Question:

Rich writes:  ok im a second year jr. goalie in high school and i still need alot of work. i wanted to know how many shooting strings to put on my goalie head cus im getting it redone with marc mesh and a semi deep pocket. iv seen kids with two shooting string to kids with five and i dont know the difference and how i should seperate them. im a strong so the deeper pock i have wont affect my clear. and i have a a regular goalie shaft if that helps. thanx for any help rich

p.s. do u have any traing tips so i can practise by myself when i cant get to a net and have someone shoot on me

Answer:  Rich three shooting strings is all you need.  Straight across.  Skip one row of diamonds between rows.  So you would have the scoop, then one row of diamonds, then your top shooting string.  I use a sidewall lace for my top shooting string because it gets a ton of abuse getting shots on it.  I find the sidewall laces don’t stretch as much as cotton hockey laces that you use for other shooting strings.

For the second and third laces use a cotton hockey lace.  You can get them at any sporting goods store that sells hockey skates.  Skip one row of diamonds and put your second one across.  Skip another row of diamonds and do your third.  That’s all you need.

My best tip for getting better without someone shooting on you is this:

1)Visualize.  The mind doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what is imagined so the more time you spend thinking about goaltending and moving to the ball properly the more chance you will have of making better saves once you are in the cage.  I get into more detail on this one in the members area of the site.

2)  Get in front of a mirror and work on your form.  Again, you’ll want to practice moving to the ball properly.  But this is a great way to see what you look like in the cage and what you need to work on.

3)  Wall Ball:  I have never met a great goalie who was really bad with his stick.  But every great goalie has good stick skills.  There is something about it but I find when you improve your ability to catch and throw you become a better goalie.  If you think about it, a goalie really is the best catching player on the team.  Not the best shooter, but definitely one of the best catchers.  So spend a lot of time on the wall.  I used to shoot tennis balls against the kitchen drawers when my parents weren’t home. (We lived in an old house so those drawers were solid!)  But playing with the tennis ball was a big help.  I also used to throw balls on the roof of my house and wait for them to roll back down.  I’d pick a shingle and try to hit it with a clearing pass.

All these little things add up to big improvements so give those a shot.  And let me know if you need anything else.

Jonathan –  The Goalie Guru
www.inseasonhome.com (Are you signed up for our newsletter?)

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