Coach Jonathan Edwards encourages lacrosse goalies who are on bad teams by explaining how it’s a great opportunity. He explains how you should take advantage of the opportunity you are given to see as many shots as possible and bring your game to the next level by adapting to your team’s weaknesses
0:21 – Coach Edwards addresses a common question – is playing on a bad team bad for you?
1:08 – Playing on a bad team allows a goalie to see the most shots possible.
1:23 – Bad teams can be an advantage for any goalie and help you get better.
2:16 – Defensemen with bad stick skills can force a goalie to improve in new ways.
3:44 – Get excited if you’re on a team that gives you the opportunity to get better as a lacrosse goalie.
Introduction
Coach Edwards here at LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com and today’s question is: Your team sucks. So what? One of the things I want to talk about is, should you be playing on a bad team? If you’re on a bad team, is it bad for you?
Coach Edward’s First Sports Camp
The best advice I ever got was when I was in high school. I was also a hockey goalie. I went to my first ever sports camp, which was a camp for lacrosse goalies and it was amazing. It was run by a guy named Joe Brittania, who was the goalie coach for the Boston Bruins and he was one of the first guys I ever heard of who ran these camps.
Playing on a Bad Team
I asked Joe a question about hockey. I was looking for a team to play for that coming winter and I had the opportunity next winter for the Hobomock Chiefs. They weren’t going to be very good at all. I think, as a matter of fact, we had six players on the hockey team. Six players and me, so seven total. And I was like, “Joe, should I even be playing on the team?”
Coach Joe’s Advice
He goes, “The best thing you can do as a goalie is get the most shots possible, right? The more shots you see, the better you’ll be. The more opportunity you’ll have to improve.” The more shots, the more opportunities to learn and improve.
Bad Teams Can Be an Advantage
Every once in a while a goalie will write me a question or a parent, and go, “Oh, my son or daughter they’re on this team and they’re just horrible. They see all these shots during the day. Oh man.” To be honest I look at that as an advantage.
Rising Stars Out of Nowhere
The lacrosse goaltending position, actually any goalie position in any sport, is one of those positions where you can get a kid from a small town in nowhere who has an incredible work ethic, getting shot on day in, day out, seeing really high quality shots from in close-range and all sorts of those types of things, and they get really, really good. And all of a sudden you hear about them popping up at an amazing school with a huge program because they’re a great goalie. Playing on a bad team isn’t necessarily a bad deal.
Teams With Bad Stick Skills
When I played in high school, I didn’t have defensemen who were the best stick handling guys. They didn’t have the best stick skills. They were great athletically, they were great guys, but they didn’t have great stick skills. I had one buddy on my high school team, Steve. Steve was a football lineman, so much fun to be around, just amazing. I would never pass him the ball on a clear. Ever. And he’d be like, “Why didn’t you pass to me?” and I’d be like, “Steve.”
A New Opportunity to Improve
Every once in a while we would try in the game, and I would pass him the ball, and he would drop it, and the ball would come back and hopefully I’d make the save. But the next time I would pass it to the middy, and I got really good at rifling the ball down the field. I was like a Tom Brady quarterback. I was getting the ball, I was in the crease, and I would see a midfielder breaking up the wing and I would rifle it to him.
Getting Really Good in New Areas
Or I got to a point where my attackman and I were kind of in on the deal and if they were a step ahead of their defenseman, and they were running to the midfield stripe, I would hit them. I would just pass it all the way over midfield and pass it right to them, like on a rope, and I got really good doing that. We got so many goals out of that. We got so many fast break clears and really good offensive threats. Because I wasn’t on a really good defensive team, I learned how to be really good in other areas of my game that I wouldn’t have had I just played with phenomenal defensemen.
Be Excited
If you’re on a bad team, rejoice. Jump up and down. Be excited. Understand the fact that you are seeing more shots, you are seeing above average shots, and higher quality shots. Therefore if you learn from them and you get your skill to move accordingly, you will be a great goalie. So keep that in mind. Being on a bad team is not a bad thing. Good luck with that.
Conclusion
Leave your comments below, I want to hear your thoughts on how your team is helping you improve. Coach Edwards at LacrosseGoalieTips.com and I’ll talk to you real soon. Bye.
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