The Mental Part Of Goaltending

I simply had to become patient and went to goalie school for better positioning/play

I would love to find a goalie school I could go to. Because I just see this getting worse and worse.

Every goalie will have some games blow up on them.

I don't think there is any (useful) advice that can be given to help with this..It is just learned through experience. Just keep playing and try not to worry about the goals.

i think the toughest part of goaltending is forgetting about the goal that just beat you and be mentally and physically ready to face the next shot. i think after a goal especially a bad goal you need to quickley process it and then store it for after the game and then get be prepared for the next shot, you almost have to hit a mental reset button and approach it as the start of the game and the score is still 0-0.

A lot of people have told me not to let the goals bother you but I as think as a goalie in order to be successful they have to bother you. I mean you can't dwell on your mistake but accept that this is a position of perfection. So learn from your mistake and move on I guess. Letting in a goal SHOULD upset you but you can't let it affect your game. (Harder said than done, and I can't easily do it either.)

What I've found that helps me if it's a blowout is I'll tell myself dumb stuff like "there's no way he's beating me on that deke again" or "I'm not letting myself get sniped top glove." It's the little battles at that point. In my opinion anyways.

I think the 1 to 2 mins you get after a goal is scored is the way I deal with it, as said above I process it, analyze then store for review later. May sound weird but thats all the time you really have. Gotta focus on that faceoff and other things. For me I process the entire game, passes, shots, open areas, all of that so it may push that last goal out of my head, I'm taking in as much data as I can, I just don't have time to dwell.

When I get scored on. I process it and then push it to the back of mind to go over again after the game. I handle it better now when I did when I was 16. I dont get nearly as upset as I did then. My problem is i panic before the goal is even scored. I've gotten better about it but if I get surprised by a breakaway or a 2-0 then I still get quick and panic. I'm getting nurvous for our game tomorrow. The team we are playing have some really amazing goal scorers and after the last time we played them and lost i'm pretty set on keeping my cool and NOT letting them get to me. We only lost by one point in OT but still. We were also missing our best D-man but he will be back for tomorrows game so I feel a little better

There's a difference between making an adjustment and changing your game. Making an adjustment means you notice they're going glove side, so you make sure you're envisioning the puck going into your glove, making sure your glove's fitting the way you want it, and you're comfortable with shots to your glove side. Changing your game means you're going to favor your glove side, change your positioning a little bit, change the angle of your glove.

The key is not to change your game; just make small adjustments.

When most of you are talking about panicking, you're changing your game. The other team's offense has gotten in your head. Now not only are they confident in what they're doing, but they're certain that your confidence in your own game is gone. While you made them shoot to your glove side before -- at least making them hit their spot -- now they can shoot wherever they choose and likely score or get a nice, juicy rebound.

Personally, even if my adjustments aren't necessarily working, I want to make them work for their goals. Panicking and changing your game will likely give them more goals, as you're doing stuff that's completely inconsistent with your regular game and may have an effect on subsequent games or even get you injured. Make a small adjustment, make them work for their goals, and, if worse comes to worse, forgive and forget and look forward to next game. There's nothing worse than changing your game and then spending the next week thinking about how terrible you were; just play your game and you'll rebound just fine.