Throwouts are an important skill all goalies must possess if they wish to compete intensely.
It used to be critical, back when defenders are allowed to pass back to their own goalies for a throwout to initiate an attack.
New ruling changed all that, so we tend to throw out less, as compared to the old days.
Which is good actually. It means if you're precise & accurate in your throwouts, it will make you a better & efficient goalie.
You can be the 6th player in your team who can contribute to attack.
Any coach would like to have that extra weapon or option, if they can use an offensive goalie if it suits them.
Have you ever scored assist points as a goalie? Well, I have :) Many times over actually, in league games.
So here's what you should know about throwouts.
There are generally 3 types of throwouts which you can utilize in your skills toolbox.
1) Overhead Throw
2) Grounder Throw
3) Fake Throw-Pass
4) My Secret Sauce Throw-outs
Overhead Throw
Probably the most common method of throw-outs made by most goalies.
As the name suggest, you throw the ball like a baseball pitcher, with your arms swinging over your head,
and bounce the ball forward.
It should be most effective at getting the ball away from your crease and probably start an offensive attack.
But keep in mind the bouncing ball makes it hard for your teammates to control.
It still is the safest type of throw that won't go too wrong for your team.
Grounder Throw
The whole point to a grounder throw is if you can throw out a grounder missile that is not easy to intercept,
and makes it much easier for your forwards to receive it and initiate an attack fast.
It is most satisfying when you make a good throw, but unfortunately it's one of the easiest throw outs to cut off and intercept by opponents.
When I excel in this type of throws, and when I do too many of this, opponents tend to anticipate and will try to cut you off.
It will be your worst nightmare if it gets intercepted within a few metres from your post.
So be careful not to be known as a grounder throw only goalie.
For newbies, practise hard on this during training and not during league games.
I advise you to do a 30 mins throw outs training for 2-3 months before trying out in games.
How I train myself is I put bags or small goal posts on at least the 2 far corners of the rink court.
Standing at your goalpost, I would throw grounder missiles to the right corner, centre (goalpost opposite you), and left corners.
Placing bags or small posts, allows you to aim and throw towards a fixed point.
If you're inaccurate, then learn to adjust your throwing arms, your body angle, your knees.
Your swing will be the most important.
The real secret to throwing powerful missiles lies in your shoulders and wrist. Surprised?
Most people will try to throw hard on their arms, or swing harder..
Wrong my friends..
The key is the arc of your swing, combined with your wrist.
If the far corner is too far for you, try doing this in half court.
This way you reduce distance and allows you to focus on your aim first before adding power.
IF you have a goalie partner, try throwing to each other and constantly move positions and distance to vary your throwing skills.
When perfected, I usually have a blast when I throw the balls between player's feet or the small area between their stick and feet.
Fake Throw-Pass
Make it a point to run towards the furthest goal crease line everytime you want to throw out.
This will make all players to run away from you.
Vary your throwing styles with fake throwouts, to make it difficult to read the direction of your throws.
Be careful not to throw 70-80% of your throws to the same direction.
This makes it easy to read your thoughts.
What to do.
Simply act like you're gonna throw in one direction. (for example to your right)
Swing your arms, overhead, fully and with force. Make everyone believe you are going to throw in this direction.
Then immediately switch direction and throw the ball to another direction or pass the ball back to your defender.
I personally don't like this throw, but it's good to vary your throwouts with this to make you look unpredictable.
Or it can be useful if you have a reliable defender to pass to or when there are no good options to pass forward in attack.
I use this method everytime I want to pass to my defending player.
Because I will make most players back away, and give some space for my teammate to play.
My Secret Sauce Throw-outs
My favourite throw-outs. Think I invented this back in year 2000.
It's actually a combination of overhead and grounder throws.
This gives birth to my own sideway arms throw.
The rule book says the first bounce must be inside your own half.
So that's what I did.
I aim to bounce the ball within a few feet from the centre line.
With a sidearms throw, I spin the ball in ultra fast rotation.
This makes the the ball bounce in short heights.
It is designed to reach my forwards with very low, controllable bounce.
Done well, it will stop bouncing in 2-3 bounces, then end in grounder balls for forwards to receive.
I remember once spinning the ball so well, the ball overshot my player a little, then spun backwards to reach his blade nicely.
My teammate was so impressed.. He thought I did it on purpose.
Hee.. I didn't..
