Is This The Worst Lacrosse Advice Ever?

[00:00:08] Hey guys coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com. Funny story, with last week’s clip I got an e-mail just from…somebody kind of put the screws to me a little bit, wondering about this blue quarter zip pullover that I’ve had for, God for ever. And if I was going to retire it soon and the answer is No. I love this thing. I’ve had this, I don’t know how long I’ve had it. But it doesn’t even have like a fray on it anywhere. It’s the perfect weight and it’s perfect for the videos. And I got to lose it now because I can just make it really consistent.

 

[00:00:46] So anyway thanks for that. Listen this week I’ve got a question. This was a pretty interesting e-mail and this is the title of this blog post, is this the worst lacrosse goalie advice ever.

 

Welcome To New Lacrosse Goalies In…

[00:00:59] So first and foremost, welcome to new goalie’s. We’ve got new goalies on the free LacrosseGoalieTips Newsletter, which you might be a part of, if you’re not, head on the lacrosse school tips that come and get the free audio. I actually think I cover a little bit of this topic in a free audio that I’ve had. I’ve been giving that free audio away for a decade maybe more.

 

[00:01:18] So, Greetings to you guys in Potomac, Maryland. Kentfield, California. Kentfield Wow. Manhasset, New York home of some of the worst lacrosse advice I ever got as a goalie. By the way love Manhasset. Minneapolis, Minnesota and Beverly, Massachusetts.

 

This Weeks Lacrosse Goalie Question

[00:01:34] So listen here’s the question. Coach Dear Coach I wanted to get your opinion on some advice I received for my son this summer. I had sent an e-mail to another lacrosse coach I had seen online and I asked him what were his go to lacrosse drills for any lacrosse goalie. His first response was to jump rope. What are your thoughts. I don’t want to get into a fight so please don’t post my name. Thank you.

 

Coach Edward’s Answer

[00:02:00] Hey great question. And listen, yes this is possibly the worst lacrosse goalie advice ever. You know I talk about jumping rope in that free audio and I want to address it here. First and foremost I want to talk a little bit about the background of the advice of jumping rope for lacrosse goalies and where I know that it came from. And then.

 

[00:02:25] But I also wanna start by talking about like giving advice to lacrosse goalies without assessing a goalie can be bad. So that opens up a can of worms. People would say well we’ll coach you do that all the time. Yes, to a degree. And when I get a question from a goalie it’s usually fairly targeted. And I also follow up emails someone sends me an e-mail and they ask me a question but I need some more clarity, I’m an ask for that. And so first and foremost let’s talk about jumping rope. Is it the worst lacrosse goalie advice ever. I believe yes. And here’s why. Jumping rope has been advice for lacrosse goalies since the 1980s. OK. And I want to tell you where that came about.

 

Is It Just Re-Hashed Coaching Advice?

[00:03:09] In the audio I believe I talk about someone’s just telling you to jump rope, they’re just rehashing advice but not thinking it through. So as an athletic development coach, which I am in my other life. You know you might know me from lacrosse goalie tips dot com but I’ve been a strength and conditioning coach since like the early 2000s.

 

Boxers Look Like Lacrosse Goalies.  Right?

[00:03:29] Right. So now we’re talking like 2000 2001. Jumping rope. What started as advice for lacrosse goalies back in the 80s when there really was no advice at all. And what you get, what you got back then was coaches thinking that, you know all right, what advice can i give my lacrosse goalie if he’s not you know taking shots. Well you know what does Lacrosse goaltending look like, well it kind of looks like maybe boxing right. You know goalies got punch his hands to the ball, and he’s got to kind to move those fast feet. Well who who else is fast on his feet. Boxers are fast on their feet. What do boxers do a lot of? Well, they jump rope.

 

[00:04:15] What’s interesting now is boxers don’t jump as much rope as they did back then either because people realized now that that is really a waste of time and a waste of time. But it’s like there’s a thousand other things that you can do to be a better boxer than it is to jump rope. And because. And also there are a thousand other things to be better lacrosse goalie than it is to jump rope and so I want to talk about that here.

