Shutout School

Life as a professional hockey player with SCHC

Hi Guys,

Having been in Holland training and playing with SCHC for the past month I thought now it would be a good time to give a summary of what has been going on so far.

I arrived on the 1^st of September following a great tournament in Paris with the national team not knowing what quite to expect from my move to Utrecht.

My very first impressions were great. The people are all so welcoming and friendly and my team mates are all top guys which is always nice to have.

Preseason was a short one for me as the guys had been training hard almost every day of the week from the beginning of August. Even though it was short I still managed to have pre season games against some second division teams (Overganklasse) in Holland and managed to venture to Belgium thanks to my TomTom to play against some premiership (Hoofdklasse) sides in that league for much needed match practice as a team.

Our weekly schedule is quite a heavy one especially if you are a GK!

Monday: is a designated day off but is to be used as a gym and fitness day.

Tuesday: we train in the morning from 10am-12pm then a GK session from 12:30pm-1:30pm.

Wednesday: we train twice from 4pm-6pm and then again from 8pm-10pm/

Thursday: we train attacking PCs and it is also a designated fitness and gym day.

Friday: we train again twice from 4pm-6pm and then from 8pm-10pm.

Saturday: is a day off ahead of game day on Sundays but we sometimes use it to fine tune our PCA again.

Sundays: are match days where all games in the Hoofdklasse start at 2:45pm.

After this the cycle continues and one week begins where the other one finished up! So all in all I may be on the turf about 8 times a week….

I am currently living with Conor my twin brother who has also been contracted by SCHC which is pretty cool in our own beautiful apartment which is quite small but in a lovely area and close to the club.

4 games down so far with 2 wins and 2 losses! Results are very hard to come by over here so I am quite pleased with 6 points already!!

Don’t be afraid to get in touch with me on davey@shutoutschool.com anytime with any questions or your own updates from your matches!!

Big Dave

Alright Folks, we are back after our extended summer.

we’ll be back with a more articles and training ideas this season. starting off here’s an article from Big Dave, now a full time pro at SCHC in holland.

anyone anew news or requests for us?

Great day yesterday, hopefully everyone had fun! the pictures are up on the facebook page and i’ll get some flipcam video up later!

hopefully everyone went home with newly developed skills?

First SOS 2010 event over! thanks to those who attended the Ulster clinic.
good day i think all will agree… even though we did get 4 seasons in one day!
posting the pictures later

This is a chance that should not be missed!

Shutout School coming to Ulster, Munster and Leinster.

We will be at Banbridge on the 15th of February, The Kings Hospital on the 17th of February and Bandon Grammar School on the 19th of February.

Sign up now by e mailing info@shutoutschool.com

Name

Age

Gender

Which Clinic you wish to Attend

School

Club

Contact details.

Looking forward to hearing from you!!

Back to Basics

Footwork….

A task or necessity?

Personally I believe it is not only a necessity but can be great fun if performed and coached in the most desirable way.

Footwork exercises range from very basic to very challenging. But let it be known that what ever standard of a goalkeeper, even the goalkeepers at the highest level are in need of concrete basics and still train these basic footwork exercises.

The main aims of these exercises are to improve the speed of the goalkeepers’ feet and in doing so increasing the speed of movement around the circle.

Along with this training footwork aids in minimising the width the feet are apart from each other in order to reduce any chance of the dreaded ‘Nutmeg’!

Footwork is like a string to a bow is it so important. As mundane as many goalkeepers see footwork as it is something that should be trained every time you walk onto that turf.

It can be even done when you are not on the hockey turf too. Find some free space in a gym, sports hall or even your back garden and that is perfectly adequate to perform many footwork exercises and drills

Use of ladders, hurdles, cones and even skipping ropes can add to improving the footwork of a goalkeeper.

Goalkeepers can perform these exercises fully kitted or not in pads, individually or with a feeder in the aim of a save as the end result of a footwork exercise.

There are 100s of exercises out there, find ones you like and think are a challenge.