Anyway, hope this helps you in your game, goalies.
Be Inspired!
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Goalie Training Tips in Video (Youtube)
I was just asked by a young goalie from New Zealand, about any key beginners tips I can give or any websites or youtube videos to help him get started.
So it may be a good idea to ask everyone here if there's any good websites or videos that you think is good for new goaltenders.
DO suggest to me if you have anything good.
Here's a video that I recommend for beginner floorball goalkeepers.
Be Inspired!
So it may be a good idea to ask everyone here if there's any good websites or videos that you think is good for new goaltenders.
DO suggest to me if you have anything good.
Here's a video that I recommend for beginner floorball goalkeepers.
Be Inspired!
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Hands Posture - UP, MIDDLE or DOWN?
During games or training, your coach will tell you to put your hands up and defend a shot.
*Goalie coaches will tell you to put your hands up when moving and sliding to:
1) keep your body as big as possible
2) Always ready to take a shot
3) Stay square to the ball
* You must train yourself to move using only your legs while keeping your hands and body upwards to do the 3 points mentioned above.
All elite goalies are able to do this.
So that's the skill level you must achieve if you want to excel.
Along the way on your goalkeeping journey, you will need to ask yourself -
Should I put my hands up high?
OR in the middle position?
OR low, near my knees?
Many a times, we look to others or study our goalie heroes and copy their style.
OR do you NOT think, and just put it up somehow..
Well, I think the answer lies in - Yourself.
You should try all sorts of hand position to find out for yourself which position works best for you.
Know that everyone's DNA is different.
What suits me, may not suit you.
It's the same reason why some players are better at slap shot, while others score better with their wrist shot.
So before you decide, it may be worth your while to try out different styles to see which one perform better, and which ones makes your hands move faster in certain or game situations.
Experiment is key.
I've seen Swedish goalies playing with one hand up, and one hand down.
Looks weird, but if that's what make them a good goalie, so be it.
It's effectiveness that counts.
I have some experience training with Swedish elite goalies before, and I was once taught to place my hands down on my knees.
The reasoning was that it's easier and more natural to raise your hands than to cut down from a high position.
That's how my goalie coach plays, and how his disciple plays.
And they are playing in Swedish Elite division, so who am I to argue that right?
Wrong.
I learned that what works for them, didn't work for me.
Their insistence set me back 1-2 years to unlearn what they taught me..
My personal opinion is that keeping your hands low will work only if it suits you very well.
And also keeping your hands low, may not let you play at the very top of the elite game.
Because improvements to stick technology nowadays has made shots so fast and furious,
that keeping your hands down may no longer be enough to stop a fast and sudden shot.
I personally plays with a middle hand position.
For me it's the arm kinetics that's more important and keeping it in middle position optimizes that.
It also feels most natural, so that's my preference.
When I coach, I teach all 3 basic hand positions to let trainees know what it all feels like.
The advantages and disadvantages to each position style.
Then they are free to choose their own personal style.
They can go for whichever style feels most effective for them.
The worst thing I can do is impose my style or habits onto them.
Hope this helps.
Enjoy Goalkeeping :)
*Goalie coaches will tell you to put your hands up when moving and sliding to:
1) keep your body as big as possible
2) Always ready to take a shot
3) Stay square to the ball
* You must train yourself to move using only your legs while keeping your hands and body upwards to do the 3 points mentioned above.
All elite goalies are able to do this.
So that's the skill level you must achieve if you want to excel.
Along the way on your goalkeeping journey, you will need to ask yourself -
Should I put my hands up high?
OR in the middle position?
OR low, near my knees?
Many a times, we look to others or study our goalie heroes and copy their style.
OR do you NOT think, and just put it up somehow..
Well, I think the answer lies in - Yourself.
You should try all sorts of hand position to find out for yourself which position works best for you.
Know that everyone's DNA is different.
What suits me, may not suit you.
It's the same reason why some players are better at slap shot, while others score better with their wrist shot.
So before you decide, it may be worth your while to try out different styles to see which one perform better, and which ones makes your hands move faster in certain or game situations.
Experiment is key.
I've seen Swedish goalies playing with one hand up, and one hand down.
Looks weird, but if that's what make them a good goalie, so be it.
It's effectiveness that counts.
I have some experience training with Swedish elite goalies before, and I was once taught to place my hands down on my knees.
