Section 1: The Trap of “More Reps”

As a lacrosse goalie, what is the biggest lie you tell yourself? For most, it’s the belief that you simply need more reps.

While it’s true that high volume is an essential piece of the puzzle, getting shot on 10,000 times will undoubtedly raise your baseline skills; volume alone is not the whole picture. You don’t just need more reps; you need focused, specific reps that actually drive measurable improvement.

The Danger of Unmonitored Volume

If you are just taking shots without anyone watching you or without filming yourself to critique how your body moves and reacts, you are playing a dangerous game. You run the risk of practicing bad habits, letting them ride out, and eventually hardening them into your neural wiring over time.

The Long-Term Cost: If you play lacrosse goalie for seven years with uncorrected, hardwired bad habits, it becomes infinitely more difficult to reverse them later on compared to fixing them right now.

How to Ensure High-Quality Training

To avoid stalling out and plateauting in your progress, make sure your volume is backed by intentionality:

• Use Video Feedback: If you don’t have a coach actively watching your form, record your sessions. Observe what is working, pinpoint what isn’t, and actively learn from the footage.
• Practice Good Form: Ensure every single rep is executed with fundamentally sound habits.
• Run Game-Realistic Drills: Step-down shots are great for warming up, but your training must translate to real game scenarios. You need to practice seeing shots on the run, handling crease finishes, and clearing the ball effectively.
• Master the Clear: Dedicate time to passing to a player on the run, clearing through heavy traffic, making outlet passes with a defender directly in your face, and chasing down ground balls out of the crease.

Section 2: The Critical 5 Seconds After a Goal

How your immediate reaction dictates the rest of your game.

The ball hits the back of the net. Maybe it’s the first one of the game, or maybe it’s the third or fourth consecutive goal you’ve let in. In that exact moment, an unmistakable, unshakable feeling creeps up the back of your head whispering that something is wrong, that this is bad. You want to scream, slam your stick against the ground, and let the frustration take over.

But you can’t. In fact, giving in to that impulse is exactly what you should not do.

The first five seconds after a ball goes into your goal are absolutely crucial for deciding the outcome of the game. To keep your composure, you must have a systematic strategy to brace yourself and break out of negative thought loops.

Find Your Reset Anchor

Every goalie is different, and you need to find the specific mental “anchor” that helps trigger a cognitive reset in your mind. Some highly effective physical anchors include:

• Giving yourself a quick tap on the helmet.
• Squirting your water bottle into the air and watching the droplets fall to the ground.
• Punching your glove pocket in a deliberate way.
• Tapping the posts in a specific, rhythmic pattern.

Whatever anchor you choose, use it in those critical five seconds to remind yourself that a negative emotional reaction only hurts you and your teammates—it never helps. Every time you give up a goal, execute your reset plan, clear your mind, and focus entirely on the next save.

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