Stepping To The Ball
Hey, it’s Coach Edwards here from LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com. I want to welcome you to this week’s blog post. I’m going to do something a little bit different. I’ve been asked a lot this year about the question of stepping to the ball, stepping, should you step toward the ball, should you step sideways, and the title of this post is “Why stepping to the ball is wrong.” I want to set you straight.
What I’ve done is, I’ve taken a clip from my Stepping To The Ball DVDs, or my Moving To The Ball DVDs, whichever, I keep waffling back and forth between what I’m calling it, but this year I created a 2 DVD set called Stepping to the Ball. The first part of the DVD talks about why stepping to the ball is wrong. Let’s cut to that, and I’m going to show you exactly why stepping to the ball is wrong. Here we go.
Stepping To The Ball DVD Footage
Here the lines show you how far I need to move to make a save. If I step to the ball, if my initial move is to the ball, I may never get to that line to make the save. You’ve heard my Three Keys to Making Any Save. You’ve got to see the ball, you’ve got to know where it’s going, and then you’ve got to move to the ball.
Well, if I pick up a shot from out there and I move to the ball, and that ball is aiming here, I may never get far enough in the time that it takes for that ball to meet me here, I may never get far enough to actually make the save.
Reach
Now, I’ve got a stick in my hand, right? That’s going to give me more reach. I understand that. But still, the bottom line is this. There’s an amount of time between when the ball leaves the shooter’s stick to when it’s going to meet the goal line. This is the goal line. And I have to get in front of that before it gets there. So in this case, when I step to the ball, I’m trying to meet it somewhere out here.
Don’t Just Step Forward
This is a big step. This is a big step – it’s a full lunge for me. As we’ll get into later, we’re going to talk about the adjustment step. But the bottom line is this. If I step to the ball, I may never get far enough where I’m actually going to cut that ball off here. And also, by stepping forward, I am shortening the amount of time I have to get in front of that ball. That makes sense? One, I may not get far enough. Two, I’m actually attacking the ball, which we’ll talk about that later, but I’m attacking that ball which is shortening my time that I have to get there.
Using A T-Square
What I want to show you to prove this to you, I brought a drywall T-square. You can get these at Home Depot. What this does is I’m going to line this up. This is perpendicular. This is a square. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So I’m here and I set up my T-square, and this stripe is the middle of the cage. If I’m in this stance, my goal is going to be in position to receive the ball when it comes to me so that I give up less rebounds. I want to have the most time to do that. I’m not going to step backwards. That’s not the goal. The shortest distance between me and the line where the ball can go, the shortest distance is a straight line, and that is relatively straight.
Why Lateral Steps Are Best
So for me to get in front of that ball in the fastest amount of time is to move with this T-square. Move with this straight line that the T-square creates. Because of that, you can see here by using the T-square, that my step is not forward. We used to teach, “Hey, take a 45 degree step at the ball. I used to do line drills, and I’ve got those in Lacrosse Goalie University, I’ve got Walking The Line drills.
What happens is, we walk the line and we’re trying to make distance, and we end up going too far, too straight, in 45 degree steps, which is wrong. Not what we need to do. Stepping to the ball is wrong. We need to step laterally so that we can be in front of the ball as fast as possible. I’m going to recognize that shooter shooting the ball stick-side high, I’m moving laterally across the T-square, using my hips to move, and I am now in position to make the save. That’s the bottom line. The T-square proves that we do not want to step to the ball. We want to step laterally.
Don’t Base Your Main Move On Rarity
Back to that argument of, “Hey, if you want to step laterally then you may be out of position on a bad bounce.” I got it. I understand it. Bad bounces happen. However, they are rare, and we do not base our main move on rarity. We base it on the majority. The majority is that shots from outside, middies, attackmen, shots with time and room, Paul Rabel winding up from the top of the box, I’ve got to get in front of that shot as soon as I recognize where it’s going, I see it, I know where it’s going, I’ve got to get in front of that as fast as possible. I am moving laterally, not vertically. Not forward. The T-square proves it.
Invest In A T-Square
I highly recommend that you go get one. They’re not that expensive. Go to Home Depot, get one, take it, put it on the ground, see where you gotta go, and you’ll realize that this is basically a flat line. I’ll move this back basically to goal line extended. I’m stepping laterally but basically my foot is moving forward about 4 ½ inches. That’s it. Stepping to the ball is wrong. That is why. Use it. I hope it improves your game. It’s phenomenal. We’ll mess around with this a little more later in our DVDs and in Lacrosse Goalie University, so I hope it helps you. We’ll start there, and now we’re moving on. Cheers.
Stepping To The Ball Is Wrong
I hope you enjoyed that clip. I’ve been watching on YouTube lately, there are a lot of posts that keep popping up from goalie coaches who, I don’t know who they are or where they’re from, but they’re talking about why you should step to the ball or you should step beyond the ball. All that stuff makes no sense. From a physics standpoint, a lot of it makes no sense. I hope my explanation about why stepping to the ball is wrong makes sense to you.