The reasoning was that it's easier and more natural to raise your hands than to cut down from a high position.
That's how my goalie coach plays, and how his disciple plays.
And they are playing in Swedish Elite division, so who am I to argue that right?
Wrong.
I learned that what works for them, didn't work for me.
Their insistence set me back 1-2 years to unlearn what they taught me..
My personal opinion is that keeping your hands low will work only if it suits you very well.
And also keeping your hands low, may not let you play at the very top of the elite game.
Because improvements to stick technology nowadays has made shots so fast and furious,
that keeping your hands down may no longer be enough to stop a fast and sudden shot.
I personally plays with a middle hand position.
For me it's the arm kinetics that's more important and keeping it in middle position optimizes that.
It also feels most natural, so that's my preference.
When I coach, I teach all 3 basic hand positions to let trainees know what it all feels like.
The advantages and disadvantages to each position style.
Then they are free to choose their own personal style.
They can go for whichever style feels most effective for them.
The worst thing I can do is impose my style or habits onto them.
Hope this helps.
Enjoy Goalkeeping :)
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Floorball Goalie Tips - Angles
I'm gonna post a series of goaltending tips for floorball goalkeepers, since I think infos like these are what most goalies are looking for.
There are many skills a goalie must learn in order to better themselves and improve their game.
Imagine each skill set, like ball throwouts, kick save, diving save, penalty shot saving etc, as a tool that you keep in your personal toolbox.
Each time you make a save, it is a skill you utilize from your skills "toolbox".
The more "tools" you have, the more skillful you are.
Kapeesh? (Understand?)
These are the tools or skills, that I hope to empower many goalies out there, who may not have a trained coach to help them improve their game further.
Now, I will not talk much about equipments and basic stance or movements since these are mostly covered by many coaches or Youtube videos on the same subject.
What we need are information on how good goalies train themselves or think, in order to perform better.
One for the most important skill that you must possess, is the ability to Cover Angles.
This is basic info. Your coach will probably tell you this when you're learning the ropes.
And you probably knew how it works, basically.
The question is how do you train on it? How can you be better than the next goalie opposite you?
Since almost everyone knew the same thing about angles.
Usually you would have to imagine a line drawn between the 2 posts, towards the ball carrier.
Then position yourself as such, to cover the shooting angle as much as possible.
This is theory.
I suggest you can start to understand angles better, by tying 2 ropes onto a player's stick blade. Then tie the other end to both posts. 1 on the left. 1 on the right post.
Have your teammate run the tied stick in a semi circle direction.
Now from your position, you will see the ropes forming the exact angle lines, from the goal posts to the ball.
Using the ropes as guidelines, you will understand angles better and it's easier to learn how to position yourself in a way that will cover the net as much as possible.
(Do remember this is still theory. Practically speaking, during games, you're not moving to optimum angles all the time)
One common mistake during games, is that we base our angle covering on the player's body.
Now you must use the Ball as the point of reference and cover your angles accordingly.
That's why some smart players tend to use body fakes or pull the ball far away from their centre of gravity before they release the shot.
So just take note, and be aware to catch yourself naturally moving towards following player's position.
Adjust yourself accordingly.
One thing you can do is reset your angles positioning whenever your team attacks.
So when that happens, stand up, go back to the goal post, establish centre point.
Touch your left and right post. Re-focus your attention.
If you have time. Stretch. And Focus.
Whenever the opposing team attacks, it's a fresh start.
You start from ground zero again. Everytime.
Forget about the crowd. Forget about the score. Forget about how wonderful your team is attacking.
Your coach and forwards are the ones to worry about attacks.
Focus on the next attack on your posts and establish the positions of your opponents.
Experienced goalies can focus on defence to guide the defensemen (defenders).
There are many more things you can do to improve your angle covering.
More on those later.
Meanwhile, use the above mentioned tips to quickly improve your game results.
Hope this helps.
Have Fun Playing Goalie :)
There are many skills a goalie must learn in order to better themselves and improve their game.
Imagine each skill set, like ball throwouts, kick save, diving save, penalty shot saving etc, as a tool that you keep in your personal toolbox.
Each time you make a save, it is a skill you utilize from your skills "toolbox".
The more "tools" you have, the more skillful you are.
Kapeesh? (Understand?)
These are the tools or skills, that I hope to empower many goalies out there, who may not have a trained coach to help them improve their game further.
