(Goalies) Play well in warmups, bad during the game

[jaw22]

I don't understand what i'm doing wrong here. In warmups im great, I rarely let in a goal while the best player on my team shoots as hard as he can. But then in the game, everything gets by me. Today in indoor I had a save percentage of 16 percent, by far my lowest of the year. It seems like the difference is getting bigger. What is going on? Does this happen to anyone else?

[jrmelax16]

yeah that happened to me today to. the only thing i can think of is you are more relaxed during warm ups because if you do get scored on it doesnt matter. im pretty sure thats why i do bad...only because im a new goalie and im kinda nervous about letting my team down with a bad goal.

[Trilax03]

yeah u might just be physcing (sp?) urself out...don't get so nervous, just try to relax...it always happens to me in a game, i get really nervous and stuff but that first shot makes me relax (even more if i save it) but even if u don't, just keep saying that u'll get the next one and don't feel bad...don't forget that ur attitude reflects ur teams attitude, so just stay positive

[Garor]

By thinking about it too much, you may be making it worse. Indoor and the regular season aren't closely related. It may also be that you've been playing with certain people from your own team more often, and you can read them better than people from the other team. The best thing to do: don't worry about it. Keep praticing, and if you need to, get someone, mabye a coach or a friend not from the team, and have a shooting session with them one day. Just practice with different people to keep your confidence up. It's only indoor so just work on it as your prepare for the regular season.

[shiftylax]

Are you playing indoor with full size nets? If so, it's prob not your fault. It's a hell of a lot easier to put one past the goalie in indoor if its a fullsize field goal just because of the surface area and the fact that you can use screens to set up your shots much much easier. I HATE indoor places that use full size goals, it's lazy and promotes both bad defensive and goalie play. Don't worry about it, man. Get someone with a cannon to warm you up and practice with, you'll be fine when the games actually count.

[WHEELAX2]

part of your problem is that you are warming up in a situation that in no way resembles playing at full speed with offenses/defense, guys cutting in front of you, screens, etc.. think of your warm up as simply that.. a warm up.. you are building up to the real thing.. you start off with easy shots and passes, then the shooters shoot faster and move around a bit.. even though you may be saving almost all of the shots remember that it's simply to get you loose so you're not going in there cold.. game preparation comes from experience.. practicing hard, focusing on the ball, etc.... your practices and game experiences are what carries you through games, not your warm up ritual.. saves in games are simply reflexes that you developed in practice.. not something you work on right before a game..

[OldGoalie]

saves in games are simply reflexes that you developed in practice.. not something you work on right before a game..

I pretty much agree with what you said except for this last part. In warm-ups, a goalie should work on feeds from behind, side feeds, 1v1's, etc. (if possible) to simulate game conditions. This gives you the feel for the ball moving around and forces you to work on positioning and footwork, which become all important once the game starts. I know for me, it's the ball movement and adjusting my concentration to the speed of the game that require that initial "awakening" after the first face-off. And, as others have said, getting that initial save gets the confidence going.

[WHEELAX2]

essentially what I was trying to say is that you want to work on game-like situations in practice.. like 6v6 game speed drills.. of course you will work on similar things in warm ups, but this is simply for warm up purpose.. all the habits that matter come with practice and experience, not right before the game.. here you just exercise (warm up with) all the things you learned in the days before..

[RockStar]

Just a thought:

My goalies always feel like Superman during warmups, because I'm superstitious about lighting them up before a game. I prefer a goalie to make a bunch of saves, and feel the ball hitting his body (box goal). Better for the confidence than if I blast a bunch of shots by a cold goalie.

Anyhow, I'll aim the first several shots right at different parts of the body - shoulder, arm, thigh, leg pad, stick. (Helps us both warm up, because I'm hitting spot targets too). After he's felt the ball a few times, I'll shoot at open space, but still try to keep it close to the body.

[hlaxgoalie296]

yea i know what u mean..happens to me with hockey too

for me its always like...if i play well in warm-ups i play poorly in games

but the thing is that it works the other way around for me too...so i dont think its anything with being relaxed...