Conclusion
I know I’m going to get some feedback on this. Do me a favor. Leave me a comment below and let’s continue this conversation so I can clarify it in case you have any questions. I’m Coach Edwards with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com. Are you a member of Lacrosse Goalie University? Be sure to check it out, and by all means do me a favor. Share this post, tweet it, like it, google plus it, pin it. I’d really appreciate it and I’ll talk to you real soon. Cheers.
I’m a varsity girls lacrosse goalie and I’ve always been told hands step step. Meaning hands to the ball. Yes sometimes I accidentally get hit in the hands but my feet end up going lateral or in a 45 degree angle. Is this correct or okay? Should I tweak my form?
Hey, i’m a varsity boys lacrosse goalie and I’ve been playing goalie for 2 years. My school’s team is only 2 years old and 2015 is it’s second year. Recently we’ve been losing with scores like 12-0 17-3 14-0. My save percentages for the last three games have been 60% 40% 50% is there anyway for me to raise that and become more consistent? I play on an arc and most of my saves are body saves over stick saves. Any tips?
Coach Edwards, I am a high school goalie coach and want to thank you for your tips site. I have never believed in “stepping to the ball” as a useful tactic for goalies. However, When our goalies attend camps and seminars and receive instruction from big name goalies and big time coaches regarding stepping to the ball, it’s difficult to get the principle of the shortest distance across to them. After all, how can I know more than the big names. This video will go a long way to helping solve that dilemma. Thanks.
Bill thanks for writing. Yes, I too get the same response. “I was at this camp, and this college goalie told me to step to the ball,etc” I find that these goalies and coaches are just rehashing what they were taught and told as younger goalies. There hasn’t been any real critical thinking to the position in a very long time and the position hasn’t really changed in response to the increased shot velocity and control brought on by offset heads and technology in pocket design. It just hasn’t. The shots are coming too hard, and too fast, from athletes who have no right shooting the ball like they do. The lacrosse goalie position needs to adapt and stepping laterally and staying in position is critical.
I’ve already received emails from some prominent coaching names in lacrosse who have said, “you’re theory is flawed” or, “you can’t tell kids that”. I knew this post would get some push back but when you look at it from a math perspectice it just makes sense. Also, if you look at every other goalie in every other sport, no one, moves too the ball. The only sport where I have seen an athlete move too a ball in a similar situation is cricket. (And for the record those guys wear more protective gear on their lower legs than lacrosse goalies do.) Tennis, is also a good example where an athlete, in an athletic stance, moves laterally to get in front of a first serve coming at them at 60mph+.
The other benefit on moving laterally is that it also helps tremendously when shots are taken in close on one on one situations. In those situations if a goalie steps to the ball it makes it very easy for the shooter to shoot around the goalie. I also look at hockey goalies who guard a similar net against shooters who have LESS ability to fake with the stick. They don’t move to the puck. If they move to the puck it is on time and room shots and they are moving OUT from the cage to be in position where they then move laterally to make the save. They do not move to the puck to make the save.
I appreciate you taking the time to write Bill. Hope this helps you further. It looks like I will be writing more on this in the future and will be adding more footage on this for our coaching members. Thanks again.
Sulton I’d say that if you are losing by that much and your save percentages are in that range then you don’t have a goalie problem, you’ve got a offence problem. If your team can’t control the ball in the offensive zone, or win face-offs then you are going to see a ton of shots and your save percentage is going to suffer. In addition to the shots you are getting they are probably high quality shots as well. Check out my post on “The Goalies Grade is Not The Scoreboard” and you’ll learn about what I mean by this.
Keep your head up. Just know that by getting these types of game shots you are becoming a better goalie faster than a goalie who isn’t getting these types of shots.
Paulina without seeing you play live I would say you’re doing fine. Lateral is fine. 45 not so much.
Thanks!
I am fairly new to coaching lacrosse and I thought the idea behind stepping to the ball was to make the goalie bigger as far as angles go?Therefore increasing your chance of a save. But what you are saying does make a more sense.
Hi Coach,
I was a lacrosse goalie and my son is one as well. I enjoyed listening to your thoughts about stepping to the ball and I tend to agree with you. I would like to hear your thoughts on playing bounce shots and whether you prefer a lateral movement or to try to move closer to where the ball bounces. I always found these shots the most difficult ones to play and when I watch my son and other young goalies the tendency seems to be bring the stick too low and then try to react and bring it back up to the ball. My feeling is that it is better to play the ball as close to the point at which it strikes the turf. I look forward to hearing your thoughts regarding playing bounce shots.
Thanks.
Mike I break down saving bounce shots into “channels”. The goal is not to pick at the ball with the stick but to get the body in front of the ball. However, for young athletes, being able to guage a bounce shot is difficult. Split the cage up into three channels of two feet wide each. From the turf to the cross bar. The goalie needs to identify which channel the ball is going to hit and to get in front of the ball in that channel. For our Lacrosse Goalie University members I talk about “saving the space” and this falls into that category.