Now, I will not talk much about equipments and basic stance or movements since these are mostly covered by many coaches or Youtube videos on the same subject.
What we need are information on how good goalies train themselves or think, in order to perform better.
One for the most important skill that you must possess, is the ability to Cover Angles.
This is basic info. Your coach will probably tell you this when you're learning the ropes.
And you probably knew how it works, basically.
The question is how do you train on it? How can you be better than the next goalie opposite you?
Since almost everyone knew the same thing about angles.
Usually you would have to imagine a line drawn between the 2 posts, towards the ball carrier.
Then position yourself as such, to cover the shooting angle as much as possible.
This is theory.
I suggest you can start to understand angles better, by tying 2 ropes onto a player's stick blade. Then tie the other end to both posts. 1 on the left. 1 on the right post.
Have your teammate run the tied stick in a semi circle direction.
Now from your position, you will see the ropes forming the exact angle lines, from the goal posts to the ball.
Using the ropes as guidelines, you will understand angles better and it's easier to learn how to position yourself in a way that will cover the net as much as possible.
(Do remember this is still theory. Practically speaking, during games, you're not moving to optimum angles all the time)
One common mistake during games, is that we base our angle covering on the player's body.
Now you must use the Ball as the point of reference and cover your angles accordingly.
That's why some smart players tend to use body fakes or pull the ball far away from their centre of gravity before they release the shot.
So just take note, and be aware to catch yourself naturally moving towards following player's position.
Adjust yourself accordingly.
One thing you can do is reset your angles positioning whenever your team attacks.
So when that happens, stand up, go back to the goal post, establish centre point.
Touch your left and right post. Re-focus your attention.
If you have time. Stretch. And Focus.
Whenever the opposing team attacks, it's a fresh start.
You start from ground zero again. Everytime.
Forget about the crowd. Forget about the score. Forget about how wonderful your team is attacking.
Your coach and forwards are the ones to worry about attacks.
Focus on the next attack on your posts and establish the positions of your opponents.
Experienced goalies can focus on defence to guide the defensemen (defenders).
There are many more things you can do to improve your angle covering.
More on those later.
Meanwhile, use the above mentioned tips to quickly improve your game results.
Hope this helps.
Have Fun Playing Goalie :)
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
I'm Back :)
I just googled Floorball Goalkeeping tips, and to my surprise I see my own blog amongst the list..
I had forgotten about this blog and just wrote what I felt back then..
I no longer play competitive Floorball but I have some experience coaching goalies, so we'll see if my knowledge is still useful or not :)
Should anyone have a question, feel free to ask it thru this blog.
OR email to: martinho33@gmail.com
I may take a while to answer any emails as I'm busy and have a business to run.
Thanks for reading at this once-neglected blog.
Enjoy goaltending :)
I had forgotten about this blog and just wrote what I felt back then..
I no longer play competitive Floorball but I have some experience coaching goalies, so we'll see if my knowledge is still useful or not :)
Should anyone have a question, feel free to ask it thru this blog.
OR email to: martinho33@gmail.com
I may take a while to answer any emails as I'm busy and have a business to run.
Thanks for reading at this once-neglected blog.
Enjoy goaltending :)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Floorball Stars
Here's a preview of some elite players in the world.
They are an inspiration to floorball players anywhere in the world.
enjoy.
They are an inspiration to floorball players anywhere in the world.
enjoy.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Back-Up Goalies
Has anyone paid attention to the backup goalie other than the pre-game warm-up?
More often than not, I’ll say never.
Back Up goalies are usually the most ignored player on the court during games. Honestly, I sometimes forget to talk to them when I’m focused on my game. It should not be this case.
All Back Up goalies listen up. You still have an important role to play here. You should be vocal & be involved in the game. 1st, You can help your teammates prepare their game by psyching them up.
Work with your goalkeeping partner to develop a routine to encourage & pump each other up.
Scout the opposition’s goalie and tell your teammates his/her weakness.
Learn to improve yourself by studying the game and both goalies on either end. Never stay on the bench and enjoy watching the action go past like a spectator. I hate it when people do that. Go join the stands if that’s what you do.
Even when you’re not scheduled to play, take the pre-game warm-up seriously. You never know when you’ll be needed to enter the game. When that happens, a well prepared goalie will fare better than one who’s not ready. Remember this, a backup not playing well will only seal his/her fate as one (unless injury hits the first choice).
