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 :)