The Complete Box Lacrosse Goalie Manual

PART I

A book for beginners to coaches;

and a little something for everyone in between.

By Laurent Gagnier

Table of contents

Part I Introduction

Part II Acknowledgements 

Part III Equipment

Part IV Stance and angles

Part V M.A.S.S. and A.C.E.

Part I Introduction

    In 1982, I was 17 years old and I got play in 12 regular season games and two playoff games for the Gloucester 

Griffin’s Jr. B club. At best I was a decent back up who was distracted by your usual teenage interest: girls, cars 

and jobs. That was pretty much the pinnacle of my box lacrosse career. Almost 25 years later, when my middle 

child started playing lacrosse as a goalie, a lot of fond memories came back to me and I sought out some older 

players where I was able to suit up and let some lovers of the game take some shots on me. I’m currently still 

playing pick up modified master rules lacrosse out of Gloucester and I am a far better goalie then I ever was as a 

youth!

    As I got more and more involved in minor with my boys, I was reminded that the amount of material dedicated to goaltending in box lacrosse is very limited. This is not a new phenomenon! During the 1982 season we travelled to Orangeville or Huntsville, I don’t quite remember which, but I do remember they were one of the top scoring clubs in the Jr. B circuit. I got the tap to start the game and for the first two periods we shut out the highest scoring squad in the province. We were up 12-0 going into the third period. Then something unexpected happened; the defense relaxed and started allowing left shooters to take underhand shots un-challenged from outside the 25’ line. Before the 6 minute mark of the third period, the lead had slipped to 12-7. I faked an equipment issue and while the trainer messed about with my leg guard I asked the coach what I was doing wrong... He answered: “I don’t know, get back in the net and stop the ball”. Well maybe not in those exact words but that is how I remember it!

    Suffice to say, in 1982 we goalies were on our own, and not much has changed in 2010. So I took it upon 

myself to create an accessible manual for players and coaches alike. I have been speaking with many old 

timers, friends other masters players my coaching colleagues and pretty much anyone who will listen; much of 

this manual is derived from those discussions.

A few Key thoughts for you to keep in mind as you read through this book:

• There is no right or wrong as long as it works for you! You will find throughout the manual I strive to phrase instructions in the positive. Do vs. do not. Although there really is no right or wrong there are some universal truths to box lacrosse goal-tending which no goalie I have ever met has ever disputed! There are not too many and I will point them out. Other than those, this book should be used as a guide so that coaches and goalies can find the best practices that work for them.
• You can’t change your size, fit yourself for safety! Too often I have seen minor goalies dressed in equipment which fits within “sizing rules” but the equipment is simply too big. Oversized equipment can be dangerous for your goalie. It inhibits movement, and opens gap in the armor which, with an unlucky shot, can lead to an injury. If you have a player willing to be that guy who will stand in the net, make sure you protect them with the properly sized equipment, teach them the whole game. Yes, stopping the ball is the primary job of a goalie. However in your average 60 minutes of play, less than 25 shots on net is the average. If you consider 25 seconds for a shot to develop (passes between players) that’s less than 15 minutes a goalie spends positioning for and stopping shots. What do you do for the other 45 minutes of game play? Regardless of age or of size, prep your player for when he will grow into the position.
• Practice as you play, coaches protect your goalies with this philosophy! You should encourage your players to practice hard so they will play hard, they should shoot to score but if your goalie is involved in the drill the shot should come as it would in a games as well. Warm up is not a time for shooters to tweak their sticks: that is what wall ball is for! Shooting practice is not a time to see how hard you can shoot with your toes on the edge of the crease: that is what wall ball is for! Learning under hands and side arms is not part of pre-practice loosening up: that is what wall ball is for! (Are you seeing a theme?) Younger goalies are easily taught to fear the ball (mainly because of getting hurt by a shot they did not see). Only through good floor management can you ensure your goalie does not develop a fear of the ball. Why? Because it is a hundred times harder to learn not to fear than it is to learn to fear! Have your shooters challenged (a defender between the shooter and the goalie or have the shooter pursued) as they would be in a game. Your goalies will improve and your shooters will know how to deal with game situations.
• I don’t cover the “Rules” in this manual, I’m not a referee and I won’t pretend to know all the rules but there are four you need to know as a goalie (the specifics of these rules can vary based on the governing body):
• The 5 second rule, once a player gains control of the ball in the crease, they have 5 seconds to get it out. Either by a pass or by stepping out of the crease.
• Masters players, there is a 5 second rule for all players which states that you can only hold the ball in your stick for 5 seconds. This runs concurrently with the 5 second get it out of the crease rule!
• Back in, once the ball has left the crease it cannot be passed back in to the crease nor can a player carry the ball back into the crease if they have possession of it outside the crease (some younger ages it is permitted to go back in once per possession)
• 10 second rule, if a team is penalized, it has only 10 seconds to get to the opposing teams zone. If you use the whole 5 seconds in a. it does not leave a lot of time to get out of your zone.
• Defenseless player. A goalie cannot come out of his crease to hit a player who is running to catch a break out pass. That player is deemed defenseless and cannot prepare himself to the impact. Frankly if it is not a rule in your jurisdiction, just don’t do it. In this author’s opinion, it is an attempt to injure and that is not part of my lacrosse philosophy.