A tip for coaches here, you can task your backups to help you with statistics or intelligence gathering on opponents. Develop yourself to be a better coach by making use of stats info.
I know its tiring & unfair for back-ups to be spending so much energy on a game that you’re not likely to play. But without this attitude to humble yourself and learn from the game, you’ll deepen your learning curve and take a longer time to achieve your target.
More often than not, I’ll say never.
Back Up goalies are usually the most ignored player on the court during games. Honestly, I sometimes forget to talk to them when I’m focused on my game. It should not be this case.
All Back Up goalies listen up. You still have an important role to play here. You should be vocal & be involved in the game. 1st, You can help your teammates prepare their game by psyching them up.
Work with your goalkeeping partner to develop a routine to encourage & pump each other up.
Scout the opposition’s goalie and tell your teammates his/her weakness.
Learn to improve yourself by studying the game and both goalies on either end. Never stay on the bench and enjoy watching the action go past like a spectator. I hate it when people do that. Go join the stands if that’s what you do.
Even when you’re not scheduled to play, take the pre-game warm-up seriously. You never know when you’ll be needed to enter the game. When that happens, a well prepared goalie will fare better than one who’s not ready. Remember this, a backup not playing well will only seal his/her fate as one (unless injury hits the first choice).
A tip for coaches here, you can task your backups to help you with statistics or intelligence gathering on opponents. Develop yourself to be a better coach by making use of stats info.
I know its tiring & unfair for back-ups to be spending so much energy on a game that you’re not likely to play. But without this attitude to humble yourself and learn from the game, you’ll deepen your learning curve and take a longer time to achieve your target.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Sports Psychology
Sports Psychology is, in my mind, an important aspect of an athlete's career. Even more so in the case of a goaltender. The pressures we face can lead to anxieties or nervousness that will invariably affect our game. Sometimes I'm shocked to learn how little most people know of this subject. Not to mention the skill to apply these aspects to improve their performance on and off court.
Here's an article I've found to be useful in explaining what Sports Psychology can do to help you:
Athletes often ask me this question: “How do I know when a poor performance or error is a physical or a mental problem?” From my experience, here are a few hints that it may be a mental breakdown:
1. You perform much better in practice than during competition
2. You have a tough time performing well when others are watching you
3. You maintain many doubts about your sport before or during games
4. You feel anxious or scared when you perform in competition
5. You are not sure why you play your sport or what motivates you
6. You only participate in sports to feel better about yourself as a person
7. You lose focus or have mental lapses during critical times of the game
8. You can’t perform the way you did pre-injury, but are physically 100%
9. Everything is fine, but you just want to improve your mental attitude
Sports psychology sometimes get a bad reputation because of the association of psychology with pathology. That is why I prefer to call what I do Mental Game Coaching or Mental Training, which athletes understand. Mental game coaching is for athletes who want to improve upon their current performance and take their games to the next level with the help of a mental coach like myself.
But most athletes, unfortunately, seek out my services because of an particular performance barrier or decrease in performance. As a mental game coach, I often become the last resort after athletes have tried other means to get beyond performance slumps. I wish it wasn’t this way, but athletes wait until some needs to be “fixed” and they have exhausted all other resources before they commit to mental game coaching.
How can sport psychology help you perform better? Here is the most obvious list:
1. Improve focus and deal with distractions.
2. Grow confidence in athletes who have many doubts.
3. Develop coping skills to deal with setbacks and errors.
4. Find the right zone of intensity for your sport.
5. Help teams develop communication skills and cohesion.
6. To instill a healthy belief system and weed out irrational thoughts.
7. Improve and balance motivation for optimal performance.
8. Get back into competition after an injury is healed fully.
9. To develop game-specific strategies and game plans.
10. To identify and enter the “zone” more often.
Sport psychology may not be for every single athlete. Not everyone involved in sport wants to “improve performance.” Sport psychology is probably not for recreation athletes who just like the social component of sport. Most of my students are committed to excellence and seeing how far they can go. They love competition and testing themselves against the best in their sport. They want every possible advantage they can learn including the mental edge over the competition.
