Changing Your Style

[jeff da goalie]

Has anyone gone from butterfly to more of a standup/hybrid style?  I'm coming off my third knee injury in 4 years and am considering whether it might be time to ease off the butterfly.  If you've done it, how did you go about doing it?  I'd assume a change in pads would be beneficial, but how does one go about relearning the position?  Thanks.

[goalie]

My new style is I've fallen and I can't get up.

Biggest change will be you need to narrow your stance a bit. Instead of dropping and sliding, you will need to shuffle and slide on your skates. Best thing to do is watch some video of Brodeur. Most of his career he was hybrid.

[FIFTY-SIX]

Goaltending and "the butter-fly" is BRUTAL on hips and knees.  I'm on my second Grade II, MCL tear/sprain (L then R) within 7 months.  At age 54, I'm now transitioning to using Donjoy Armour knee braces to prevent recurrence/frustration/future disability.  Obviously, I've needed to adjust leg pad strapping to accommodate the increased knee-pad width and allow for adequate pad rotation.  I'm also finding that I need to consciously drop the lead knee even lower, prior to a butter-fly slide (i.e., striving for maximal internal hip rotation prior to lateral push), due to the minimal valgus knee flexion offered by the Donjoy Armour knee braces.  However, my 21st-century technique remains basically the intact (albeit slower and limited by my 20th-century body).  56

[BadAngle41]

7 hours ago, jeff da goalie said:

Has anyone gone from butterfly to more of a standup/hybrid style?  I'm coming off my third knee injury in 4 years and am considering whether it might be time to ease off the butterfly.  If you've done it, how did you go about doing it?  I'd assume a change in pads would be beneficial, but how does one go about relearning the position?  Thanks.

56 minutes ago, FIFTY-SIX said:

Goaltending and "the butter-fly" is BRUTAL on hips and knees.  I'm on my second Grade II, MCL tear/sprain (L then R) within 7 months.  At age 54, I'm now transitioning to using Donjoy Armour knee braces to prevent recurrence/frustration/future disability.  Obviously, I've needed to adjust leg pad strapping to accommodate the increased knee-pad width and allow for adequate pad rotation.  I'm also finding that I need to consciously drop the lead knee even lower, prior to a butter-fly slide (i.e., striving for maximal internal hip rotation prior to lateral push), due to the minimal valgus knee flexion offered by the Donjoy Armour knee braces.  However, my 21st-century technique remains basically the intact (albeit slower and limited by my 20th-century body).  56

I'm with @FIFTY-SIX. I've pretty well torn up both knees and hips over the past 30ish years of playing goal. Granted some issues like hips are the result of being genetically prone to certain conditions, but it's no secret that goaltending isn't friendly on the joints and in my case has significantly accelerated the degeneration of most of mine from the waist down.

I think it's pretty safe to say that 98% (or more) of us who say we play "the butterfly" are really playing hybrid with a strong tendency to go into the butterfly position. In spite of goal pad technology which has made sliding much more efficient, I do like the strong trend in teaching younger goaltenders to stay on their feet. There is nothing wrong with making as save while standing. To @goalie's point you'll find the need to narrow your stance, shuffle, and stay back in the paint more. Not going into a butterfly-esque position will be an enormously difficult habit to break if you've been doing it for years, but by focusing on staying square and keeping active feet by doing micro shuffles you may find there isn't as much of a need to go down in the first place.