Glove and blocker bad habits

[xmikex32]

Hey guys, 

Feel like I already know the answer to this but was wondering if you had any tips or off ice training I could do. I keep falling back into the bad habit of “chicken winging” on blocker and glove side shots.  Not all the time and it’s predominantly blocker side. Instead of reaching out and getting the shot with my blocker I’ll tend to chicken wing my should/elbow while keeping the blocker tucked in tight to my body and more so let the puck hit me. It’s drives me nuts because I know instantly that it’s bad and I should have got it with my blocker. I sometimes do this glove side too, instead of catching the puck in front of me I’ll chicken wing and make my glove pocket head down and the cuff goes up. I know o should be catching pucks in front of me and have active hands but I don’t think about it and react to shots this way. 
 

any advice or tips would be awesome. 

Edited August 12 by xmikex32
Typo

[sescaro]

I fight this too, particularly on my glove side.  I have a bad habit of drawing my hands down and back to my body when the shot is released, and it’s easy to chicken wing from there.  I get beat up over my glove on a rush more often than I’d like because of it.  Focusing on keeping my hands out in front of me helps prevent it but it’s a hard habit to break.  In warm-ups or at a stick and puck, I try to be very conscious of keeping my gloves where I can see them in my peripheral vision.  
 

One thing I saw in a video that I’ve always been meaning to try was a stick shaft that a coach tied a rope to the ends of and then hung it over their goalie’s neck.  The shaft hung between the goalie’s sternum and upper arms, making it impossible to draw the elbows back and keeping the hands forward.  
 

The tough part is the drop and block is still a tool you need to have in your toolbox, so you can never get away from that movement completely.  

[xmikex32]

I have a bad habit of dropping and blocking when i could easily make a catch or blocker save. Its the fear of missing and letting in an easy goal when i know if i block ill most likely make the save, think its a confidence thing especially against better players. It seems i do it more facing better players when they wind up for a shot i come out to challenge and drop trying to get big to get a piece of their harder shots.

Think its more infuriating knowing that I shouldn't do it and still do it. I hate it the split second after i do it.

[coopaloop1234]

2 hours ago, xmikex32 said:

I have a bad habit of dropping and blocking

It's this, and I'm going to guess mixed in with the notion of your arms/hands being too locked into your sides. 

Relax your arms, project them outwards, and try to focus on keeping them elevated when you go down. Unless you're needing to seal up holes, your arms should be up and active when you're down. 

Just keeping your hand in a more active position when dropping will inherently make saves for you. 

[sescaro]

Yeah, when I really focus on keeping my glove up and out in front of my body, it’s amazing how many pucks just end up finding it. 

[IpaddyTECH]

I'll chime in a bit. Personally I think that hand positioning prompts (I use the imagine you're holding a big beach ball as you move about, which keeps your hands up and out) are really useful to a point. They're especially useful in practice or stick time, where you're there to try to learn and memorize and new helpful habits. However, in a game I find if I really focus on "hold the beach ball" or "don't just drop and block", I'm already thinking too much and I won't be able to actually see, read, and react to the play. 

Best advice I've gotten in years for my game is "quiet mind" and "quiet eyes". There's all this research proving that the best goalies just stare (their eyes don't dart about) at the puck before (and during) any shot attempt. This gives their brain the most sensory information possible to react correctly. If there are anxious eyes (looking all over the place and getting too much irrelevant information), or mind chatter (thinking about positioning prompts or worse, entertaining fears and emotions) then your brain can't get the information it needs or effectively process the information that is coming in. 

I try to simplify my approach in a game and all I do is #1: calmly watch the puck, #2: breath deeply (to gently occupy mind and regulate emotions), and #3. Mentally prepare to react with explosive movement once I read a shot or play. Despite any positioning errors that come up (and boy do they), I find this helps me to play my best game and often make up for errors of positioning.  

That all said if you have good position habits ingrained in your muscle memory, that can make for when your mental game is lacking. They work in tandem. 

