Setting the Goalie Stance

One of the MLL’s longest-standing keepers, Mike Gabel was an original member of the Chicago Machine and spent 2011 with the Rochester Rattlers. The co-founder of True Lacrosse, a camp and club team company aimed at expanding lacrosse in the Midwest and beyond, Gabel talks about a goalie’s stance as the most important building block of his game

01: The Basics

A) Lower Body

Your stance starts from the ground and works its way up. Start with your feet positioned, balanced slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. As a goalie, be in attack mode, ready to move to a ball thrown at any position on the goal. Coaches often tell players to bend their knees and keep their weight on the balls of their feet; it’s not that simple. Don’t just have your knees in front of your body, because this only transfers your weight to the front of your feet — keep your chest leaning back, creating a passive posture. Keep your knees slightly bent and your hips pushed back so your upper body moves forward in your stance, propelling you into attack mode.

B) Upper Body

It’s important to realize that much of your body weight is between your hips and shoulders; if you lean too far forward, it can drastically affect how you attack the ball and can lead to poor habits. When evaluating your stance, you want your upper-body weight somewhat forward so you’re ready to move toward the shot.

02: Hand Positioning

A) Hands on Your Stick

Your hand and arm placement can either reward your efforts with a save or have you fighting against your body and equipment to get to the ball. Some new goalies hold their sticks in ways that don’t complement the effort they’re putting into their stances. You want to get to the ball as fast as you can and control it after your stick makes contact. One of the primary functions of your stick is saving the ball, so your top hand should be as close to the throat of the head as possible while gripping the stick in your fingers, away from the center of your palm.

A lot of goalies keep their bottom hands just below their top hands, allowing them a lot of speed but little control over their sticks. Others keep their bottom hands far from their top hands, limiting speed and range of motion but allowing for control if they get to the ball. Balance is usually the answer. Separate your hands relative to your body type and arm length. There are two helpful ways to determine a good distance: keep your hands waist-length apart, or leave your top hand at the throat and hold the shaft against your forearm, placing your bottom hand at your elbow. Put a piece of tape there to create the muscle memory until it comes naturally.

B) Hands in Your Stance

Most goalies start off keeping their hands and elbows in close to their bodies — focus on keeping your hands out, away from your chest. Make saves in front of your body, not in tight like you’ve got alligator arms. The goal is ensuring a free range of motion that will help you not only eliminate wasted movement but also prevent issues like getting your stick caught in your equipment or jersey.

03: Stick Positioning

A) Keep the plane of your stick flat

It’s important to understand that any time you start tilting your stick, it immediately looks smaller to the shooter. Goalies should present their sticks out in front, as big as possible to pose an obstacle to shooters. I have a saying when coaching: “don’t break the glass,” meaning “imagine there’s a thin vertical piece of glass in front of you — don’t tilt your stick forward or backward enough to break the glass.”

B) Keep your hands up

How tall you are should determine your stick placement, but ideally you’ll want the lip of your stick parallel with the crossbar. If you’re a younger or shorter goalie, don’t jeopardize your stance to reach the crossbar — keep your top hand up about as high as your eyes.