Dr. Patrick J. Cohn is a leading mental game coach who consults with Tour Pros and amateurs. He is the author of Going Low, Peak Performance Golf, The Mental Game of Golf and The Mental Art of Putting. For more information: http://www.peaksports.com
Here's an article I've found to be useful in explaining what Sports Psychology can do to help you:
Athletes often ask me this question: “How do I know when a poor performance or error is a physical or a mental problem?” From my experience, here are a few hints that it may be a mental breakdown:
1. You perform much better in practice than during competition
2. You have a tough time performing well when others are watching you
3. You maintain many doubts about your sport before or during games
4. You feel anxious or scared when you perform in competition
5. You are not sure why you play your sport or what motivates you
6. You only participate in sports to feel better about yourself as a person
7. You lose focus or have mental lapses during critical times of the game
8. You can’t perform the way you did pre-injury, but are physically 100%
9. Everything is fine, but you just want to improve your mental attitude
Sports psychology sometimes get a bad reputation because of the association of psychology with pathology. That is why I prefer to call what I do Mental Game Coaching or Mental Training, which athletes understand. Mental game coaching is for athletes who want to improve upon their current performance and take their games to the next level with the help of a mental coach like myself.
But most athletes, unfortunately, seek out my services because of an particular performance barrier or decrease in performance. As a mental game coach, I often become the last resort after athletes have tried other means to get beyond performance slumps. I wish it wasn’t this way, but athletes wait until some needs to be “fixed” and they have exhausted all other resources before they commit to mental game coaching.
How can sport psychology help you perform better? Here is the most obvious list:
1. Improve focus and deal with distractions.
2. Grow confidence in athletes who have many doubts.
3. Develop coping skills to deal with setbacks and errors.
4. Find the right zone of intensity for your sport.
5. Help teams develop communication skills and cohesion.
6. To instill a healthy belief system and weed out irrational thoughts.
7. Improve and balance motivation for optimal performance.
8. Get back into competition after an injury is healed fully.
9. To develop game-specific strategies and game plans.
10. To identify and enter the “zone” more often.
Sport psychology may not be for every single athlete. Not everyone involved in sport wants to “improve performance.” Sport psychology is probably not for recreation athletes who just like the social component of sport. Most of my students are committed to excellence and seeing how far they can go. They love competition and testing themselves against the best in their sport. They want every possible advantage they can learn including the mental edge over the competition.
Dr. Patrick J. Cohn is a leading mental game coach who consults with Tour Pros and amateurs. He is the author of Going Low, Peak Performance Golf, The Mental Game of Golf and The Mental Art of Putting. For more information: http://www.peaksports.com
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
My Take on Floorball Goaltending
Forgive me for my bias, but I strongly believe that goaltending is the most important position in team sports. In games like ours, be it ice hockey, field hockey or soccer, attention always centre around the goal crease. The goalie is the stopper. The last line of defence. But of course the glory, or focus is always on the scorers. Top players are usually in the limelight, and quite rightly so, because without them the game wouldn’t be half as fun. However, we goalies are the obstacles who stand between those top scorers and the goal.
No doubt, Floorball is a team sport that require team cohesiveness, tactics, individual skills and character. Most often, team play takes pre-eminence and individual skills are incorporated within the team strategy. But the success of a floorball team ultimately hinges on consistent goalkeeping.
All the 5 players on the court, be it a forward, centre or defender, get away with making mistakes that are not obvious or suffer concentration lapse that had no bearing on the game’s outcome. Unfortunately, a goaltender enjoy no such privileges. A single mistake or a lapse of focus will, most often than not, result in a goal. And when that happens, this mistake is further amplified by the celebratory noise of the opponents.
For this reason, goaltenders are a different breed apart from their teammates. A player’s pressure to perform well is nothing compared to that of a goalie. Players can try to run harder, tackle and hustle harder to overcome certain weakness in their play. Goalkeepers can’t afford to rest during play or shift changes. We have to deal with quick play action exchanges, read the game, anticipate, make nano quick decisions to position our bodies, play angles, stay square, communicate with our defenders, all this while reminding ourselves to put our hands up, make ourselves look big…
Man, we’re really busy.
A goaltender’s job is demanding, difficult and it requires 100% focus.
Thus credit should go to the goaltender who made those crucial saves to help his/her team the best possible chance to win a game.
No doubt, Floorball is a team sport that require team cohesiveness, tactics, individual skills and character. Most often, team play takes pre-eminence and individual skills are incorporated within the team strategy. But the success of a floorball team ultimately hinges on consistent goalkeeping.
