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.