LacrosseGoalieTips.com Podcast

LacrosseGoalieTips.com Podcast

By Olympian - Jonathan EdwardsSportsEducation
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LacrosseGoalieTips.com Podcast episodes

  • Disappointing Lacrosse Goalie and Equipment

    Coach Jonathan Edwards comments on the disappointing gear available to lacrosse goalies. Goalies are left unprotected and their game suffers for it. In his latest video, Coach Edwards gives goalies tips on how to improve their performance and ramp up their game with just one easy step – get protected.

    9 min
  • Are You a Phat Lacrosse Goalie Or Just Fat?

    Coach Edwards shares advice with his subscribers on how they can take off and keep off the “freshman 15” and holiday weight right before the season. He elaborates on valuable free resources on keeping goalies in shape and invites his viewers to a free webinar on how to get in the best shape possible for the next lacrosse season.

     

     

    6 min
  • Stopping Balls Without Your Stick

    Coach Edwards goes into detail about the drastic difference it can make in a lacrosse goalie's game if they use more protective gear and practice in the cage without using their sticks. He gives tips on how goalies can practice to really improve their technique and be safer in the cage so they can feel comfortable enough to make dramatic saves.

    7 min
  • Podcast – How Good Should Your Stick Skills Really Be?
    In his latest podcast, Coach Jonathan Edwards advises lacrosse goalies on how they can improve their stick skills. He explains the importance of being versatile in the cage, especially to keep up with the evolution of the game of lacrosse. Coach gives insightful advice on ways to master the techniques that will help goalies lay the foundation they need to make virtually any save.
    0:10 – Kids just want the shortcuts, but if you want to be a great goalie you can’t be lazy.
    0:38 – The better your stick skills are, the better a lacrosse goalie you will be.
    1:20 – If an attackman or middy can hop in the cage and be decent, it’s because of their stick skills.
    2:05 – Coach Edwards recommends that goalies get in line drills and gives some awesome tips.
    2:34 – Improving your stick skills will lay the foundation you need to make every save.
    3:16 – Don’t be lazy, go master the technique and let Coach Edwards know how you’re doing.
    Introduction
    Coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com and I want to talk about, how good should your stick skills really be?
     Bum Kids Want Shortcuts
     I get this question every once in a while where a goalie says, “Well, should I be able to use my off-hand?” And the first thing that I really think of is that this is just a really lazy question. I’ll be honest, because most kids, and I was like this too, you want the shortcuts, right? You don’t want to work exceptionally hard, you just want to know the answers so you can just kind of get it done. A question like this to me is just pretty lazy.
     Better Stick Skills Make a Better Goalie
     I can give you this answer in a couple different phases. I’ll tell you this. The better your stick skills are, the better a lacrosse goalie you will be. And I believe that the game of lacrosse is going to start to demand that goalies can play with both hands. I’m the first person to talk about this, this may be a little bit mind-blowing, but I do think that the way the game of lacrosse is going is that goalies are going to start to have to play with both hands. We’ll get into that later.
     A Living Example
     In terms of stick skills and catching though, the better your stick skills are, the better you’re going to be as a goalie. What proves this to me is, along my career, there are times when an attackman or a middy would hop in the cage just for fun, right? It’s the end of the season, maybe you’re out of the playoffs, in the practice it’s a day to kind of goof off, and Billy, who is our best attackman, grabs my equipment and hops in the cage just for fun. And what ends up happening, he’s pretty decent. He might be shy of the ball, not wanting to get hurt, but he’s got the hands to be able to catch and throw pretty easily. That’s the best example I can give of how having good stick skills can make you a better goalie right away.
     Line Drills With a Short Stick
     To do this, you really need to get in line drills and you really need to be working on your stick skills all the time. You don’t need a goalie stick to do it, I suggest you have a short stick. For girls, you should have a short stick that has a guy’s pocket in it, not a girl’s pocket. A good test is, you want to be able to throw a ball accurately on the run.