All the 5 players on the court, be it a forward, centre or defender, get away with making mistakes that are not obvious or suffer concentration lapse that had no bearing on the game’s outcome. Unfortunately, a goaltender enjoy no such privileges. A single mistake or a lapse of focus will, most often than not, result in a goal. And when that happens, this mistake is further amplified by the celebratory noise of the opponents.
For this reason, goaltenders are a different breed apart from their teammates. A player’s pressure to perform well is nothing compared to that of a goalie. Players can try to run harder, tackle and hustle harder to overcome certain weakness in their play. Goalkeepers can’t afford to rest during play or shift changes. We have to deal with quick play action exchanges, read the game, anticipate, make nano quick decisions to position our bodies, play angles, stay square, communicate with our defenders, all this while reminding ourselves to put our hands up, make ourselves look big…
Man, we’re really busy.
A goaltender’s job is demanding, difficult and it requires 100% focus.
Thus credit should go to the goaltender who made those crucial saves to help his/her team the best possible chance to win a game.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Floorball Clip ll
Here's an 'official' video clip of IFF Floorball highlights.
Good for newcomers to this blog who wants know what floorball is about.
Be warned - clip is 9.55min long.
(IFF = International Floorball Federation)
Notice the commentator's accent. North European.
That's because the sport originated from Sweden. They produce some of the world's most exciting players, despite a population of only 9 million. Amazing!
Good for newcomers to this blog who wants know what floorball is about.
Be warned - clip is 9.55min long.
(IFF = International Floorball Federation)
Notice the commentator's accent. North European.
That's because the sport originated from Sweden. They produce some of the world's most exciting players, despite a population of only 9 million. Amazing!
Friday, May 18, 2007
Vier Minuten ll
Shows Jenny (Hannah) playing piano the other way round to spite her prison handlers.
Here's the story - a reporter is here to snap pix of a woman inmate taking part in a prestigious classical piano contest.
Very good publicity to the Warden. But unpopular decision among the other officers. (not when she just beat the living daylights of another officer)
So she was made to practice with cuffs on despite protests from Ms Kruger (Music Teacher).
Thus on this PR campaign with the media, when she was supposed to perform to the reporter, she requests for cuffs as "that's how I practised"..
Quite a character huh..
Anyway, despite fascinating everyone in the room, she got a tight slap from Ms Diane Kruger.
For being wilful and playing "negro-music".
- You have to understand that she's old school and staunch believer in traditional ways.
Oh BTW, Vier Minuten means Four Minutes in German.
Here's the story - a reporter is here to snap pix of a woman inmate taking part in a prestigious classical piano contest.
Very good publicity to the Warden. But unpopular decision among the other officers. (not when she just beat the living daylights of another officer)
So she was made to practice with cuffs on despite protests from Ms Kruger (Music Teacher).
Thus on this PR campaign with the media, when she was supposed to perform to the reporter, she requests for cuffs as "that's how I practised"..
Quite a character huh..
Anyway, despite fascinating everyone in the room, she got a tight slap from Ms Diane Kruger.
For being wilful and playing "negro-music".
- You have to understand that she's old school and staunch believer in traditional ways.
Oh BTW, Vier Minuten means Four Minutes in German.
Vier Minuten
Vier Minuten is Writer/Director Chris Kraus's second film. I have not seen his debut work but on this brilliant film, his talent is apparent.
Its a gripping tale of two ladies with an obvious generation gap. Credit to the 2 leading ladies for a stellar performance as an 80 yr old music teacher (Monica Bleibtreu) and a nihilistic delinquent, disturbed yet talented pianist (Hannah Herzsprung).
The story telling is well paced and gives its characters time to grow onto you, in its backdrop of a women's prison and everyone's hidden agenda.
Its sub-plots can be a little drag, but I guess they're there to develop characters..
There's also humour in this wonderful film, which is not necessarily corny yet works quite well with the whole theme.
And the music is good too, mixing classical music with hip-hop in a surprising, inspiring way.
Its those little things that work their way onto you, that makes the bonding between 2 very different persons seem real and engaging.
The ending is good too.
Predictable - but Chris adds a small twist that throws so much flavour to it, that you can still taste it long after the credits rolled..
Really good film.
Gets all the stars i can throw at them.
Here's a trailer. Pity there's no sub-titles.
