LaxTV Forums | A Forum About The MCLA

With all this talk of pipes, I was just wondering how some of the other goalies play pipes. I know there are several different schools of though and just wanted to hear some of the different techniques.

I tend to just stand tall and loop my leg around the front. I have found that too much movement off of the pipe will open up alot of hard to cover holes, so staying on the pipe works better

I heard our Mines man also likes to stock up on Krispy Kremes to try to fill the 6 x 6 with humanity!

Only the Sour Cream and the Jelly filled ones....those are soo good

Sour cream-filled donuts?

I play them with my heel that is closer to the goal just in front of the pipe but still barely inside the goal. That way the pipe is not in my way and I am not giving up any angle.

I used the three points of contact method, your ankle,hip and back of shoulder all touch the off stick pipe allowing for your stick to cover the far side.

if you are a righty..when someone drives up on your left side you should stay on the pipe for a very long time, you will feel like you need to come off early as he comes around for a better angle, but try to stay on a little longer than you think. If you come off too early your momentum will be carrying you away from the pipe and most good shooters will then shoot to your off stick side as you are moving away from that spot, and it's a hard save being off stick and all. If you stay onthe pipe longer you only have to worry about stick side and the saves are relatively easy. Of course you will have to experiment as to when to come off the pipe, I would say if the GLS was 0degrees and straight out from goal was 90degrees, about 55 degrees or so would be when i woudl get off the pipe and make your first step across your arc.


When they drive on your right side however it's a different story, your stick is basically defending nothing of the goal and any off stick save is going to be very difficult. Taking a step TOWARDS the attackman as he reaches about 15degrees or so will cut down on his off hip angle and leave only your stick side which you should be able to take care of.

My assistant coach wrote this...might be worth the read. He played DIII back when he use to play and has coached the men's and women's game ever since.

The 10 Rules of Goaltending for Lacrosse
by: Drew Whyte (drewwhyte@scuwlax.org)

Rule#1: KEEP YOUR CHEST BETWEEN THE BALL AND THE CENTER OF THE GOAL: This rule describes the most basic element of positioning in the cage. Whether the ball is in front of or behind the cage, the goalie should be squared to it. As the shooters angle changes, the goalie should move his/her feet to compensate and take away as much angle as possible. By sticking closely to this rule you will almost always be in the best position to make a save. Breaking the integrity of this rule will most often spell disaster for a goalie.

Rule#2: PLAY BIGGER THAN YOU ARE: This idea behind this rule is to always take up as much space as you can in the goal. Make your stance on an arc that is drawn from pipe to pipe and extends out as far as two feet or so off the goal line. If your heels are always on your arc as you move around the cage you will automatically be taking up more goal than if you were standing back on your goal line. This is especially true in women’s lacrosse where although the velocity of most shots won’t be as high as men’s lacrosse, the proximity of the shooter to the goalie will almost always be much closer. This really decreases a goalie’s reaction time to the shot. Whether or not you are large in stature, with the correct stance, body mechanics, and foot work you can take up a significant amount of the goal, and give the shooter very little cage to look at as they move in to shoot.

Rule#3: BE AGGRESSIVE AND STEP TO EACH SHOT: This is possibly the most important rule, especially for new goalies. It’s hard enough for most new goalies to even stand in the cage let alone move toward a ball coming at them at a good rate of speed. Your body’s natural reaction is to move out of the way, or to brace yourself for impact, not to move toward the ball. This is where you have to mentally make yourself be aggressive and attack the ball, instead of letting it attack you. By stepping toward the ball you are drastically reducing the angle for the shooter and the amount of open cage available for the ball to go into. The idea of the proper step is to begin on your arc, and step forward into the line of the shot. Many young goalies make the mistake of always stepping right at the shooter. While this will often work on an overhand shot, many shots in lacrosse are underhand or sidearm. By adding the length of not only the stick itself but also the player’s arms to the shot, stepping right at the shooter does not guarantee you will be in the path of the shot. A successful STEP can be measured by the fact that if the shot misses you to either side, it should also miss the goal entirely. Lastly, a proper step begins with the both feet parallel and ends with both feet parallel. You step with the foot that is closest to the ball, and follow with your other foot immediately. This keeps your balance and center of gravity where it needs to be. Completing your step and regaining your stance and balance also gets you ready for any rebounds that might come right back at you.

