Top Hand Position Can Make All The Difference for the Lacrosse Goalie

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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Are You a Recruit-Worthy Lacrosse Goalie?

For many lacrosse goalies, the idea of being recruited and playing at a top Division 1 school is a dream that starts at a pretty young age. In my opinion, this is normal and shouldn't be discouraged. Great big dreams start as little dreams. You never know where they're going to take you!

When I was in junior high school the top lacrosse teams in the country were Syracuse and Cornell. These were the showcase college teams that everyone was trying to beat. Naturally they got the most press and the most t.v. coverage. So it's natural that I wanted to go there too.

To start, it was just a dream. But that dream helped feed my work ethic, and it was something that I could focus on. "Someday, I'm going to play for Cornell!"

Now along the way I realized that my SAT score probably wasn't going to get me into Cornell. And then I realized that I wasn't really interested in living in Syracuse, New York. But I still wanted to play in college, and I still wanted to be recruited to play at a big time lacrosse school.

Here are four tips to see if you're on your way to becoming a recruitable lacrosse goalie:

Step 1) Make sure you're the best on your team!

This may seem a little obvious. But the point is, you want to set the first stepping stone along the way to reaching your big goal. And that is to be the best on your team. Start here. It's important to start small on the road to the big time.

Step 2) Avoid "Cream of the Crap" Syndrome. AKA, "Top of the Bottom of the Barrell" Syndrome.

Once you have established yourself as the top player on your team, it's time to go on to be the best in your league. Then the best in your state. Then the best in your region, country, and so on.

I see a lot of athletes who think they are fantastic because they are the starter on their team. But they never go out and test the waters and see just how good they really are. That's something I did quite early when I started to play lacrosse. I played in summer leagues, and with college age players to test myself and to see just how good I really was.

My idea was that, if I was the best goalie on the field in enough games that eventually I'd be one of the best goalies around. And if I were one of the best goalies around, I would have to be good enough some day to be recuited, and I was.

Step 3) Know What Schools Your Grades Are Going To Allow You To Go To

Your favorite colors might be Black and Orange. Your dad may be from New Jersey. You may have a tiger as a pet. But if your SAT is 1500 you're probably NOT going to Princeton.

Being recruited and ultimately going to University or College depends on a lot of factors but the number one dream-stealer I see is a bad SAT score.

A bad SAT score, or bad grades in general, may derail your dream completely, or it will just force you to redirect your efforts. So you're not Ivy League material. Not a problem. There are a ton of other schools on the planet for you to go to. Don't sweat it, reload, aim, fire again.

Step 4) Make sure the school you want to go to even needs a goalie!

When I was being recruited there was one school who was after me heavily but they already at 6 goalies at the school! Now I was flattered, but I was a little worried that I was going to be on the bench for three years before I could see the field. Another school that I wanted to go to had six goalies and they didn't really want me.

These situations can change your school plans too. So be flexible. The sport of lacrosse right now is exploding. But the number of Division 1,2, and 3 schools isn't really growing with it. That means less spots for more kids.

Bottom line. Have a dream. Go with it. Let it drive you to work harder and harder than the other lacrosse goalies on the field.

But be flexible. While your dream may be one school, the world may not align so perfectly that it's going to happen for you.

OR, you may find that something better arises for you that you never even expected.

Keep your lacrosse recruiting dream alive by being flexible, always working, and being really good!

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/

View the original article here