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Scientists Uncover Key to Hockey Goalie Success

livescience.com — Scientists in Canada have discovered the exact spots hockey goalies need to watch to successfully block shots. The researchers say these findings could help goalies improve even if they are already playing at an elite level.

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dustedbunny 1 year 353 days ago, made popular 1 year 352 days ago

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lava, on 10/12/2007, -34/+3boobies!
- dustedbunny, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14If you read the article you'd realize that boobies are indeed not the key to goalie success. sorry.
- lava, on 10/12/2007, -22/+2yeah, I know. Its just that when I clicked on this story there were no comments on it. It was like a blank canvas, and what's better to put on a blank canvas than boobies?
  
  Plus I was wondering how many people read Fark here.
- xtmno3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Enough people here read Fark to know why it should not become Fark.
- Hurricane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1HOW MANY TIMES do we have to see an article on Digg about the goalie study?
  I have read at least 5 stories linked from Digg about how scientists have figured out the most efficient areas of the goal to guard.
procdaddy, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2Leave scientists out of hockey, please.
- there4iam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Pfft! Scientists! What do they know?
  
  But just once I'd like to see a team do the really fat goalie idea.
- procdaddy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8My dad was always for putting a sumo wrestler in the net.
- jatlasb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@there4iam
  
  have you seen Martain Brodeur? Not a FAT guy per se, but he's pretty big. 6'2'', 215 lbs...
  
  Anyways, a fat goalie wouldn't be much help. A guy who can cover a lot of net is good, but what happens if instead of shooting, the other team pass for a one timer? Guy's out of position, and too slow to make the save.
  
  Goalies have to be as athletic as ANY other sport. Think about it: the pads they wear weigh about 45-60 lbs, all told, and these guys have to be QUICK.
- Pogue_Mahone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually, goalie pads haven't weight 45-60lbs for about 15 years, at least. At most pro goalies are packing 20-30lbs of equipment, possibly less. I played goal up until age 17, and my bag would weigh easily 60 lbs at the end of a game. I've kept track of goalie gear over time since then (roughly 12 years) and the difference is night and day. I would have played 10x better if I could have used the equipment from today back then.
  
  That's not to take away from today's goalies - the demands put on a hockey goalie are certainly unique in pro sports, and I personally think there's no position in any other major sport (North American) that requires as much pure athletic-quickness (not to mention mental toughness) as the hockey goalie. That said, equipment improvement over the last 20 years has made it a MUCH easier position to play.
Desolite, on 10/12/2007, -13/+9Nobody can score on... GOLLLLLLLLLDBERRRRRRRG, THE GOOOOOOOALIE!!!

unless, of course, they know how to shoot a knuckle puck.
dementia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Summary: Look at the puck
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6This is about as useful as those rediculous studies you hear about like "Men think about sex all the time." Duh!
- KnightMareInc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The findings were detailed online Oct. 16 via the journal Human Movement Science.
  
  yeah lets hope the details are alot more than look at the puck
- Pogue_Mahone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This study was talked about on CBC radio, and they interview the Calgary Flames' goalies Jamie McLennan and Mikka Kipprusoff. McLennan's response was, "Yeah - and to be a better driver, watch the road." while Kipprusoff's was, "They told me that when I was 5."
  
  It's interesting to see the scientific method applied to hockey, but the result of the study is painfully obvious.
lebe0024, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12The secret to any goalie's success is simple: be French Canadian.
- themarq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Hasek, Kirprusoff...
  
  What part of Quebec are those guys from? : )
- enivid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Soviet Canuckistan
- nfph, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Miller, Turco, Lehtonen, Vokoun, Fernandez...
- jatlasb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All "This is really obvious" stuff aside...I'm not sure what this is talking about. Did they just have a guy shooting at the goalie from a given spot? A situation where a shooter is stationary and shooting at a goalie with out any kind of pressure is almost unheard of in an actual game of hockey.
  
  As a goalie, I'm pretty sure that advising somebody stare at a puck for a second is pretty much useless information in an actual game situation.
  
  Where were the shots taken from? Most of the time you don't even have a second to decide where the shot is going. You only have that much time on the huge wind-up of a slapshot--whicch are what a defenseman uses from the point. And slapshots aren't the most accurate shots anyways.
  
  . Forwards usually use quick wrist or snap shots, and unless you're already in posistion, you're NEVER going to respond fast enough to catch the puck. You can get a good wrist shot of in a half second or less, easy.
  
