Topic: Reactive or proactive

[Old Meister]

The forward's job is to get inside the goalie's head and get him guessing and over reacting. Usually once this happens he's toast. So as a goalie we have options in dealing with this and turning the tables. Any smart goalie will choose the hole he wants to expose and thus protect with movements he is comfortable with. This is usually by presenting that hole as being open a higher percentage of the time than the others. Changing which hole you're presenting becomes a game in itself often in the same ball possession. Subtle hints let you know when the forward is zeroed in and that is when you change which hole is soft, before he shoots. Now some masters often are way ahead of you on this game plan and seem to perforate you regardless. That is when I switch from the reactive to the proactive. I simply stop reading him and read myself. All holes are suspect and between speed of movement, type of movement and wishful thinking I try to be unreadable. I'm only going for percentages as that's the best you can do. Tight muscles will kill you, fluid moves and creates doubt in them as long as the speeds are mixed and random. C'mon Ice, how am I doing?

[ComebackKid]

Ice can only "block you later".   As for blocking Masters, your best bet is to not pay much attention to what they are doing. If they have tells, they know it and will use it against you. Focus on what you are doing and run your "D". Knowing what hole they are most comfortable shooting helps. For instance, a pull shooter that has a great long like Tracy McMillin. Most of the time his focus is reading when the long will be open. Because I know this, I will shuffle around in the straight and middle, then dart out to the long. If he starts reading me comming out of the long, dart to the long and wiggle, but don't move out of it. This will usually get a few blocks until he adjusts. Then I change to something that "looks the same" but do something different. If he starts reading me when I dart to the long and shoots middle, then I fake moving to the long and stay middle. Like you said, it's a percentage thing. If they are really messing with me, I'll start making myself do the oposite of what I "want to do". Block like a beginner for a few posessions. Then start a different progression of defence. If you are playing a master at a draw or in the losers bracket and it's 2 out of 3, there probably isn't time to try random stuff for very long or the mach will be over before you find out what works. Tracy has given me a few tid bits that have helped tremendously. I think the best thing I would say is to "shorten the hole". What I mean is to learn to stop your 3 man goalie a little less than 1/2 a ball legnth from the edge of the goal. That way you have kept more of the goal area with a man in it. If you go all the way to the wall, you have left a much bigger split. This is kind of hard to explain without showing you on a table, but I think you can figure it out. You are also right about being fluid in your movements and not being tight.
Hope this helps!
And I'm sure Ice will chime in with something good!

[Old Meister]

I understand perfectly what your saying about 'shorten the hole' and agree. One aspect of blocking a good pull shot that I see people doing is teasing them with the straight. I need to work on that a bit more.