 "The stand up myth" continues...
<<<
part one
Once an individual has finished
growing physically, is used to his new size
and strength, and, most importantly, has been
encouraged to concentrate on what really is
important (STOPPING THE PUCK, NOT HOW HE DOES
IT), he is ready to grow mentally as a goaltender,
and prepare for the corresponding challenges
he will face at the next level.
I suggest that Standing Up seems
to be less effective that going down, or, in
other words, most goalies stop more pucks by
going down than by standing up. This seems
to be proven by the continued success of butterfly
style goaltending in the NHL, which has been
the prevailing system used as long as I can
remember. With the exception of the goalies
mentioned earlier, and, of course, Bernie Parent
and his student, Pelle Lindbergh, I am hard
pressed to remember many more goaltenders that
have been able to single handedly win games
playing a disciplined, “stay on your
feet” style. In fact, if you watch McLean,
Vernon, or Richter, they do their fair share
of falling down and scrambling! This leads
to the heart of the matter. What does Standing
Up really mean? Is it one of those things that
makes sense in theory, but not in practice?
If standing up is the way to success, why have
almost all the great goalies in the last 40
years relied on dropping down and using their
limbs on most saves? Could it be that the preaching
of the stand up style we have been bombarded
with since the early 1980’s is a false
doctrine?
Ultimately, confusion lies with
the perception that standing up is a black & white
issue. If you are a young person, and an adult
is telling you to stand up on most shots, you
are left with the impression that you must
stay upright, on your feet, in order to play
the position properly. But a paradox exists
in the goalie’s head that
- it’s harder
to reach shots low to the corners on your
feet
- if stopping the puck
is the goalie’s
job, standing up seams like a harder and
less effective method of getting many shots.
Since 70% plus of shots a goalie
faces are low (on the ice to a foot 1/2 off
the ice), a ‘stay on your feet’ system
of play is definitely less effective than a ‘wider
stance, cover low ice’ system. This is
especially the case in minor hockey, where
there are so many defensive breakdowns and
uneven attacks it is impossible to play like
Kirk McLean.
Standing Up is a system of play
that is desirable at the highest level of hockey
in the world, played by older, experienced goalies, on teams that keep high percentage
scoring opportunities and uneven attacks to an absolute minimum. Most interesting
is that what the professionals mean by standing up is not what we all think it
means. Standing Up in upper level hockey is a “code” word for another
thing all together.
One thing that cannot be taught
is experience. As a goalie we grow into the
understanding that Stand Up means Patience.
The patience to
wait until a shot is on its way
before we make the decision of what to do. The understanding that falling down
early gives shooters new options that were not there a split second earlier.
There are times when a goalie stays on his feet to block shots,
- bad angles shots
- long shots that have
no chance of deflection
- waiting for a player
to pass on a 2 on 1, rather than getting
anxious and falling
down just as he passes, etc...
But what is really meant by standing
up is staying on your feet at the right times
and not going down at the first sign of a shot,
when you will have plenty of time to react if
you hold your ground a split second longer. This
is what the pros mean, and what the “code” word
is. For the most part, it is a learned process
that one goes through, not a teachable technique
that can be mastered like a skate save.
So where
has this ‘standing up’ is superior
to going down theory come from? Why do we all
think a flopper/scrambler is less desirable
than a disciplined, ‘on
your feet’ goalie? Why does the myth continue to be pushed and accepted
when the evidence is overwhelmingly in the “less desirable” style's
favor? Because the people perpetuating the 'Stand Up' style myth are professional
goalies, ex-professional goalies, media commentators repeating what the pros
are saying, and minor hockey parents, coaches, and goalie school instructors
repeating what they heard or read in the media. Because the Professional player
is so revered, automatic acceptance is given to what they say, even when we
can see with our own two eyes, and feel in our gut, that something does not
quite
make sense.
Allow goaltenders to get the most
out of their physical and mental attributes,
don’t enforce a system that they can’t understand and
will ultimately lessen their success. |
