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Every goalie has their own style of play. What I recommend and say in my
column is what has made me a successful goalie. I recommend you watch different
goalies play and adapt what works best for you!
Good Luck!
April 2003
Dear Mr. Bill Daye,
My name is Andrew Harris. I am a Jr. Lacrosse player, in my second year
of Varsity competition for Kings Park, Long Island. I have been playing
lacrosse since 7th grade. Last year I was doing extremely well, mentally
especially, entering every game with 100% confidence. However, this
beginning of this year I have been worse. I don't blame it on my physical
aspects of the game, however, the mental ones. I agree completely that
the game is 85% mental and 15% physical. However, I have reached an
all time low of confidence and can not find a way past.
It seems I have gotten trapped in superstitions as well. I believe that
may have negatively affected my game as well, but i can not say for
sure. All I know is I do not have the confidence I had, and therefore,
I'm a not as an effective goalie my last year of playing. Do you have
any advice to get out of this "dark pit" where I am left without
any sense of competition?
Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate everything your doing for
goalies lacrosse the nation as well as GoalieNation.
Date: Apr 13, 2003
Name: Andrew Harris
Year / Grade: Junior
School: Kings Park, Long Island
State: New York
Years in Net: 5
Andrew, wow man I know exactly what you're talking about! I'm sure you
read the 85% mental, 15% physical
column I wrote last year where I used my junior year experience
against Princeton as an example. Superstitions bite us all in a--! It's
that mental part of the game you have to learn to overcome. Whether
you're wearing the same shoes, under amour shirt or socks as the last
time you had 20 saves has NOTHING to do with your performance the next
time around! Personally I noticed when I was not on top of my game it
was usually because I was not focused on the task at hand which is making
the save and being in the game. Having confidence in your game is huge
there's no doubt about it. Try to relax out there and remember you're
playing a game which your primary reason for playing it is because you
enjoy it. So if you're not enjoying it as it sounds like to me, take
a step back and refocus on having fun. Once you start making the save
and getting into the Zone you're going to realize how much fun it is
to play the position. At the end of the first MLL season and the beginning
of last, I was fortunate enough to be in this position, the game is
fun...enjoy it!
Hey I am a freshmen goalie in HS and have been playing since 7 gr. I
am starting on JV over a soph but I feel inconsistent. I will have awesome
games with these one - on - one saves and just really awesome plays....then
the next day a ball will go over my stickside shoulder ( that's only
happened once but you get the point). I used to get all fired up and
"pissed off" before games and now I'm trying more relaxed
approaches. I don't know which to go with. And my D isn't talking enough.
Thanks.
Date: Apr 14, 2003
Name: Thomas
Year / Grade: Freshman
School: CBHS in Memphis
State: Tennessee
Years in Net: 3
Thomas, I know exactly what you mean. You're in and out of the "Zone"
as we like to refer to it as. It took me a while to realize if you're
not having fun when you're out there then something is wrong. Getting
into the Zone on a consistent basis is tough; you really have to be
mentally focused. You need to block everything else out of your mind;
what you did that day, what you're doing after the game, etc. (You get
the point). Basically you have to focus on saving the ball; if you're
thinking about something else then you're not thinking about making
the save. Picture mentally yourself saving the high to high shot, or
the bounce shot. Where your hands, stick, feet, etc. should be while
you're making the save. It sounds funny but I'm not sure if you watched
the MLL semifinal game from 2 seasons ago when Boston played Baltimore.
I made a man up one on one save against Mark Millon on the doorstep.
I seriously pictured that scenario in my head prior to the game. He
was going to try and pull me off the pipe and then stick it offside
high...it works trust me.
I still listen to music to get me ready for the game but
the fired up head banging thing is not for us goalies, we need to be
under control at all time and not so jacked up that you just want to
crush someone because then you've forgotten about the most important
thing....making the save.
How do you boost your self-esteem and get your spirit up during a game
if your coach and some teammates are mentally tearing down? Also, how
do u prepare yourself for a game the next day if it was your fault you
lost the previous one and you're still feeling upset over it?
Date: Apr 26, 2003
Name: Brendan
Grade: soph. (high school)
School: Don Bosco Prep.
Years in Net: 6
Brendan - It's tough to keep your spirit up when others are blaming
you and "tearing it down" as you say. You need to be the leader
of the group and emphasize that you're all a team and you're stronger
together rather than apart. Meaning it's not one person's fault for
losing/winning a game. If all of you play together and do the things
you're taught to do then you are truly a team. Once it breaks down and
you have people pointing fingers at each other, it's hard to achieve
success.
As for regrouping after a tough game, one of the hardest
things is to forget and move on, trust me. But as you mature and develop
as a goalie you will learn that this is very important in order to be
successful. Figure out what you did wrong in the lost and how you can
improve and then practice and move on.
If you are in a one on one situation should you step out of the pipes
and meet the man to decrease his angles or should you do something else?
Date: Apr 29, 2003
Name: bob everett
Year / Grade: freshmen hs
School: enloe
Years in Net: 3 months
Bob, great question I get asked this so much. A lot of coaches teach
to step out and meet stick on stick if you can. In some cases that's
your only chance BUT I very rarely did this unless it was absolutely
necessary. I believe you should hang in your goal and make the shooter
beat you. Learn and become comfortable baiting in this situation. Depending
on the angle the shooter is coming at you; take away a certain part
of the goal. Whether it's crouching to try and get him to shoot high
or vice versa, or even favoring your off stick side so the shooter sees
a lot of net stick side and then explode when he begins to shoot. Remember
in a one on one situation, the offensive player should
score 95% of the time. So if you can get him to think a little more
about where he wants to shoot, he may miss the goal, a defensemen may
get back in the hole or you may make the save.
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