Rule #4: MAKE THE SHOOTER SHOOT WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO: This is one of my favorite rules, but may be more for the advanced goalie than the beginner. By following all of the previous rules, goalies should be able to position themselves in a way where they can anticipate where the shot is going before the shooter even aims. Once you are truly comfortable in the goal, you should know what areas of the cage you are giving up depending on the angle of the shooter. Some might interpret this as “baiting a shooter” to shoot to a certain spot. I consider baiting a shooter, to be blatantly giving up an entire side of the cage on purpose. The technique I’m talking about is more for anticipating a general idea of where a shooter is looking, and perhaps a way to give you the easiest save possible under the given circumstances. An example of this would be to slightly overplay an angle so as to take away or make easier the off stick side hip save. Taking that angle away may force your shooter to go for the more open part of the goal, which happens to be your stick side and an easier save for you to make. By under or overplaying certain angles, you begin to make the shooter shoot where you want them to, not where the best shot really is.

Rule #5: USE YOUR PIPES TO ASSURE PROPER POSITIONING: Using your pipes for keeping your bearings is an unbelievably useful tool. Although having the crease painted on the ground is a very helpful guide, there are times where you don’t even want to take a half a second to look down and then have to reacquire the position of the ball. Once comfortable in this practice you will know exactly where you are just by what part of your stick makes contact with each post. How high or low on the shaft or head makes contact with the pipe can be all you need to be confident that you are in the right place to keep to Rule #1. This can also be a good indicator to your opponent who hears the constant sound of your stick hitting the pipe as you call out ball location, that you do indeed have your bearings, and have kept them without losing track of the ball.

Rule #6: LEAD WITH YOUR STICK, FOLLOW WITH YOUR BODY: By saving shots with your stick you are creating the best chance for controlling your rebounds, and getting possession of the ball for your team. (Not to mention it feels a lot better than getting drilled in the leg) Using your hands and stick as guides for your step will also help assure that you step into the line of the shot, not just toward the shooter. You are given a stick twice as wide as everyone else on the field for this exact reason. Although you will make many body saves, your body is really just a back up to your stick. Wherever your stick leads, your body should follow, but you always want to contact the ball with your stick if possible. A good strong step leading with your stick and following with your body will earn you many saves as you continue to play.

Rule #7: FUNDAMENTALS AND POSITIONING WILL EARN YOU 80% OF YOUR SAVES: Taking time to really learn the fundamentals of goalkeeping will be your biggest ally on the field. If a goalie is still at a point where he/she has to think through each movement for a save, she will have a difficult time. Once your fundamentals are part of your routine, you react properly without even thinking about it. This cuts down dramatically on your reaction time, and drastically increases your save percentage. Proper footwork, body mechanics, and positioning will earn you 80% of the saves you make, if not more. Pure athleticism and reflexes will make you an even stronger goalie, but not until your instinct is fundamentally sound. Rely on your base knowledge to make yourself a strong and consistent goalie.

Rule #8: STICK SKILLS ARE AS IMPORTANT FOR GOALIES AS FIELD PLAYERS: This rule generally applies for newer or younger players. I think we would all agree that there is little more frustrating than seeing a goalie come up with a big save, only to then watch her throw the ball back to the other team while attempting a clear, and subsequently getting scored on. Catching and throwing is a huge part of being a goalie. First of all goalies are such an instrumental part of the clearing game. Secondly, don’t you want the person guarding your most important piece of real estate having the ability to handle the ball, especially under the pressure of a strong ride? Too many coaches are so worried about their goalies stopping abilities that they don’t have their goalies hit the wall hard if at all. The time spent doing line drills in the beginning of practice also creates a great opportunity to warm up the goalie, so goalies often miss out on the stick skill work associated with line drills. Make sure your goalie gets adequate time on the wall if there is not time during practice.