Let us know what you think of Footwork and do you think it is important or not?

Baseline Defence

This is a very important area of the D for a goalkeeper to handle and understand!

There are 2 types of baseline attacks that can occur: 1. Static and 2. Dynamic entry.

A static entry is one where there are numerous defenders and attackers in the D. The goalkeeper here works closely with the Sweeper or whichever free defender there is to create either a double tackle or the Sweeper makes a tackle on the ‘T-Point’. This is where the line of the D joins up with the baseline.

This point is the best area for a Sweeper to make a tackle as it is at the widest possible angle for the attacker and it is outside the D. From here the covering defenders inside the D are tightly man marking the attackers and working with the goalkeeper if the Sweeper is beaten.

It is up to the goalkeeper to then make the his/her decision to advance towards the attacker using a standing block or preferably a sliding block really limiting and closing down the attackers options.

A dynamic entry is one where the attacking team are on a counter attack. Here the attacker is 1 v 1 with the Sweeper with others covering back but too far away to aid the situation.

The main thing firstly is the goalkeepers communication and instructing the Sweeper to keep him wide and Shepard him towards the baseline not allowing the attacker to cut back in-field.

Now the Sweeper and goalkeeper work together in double teaming the attacker, squeezing him towards the baseline. Here the goalkeeper advances to the attacker and smothers the ball. Hopefully the Sweeper is watching that the ball doesn’t hit their feet, pick up the loose ball and advance from there. The Sweeper must not get too close to the attacker but yet their presence should be felt from the ball carrier.

Main skills for the goalkeeper are: Good clear communication, correct sliding block technique for both left and right sides and good decision making which does come with experience whether to stay up, slide out or stay by your post.

I have always said that the Best Defenders don’t always have to make tackles!!

Let us know what you think and share any of your experiences you have had in this area?

Check out the clip below for a couple of examples

Folks, the shutout school website is now up and running.

www.shutoutschool.com

David at DHD has done a fantastic job.

there are a few we problems with internet explorer compatibility but we are working on that!

let us know what you think or what you would like to see?

The infamous Right Hand Protector (RHP) from Tk. The glove some say OBO chose to model their new RHP on…..

It’s unconventional shape is what makes this glove so special and at the same time deter some keepers away from using it as it’s not ‘the standard shape’ of a RHP.

I believe it offers a lot more than the normal RHP. Its larger shape is of massive benefit to the goal keeper from reflex saves (allowing that added bit of foam not on the typical RHP to get that vital touch), overall shot stopping and in particular saving dragflicks.

When using it for saving shots it has fantastic rebound and so allows extra clearance from those hard struck shots while giving you great protection of the hand. When using this the angle at which you hold your stick must be altered slightly to allow for the unusual shape.

The main talking point is for when a goal keeper ‘logs’ ( I prefer the term becomes an ‘Active Barrier’) for a straight strike at penalty corners. When using this RHP to save a straight strike the glove places itself onto it’s side almost, allowing the stick to extend straight with NO interference and no angling of the stick. This is a big fear and concern for goal keepers who have not used it before.

Now to this RHP’s speciality: Using it to save Dragflicks. I have found this glove brilliant at corner time. Combining the large shape and great rebound but also having fantastic control to help the goal keeper direct the ball out of the danger zone. Also when diving to save flicks it gives me great confidence knowing its extra ‘surface area’ is there.

A lot of keepers world wide from the English keeper Nick Brothers (using Mercian pads) choosing this Tk RHP to many goal keepers in the Dutch Hoofdklasse who choose to use this RHP and Tk’s LHP over their sponsored companies hand protectors. This for me again backs up the quality of this glove.

However like all gloves there are some weak points if a ball is hit at a ferocious pace but nothing to cause too much worry or harm to the goal keeper.

Lets take a look back over the development of the RHP.

From the Cane gloves :

To the Padded Gauntlet:

Have your say….

What RHP do you have and tell us all about it, don’t be shy?