  When the puck is moving, it's another thing altogether. Dekes and speed and such make those kinds of fakes mean you can't stare at the puck.
  
  And then there's traffic in the slot. Staring a the puck and knowing where it will be don't help you much if it's redirected along the way.
  
  This paper is seriously dugg down. It doesn't just tell you things that are obvious...it tells you things that are USELESS in an actual game.
- ashchristopher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe if you read the article... *sigh* nevermind. I guess if it isnt in the description...
blackgold9, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4And scientists sat down to study this?
- there4iam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13You're surprised?
  
  You must not have seen the "scientist disproves vampires" article yesterday . . .
rude1979us, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Keep your eye on the puck?!?! That is the "exciting" new research?? Pee-wee coaches have been saying that since the dawn of time. Sounds like a waste of grant money to me.
jgreene777, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Now that they have the important stuff out of the way, maybe they'll have time to work on things like Cancer and Diabetes...
answer42, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1What about having a really fat goalie. I'm talking like 450 pounds. He could block the whole net with just his fat ass.
- 8177, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ya but the pads are only allowed to be like 8 inches wide. He wouldn't last two minutes against a frozen hunk of rubber traveling at 100mph.
moovitz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2It HAD to be a Canadian to find this out! XD. We've got hockey down to a science now.
Barlo_Mung, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Great. Now the games will be even lower scoring and less exciting.
- jatlasb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dude, have you seen the latest hockey games? teams getting 4-8 goals a game. It's absurd.
  
  Anyways, one shouldn't judge ice hockey by its appearence on TV. It's not a game that shows up well on the small screen, since a lot of the important things happen away from the puck. (defensive coverage, goalie screens, open passing lanes, penalties, ect.)
  
  It's a game you have to play to appreciate. I imagine the same holds true for most sports. Baseball is a great example: Probably a lot of fun to play, but I can't stand to watch it on TV.
  
  But that's just me.
- ashchristopher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Like you should be complaining about Hockey. In football you get 6 points for a touchdown. WTF? Does making the score higher make it more exciting?
  
  Does 18-12 really sound more exciting than 3-2?
fnaqzna, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Gawd, I hope Dan Cloutier sees this.
- rohcky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5For the sake of the Islanders, I hope DiPietro read this.
- cprincipe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And Andy Raycroft.
brianjlowry, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1As a goalie, the "secret key" to success is watching the puck?

This and more startling information from the scientific journal "Common Sense".
doorock42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This sort of reminds me of the whole "gun kata" thing in _Equilibrium_.
Kniggit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Or, put another way, this is just a blueprint in the future for goalscorers to aim in places OTHER than those suggested in the article.
SugeKnight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, if I'm going to listen to anybody about goal tending, I woul dnot listen to scientists, I would listen to Patrick Roy. The man created the butterfly stance and he is the father of mdern goaltending. Also, do scientists realize that there are so many factors that go into goaltending, other than shooting the puck. What about the angle a goalie comes at you from? A lot easier said than done!
- mortigon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The butterfly is a save, not a stance. Either way, Roy was good.
smozoma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The reason they found that the goalies were looking at the puck for a whole second before it was shot is because the goalies can tell where the shot is going before it even leaves the stick, subconsciously, by the motion of the player and stick (or something.. I'm really not sure how it works!).

When I was playing goalie, the hardest time I ever had was when a player on my team forgot his stick for a practice and used someone else's stick that was the wrong hand for him.. I couldn't tell at all where the puck was going when he was shooting. It's also hard to stop a shot when the player fans on the shot, because you start moving to stop the shot the player intended to make, put the puck goes somewhere else (usually between your legs along the ice).
gordie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0As a couple others noted, watching the puck is only a small part of it. Learning to play position is number 1. Otherwise you get to watch very clearly as the puck goes by you. Not that it isn't important, but players will take advantage of goalies that focus on the puck alone.
redsox32, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yea and when the golies is so focused then one of his own, or the other teams, players skates in front of him, it can totally throw him off. Also, faking can mess up the goalie and get him flustered. Also, Be french Canadian, last i checked Dominik is Czech and he's the best in the buisness besides Brodour.
jenp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0LOL. wow weve come along way! keep ur eye on the puck is a "newly found" formula to the goalies success. i got this memo on peekamo a while back. i wonder whi funded the research?
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Scientists Uncover Key to Hockey Goalie Success

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