GDS Goalie Camps

[seagoal]

Does anyone have any experience with or knowledge of GDS goalie camps?

I have been actively searching for a goalie camp this summer and was about to register for the camp in Boston taught by Andrew Raycroft. 

But, I showed up to my game last night (2-1 win) and saw this flyer. I was speaking to the pro shop guy about it and it sounds and looks really good. Nearly identical to the Raycroft camp and the exact same price. It's in Everett so I would spend $0 other than registration. 

Here's the flyer and a link to their site

www.Gdsgoalies.com

[TheGoalNet]

I am curious what his tie to Murray and Flower are. Did he work in Pittsburgh?

[seagoal]

Yes, he is a goaltender development coach for the Penguins.  He's worked with Rask, too.

[SaveByRichter35]

I wish I had more local adult camps in my area.  We got Keeks to come to the Island one time back in the GSBB days for a one night clinic that was cool.

[seagoal]

One thing that will be interesting is that there is a huge youth hockey program in Everett that is run by the Silvertips organization.  I imagine there will be some kids in this camp, too, which means the old guys like me are going to be dragged through the mud by the youngins.

[coopaloop1234]

21 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I wish I had more local adult camps in my area.  We got Keeks to come to the Island one time back in the GSBB days for a one night clinic that was cool.

Biggest issue I have here in Vancouver is that every camp is set during the work week during the day. I took one weekend class years ago that was over the course of a weekend, but those have pretty much disappeared.

Pretty much forces me to spend my money on new gear to make me better instead of camps.

[TheGoalNet]

1 minute ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Biggest issue I have here in Vancouver is that every camp is set during the work week during the day. I took one weekend class years ago that was over the course of a weekend, but those have pretty much disappeared.

Pretty much forces me to spend my money on new gear to make me better instead of camps.

As it should be!

[coopaloop1234]

Just now, TheGoalNet said:

As it should be!

I guess new gear does equal more content.

But I do really want to do another weekend camp. That one I did take made a huge improvement in my game as a pretty raw goalie. I can only imagine what improvements I'd see as a decent goalie.

[Teezle]

3 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Biggest issue I have here in Vancouver is that every camp is set during the work week during the day. I took one weekend class years ago that was over the course of a weekend, but those have pretty much disappeared.

Pretty much forces me to spend my money on new gear to make me better instead of camps.

One of the goalie coaches in my city does his all-ages camps almost exclusively in the evenings, which is awesome. But working a full day and then going to practice T-pushes, butterfly slides, and recoveries as the "warm up" for 3 days in a row makes my legs turn to jello haha.

[seagoal]

This camp is Thursday-Saturday with 2 ice sessions per day, so I'm going to have to miss 2 days of work for this, but I have a ton of vacation saved up so it isn't that big of a deal. 

They ask for your goals and game plan, which is nice now that I am experienced and have a nuanced understanding of my style and my strengths/weaknesses.  It'll be awesome to hone in on specific aspects of my game and work on improvement.

[coopaloop1234]

5 minutes ago, seagoal said:

They ask for your goals and game plan,

Is it just not to suck? That's generally what I try to accomplish.

[seagoal]

Well that'll be what the t-shirt I wear says.

But I'd like to specifically work on my right-to-left glove-side slides and technique, staying low and tight on my glove side leg for down-low plays/shots, fine tuning my stance and weight distribution, and maintaining active hands in front of my body/vision.

[cwarnar]

6 hours ago, seagoal said:

This camp is Thursday-Saturday with 2 ice sessions per day, so I'm going to have to miss 2 days of work for this, but I have a ton of vacation saved up so it isn't that big of a deal. 

They ask for your goals and game plan, which is nice now that I am experienced and have a nuanced understanding of my style and my strengths/weaknesses.  It'll be awesome to hone in on specific aspects of my game and work on improvement.

The whole stop pucks vs preventing goals argument?

https://ingoalmag.com/news/do-you-like-to-stop-pucks-or-prevent-goals-top-sports-psychologists-answer/

[seagoal]

This goalie camp is this week.  I'm pretty excited.   Looks like there are 19 goalies signed up, roughly 10 of them are kids in local youth hockey programs.  We'll be split into smaller groups and sectioned off on the ice, I'm assuming at 4 stations. 

