A big problem we face these days in youth hockey is that most coaches have little to no idea on how to handle and coach goalies. I’ve realized over the years that, in hockey, you can only properly coach what you see; goalies can coach any position because they see the entirety of the ice in front of them, so they know where everyone needs to be on the ice and where the open space is. Defenseman can obviously coach defense as well as forward, because they’re the players in front of them. And finally forwards, they can only ever coach forwards. But since this isn’t an observation of coaching, I’m going to get straight to the drills for first time goalies.
Basic Stance
This is the first thing you need to do when you are working with a first time goalie.
Here is a side view and a front view of a basic goalie stance:
Credit from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RtT6IE4v32Y/TdQXz8xmWUI/AAAAAAAAACg/sJ55IjGckhA/s1600/goalie_stance.jpg
Their knees should be bent and their chest should be up. But most importantly, the stick has to be flat on the ice.
I’m thinking of dedicating a post to the stance and all variations on it, but for now, as long as their stick is on the ice and then can move side to side, they’re in good shape.
Basic Movements
Unlike players, goalies have to be skilled at moving side to side, and there are two ways of doing so:
- The shuffle
- The T-Push
The shuffle is more or less what it sounds like; while keeping your knees bend, you push with one foot while keeping the other stationary to move to the side. If you’re moving to the right, your left leg does the pushing; if you move to the left, your right leg pushes. When first time goalies try this, they end up tilting their body one way. It’s extremely important for them to keep their body “square” to the puck/player/play (being square means making sure that your entire body is facing the puck, like in the picture above). The shuffle on ice is very much like the shuffle on land, where you keep your upper body still as you move to the side. The shuffle is best used for moving really short distances.
The T-Push is best used for traveling long distances. The T-Push is easy to perform; if you’re traveling to the right, you just make a T with your feet by putting the heel of your right foot right up to the arch of your left foot. Then you push off with your left foot. Congrats, you have just accomplished a T-Push.
By knowing these two movements you can move on to practicing shifting between the two by doing some drills.
Skating Drills: Letters
A really easy way to practice the shuffle and the T-Push is by skating out letters on the ice. Easy ones to do are “E” (shuffles, forwards, backwards), “W” (all T-Pushes), “Y” (all T-Pushes), and “V” (all T-Pushes).
The great thing about letters is that they can be performed anywhere on the ice. The “Y” is the best one to do in the crease (you should be doing a T-push up from the post, skating fowards, then backward, and then T-Push to the opposite post that you started on). The “Y” is a general set path for where goalies skate during games; being able to perform this pattern well will definitely help your goalie gain spacial awareness in and around the crease.
This concludes Part 1 of what to do with beginner goalies. Spending the first five minutes of your practice working on your goalies skating will only benefit you in the future.
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions or if there are any topics you want me to touch on as I keep writing!
Coach AM
Hockey Lessons from a Young Coach 