Part  II  Acknowledgements

    I would like to thank the Gloucester Lacrosse Association for allowing me to use floor time and the use of 

jerseys and goalie equipment for the photographs included in this manual, to Nhu Tang, who did all the page 

layouts, to my goalie buddies, the Renegades and Akwesasne Masters players for always being willing to tell me 

how they scored on me, the photographers: Adam McLelland, Sabrina Thorpe, Paula Brand. I also want to thank 

the many children who participated in the photo shoot and for being part of this project.

Special thanks go to Rob Reynolds who authored the section on goalie attributes: physical and mental and who acted as my primary editor.

Part III Equipment

    Goalie equipment changes frequently, this section is not intended to declare the rules of goalie equipment but 

to ensure that goalies are equipped properly. Please refer to the CLA and appropriate provincial body for exact 

sizing rules and measurements. Some brands may be visible in the photos but this is not an endorsement of that 

product. It was simply the equipment the kids were wearing at that time.

As a general rule, goalies require at a minimum the following equipment:

• Helmet: Hockey Goalie, CSA approved lacrosse helmet, CSA approved hockey helmet. My personal preference is a helmet designed for goalies, either hockey or Lacrosse, as they are built to distribute the impact across the whole face. The others are good but typically will only distribute impact across the forehead and chin.
• Throat protector, use the system intended for your preferred helmet, the D shaped ones which are attached to the cage work well. Avoid the narrow baseball catchers design. I recommend the team invest in a spare for the trainer’s kit although designed to take a beating they are also designed to break at a point to help absorb the impact if it is too great.
• Uppers: incorporate chest protection and arm guards. This is where most coaches go wrong in the sizing. A Lacrosse goalie has to handle the ball and they have to handle it very well. If the shoulder pads are too large the goalie will not be able to get his stick above his shoulders to catch and pass the pass with any accuracy nor any distance. More importantly this is the piece of equipment that can endanger a goalie! Oversized uppers leave gaps at the collar bone, at the arm pit and at the elbow. These gaps expose un-protected skin and bone to direct contact with the lacrosse ball. From Peewee and up there is no such thing as a light shot in lacrosse. Unless a shot is interfered with in some way, the velocity of the ball can do damage to unprotected flesh.
• Goalie Jock: a goalie jock offers extra protection for the lower abdomen which is not protected by the uppers or the pants.
• Goalie pants. Hockey pants would be acceptable for most house league applications, however in higher divisions and in competitive play goalie pants which are designed for box lacrosse are best. These should cover the kidneys at the back and end just past the top of the knee cap at the front
• Leg guards. Make sure you have leg guards designed for box lacrosse. The top of the pad should be ¼ of the way up the upper leg and cover the toes completely. Most goalies wrap tape around the toe guards and the foot to keep the leg guards from spinning on the leg.
• Shoes. Running shoes are definitely a must. Tales abound about broken toes and lost toe nails. Personally, never happened to me. Never happened to anyone I know. But everyone I know has a story about a bloody running shoe after a nasty shot on the toes. My son wears safety (in Ontario they are labeled with a green diamond) running shoes with steel toes and steel shanks. These are not required wear but if you are concerned about losing a toe nail or treading on a broken toe, this type of protection can help. I still wear a good set of basketball high tops or court shoes with good traction and trust the leg guards to do their job.
• Gloves. Look for gloves designed for a box lacrosse goalie. A box lacrosse goalies hands are mainly used for stick control, passing and catching.

HERE IS THE FIRST UNIVERSAL TRUTH: NEVER CATCH A SHOT WITH YOUR HAND! There is

absolutely no padding on the inside of a lacrosse goalie glove. It is not intended to be a trapper. Catching a shot is a good way to break bones in your hand and end your lacrosse season!

• Stick. There are basically 4 kinds of goalie sticks available at the time this book is being written.
• Classic Wooden

• Field style
  
• Plastic triangle
  
• Carbon triangle

    A note on stick choice: this is really a personal preference and each stick has advantages and disadvantages. 

Size, weight, durability and cost are all factors in stick choice. The classic wooden stick is my favorite, they 

typically are the most durable, however, it is the heaviest, the most difficult to tune and maintain. At the other end 

of the spectrum is the Field Style which is the lightest, easiest to maintain and the easiest to tune.

Part IV Stance and Angles

Stance

Stance is a very personal thing and will change with regards to stick position, off hand location, and other subtleties 

as a goalie develops.

The basic stance from the ground up:

Feet shoulder width apart leaning slightly forward on the balls of your feet will give you the best maneuverability in the crease.

