Over the weekend I was re-reading an article in In Goal Magazine by Sean Murray on glove positioning. It is well worth a read and now that I have donned the pads (up to the 9th worst goalie in the world now) – it was really helpful to read about keeping an ‘active elbow’ rather than keeping them pasted to your side – Sean explains why in the article.
Keeping your glove positioned when you are not making a glove save can be a challenge, with so many other things to think about it can easily drop down without you even realizing it. Nod if this has ever happened to you.
Thought so!
It Won’t Take Any Time At All
Today I have a solution for you and it won’t take any time at all because it is not an entirely new exercise, it is just an add on to your existing exercises (assuming you are working on your agility – you ARE doing that right?).
Here’s what you are going to do…
If you cannot see the video above, just click the link below…
https://vimeo.com/user2591012/review/120011834/934de13a82
The next time you are doing cone drills, agility ladder, micro hurdle or slideboard drills, you are going to grab a light to medium resistance band. You could also use a 5lbs dumbbell or your glove, but the resistance band will add a little more overload to the posterior shoulder muscles that hold the glove up.
Now think about keeping that active elbow that Sean talked about as you go through your agility drills. As you move through your footwork patterns pay attention to what your glove is doing, does it keep dropping down? Do you keep bringing that elbow in to rest against your torso?
Lesson Learned…
Not only will you become more aware of your glove hand habits, so you can avoid making them on the ice, you are also strengthening the muscles that will allow you to consistently make those corrections.
Having enough strength and stamina in the muscle is one thing, keeping the proper position on the ice will take months of focused practice, so be patient. You know the saying, “Old habits die hard”.
Happy training.
Cheers,
M
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