    Laying a Foundation to Make Every Save
    Let’s say you make a save and you run to the sideline. You want to be able to make a pass to the midfield stripe accurately with both hands. So if I’m running out of the cage to my right, I want to be able to make a pass up to midfield accurately that way. If I’m running out to the left, I want to be able to make a pass with my left hand accurately that way. That usually takes care of most clearing situations and most exceptions there.
    5 min
  • Podcast – How do I get Seen?
    Coach Edwards addresses a common question he gets from lacrosse goalies: How do I get seen? He explains that being seen is a byproduct of hard work and learning to improve one’s game. If you aren’t ready to play your best, then you don’t even want to be seen. If you are always trying to make yourself better, good things will happen.
    0:24 – If you’re asking how to get seen, your focus is all wrong.
    0:54 – You can’t control whether you’re seen or not, so trying to impress coaches is pointless.
    1:31 – Coach Edwards describes his own journey going to camps and getting seen.
    2:21 – Lacrosse recruits younger kids now, so if you’re bad you don’t want to be seen yet.
    2:48 – It’s easy to get into camps, change your goal to being the best goalie you can be.
    3:47 – Just play the best you can play and good things will happen. You may be seen indirectly.
    4:31 – Searching to be seen is a mistake. Being seen is a byproduct of self-improvement.
    Introduction
    Coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com and LacrosseGoalieTips.com. I got an email the other day. It’s that time of year. Camps are starting. Recruiting camps are starting, and the email I got was basically, “Coach Edwards, I’m signed up for all these camps this summer. How do I get seen?”
     Asking How to Get Seen is the Wrong Question
    How do I get seen? I get this question a lot. “How do I get seen? How do I get noticed?” And my initial response to this is that your focus is all wrong. It’s 100% wrong. If your a goalie who is good enough that you are going to be recruited, you’re going to be on people’s radars. You’re going to be on people’s radar already. The people that ask me, “How do I get seen?” or “How do I get my son to get seen?” or “My daughter,” it’s the wrong question.
    Don’t Focus on What You Can’t Control
    You’re focusing on stuff you can’t control. You can’t control getting seen. You can go to a camp and you can go to an adrenaline camp, you can go to any camp and get seen, but if you’re bad, you’re going to get seen being bad. So what I’d rather have a kid focus on is the things that he can control and being really, really good. Going to a camp and not trying to impress coaches but to focus on being as good as they can possibly be at that camp. That was my goal every time I went to a camp.
    How Coach Edwards Got Seen
    Growing up I went to the Cornell camp a couple of times. These were the top camps at the time. I went to Top 205 out in Maryland. I went to the Syracuse Camp because Syracuse was the top team in the country at the time. My goal with these camps wasn’t to get seen. It was to go and be the best goalie I could be and hopefully be the best goalie at the camp. What I did was, my focus was always on how to be the best goalie on the field at any time. I’ll probably talk about that in another podcast. But if I could be the best goalie on the field in the game that I’m in, if I do that enough I’ll be the best goalie. And I did that a lot. I did that a lot to the point that I got recruited by Division 1 schools and my dreams were happening.
    If You’re Not Good, You Don’t Want to Get Seen
    For a lot of kids now, recruiting, the game of lacrosse has changed in a lot of ways where recruiting happens at such an early age. The idea you can put yourself in places where you can get seen, but if you’re not very good, getting seen isn’t really what you want. You want to be the best goalie you can be.
    Getting into the Camp is the Easy Part
    It’s easy to get into camps. It’s easy to get into 205s. It takes the help of your coach to get you a really good recommendation and hopefully have a bit of a connection with whoever is involved with that camp.
    6 min
  • How Can Getting Shot On By My Friends Be More Fun?

    Coach Jonathan Edwards gives goalies advice on keeping their practices enjoyable. He points out that padding up can prevent lacrosse goalies from developing a fear of the ball. Coach Edwards reminds goalies that their shooters aren't as accurate as those in the ML, so they shouldn't be afraid to protect themselves. Coach includes tips on making practice more fun for goalies. 