 

[00:04:40] So where does jumping rope come from? It comes from boxers used to jump a ton of rope. All right. And now in CrossFit, right cross fitters are super fit and they do double-unders right which is basically two passes of the rope underneath their feet. And so people think like, “wow if I looks like a CrossFitter and I was that fit I’d probably be pretty good lacrosse goalie.

 

[00:05:00] And that may be true, because you’re so out of shape to begin with. Anything will make you a better lacrosse goalie. OK but let’s go back a little bit to the history of the jumping rope. So coaches back in the early 80s and 90s, you know when they didn’t really have there wasn’t this proliferation, we didn’t have the Internet, you know they were just saying, “hey what to be a better lacrosse goalie. Yeah you should jump rope.” You know because you look like a boxer and so. And if we took a boxer and probably put him in the cage they’d probably be a pretty good lacrosse goalie.

 

Boxers…BOX!

[00:05:29] While that may may or may not be true. What people forgot is that one of the things that makes boxers really good at moving their hands and moving laterally, was that they boxed! Right, and they’re spending hours and hours you know working on basically, working on heavy bag and working on their core. And basically, you know a punch is not just an arm movement. It is a full body movement from the foot into the hand. And what that takes is, is a ton of core strength. Also a lot of strength within the hips and the glutes in order to move, get you know, move that that hand and strike it with a punch.

 

[00:06:09] Is a lacrosse goalie the same in that way? Well yeah. We have to move in front of the ball and we have to transfer that energy from our feet into our hands to make that move happen. Does jumping rope do that? No! Jumping rope basically is is a vertical motion.

 

[00:06:28] Now I can stand here and I can jump rope in front here and I can do this and I’ll probably going to get winded after a little bit. What is that a sign of?

 

[00:06:36] Well one my calves are kind of weak. Secondly I might just be a little out of shape aerobically. All right. And so jumping rope may tax that. Great. I can do the same thing by running some sprints up a hill which is better advice for lacrosse goalie so is jumping rope good for a lacrosse goalie? Yes or no. Maybe. Right. But it’s like the last thing I would provide for a goalie to do.

 

Beware of Gadget Training

[00:07:02] We have to be aware of gadget training. OK. Gadget training is when we’re doing something for something’s sake. For entertainment sake, not real improvement for a goalie. You know I could take a goalie and I could look at them and I could assess them and I go like, “Listen, your hips are super weak. So I’m going to have two sets of glute bridges.” Right. And with basically a simple march to basically tax the hip. Too much detail to discuss in this video. But the bottom line is if I told that goalie with the weak hips to jump rope, I’m doing nothing for their hips. All right. But that goalie may feel like he’s doing something right? He’s jumping rope. He’s doing something right. Coach told me I should jump rope. I must be getting better right. Wrong. It’s really bad advice.

 

Are You Training Or Being Entertained?

[00:07:50] So my advice for for lacrosse goalies is 1) avoid gadget training for gadget training sake. Sure. If you were an advanced lacrosse goalie and you are training every single day, and you’re getting shots every single day and you are in the gym and you are bored and there’s a monotony to it. You can spice that up with maybe a little jumping rope. Maybe a little bit of the drill where we take the lacrosse ball and we put you close to the wall, and we hit those fast reaction drills. I see goalies way too young doing that drill and trying to make it with the worst form ever. And all they’re doing is wiring in bad form, but they’re getting entertained. So that’s great but they feel like they’re doing something, but they’re really doing the wrong stuff. You can actually take an improvement in a goalie and reverse it.

 

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

[00:08:45] It’s like if you are a golfer and you’re swinging the golf club and a coach comes along and says, “Listen, I want you to swing, but at the top I want to do a little loop with the club, and then hit the ball.

 

[00:08:57] All right so you do that and you just loop, and you hit the ball. Well, now all you’re doing is you’re doing…stuff. But your wiring in the bad habits. OK. So here’s the deal avoid gadgetry at all costs.

 

Understand “Training Economy”

[00:09:10] We have to be aware of a thing called “training economy.” What does that mean? While we have a certain amount of time to spend to become a better lacrosse goalie, what is the biggest bang for the buck for this particular lacrosse goalie? I can tell you it’s not jumping rope. All right? It will be a thousand other things.

