Topic: Stopping Slop and Capturing Balls in Goal

[bbtuna]

I am working with some fairly new players and we have talked about ball control, basics in defending in goal, and a few other generalizations (a few specifics but that will come more as time moves on)

We will be meeting this week and I am planning on covering mainly 3 things - 2 of these are in this post (the 3rd will be a seperate post)

I was hoping to gather some good ideas, feedback, teaching on these topics that I will add to what I already have

sooooo....

What would you tell someone playing goal on how to stop slop and how to capture balls in Goal? 

Any ideas on how to improve these skills during your personal practice time?

[rios820]

Stopping slop and catching loose balls just comes from playing alot and being aggressive. table time, table time, table time...

Me and a buddy would just play basically as fast as we could for like an hour, (kinda like roller-ball rules) and you would be amazed how much better you get at catching loose balls and stopping slop after a week or two.
Another drill I do, is lift up the guys and put a ball on the 2rod with your left hand hit it as hard as you can (different angles, banks, etc) and with your hand on your 3rod try catching it. Sounds easy, but if you really hit the ball hard and at different angles, it is pretty tough... this is a great drill. I would see Justin Shaw doing it all the time.

[KCTrayn]

Rios is right, table time is key. Yes, being aggressive helps but it has to be at the right times. If a loose ball is bouncing off the wall past the opponent's three and into your goalie zone, this is not the time to be aggressive. You have to have a sense for where the ball will end up and have your goalie rod men tilted back and steady to catch. This is playing the percentages. I notice that if a begineer is faced with this situation, they frantically move their men in hopes of stopping it. Tuna - you can't really practice this during personal practice...the best way to get better at blocking slop and keeping the ball in your zone is playing goalie wars with someone else.

If I were asked how to block slop, I would show them how to position their men...when a loose ball is coming towards their zone, keep the men tilted back, and keep a soft grip. Have the goalie man on the corner of the goal. (A common mistake I see a lot of begineers is that they keep the goalie man tilted forward, and this causes slop to hit off the back wall, then their guy, and into the goal). When a loose ball has entered their zone, tilt the two rod men forward keeping the ball in if it were to come off the wall, and guide the ball parallel to the table rods...this is great time to be aggresive, depending on the speed of the ball of course. You want to runthe ball parallel because if you lose the ball there is a good chance the ball will deflect on the opponents 3 bar and back into your zone. Also, in this situation, the center goalie men should be tilted back and following the ball across the goal. It's tough to put this into words, but hopefully it makes sense. bottom line is that, it takes table time, and skill to block slop and keep the ball in the zone. I mean, what I said is not a golden rule whatsoever, their are times you have to switch the goalie tilt from back to forward to cut out the angle. This is learned through experience....but goalie wars is great practice for both. 

[bbtuna]

this is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for, keep it coming

good ideas on practice
* speed play
* whack and grab
* goalie wars
* lots of table time

good stuff from Chris (KCTrayn, sup dude?)...I like the angle of the men, I understood what you were saying...yea, if i could video tape Tom, I would have a perfect example of how it happens...very little slop scores on Tom, seems to me like less than anyone around here, and he traps balls in his area as well as anyone also

you can practice this by hitting hard open-handed 2 bar stuff at unusual angles becasue they will come back at you unpredicatble if you work it out right
you can also put the opposing goalie down, add a couple extra balls on the table toward the opposing goal, and do the same wild angle whack thing and you will new surprising things

still looking for more, keep it coming...ICE, any thoughts?

[Daniel]

I also heard of putting a 2 x 4 between the 5 bars and practice shooting the ball hard and then to keep the ball in your zone.

[Rob Scanlon]

i always start off by telling the new players to never ever lean or rest there weight on the rods. it never seems to sink in to fast and i keep repeating it but it is quit impossible to have fast reflexes when you have to remove your weight from the rod before moving it.
the goalie should never be static he should adjust his position constantly as the position of the ball changes, there is an optimum goalie placement from every ball position.

[gitablok]

I'll try and comment tomorrow, or should I say today. Just got h0me from shooting pool and it's 245 am , ouch. My dogs are barking,lol.


ICEMAN.

[gitablok]

I'm at a tourney so I'll see if I can get this in. Blocking slop you say huh.
 
Okay, here are my thoughts, there is some good stuff already here but not all I agree with.

The first thing I do is stand on my feet only. In other words, never ever lean on the table. This inhibits quick lateral movement of the hands. Next, as someone else said, very relaxed grip on the handles. Now I'm ready for my technique.

Against the five.
What I do is exactly what Steve Murray, Todd Loffredo, and a few others do, only I implement it a little differently. Watch Todd playing goalie for Rico and watch what he does when the opponent is passing. He brings in the guy on the two rod to block the slop angle and uses the goalie to block the square slop. I employ the same theory only I prefer to use the goalie guy to block the slop angles.

The technique.
What I do is push both guys flush against the opposite wall. Then I bring in the goalie to where the foot is basically aligned with the white line. Then I flatten out both guys or basically straight up and down. What this does is cut all slop angles. Also, if a ball comes at you from the backside, it hits the wall and bounces out without hitting the back of your man and then in the goal because the man is no longer there. The whole idea is to remain disciplined and not move. You would be surprised how well this works because you really don't have to move. Once you get used to seeing balls come at you using this technique, you will only have to make very minor adjustments, which is the beauty of this technique.

From the other side, say for a far wall pass, I place the near two rod man into the corner of the large goalie box toed down to cut the slop angles and put the goalie in like the second hole toed out. This cuts all the angles and square slop that will approach you. Once again, you don't have to move.

My forward shooting.
Men a ball with apart, in the center because if it comes at you, you only have to make a minor adjustment to either side.

One important thing, you must know where your men are without looking at them so you can concentrate on the ball as it approaches you.

For me, the most important of all, and the most made mistake in not being able to block slop.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, expect the ball to come flying at you at all times at any angle no matter where the ball is. NEVER RELAX.

Remember Luke Skywalker when he was training with Yoda and the floating laser shooting ball? Any angle, any speed, anytime.

That's the attitude you need when blocking slop. Add a little technique, then your in business.

The best tip I can give for keeping the ball in your area is to hold the man at a 45 like you are catching a pass while moving side to side without changing the catch height of the foot. You can snag a lot of balls using technique.


ICEMAN.