Coach Edwards gives tips on how goalies can stop more shots down low. He explains the importance of staying safe and protected, and offers strategies on improving their game. Coach covers probability of a shot, adjusting your stance, staying protected, and prioritizing shots during practice.

1:12 – Coaching every position on the field can be a challenge without the right experience.

2:00 – Getting video of goalies in action to improve their performance.

2:32 – How to figure out the probability of where a goalie will take the most shots.

3:08 – Using your knowledge to adjust your stance and stay safe.

4:07 – Prioritizing low shots in practice.

Introduction

Hey, it’s Coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com. I hope you’re having a great season, and if you’re not, shoot me a note and maybe we can get you straightened out. Congratulations to all my Lacrosse Goalie University members who had a great week. I love the feedback, I love hearing from you guys, and all the goalie critiques that I did for you this week, I hope those really helped. If you’re not a member of Lacrosse Goalie University, you want to be. Click on the Coaching tab at the top of this page and head to Tier 1. You should at least be a Tier 1 member of Lacrosse Goalie University. Check it out. It’s the best thing available for goalie coaches around. I try to make it better all the time.

This question comes from Lucy, and she says:

My daughter was playing goalie and is developing as a pretty good goalie, but she’s having trouble with the shots down low. What are some good drills to get her stopping the ball down low more consistently? Her coach treats the goalie position as more of a hassle, which is sadly a huge departure from her coaches last season and on her club team.

The Challenge Of Coaching Every Position

Lucy, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve got that to deal with, but I hate to say that it’s not uncommon. A lot of well-meaning coaches out there, and I can speak as having been a coach and coaching every position on the field is a challenge.  I think it’s easier to be a goalie coaching other positions, maybe having played or dabbled in them at certain times in your career than to just maybe be an attackman or a middy trying to coach the D and the goalies.

It’s a big challenge. That’s why I started Lacrosse Goalie University. I’ve got a lot of coaches in there who finally have a resource for everything they need to know about incorporating a lacrosse goalie into their practice and their team, their communication, all sorts of stuff like that. Check that out and definitely pass that on to your coach. I’m willing to help where I can.

Get Video Of Your Goalie In Action

This is a great question. In terms of stopping the ball down low, there are a couple things. First is stance. One of the things I find is that a lot of goalies, when they’re playing the shooter, they think that the ball can go everywhere equally. Meaning they can get a shot up here just as much as they can get a shot down low. What I encourage you to do with your daughter is to get some video and to watch and see just where are the shots going on her. Are most of them down low or are most of them upstairs?

Figure Out Your Probability

What happens is, as a goalie, other teams want to shoot on you in certain spots. Let’s say “That goalie’s good down low, or that goalie’s good upstairs.” Well, if she’s getting a lot of shots down low, she can actually adjust her stance down a little bit, almost in anticipation of those low shots. The example I use is when you watch poker on ESPN,