[Smalls]

For me, this only happens when I'm not projecting my hands out far enough. I see it in a similar light to how most low shots should always hit your stick and your pad should only be a backup. In reality obviously this is much easier said than done, but I think those "just get SOMETHING on the puck" chicken wing saves are due to the fact you already gave up your first line of defense as in catching/blocker'ing the puck out in front of you.

As I've gotten older I've found it much harder to keep those hands out front. Usually means more strain on your lower back and back in general to have the weight of your hands and arms out in front. I have a toddler at home so my lower back is already torched , but I'm sure the stronger core people wont notice as much. When you keep the hands projected like others said here it really feels like pucks find your glove and blocker so much more often, even if you aren't tracking good or screened.

[Chenner29]

On 8/12/2024 at 1:19 PM, IpaddyTECH said:

I'll chime in a bit. Personally I think that hand positioning prompts (I use the imagine you're holding a big beach ball as you move about, which keeps your hands up and out) are really useful to a point. They're especially useful in practice or stick time, where you're there to try to learn and memorize and new helpful habits. However, in a game I find if I really focus on "hold the beach ball" or "don't just drop and block", I'm already thinking too much and I won't be able to actually see, read, and react to the play. 

Best advice I've gotten in years for my game is "quiet mind" and "quiet eyes". There's all this research proving that the best goalies just stare (their eyes don't dart about) at the puck before (and during) any shot attempt. This gives their brain the most sensory information possible to react correctly. If there are anxious eyes (looking all over the place and getting too much irrelevant information), or mind chatter (thinking about positioning prompts or worse, entertaining fears and emotions) then your brain can't get the information it needs or effectively process the information that is coming in. 

I try to simplify my approach in a game and all I do is #1: calmly watch the puck, #2: breath deeply (to gently occupy mind and regulate emotions), and #3. Mentally prepare to react with explosive movement once I read a shot or play. Despite any positioning errors that come up (and boy do they), I find this helps me to play my best game and often make up for errors of positioning.  

That all said if you have good position habits ingrained in your muscle memory, that can make for when your mental game is lacking. They work in tandem. 

Great post - wanted to add that using markers around the rink also helps with crease positioning.  Pasco Valana has some good videos on Youtube breaking this down:

Also some other fantastic posts here regarding active hands.  I also want to add that weight distribution in the feet while tracking/in the stance has a cascading effect up the body.

1. Suboptimal: Weight on heels > poor ankle and knee bend > shoulders up, hands neutral > head bobs up and down when moving/tracking
2. Optimal: weight on front third of steel/balls of feet > good ankle and knee bend > shoulders forward, hands forward > head tracking down on puck

Now chain those two scenarios separately into a butterfly:

1. Suboptimal: Weight on ankles, shifted backwards toward the butt > shoulders high, minimal bend at waist > shoulders up, hands neutral > chicken wing
2. Optimal:  Weight on knees, shifted forward > shoulders forward, slight forward bend at waist > shoulders forward, hands forward > smaller box to control in front.

Is it possible to take a suboptimal tracking/stance position into an optimal butterfly position?  Sure, but there is some awkward shifting in between and it's an extra step; and tracking the puck around the zone with your weight on your heels leads to a lot of head bobbing (see second video below)

EDIT: attached video links

[xmikex32]

Thank you guys for all the input! i tried some of the suggestions at my last skate and it did seem to help a lot. i have a bad habit of not tracking the puck all the way in too, which I'm trying to fix and keeping my hands out and exaggerating watching the puck all the way in and out really seems to help me. There were a few chicken wings but chalked them up to quick shots and just natural reaction.

 

[IpaddyTECH]

On 8/13/2024 at 6:25 PM, Chenner29 said:

Great post - wanted to add that using markers around the rink also helps with crease positioning.  Pasco Valana has some good videos on Youtube breaking this down:

Thanks! The quiet eyes I picked up here somewhere. I love the videos. My stance definitely needs some restructuring... and probably more cardio so I can hold a better stance longer haha