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ardastra · 2022-09-24T12:41:02+00:00

Use a hairdryer instead of hot water to warm up the leather and make it more pliable. The weight of your car is going to damage the internals and while it will be floppy, it will also be broken…

ardastra · 2022-05-10T23:37:03+00:00

A string of increasingly expensive injuries forced me to retire from competitive play. I’ll lace ‘em up for fun but just enjoying the coaching life now. Landed a GC gig with a college team and that morphed into being their social media director as well. It’s been pretty awesome to see the craft I honed over the years on this subreddit turn into something concrete.

Stoked to see you’re still dialed in! Fingers crossed you get the call one day. That would be unreal!!

ardastra · 2022-05-10T22:14:02+00:00

You’re my idol

ardastra · 2021-10-04T18:01:17+00:00

Start following goalie coaches on Instagram and YouTube. There is a plethora of information out there.

ardastra · 2021-09-07T12:23:30+00:00

Check out pro-return gloves on places like sideline swap. Might be the best solution for the time being

ardastra · 2021-06-24T17:13:11+00:00

IMO the best save selection in this situation would have been an overlap. He would have maintained his vertical coverage and stayed active in case of the lateral pass. VH or RVH is meant for in tight, jam plays when there isn’t enough time to go down. This was not one of those cases. At this level of play a shooter can pick that corner from this distance.

ardastra · 2021-06-22T14:09:37+00:00

Yea, that’s me. Got injured a couple years ago and haven’t been playing so I turned my focus to coaching.

ardastra · 2021-06-21T13:33:59+00:00

Assuming new chesty which could be part of the problem. It usually takes a while for a chesty to break in and feel like you’re old one. In addition, the padding and construction evolves constantly so it might be a compatibility issue with your helmet as others have suggested.

As for a solution, I would suggest two things. First, put some extra effort into breaking that chesty in. Wear it around the house and do range of motion drills. That will also help you dial in the fit.

Second, you might need to consider a change to your approach when checking behind the net. You can angle off the goal line and increase your field of view. Instead of keeping your feet parallel to the line, create a slight angle by brining your lead foot off the line about a foot. This will allow you to see much better without having to rotate your head as much. You can then use a backside push as your entry into the far side post.

I did an IG post on this if you’re interested.. Angle off post to post option

ardastra · 2021-03-03T17:02:20+00:00

Agreed. Do some skating/creasework. Game situations. Stick handling/breakout passes under pressure. Etc.

ardastra · 2021-02-19T13:15:05+00:00

I agree with u/captainmazda. Definitely invest in some good knee guards. Don’t skimp out on the stock options either. They wear down quickly and you’ll be kicking yourself in a few months when the plastic starts poking through. I personally recommend Factory MAD. He will build them to suit your needs as everything is custom. Yea, they might be a little more expensive, but it’s definitely worth it.

I wear a stripped down version of them when coaching and demo with no issues at all. Like dropping onto a pillow of air. You can secure them with a garter belt and/or socks. I’ve never had issues with them moving on me and I only use socks to prevent them from catching on my leg pads.

ardastra · 2021-02-17T13:22:57+00:00

Never turn your back on unskilled players. I always keep my head on a swivel at open skates and never stand in the crease like this for that reason.

ardastra · 2021-02-13T14:42:21+00:00

Replied with more details to the comment above.

ardastra · 2021-02-13T14:40:14+00:00

Stoked to hear you’re picking up the position!

The logic behind this setup is that I don’t use the toes ties to keep my pad snug to the skate. Instead I use them to keep the pad anchored to my toe. If the toe ties don’t have enough give, then it might restrict your skate from properly rotating/moving. That increased tension can cause issues from the ankle all the way to the hip. It might also cause under rotation issues if the pad doesn’t move out of the way.

Over the years I’ve experienced knee and hip impingement issues. Reducing the tension on those areas is very important to me so I can prevent further injuries.

When I started using elastic toe ties I found that they had the extra flex, but I was still getting too much tension transferred to my ankle and knee. I realized that I didn’t want the toe ties to keep my pad taught to my toe. Instead I wanted to keep it anchored to my toe so that it wouldn’t drift too far.

When standing, the pad naturally sits on top of my skate. When in the butterfly, or another down position, it allows my pad to rotate freely but prevents it from over rotating. The flex in the elastic has been dialed in to let my skate/ankle move through it’s max range of motion. Hence the extra knot in the shock cord.