I'll have some reports back once it starts, for sure. 

Schedule is Thursday -  Saturday:

-Ice time at 9:30

-Dryland time at 10:45

-Catered lunch at noon

-Ice time at 1:00

-Dryland time at 2:00

[seagoal]

Goalie camp this morning!!

You guys I'm so excited.  It's also super weird waking up at 6am and packing water bottles and towels and hockey gear.  I came into my neighborhood coffee shop without my dog...we come here every morning together.

Everyone is asking me where he is and I'm saying "I'm going to hockey goalie summer camp!" like I'm 12 years old. This is probably what it feels like to be a real hockey player in the morning. I love it.

It's gonna be a good day. I'll have updates this evening.

[cwarnar]

6 hours ago, seagoal said:

Goalie camp this morning!!

You guys I'm so excited.  It's also super weird waking up at 6am and packing water bottles and towels and hockey gear.  I came into my neighborhood coffee shop without my dog...we come here every morning together.

Everyone is asking me where he is and I'm saying "I'm going to hockey goalie summer camp!" like I'm 12 years old. This is probably what it feels like to be a real hockey player in the morning. I love it.

It's gonna be a good day. I'll have updates this evening.

Don't forget to trash talk everyone on how sweet your set up is

[coopaloop1234]

10 minutes ago, cwarnar said:

Don't forget to trash talk everyone on how sweet your set up is

[seagoal]

Well, I'm finally not too tired to post my experience on day 1 at the camp.  I got some food and took a power nap and feeling much better.

We started out the day today with an ice time right away at 9:30.

The break down of the goalies in the camp was different than I thought it would be.  I gathered we had a couple of no-shows for whatever reason so that left us with 17 total I think.  We had only 3 adults and one was a buddy of mine so that was fun.  The other guy I had never met but he was super nice and great to have in the locker room.  He had solid black modern Warrior gear which looked awesome.  There were 2 older teenagers and I gather one, at least, is in the WHL.  He was clearly the stud of the whole group and was so technically efficient and sound all day.  It was great watchin him work.  The rest were all kids, I'd say roughly ages 8-14.  So that was the crew.  Lots of younger goalies, 2 junior teenagers, and 3 adult beer leaguers.  Oh, and I was the oldest goalie in the camp...more on that later. 

First ice time was no pucks and just all skating.  We were assigned on one of the 3 line in the middle and just did repetitive, back and forth skating drills:  C cuts both symmetrically and on both sides individually down the line, upright shuffles down the line on both sides, symmetrical butterfly drops and up skating backwards, pendulum slides down, and assymetrical butterflies on both sides.  These drills, for me, were particularly brutal and in retrospect if I could do today over I would not do the repetitive back and forths on the line.  I would do each drill once and best I could and sit out.  I think I overdid myself with the skating stuff the AM.  They are all awesome drills and obviously super important...there is a reason goalies do them.  Skating is the foundation of everything we do and without it, we are done.  Well these drills obviously focused on proper, efficient, powerful technique and I definitely learned a lot and addressed some things I have been wanting to improve, so that was good.  It was just the repetitive sets and the cardio that kinda wrecked me.  I'm 38 and although I play 3 times a week most weeks, that stuff is a whole other level of physically demanding.  I wish I had an opportunity to do it 15 years ago. 

Before lunch we did dry land stuff, mostly stretching and tension release stuff but we also did the tennis ball drop game: coach has 2 tennis balls, 1 in each hand and holding them in position to drop at shoulder level  You are in goalie stance and making eye contact with him and using your periphery vision.  Random drops from either hand with finger lift fake outs.  Catch it, you get back in line.  Drop it, you are done.  It was awesome because the adult goalie who I had just met made it to the final two and lost to a kid.  The kid won a jersey. 

Lunch break and then ice time again, this time with pucks.  

First we did some angle work and lane work with pucks as markers in an arc.  This was all about footwork and shuffles with great instructions on angles, depth, and squareness. 

