What sort of off-ice workout and stretching should I do as a goalie during the off-season?
I know it’s a bit more general, but because your two biggest tools as a goalie are flexibility and reflex, there are three things I think are the best things to do. 1) Plyometrics, so your fast twitch muscles are used to making frequent stop/start/burst movements 2) Yoga, for both flexibility and core strength (or ballet if you’re brave enough) 3) Handball is an excellent way to work on your hand eye coordination A good goalie-specific drill that is a handball variation is: have a helper – stand facing a wall, start about 8-10 feet away from the wall. have your helper stand behind you and bounce the ball off the wall, with you attempting to snag the ball. As you get proficient at a certain distance, decrease your distance from the wall in whatever increments you are comfortable with (down to probably 4-5 feet). This way you’ll get better at both your reaction time and your ability to read bounces. I haven’t tried it, but I have heard some folks say that once they get proficient with a