THE SECOND UNIVERSAL TRUTH: STAY ON YOUR FEET! Maximize the amount of net you can cover at any point in

 time and maximize your maneuverability. Quite simply, you cover more net on your feet and once you are on your 

knees, you are conceding all other shots to be without a goalie.

Above are a Bantam, a paper weight and Novice goalies. Notice how the Bantam becomes the same size as the paper weight when he drops to his knees.

Knees should be slightly bent.

Hips should be above your feet.

Chest slightly forward to create a “cup” which helps a goalie control rebounds. Hand and arm holding the stick, the elbow should be tight to the body. The head of the stick should rest on the floor three (8 cm) to six inches (15 cm) ahead of your toes.

• Note- typically goalies hold the stick in the basic stance with the hand that would be the top hand if he were to pass the ball overhand. This allows for the swiftest transition from ball recovery, to passing stance, to executing a pass. Some goalies do the opposite and learn to transition to a throwing position with the stick hand at the bottom but it typically means that the entire stick has to cross the goalies body.

The stick, the head as descried above should rest on the floor three (8 cm) to six inches (15 cm) ahead of your toes. The shaft is held as near to the base of the head as is comfortable. Your grip should be relaxed. The shaft should pass between your elbow and your body with a lever point at the arm pit. The end of the shaft comes out behind the shoulder.

• Traditional wooden sticks, triangle plastic and composite heads have the benefit that the top of the head is parallel to the floor and you can use the shape of the head to keep the stick from spinning in your hand.
• Field style plastic heads which younger players and NLL goalies use have a disadvantage in that the round nature of the head means that there is less surface area making contact with the floor when the stick head rest too far back in the stance. It is imperative when you have a young goalie (who will prefer this style as it is typically lighter, less expensive and easier to pass and catch with) to emphasize that stick head must rest ahead of the toes. This will minimize the amount of spin potential in the goalies hands. Older goalies with more hand strength may overcome this through brute force, but I never could.

Off hand (or the hand that does not hold the stick) is used to help orient the goalie between the posts and to help block shots. The hand can be positioned above the waist making a triangle of the upper arm, lower arm and the inside of the body (Triangle) or a goalie may choose to hold the hand below the waist and tight to the body making him wider (Bar). The other choice is to have the arm slightly off the body and use that arm more actively in reacting to shots (Loose).

A word of caution on the last option; a common mistake in lacrosse goal tending is not moving then entire body to block a shot. If the triangle or the bar is encouraged for starting goalies, they are more likely to learn the good habits of moving your feet and meeting a shot with as much body as possible. The loose style tends to encourage a goalie to move just the arm; which by definition will always cover less net then the whole body.

One final note on the off hand: The palm of the glove has no padding! For: Triangle, Bar or Loose off hand style, the back of the hand must face the shooters!

Basic Angles

When working with your goalies whether they are beginners or advanced, all goalies should learn these 5 angles.

• Position 1 and 5: hip should be against the post and shoulders should be square to the ball carrier.

• Position 2 and 4: ½ step off the post towards position 3. The goalie’s nose should line up to where the hockey blue line meets the boards. The goalie should still be able to reach the post at arm’s length.

• Position 3: Goalie’s shoulders should be square to two lines on either side of the center floor face off circle

    Goalies should practice movement from position to position until they can move through them without thinking. 

Movements between the 5 points are your starting positions as the play moves up the floor to the net you are 

defending or as the ball is moved around the house. In your basic stance you still need to be aware of the actual 

shooter. Within the arc of the five angles a shooters position can change and will vary in distance and from left to 

right. So a goalie needs to make those adjustments literally inches at a time within the position/angle arch. When 

the ball moves from one angle arch to another the goalies moves to the corresponding position 1,2,3,4 or 5. If a 

ball carrier stays in an angle arch long enough the goalie may make the slight adjustments described in “playing 

the stick” in the advanced techniques section.

Part V M.A.S.S. And ACE

    There are a number of different kinds of shots a goalie will face in Lacrosse. Unlike any other sport a lacrosse 

goalie has to deal with the multiple angles of approach… The ball can come from over the players shoulder (top 

down), from a side arm (level) and underhand (bottom up). Incorporate a bounce and a spin and the number of 

different shots a goalie can face becomes staggering. Remember how I said you can’t change your size? This is 

how a lacrosse goalie gets bigger: M.A.S.S:

• Move your entire body so the ball hits your center line. (the vertical line that is drawn from your nose to your belly button to between your toes)
• Attack the ball with your body. Especially on bounce shots; a goalie moving forward on a bounce shot reduces the effectiveness of the bounce and spin.
• Shift between angles as the ball moves from one attacker to another
• Stay on your feet! Another would be A.C.E.

🟃 Align your shoulders with the shooter to cover your angles.

🟃 Concentrate on the players positions around the crease to see potential shooters.

🟃 Explode on the shot.