Hey goalies, Here's something you already know... Goaltending is a battle. Good Days, and Bad Days. Sometimes your on top of the world, beating the young pros and college players at their own game, and the next day your getting lit up by the old timers and young high school punks. =) So you had a bad game? Take it out on the bags! Get yourself a double ended bag, hit your favorite tune, and go to work. It the best $50 investment in improving your hand speed. It will improve your hand eye coordination, precision, reflexes, timing, vision, strength, and overall muscle endurance. Plus it's fun! And for the simple fact that everyone should know how to throw a punch and defend themselves. I honestly feel the better you can defend yourself, the better martial artist you are, the better goaltender you will be. It can't hurt your ability to stop pucks.
So you have a bad game... Take it out on the bags. These are the times where you learn who you are and how much fight you have. Boxing is great for developing that fighter mentality. Goalies - use boxing to develop your hand speed.
And if you don't want to box , ok fine, do some other sort of martial art (wrestling, ju-jitsu, karate, kick-boxing, Muay Thai, Sambo, Krav Maga, judo, etc). All these martial arts help you with your strength, speed, precision, muscle endurance, flexibility, and body awareness. All traits of high level goaltenders. Goaltending is somewhat of a martial art. It's the art of protecting your net. Sometimes I think pretty good at this. Others days... Maybe not so much. But I will keep fighting because I'm a goalie, just like you. And we have a simple job. "To give our team a chance to win." It's not about you (or me), it's about the team. And if you are signed up as a goalie. Than you just took on a unique role, it where you can't hide. You can't make excuses. You can't (but sometimes will) have a bad game. Because you have a job. "To give your team a chance to win."
This is not an easy task against explosive, dynamic, sometimes vicious hockey players! They will do anything to score including: spearing you, tripping you, slashing you, insulting you, spraying you... You get the point. Protect your net... Box.
Boxing is a great martial art for goaltenders to speed the hands and clear your mind on the bad days. It's a lot better than wearing Virtual Reality headsets, that's for sure. I have yet to see someone wearing VR to in a serious sweat. Actually. Scratch that!!! Now that I think of it, I DID put on a serious sweat wearing my daughters VR head set. I was playing a BOXING game! lol, haha. too funny. Boxing will teach you: Hand speed, foot work, depth, angles, attacking, defending, protecting, timing, stalking, executing, striking... All aspects of elite goaltending... It you want to get serious about your goaltending hand speed, depth, angle, there a lot you can learn from boxing. Get yourself a $50 double ended bag and get to work.
I fell in love with boxing as a child through an Iranian friend of mine "Amir." He wasn't a hockey player... He was a boxer, with strong shoulders, and wickedly fast hands. And a beautiful soul. We were both bullied, so naturally we got along well. He showed me videos on Ali, Tyson, and Jones Jr. We studied them and their footwork. And worked their combinations and i think it was the most important training i have done to increase my hand speed, precision, and understanding of angles. Goalies, I can't say it enough. Learn to box. Orthadox, south paw, jab, hook, cross, angle's, depths, combinations... It's all there. A wealth of goaltending improving drills that are fun, addictive, and important skills to have.
Well that's enough for today. I feel better now. Got that box in!
Let's just call it a bad day...
The Virtual Goalie Coach
Jeff Dotson
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