    6 min
  • Lacrosse Goalie Has Trouble With His Clears

     Coach Jonathan Edwards gives lacrosse goalies several tips on how to improve their clears. His latest video includes a comparison to NFL quarterbacks and several great ideas on how to perfect the special balance a goalie needs between their strength and their stick's pocket. Coach Edwards describes the different types of throws a lacrosse goalie can utilize and how they can practice more efficiently.  

    7 min
  • Is CrossFit Good For Lacrosse Goalies?

    Coach Jonathan Edwards addresses CrossFit, and describes how young athletes may end up doing more harm than good if it is applied the wrong way. Coach Edwards describes how CrossFit can sometimes be used as a business model rather than a way to help athletes progress one-on-one, and how dangerous this can be for kids who are still full of weaknesses and lack strength and flexibility.

    8 min
  • Podcast – Have a Plan for Your Lacrosse Goalie Camp Trip
    Coach Edwards talks to goalies about how to determine whether or not a lacrosse goalie camp will be right for them. He stresses the importance of having a plan to work on one specific aspect of your game and the different ways you can make sure that the camp you’re going to will be able to provide you or your goalie with the right counsel.
    1:03 – Having a plan when you go to any camp will guarantee that you learn something new.
    1:30 – Coch Edwards explains that camps are all about experiences, so don’t be afraid of them.
    1:48 – Having a question in mind about your game will help you focus on improvement if you’re a more advanced goalie.
    2:30 – High hopes for a camp won’t be enough to make sure a goalie learns something. Sit down and form your plan.
    2:57 – Calling the camp with probing questions about your game will help find the right camp for you.
    3:27 – Having a plan for every camp experience is not only good for your game, but it’s good business.
    Hey everybody, it’s Coach Edwards here with LacrosseGoalieTips.com and LacrosseGoalieUniversity.com, and I just wanted to take a moment to talk about your lacrosse goalie camp experience for the summer.
    A lot of people will write me and go, “What camp do I recommend?” and I don’t recommend any camp in particular. Just because I don’t want to offend anybody. But the main reason I don’t do that is because I went to a lot of camps when I was young and I always ended up coming out of every camp with at least one gem of information that really helped my game.
    I don’t know if you’re going to experience that at an all-goalie camp or a little tiny camp run by a local guy. I don’t know what is going to be for you. Here’s the thing. When you go to Lacrosse Goalie camp, you should have a plan. If you’re a brand new goalie and you don’t know anything about the game and you just want to learn something, you know what? Go. Don’t fear any camp.
    What I always found was that camps are really good for great experiences either way. So if you’re brand new, just go. Find a camp that you can afford and go to that. But if you’re a little bit more advanced you definitely want to be going to a camp and finding out an answer to a question you have about your game.
    For me, one year I went to the Cornell camp and the thing I needed to work on was hand position. What’s interesting is I learned a whole bunch of other things at camp that blew my game up and really helped me than just that one little thing. The other thing that really helped me was, there was another camp I went to where I wanted to learn from this one goalie coach who worked with a goalie that I was really a fan of and I wanted to learn from him. So I went to that camp to learn from that coach.
    But all too often, kids are going off to camp, parents are sending their kids to camps to go to camp and hope they learn something or hope they just get something out of it. You know the 5-600 plus dollars they spend, but I find that this is not the best approach. It’s good to sit down with your coach, it’s good to sit down with a teammate that you trust, your parents, what have you, and just have a plan.
    Go, “Okay, listen, this is what we need to work on this summer and this is where we think we’re going to be able to do that,” and by all means call the camp instructor. Call the head of the camp and go, “Listen, this is what I need for my kid. Can you provide it.” And then you just have to sift through a little bit because they may just say, “Yeah, we can totally do that.” But if you ask probing questions of a coach, they usually appreciate that you’re looking to work on one specific aspect of your game and they’re going to hopefully be able to provide that for you.
    Have a plan for your lacrosse goalie camp experience this summ...
    4 min

About LacrosseGoalieTips.com Podcast

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Follow Coach Jonathan Edwards as he provides tips and advice on how to improve your skills in the world of lacrosse.