A goalie who drops his stick and then has to bring it back up has misjudged the bounce. They only see the ball going down and then have to reverse direction which takes too much time. It’s often an indication that they haven’t spent enough time working on bounce shots and learning what the shot looks like leaving the shooters stick.
A bounce shot is really a half a shot which I write about in my book. So yes, Identifying where the ball is going to bounce and then adjusting to make the save from that point is ideal. Stepping out to meet the bounce works at a young age but I believe that it puts the goalie out of position as the game gets faster for them. (plus bounce shots nearly dissapear in the college game.)
Thanks for writing Mike. Sorry for the late reply as I didn’t get notification of this comment post.
Rocky as a Lacrosse Goalie University member you can email me. I apologize for the slow response, I did not get the notification of this comment post.
You are correct. That is the thinking, however my point is that if we are trying to make the goalie bigger they should be standing in a more aggressive arc and wearing more equipment.
Lacrosse goalies are the only goalie who has been taught to step to the ball to make the save. The only sports that teach a concept like that (where a receiver of the ball is meant to step to the ball) are cricket and baseball, and their goal is to knock the ball to the outfield. We are designed to catch the ball. So look at hockey, baseball, and sports like handball and field hockey. The goalie “gets big” and is aggressive where they can be without taking themselves out of position.
Rocky, I’m in the process of adding parts of my new book to the Lacrosse Goalie University membership in the next few weeks. You should have access then. I’ve written a lot about this for the book and I think you’ll like the concepts I cover.
Hey Coach,
I’ve been playing lax goalie for 3 years now and I’ve always been taught that you are supposed to step to the ball and have gotten in trouble for taking lateral steps. It makes sense why lateral steps are good for corner shots, but for shots that are closer to the body I feel like taking a step to the ball is more helpful, if that makes any sense. And how would you apply this when dealing with cress roll shots?
Shelby on shots in close the overall stepping motion of the goalie needs to be reduced. When we repeat stepping to the ball, especially if it is a stab step with no adjustment step in it, goalies tend to get stretched out and are not able to recover. For shots close to the body you need to step less actually, not more. For women who tend to see shots from in close range the need to step to the ball is lessened and goalies stepping to the ball will get out of position sooner than a goalie who moves in front of the ball with a more lateral motion.
Coach, I’ve been thinking about “Stepping to the Ball” vs “Stepping Laterally” since I first heard you mention this topic. I understand your reasoning, but there is one assumption you are making. That assumption is “people move just as fast laterally as horizontally (or diagonally)”. I have never studied kinesiology, so do not know if that is true or not. I’m wondering if you know or can find out if that is true?
I tend to agree with your reasoning, but am not 100% convinced your reasoning is correct.
Warning boring math.
Assuming a 45 degree step to move the body 2 feet left (or right) and 2 feet forward means traveling 2.8 feet (a smaller angle means less distance).
If the ball is traveling 80MPH (117 feet/ sec) by moving laterally instead of forward the goalie gains 0.017 seconds (17 milliseconds) in reaction time by letting the ball reach him vs stepping forward 2 feet.
The question is: Do people move forward (2.8 feet) faster than sideways 2 feet? If so, by more or less that that “gain” in reaction time.
Hopefully you can find someone who understand human movement and can answer that question.
Jordan, great question and not boring math at all. How about this, can you email me at coachedwards@lacrossegoalieuniversity.com and we can put some emails back and forth. We can do a more in depth post about it and get a nice solid answer back for everyone using the math that you’ve provided. I’ll even include the data in my Lacrosse Goalie Book coming out next spring.
hey i just saw this while looking through being a better goalie and was wondering how to play on turf
the reason i ask is because i am a rookie goalie and i had led my team to the championships but had only played on grass then they had decided to put the championships on turf and i couldn’t adjust right to it
if you had any tips i would be happy to listen
That’s a tough break. In hindsight you really need to practice on the turf to understand the bounce and just the way the turf feels under your feet. The change in environment can throw off any player, not just a lacrosse goalie. You really need to have the time to play on it and understand how the ball reacts, how the ball looks against the turf, and how you are going to move on it. I know that doesn’t help much now, but that’s really all you can do when you’re transitioning to a new environment.
Thats a good idea. I enjoy knowing the physical explanation of this kind of stuff. It makes sense to move sideways instead of forwards. Im just confused about where your feet should end up relative to the ball. Could anyone help?
Hi Coach – Thanks for the article! There’s something I don’t understand and I’m hoping you can help clarify. In the video the white lines attached to goalposts don’t represent the flight of a shot. The flight of a shot to either goal post would be a triangle. The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line (no doubt about that). But if the flight of a shot is a triangle, a straight line to intercept the shot is achieved by stepping forward at an angle, not stepping lateral. I do agree that stepping lateral gives you more time but you have to move a further distance to get to the shot. So I think stepping at an angle is the quickest way to get to the ball. Here I made a quick diagram to illustrate what I’m saying. Line 1 (stepping forward at angle) is shorter than line 2 (stepping lateral).