Rule #9: KNOW WHERE THE BALL IS AT ALL TIMES: Considering that you are the last line of defense and the ball is what you are trying to keep out of your goal, then it’s location is absolutely imperative. Something as simple as losing sight of the ball even for an instant can be the difference between a goal and save or a win and a loss. On top of wanting to see the ball for yourself, you are quarterbacking your entire defense. One of a goalie’s most important jobs is to call out ball location for the defense. The defense cannot react, slide, rotate or recover properly if they don’t where the ball is. As much as coaches preach that defenders must keep their heads on a swivel, and always see their man and the ball, there are times when seeing the ball and your mark is almost impossible. Knowing your goalie will reconfirm ball location every few seconds settles a defense down, and affords them the chance to play aggressively without fear of getting caught up where they don’t belong.

Rule#10: PLAY THE SHOT, NOT THE BOUNCE: The bounce shot is one of the if not the most difficult saves to make. One of the biggest problems I’ve seen over the years is that many goalies try to read or play the bounce itself. Once the ball hits the ground on a good, hard, well placed bounce shot, the goalie needs to already be in position to make the save or it’s probably too late. As you focus on the ball coming out of the shooters stick, anticipate where you think it’s going to hit the ground and step to that spot. With a proper step, and good positioning either your stick or your body should cover almost all of the area of the bounce. You must play all bounce shots consistently. Just because a ball bounced of the grass to waist height one time, does not mean the next bounce will not stay low and skip across the ground especially on wet grass. The majority of bounce shots that successfully beat a goalie to the 5 hole, (between the legs) are shots where the goalie was either lazy and did not get his/her stick down, or the goalie was relying on the bounce of a previous shot, and the bounce was different. In order to succeed against bounce shots always cover low all the way to the ground with your stick. Take away the 5 hole. If you have stepped correctly to the shot, and gotten your stick down where it needs to be there will be very little room for the ball to get by you. This is lacrosse however, and some balls will go in no matter how fundamentally sound you are. That’s part of the excitement of the sport.

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Rule #5: USE YOUR PIPES TO ASSURE PROPER POSITIONING: Using your pipes for keeping your bearings is an unbelievably useful tool. Although having the crease painted on the ground is a very helpful guide, there are times where you don’t even want to take a half a second to look down and then have to reacquire the position of the ball. Once comfortable in this practice you will know exactly where you are just by what part of your stick makes contact with each post. How high or low on the shaft or head makes contact with the pipe can be all you need to be confident that you are in the right place to keep to Rule #1. This can also be a good indicator to your opponent who hears the constant sound of your stick hitting the pipe as you call out ball location, that you do indeed have your bearings, and have kept them without losing track of the ball.

A good goalie should be able to walk his/her arc from pipe to pipe wihout having to look down or check the pipes with his/her stick. Personally, checking the pipes with your stick is worse than looking down at the crease.

i didnt know there were that many rules in lacrosse.

All of those things are built into good keepers. If a keeper has problems with anything on that list, odds are their doing more picking balls out of the back of the net than saving shots. Good Post.

Having been a D-man most of my career, the one foray I took into the goalie slot gave me a very hearty appreciation for those that play the position! I don't think I stopped many shots at all, it seemed like everything was going by. (And I had that big stick too!)
That's why one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen on the lacrosse field was a few years ago when Virginia was in the finals of the 2003 NCAA's against JHU, and their goalie, Tillman Johhson was absolutely unbelieveable! He made more point-blank snuffs of great players than I have ever witnessed, and lots of stops with his legs. Without a doubt the single greatest individual effort ever, and he did win the Outstanding Player trophy - deservedly so. If you have a chance to go back and watch that game again I'm sure you will agree.
Every goalie in America must have been standing and cheering during that game. Anyone else remember that one?

Yes, and Rob Scherr on the other side was playing just as well. The crazy thing about Tillman is that he is perhaps even playing better in the MLL. He's one of those pure shot blockers that don't come around very often.

That was an incredible performance. Johnson was a brick wall that day.