Introduction One of the greatest challenges facing a minor hockey coach is to train young goaltenders at the same pace as that of the other players on the team. The combined lack of experience on the part of the coach in this area, of time during training and of literature on this particular topic often means that the beginner goalie is an isolated member of the team. This book offers a development plan for beginner goalies.
But what exactly is a development plan? Simply put, it's a comprehensive plan that covers a period of four years. It contains information on skating techniques, basic moves, increasing physical fitness off the ice and evaluation methods, as well as several other topics that are essential to the development of a good beginner goalie.
The topics discussed in the final chapter represent, in general, the skills that a goalie coach needs to teach his goalies as they move up through the beginner's level (ages 9 to 12). However, deciding which coaching method to use (the number of practices, the learning rate, the order in which the various techniques are taught, the variety of exercises, etc.), is left up to the coach. All the coach needs to do is to ensure that as many of the items contained in this development plan as possible are taught before the age of 12. At this point, the goalie enters the intermediate phase. The coach, who is in constant contact with the team's goalies, remains the one individual best able to plan any specialized training for these goalies.
By offering a development plan (on the ice, off the ice, special exercises, etc.), this book is aimed not only at the people involved with novice, atom and peewee teams (coaches, parents, goalies), but also at the people involved with more advanced teams through the chapters dealing with observing, communicating, correcting, the roles of the goalie coach, and so on.
Many young goalies demonstrate remarkable talent. By using specific exercises to teach them what is important right from the start, they will get more enjoyment out of their favorite sport and achieve a greater level of skill.
There are three distinct phases in the career of a goalie who starts playing at the age of 9 and continues on into adulthood:
1st: the beginner goalie (ages 9 to 12)
2nd: the intermediate goalie (ages 13 to 16)
3rd: the advanced goalie (age 17 and up)
Each phase contains a certain number of skills that must be mastered in order to advance to the next phase. A goalie's development must be planned. The way to achieve this is to create a development plan that spans roughly four years, depending on the skill of the goalie. The purpose of this process is to reduce the element of luck as much as possible and to teach the beginner goalies the most important aspects of their role, namely:
1. Certain skating techniques (chapter 1)
2. Certain basic techniques (chapter 2)
3. Certain physical traits essential to the job of goalie (chapter 4)
Learning and applying these techniques and physical traits will help any young goalie just starting out in net to achieve the level of skill that is necessary to begin the intermediate step in the right direction.
