How Goalies Can Defy Gravity and Drop into the Butterfly Faster.
I get great questions about off-ice training for goalies all the time - hockey goalies really think about the demands of their position and are always looking for ways to improve. This goalie was looking for a way to drop into his butterfly faster.
It is a great question and one that I had to think about a little bit before answering. Here is what I came up with. You cannot drop into your butterfly faster; you can only react faster. Let me explain.
Gravity dictates the speed at which an object accelerates toward earth, it is a constant, we cannot change it. Any free body will accelerate toward the ground at the same rate. A goalie is a free body since your skates are not attached to the ice, it is impossible for you to ‘pull' yourself down into the butterfly position faster; doing so would be analogous to pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
So the only way a goalie can get into their butterfly position before the puck squeaks through the five hole is to be a little better at anticipating and reacting. I have two simple solutions – here they are.
- Practice reaction to visual stimuli by strapping on your goalie pads in the basement and bribing your mom, wife or little brother to help you out. You will stand in your ready stance and they will stand approximately 10-20 feet in front of you. They will hold up either one finger (not the middle finger) or two fingers as a visual stimulus. If they hold up one finger you will quickly drop down into your butterfly and then pop back up to your ready position before your partner delivers the next stimulus.
If your partner holds up two fingers you simply remain in your ready position until the next ‘one finger' stimulus is delivered. Make sure your partner knows that they do not have to alternate between one and two, but they should try to randomly deliver the stimuli.
If you want to make it more challenging you can bump up the options where your partner can hold up any combination of fingers and if the total is an odd number you drop and if it is an even number you hold your ready position.
Start with 10-20 second bursts so you can keep your focus and intensity, then build up to 20-30 seconds. Goalies should also try this drill when they are fatigued, so it could be a nice active recovery drill between anaerobic intervals.
- Get a look at lots of shooters and lots of shots so you get better at recognizing fakes and reacting to unexpected shots. I remember the first goalie I ever trained would get upset when I would throw a ball behind him on a read and react drill – he thought I was being sneaky and I was, but let's face it, when the puck is fired right at chest level exactly where you expect it, that is a pretty easy save. When the puck deflects down at the last second, that takes some exceptional reactivity.
Lots of your teammates probably shoot pucks anyway, so why not pair up with them to take some shots, go through some sets where they practice a particular shot so they can work on their technique, but then ask them to mix it up and try to fake you out with their shot. The more shots you can face from different shooters the better. Another great option for facing shooters is volunteering to be a goalie at a skills camp. You will see more rubber in five days than you typically see in five seasons!
Hope you enjoy the read and react drill, then get in front of lots of shots to defy gravity (and shooters) as you drop into your butterfly.
Maria Mountain, MSc is the owner of Revolution Conditioning in Ontario, Canada and the creator of www.hockeytrainingpro.com. Her hockey training systems help players from the amateur ranks to the NHL play better hockey while reducing their risk of injury. Learn more about her downloadable training programs specifically for goalies at www.ultimategoalietraining.com