 

My Advice For All Lacrosse Goalies (There.  I Said It)

[00:09:31] So what is my advice then if I’m going to give you a blanket statement that any goalie can do to get better

 

1. Stick To The Basics

[00:09:38] First and foremost stick to the basics and take shots. All right so take shots. Taking shots will always be the number one thing you can do to improve your lacrosse goalie skills. Right. Just like the boxer who’s in the ring and punching an opponent is better than doing punching a heavy bag right? Or punching the speed bag, or jumping rope. Right. So shots first.

 

2. Get In The Gym

[00:10:08] Secondly my advice for any goalie is get in the gym. If you are stronger physically, especially in the hips. Right. And in the core and you have the ability to get in front of the ball more efficiently with more speed more flexibility more mobility more dynamic stability (to bore you with in technical terms). Right. Get in the gym and basically get strong and explosive. You can be strong and move really slow but we want to get that’s a good base but we want to be strong and explosive so we can get in front the ball.

 

3. Work On Your Stick Skills

[00:10:45] And finally my third bit of advice for any goalie is work on their stick skills. If you can’t get shots, and you can’t get in the gym, get a short stick and throw tennis balls at the wall. I’ve got in my basement where this studio is. I’ve got a ridge on my ceiling basically a foot and a half where I could be sitting here throwing a tennis ball and working my hands all day if I wanted to.

 

Stop Wasting Your Time

[00:11:06] So those are the three keys. OK. Get Shots get in the gym. Work on your stick skills. That is better advice. Jumping rope, like you may never get to it because there’s all these other things that we can be doing. I say this in the video in the audio the free audio lacrosse tips dot com, when you sign up for the newsletter. You get the free audio. I say this, If your coach tells you to jump rope you should probably run. Now that may be a little bit harsh, but what it really is to me is that it’s a statement by a coach who’s not fully understanding all the parts and pieces. They are just rehashing what they may have heard from other coaches. Right. And that can be OK to a point but when you’re, when you’re dispensing advice like that, you’re really wasting the time of a goalie who could be doing a thousand other things to get better. OK.

 

[00:11:58] So is jumping rope on my favourites. Can you tell? No it’s not. And I’ve I’ve never, ever, ever given that as advice. Just an idea. OK. So great question to the dad who will remain nameless because he doesn’t want to get in a fight with me and the other coach he may have heard from.

What’s The Worst Lacrosse Goalie Advice You’ve Ever Heard?

So what’s the worst advice you’ve ever heard?  Leave me your comment below.

Send Me Your Questions

[00:12:16] But you know it’s a great question. So if you’ve got a question for me do me a favor. E-mail me Coach Edwards coachedwards@lacrosseGoalieTips.com. If you liked this video and you someone who needs to hear it, send it to him. All right send that sentiment e-mail and then let them know that Hey Coach Edwards thinks like that Jumping rope is the worst thing ever because it is all right. Talk to you next week. I’m Coach Edwards.

 

Join Lacrosse Goalie University Today

[00:12:38] And listen last one little thing in my online course at Lacrosse Goalie University.com, that I’ve run for EON’s. OK. It’s the best investment you could possibly make for this lacrosse goalie. If you’re not a member become a member. You also get a free goalie critique. So what that is is you can send me a video of you playing and we can discuss what ,what you send me and how depends on the goalie what I recommend they send me. But what I do is I go through that video and I send you back a video critique or basically I’m watching you play and I’m giving you advice on what to do and what not to do and what I think you need what I don’t need what you don’t need. Also with our coach with our online coaching clients that I’ve done for years I work with goalies all over North America and we work via Skype. We work via video. We work via email and text whatever it is they need.

 

[00:13:30] So if that’s something you need first and foremost join lacrosse goalie university and if you want better coaching more specific coaching for me you can join any one of our coaching memberships and I’m happy to help you with that

 

[00:13:42] OK. Thanks for watching. See you next week. Coach Edwards cheers.