and then move to it. If you can move better that’s usually the thing that stops most people. They can’t move to the ball fast enough or they’re not flexible enough. Anything you can do to do that. In my town, my city, there’s a former gold medalist from the Olympics in gymnastics who has a gymnastics facility, but he has a program that’s really all about tumbling and jumping and bouncing and rolling and all the stuff that develops athletic ability, but it’s not just gymnastics. He knows like I know that every athlete can benefit from a good gymnastics background.

Sports that Can Help a Lacrosse Goalie Improve

Also wrestling. Wrestling is a fantastic sport to develop great hip mobility and flexibility and strength and all that good stuff. Tennis, also good. Any of these things can increase your ability to be a better goalie. Become more athletic and you will be a better goalie. It’s just a given. Do something to help make that happen and increase your maximum strength. Get involved with a weight lifting club. Get involved with a power lifting club to increase your fast twitch muscle fiber. Get stimulated under heavy load, so even though you may move a heavy load slow, that doesn’t necessarily make you slow with a lighter load.

Conclusion

It’s a big long conversation, but the gist is to improve your game, my #3 tip is to get more athletic. Give me your comments below this on the blog. I really appreciate them. Be sure to share this. Facebook it, like it, send me an email if you need to. CoachEdwards@LacrosseGoalieTips.com. Talk to you soon.