Home Gear Best Goalies Positioning

Positioning:

Goalies have to have good positioning in order to make correct saves. There are many ways to stop a puck, here are some key tips and advice to perfect positioning.


Squareness:

Being square doesn't quite mean being a shape, although that makes sense. Being square to the puck means that your chest and head are positioned so that they are directly in line with the puck's path. Being square matters so you can see the puck clearly and make quick, accurate decisions on where to move your pads or body. Being square helps you maintain the best possible angle to the shot and the shooter.

As you can see in the image, there are three points labled A, B, and X. A is a possible pass to B, B is the shooter and where the shooter is shooting from. X is you and your movements. In this scenario, A is starting with the puck, then A passes to B and B is the designated shooter. You (X) need to follow the blue line rather than the pink line shown. The pink line would show you moving from one side in the crease to the other side, what's incorrect is the depth route. Pink goes straight across, which is okay but you would be slightly unsquare. In blue, your depth cuts back further into the crease rather than just straight across. It's important to choose the blue line so that you can stay square the whole time, instead of going across incorrectly.

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