Eye. Thumb. Ball. He told me.
The young goalie had read a book on the internet about top hand position for the lacrosse goalie. "Eye. Thumb. Ball. Eye. Thumb. Ball." he repeated.
The stick was in front of his face and about a third of the goalie stick was covering his face. Not good when we're trying to cover as much surface area as we can.
While I appreciate the eye, thumb, ball rule, I'd like to add to it just a little bit. The purpose of this eye, thumb, ball idea was to help young goalies get their hands up. However, what I have seen over the years is that this hand position is a bit high for most goalies and it brings the stick too much in front of the face of the goalie.
I would like to modify the eye, thumb, ball rule to shoulder, hand, ball. This cue reminds the goalie to keep the hand as high as the shoulder first, which is what most goalies need. Without coaching most lacrosse goalies hold their hands way too low and in towards their chest. This is not optimal as the head of the stick is covering the body. We want to maximize the coverage of the surface area of the goal by moving the hand out towards the stick side which...
... we do by moving the hand in front of the shoulder. I find that this is a very simple cue that all goalies understand. Keep the hand as high as the shoulder and then keep the hand in front of the shoulder. "High and in front." is the short way to say it.
By keeping the shoulder high and in front of the shoulder I find that the goalie has the correct height of the hand position and the proper distance to the outside so that the stick isn't covering the face or shoulder.
The one exception I find is with very tall goalies. For tall goalies they can lower their top hand position if, by having the hand shoulder high, the top of the stick extends above the cross bar. This is wasted coverage, and although the stick is covering the body a bit by moving the hand down, they are now able to shorten the distance to low shots and are able to make more saves.
For short goalies, they should not try and raise their hands higher than their shoulder to try and cover the upper portion of the net because they are compromising their stance too much. Young goalies, especially ones who are growing, should not compromise stance to cover the upper portion of the cage. Be patient, you will grow young Jedi. And when you grow you will finally have the height to go along with the great movement to the ball that you have honed over the last many years.
So remember, "Shoulder high and in front of the shoulder" will give you a great base to move to the ball effectively.
Jonathan Edwards is "The Goalie Guru" to thousands of lacrosse goalies, parents and coaches. His website http://www.lacrossegoalietips.com/ is read in over twenty-two countries and you can subscribe to his free lacrosse goalie newsletter there. So for the latest tips and tricks to be the best lacrosse goalie you can be go to http://www.lacrossegoalietips.com/
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