Its a gripping tale of two ladies with an obvious generation gap. Credit to the 2 leading ladies for a stellar performance as an 80 yr old music teacher (Monica Bleibtreu) and a nihilistic delinquent, disturbed yet talented pianist (Hannah Herzsprung).
The story telling is well paced and gives its characters time to grow onto you, in its backdrop of a women's prison and everyone's hidden agenda.
Its sub-plots can be a little drag, but I guess they're there to develop characters..
There's also humour in this wonderful film, which is not necessarily corny yet works quite well with the whole theme.
And the music is good too, mixing classical music with hip-hop in a surprising, inspiring way.
Its those little things that work their way onto you, that makes the bonding between 2 very different persons seem real and engaging.
The ending is good too.
Predictable - but Chris adds a small twist that throws so much flavour to it, that you can still taste it long after the credits rolled..
Really good film.
Gets all the stars i can throw at them.
Here's a trailer. Pity there's no sub-titles.
Floorball Showcase
An edited short video of a Swedish team with many promising young players.
U-19 if the film is to be believed.
U-19 if the film is to be believed.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Martin's Blog on Floorball Goaltending
Hi! Welcome to Martin's World of Floorball Goaltending Tips & Tactics & Thoughts.
Spontaneous Spark
Sometimes you need to keep a sort of spontaneous spark to rejuvenate your game.
So what is this *spark* I'm talking about?
*Flashback*
Remember when you first started playing floorball , although you're new to the game, you can somehow make that miracle save?
For example, that cross court pass, thru all those traffic, with your opponent making that quick release towards your net - you somehow came up with a big diving, leg in air kick save..
Or it hit your mask while diving..
You know! That big save that had everyone shouting - GREAT SAVE!!!
Notice how those big saves seem to decrease, the longer you play in the game..
Wanna know why?
Based on my anaylsis, I figured there are several contributing factors to these lack of spark:-
1] Enthusiasm -
The longer you play, the more habits you'll have. The more routine moves you make, the more "bored" you are with the game.
With these lack of enthusiasm or love for the game, floorball goalkeeping has become routine work for you.
Actually, most times, it isn't so bad. You still love Innebandy of course.
But you're finding it tougher to improve your game.
Or worse, you find yourself "de-proving" or deteriorating.
2] Being Too Technical -
As you progress in your playing career, you will learn more skills, analyse & practise a lot more in your quest to be a better goalie.
But as you get too technical, putting too many logical moves or thinking hard into improving your game, there will be a time when you hit a barrier.
(You'll know you've hit one when you stop making progress)
Or you may have hit that dreaded slump.
I believe it'll happen to all goalies at some stage, irregardless of gender or age.
This can happen quite seriously anything on your 2nd - 4th season of playing.
It'll vary differently between individuals.
3] Experience -
Surprised?
Spontaneous Spark
Sometimes you need to keep a sort of spontaneous spark to rejuvenate your game.
So what is this *spark* I'm talking about?
*Flashback*
Remember when you first started playing floorball , although you're new to the game, you can somehow make that miracle save?
For example, that cross court pass, thru all those traffic, with your opponent making that quick release towards your net - you somehow came up with a big diving, leg in air kick save..
Or it hit your mask while diving..
You know! That big save that had everyone shouting - GREAT SAVE!!!
Notice how those big saves seem to decrease, the longer you play in the game..
Wanna know why?
Based on my anaylsis, I figured there are several contributing factors to these lack of spark:-
1] Enthusiasm -
The longer you play, the more habits you'll have. The more routine moves you make, the more "bored" you are with the game.
With these lack of enthusiasm or love for the game, floorball goalkeeping has become routine work for you.
Actually, most times, it isn't so bad. You still love Innebandy of course.
But you're finding it tougher to improve your game.
Or worse, you find yourself "de-proving" or deteriorating.
2] Being Too Technical -
As you progress in your playing career, you will learn more skills, analyse & practise a lot more in your quest to be a better goalie.
But as you get too technical, putting too many logical moves or thinking hard into improving your game, there will be a time when you hit a barrier.
(You'll know you've hit one when you stop making progress)
Or you may have hit that dreaded slump.
I believe it'll happen to all goalies at some stage, irregardless of gender or age.
This can happen quite seriously anything on your 2nd - 4th season of playing.
It'll vary differently between individuals.
3] Experience -
Surprised?
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