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!