This was all about calm, efficient, intentional deflections.  Points were made about how as goalies we spend way too much energy and use our bodies way too erractically and we need to focus on making saves with intention and smart deflections.  No lunging, flailing, extending.  Use your gear and body as a backboard, more or less.

Low stick deflections on both sides were rounds 1 and 2 and high blocker and high glove rounds 3 and 4.  I definitely caught myself making saves with my pads on the ice and acknowledged that I try that way too much instead of using my stick, especially on my blocker side which is my dominant leg. But I adjusted well and began to do the drill correctly after the first or second rep of that round.   Blocker was next and I did really well for this round.  I had a couple of shots sneak in from the target (we were instructed to shuffle in to position, extend our leg and blocker in anticipation to practice deflections) and had to readjust to make some ribcage, chicken wing saves which I did and got props for that. 

Same drill but glove side for round 4.  I lined up for this drill but had to bail out.  I got really overheated at this point and was getting really bad stomach cramps.  I retreated to the bench and chugged some water and took my mask and gloves off to cool down.  The coach came over and checked-in and I told him what was up and needed to make sure my blood sugar stayed stable.  He reassured me and told me to take my time, pace myself, and just get from this what I can.  I really appreciated that conversation.  

At this point one of the kids then skated over to the bench and he was sorta puking a bit and was crying.  I checked on him and he was out of water so I got someone to fill his bottle.  He was definitely not feeling good but after some water, he was back at it, like you'd expect a kid to be.  It was great. 

More of the same for dry land stuff after this skate and that was a wrap.  I undressed slowly and could not wait to get outside.  I was pretty tired and getting sore and really overheated and dehydrated.  Got some water refills and drove home. 

That was day 1.  Awesome camp so far and the coach was really, really great.  The camp is well structured and well sequenced.  I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for the next 2 days.  We don't get a heads up on what stuff we willl do but it will fall into the exact same format for each day.  My plan, if there is more AM skating, is to take it easy and not destroy myself so that I can better take advantage of the afternoon.  At this point in my life it doesn't serve a purpose to wreck myself with cardio and deplete my energy so long as I gain the actual skill being taught.  

Now after dinner I feel like my legs have been run over by trucks over and over again but the rest of my body feels fine. I am getting some cramping in my right toes but that's getting better as I drink tons of water.  I feel good about my decision to attend this camp, but at the same time, this is the most acutely aware of my age and my limitations as a type-1 diabetic that I have ever been in my life.  It's sort of a bitter pill to swallow, but it is what it is.  At least I'm trying, I guess.  I'm wondering to myself if private coaching would have been a better choice for my time and money so that I can more customize a program for myself and my body and abilities?  Who knows.  Perhaps later on .   For now, gotta keep going with this camp and just be better about pulling the plug when needed.  Peer pressure was definitely coming into play here which would not be the case with private coaching.  

Oh....so me and the 1 adult guy with all black gear were the only 2 with solid bases not white.  The coach asked me about my gear and my mask and he knows the guy who painted it.  That was pretty neat.  

The all black Warrior guy actually has a game tonight which is just insane to me.  You couldn't pay me enough to play a game tonight. Anyways. 

Cheers. 

[coopaloop1234]

Man, that's bringing back memories of my first and only camp a year after starting. 

I was still smoking then so the dry land stuff was just awful. I loved the skating even though it kicked my ass, as you just said, i still put a lot more effort into thst than the dry land. 

I'm glad it went well, I'm jealous. I really want to find a camp that doesn't require me to take off work for. But thet aren't any weekend camps anymore. 

[seagoal]

5 minutes ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Man, that's bringing back memories of my first and only camp a year after starting. 

I was still smoking then so the dry land stuff was just awful. I loved the skating even though it kicked my ass, as you just said, i still put a lot more effort into thst than the dry land. 

I'm glad it went well, I'm jealous. I really want to find a camp that doesn't require me to take off work for. But thet aren't any weekend camps anymore. 

Thanks Coop.  I'm really excited about tomorrow, now.  I got an amazing massage this evening and an epsom salt bath and I feel great right now.  Kinda rejuvenated, it's nice.  Also nice to know that the difficult day is behind me and now it's going to be more pucks.  

Off to bed.  Day 2 report tomorrow evening.