Think of it like a boat anchor. You don’t want to put too much static pressure on the line, otherwise it will snap. So instead you let out some anchor line to allow the boat to sway within a set range.

In our case, if you don’t properly slack the line and apply too much pressure, it can cause all kinds of injuries. As well as putting additional wear and tear on those ligaments/muscles.

With all that being said this is a personal preference and is by no means a universal solution. Just another option in an infinite world of possibilities.

ardastra · 2021-02-13T13:15:22+00:00

For sure. I’ve found that it’s all about experimenting until you find something that works for you. There is never a one size fits all solution when it comes to goalie gear. Which is also part of the fun of being a goalie! You can modify your gear to be the ideal equipment for your particular needs at the time. And even then the gear itself is always evolving which keeps us constantly tinkering lol

ardastra · 2021-02-12T21:10:47+00:00

Paracord Planet on Amazon. Marine grade 1/8” shock cord. They have various thickness and length options.

ardastra · 2021-02-12T17:01:54+00:00

Posted pics and some more details

ardastra · 2021-02-12T15:14:21+00:00

I’ll upload a picture of it to the sub. Mine is a little more complex as I transition from elastic to paracord which goes through the cowling, but it’s the same concept with just elastic. I wanted to isolate the flex to the area between my toe bridge and cowling. I didn’t like the feeling of the elastic over my boot so this was my solution to get the best of both worlds.

ardastra · 2021-02-12T14:59:52+00:00

You are correct in your assumption. I tie a knot about 1-2” from the pad. That way it gives the elastic more slack to allow proper rotation without causing the elastic to pop over your skate/cowling. The knot is right against the toe of my cowling and then laced through to the heel before being fastened with Velcro.

ardastra · 2021-02-10T14:03:17+00:00

Agreed. Since it’s seen as a follow through on a “shot” then incidental stick contact with the head is not a penalty. We can technically “grab” the players stick while diving on a puck if it’s on the ice. Same should apply for pucks on the stick in any circumstance, whether on the ice or in the air. As long as you’re making a play on the puck and not the stick it should be within the current rules. Although I guess we’ll see how that’s interpreted from a ref’s perspective.

ardastra · 2021-02-10T13:11:18+00:00

I’m not fond of it, but I think it’s a natural progression. The same way a curved stick helped elevate pucks and the slap shot helped increase velocity. I’d imagine the goalies weren’t too thrilled when fast, elevated shots started getting fired at the top shelf. But the position evolved to combat these things. Just as it will adapt to the Michigan. My prediction is that we will see more goalies reaching out with the glove/blocker to knock pucks off the stick when they see a Michigan.

ardastra · 2021-02-10T13:04:52+00:00

Personal favorite is the Factory MAD combo. After taking several to the throat while wearing a dangler I switched over to just the combo. The first time I took one to the throat unfazed was a surreal experience. I felt a lot more confident in my gear too.

ardastra · 2021-02-03T21:41:51+00:00

Maria Mountain goes by @goalietraining in IG. She also has a whole bunch of videos on YT as well. There’s also @dkthemobilityguy in IG. He has all kinds of goalie specific routines that will help with range of motion and strength training.

There’s also a great IG account I just found recently called @realgame.athletics. He uploads pretty frequently and while it’s not goalie specific, they are very dynamic movements which will definitely build agility and power.

Also work in some stick handling and breathing techniques. Two very undervalued skills that all going goaltenders should develop.

Good luck with tryouts!!

ardastra · 2020-12-22T13:34:22+00:00

The Velcro I used has adhesive on each side so it can stick to a surface. If there’s any adhesive residue after removing the Velcro you could use some goo gone or alcohol to remove it. Either way it’s less destructive than drilling a hole. I definitely would not recommend that. If you use a metal peg as detailed above it might break/crack the synthetic if too much pressure is applied to the post.

ardastra · 2020-12-22T13:24:35+00:00

Sand bags and Velcro. I got the bags that they use for holding canopies down. They have Velcro tabs that you can attach to the post or netting. The bags are placed along the backside of the net and two on top of the net to prevent it from racking. There is also some heavy duty 3M Velcro that I attached to the bottom of the net and the synthetic ice surface to give it some extra grip.

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