How to Build Confidence in Lacrosse Goalies

By Coach Damon on May 21, 2018 Lacrosse Goalie, Mental Posted In: General

Confidence is everything for a lacrosse goalie.

So what exactly is confidence? To me, it’s the strong belief in your ability to execute your skills.

If you feel certain in your abilities to save the ball, you feel confident, and a confident goalie is going to stop the ball more frequently.

If you feel certain in your abilities to clear the ball, you feel confident, and your outlets and dodges become more successful.

In fact, I’d rather have a confident goalie with less natural ability than one who has mastered the technical elements of the position but lost their confidence.

Because once a goalie loses their confidence, their game goes right out the window.

In this post, I want to share some methods that lacrosse goalies can use to build their confidence.

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell introduces the principle that 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” are needed to become world-class in any field.

He gives numerous examples of professionals putting in their 10,000 hours before rising to prominence in their chosen profession. Whether it was the Beatles and music, or Bill Gates and computer programming, each put in hours and hours of deliberate practice that allowed them to succeed.

Many have debated if 10,000 is the right threshold but one thing is clear – deliberate repetition produces confidence.

How many hours of practice have you put in working on your lacrosse goalie game?

Count them. I’ll wait……Is it 10,000?

When we think about the elite lacrosse goalies of the world, some believe what they do is magic.

Magic? Nope. Repetition and practice. Yes.

Practice. Practice. Practice. Do not accept failure. And with that, the skill of self-confidence grows like a weed inside of every goalie.

Above all else, the best thing a young goalie can do to build confidence is practice.

With Experience Confidence Is Earned

As you’re practicing and practicing your goalie game, there are also experiences that you will and must go through which will earn you a badge of confidence.

There is a scene from the movie Three Kings with George Clooney where his character Major Archie Gates is talking to a soldier Conrad Vig played by Spike Jonze as they prepare to go into battle.

Archie Gates: You’re scared, right? Conrad Vig: Maybe. Archie Gates: The way it works is, you do the thing you’re scared sh**less of, and you get the courage AFTER you do it, not before you do it. Conrad Vig: That’s a dumb*** way to work. It should be the other way around. Archie Gates: I know. That’s the way it works.

So as you start out on your lacrosse goalie journey you may be scared. The shots, the nerves of the big game, your first start, the feeling of letting down your teammates. All those emotions.

Many coaches expect their new lacrosse goalies to be confident but they can’t be until the skills and emotions of playing goalie are so familiar, it’s like second nature.

When we’re in a situation that we’ve been in a hundred (or a thousand) times, self-confidence is the result.

You have to go through the thing you’re scared of first. Then you become more confident with each repetition. You get the courage AFTER you do it. Not before.

That’s a dumb*** way to work. It should be the other way around. I know, but that’s the way it works.

Start Developing Your Confidence Skill Now

One problem with the development of lacrosse goalies is that the mental game is simply not emphasized.

Many goalies start to seek out mental training exercises only AFTER they’ve lost their confidence.

Yet you don’t wait to get hurt before you start doing physical training. You don’t wait to develop a technical problem before you work on your save technique. You do them beforehand to prevent the problems.

The same thing holds true for building confidence.

The moment you start teaching your goalie the basics of making a save you should also be emphasizing the mental game and building confidence.

Because every goalie will go through a slump where confidence dips and its best to have a solid base on which to recover.

So as soon as day one start working mental exercises to build a young goalie’s confidence.

Gradually Build a Goalie’s Confidence

If you’re a coach concerned with building your goalie’s confidence, understand that in the very beginning you’re building a house of cards.

And throwing them right into a full speed and difficult shooting drill is a quick way to ensure those cards come toppling down.

A simple way to improve confidence is to start with something easy.

NBA star Steph Curry is famous for his warmup routines but he always begins with a few easy shots. Watching the ball go through the net, building his rhythm, and gaining confidence in his shooting ability.

Same goes for us lacrosse goalies and its the reason our warmup is so important. We start with a few easy shots, watch the ball right into our stick, build our rhythm, and gain confidence in our save abilities.

Then we can step into full speed drills and shots with confidence.

Positive Self-Talk is the Road to Confidence

We all have a self-talk tape that plays in our head. What does yours say?

For many goalies, that track is laced with negative statements.

I’m not quick enough

I should have saved that last one

I’m letting my team down by not making saves

I can’t play at the varsity level

That loss was my fault

My teammates think I’m a bad goalie

I can’t see the shots coming at me clearly

There are enough people in the world who will tell you “you can’t do it” and “you’re no good”. Why would you want to tell YOURSELF that?

We know for a fact that our thoughts influence our actions.

So why would we want that negative self-talk track playing in our heads? Negatively influencing our actions. Negatively influencing our goalie play.

A lacrosse goalie needs positive self-affirmations. A positive track that plays in our heads.

When you hear self-affirmations perhaps your mind goes to Al Franken’s Saturday Night Live character Stuart Smalley –

But let me introduce another great self-affirmation that perhaps you’ve all heard –

I am the greatest! – Muhammed Ali

If you don’t say it, if you don’t believe it, it won’t happen.

Years later Muhammed Ali admitted to using that self-affirmation before even knowing if it was true. But him saying that self-affirmation to himself over and over definitely helped it become true.

So as a goalie, pick your self-affirmation – (“I’m a lightning quick ball stopper!”), say it and believe it. Fill your mind with positive and healthy thoughts.

What’s your mantra? Would love to hear your positive self-affirmation down below in the comments.

Body Language – Walk the Walk

If the section above is “talk the talk”, then this section is “walk the walk”. In addition to what we say verbally, we also need to pay attention to our non-verbal communication.

When I’m observing a practice or a game from a distance I can often tell very quickly which lacrosse goalies have confidence and which do not.

It’s communicated in their body language. It’s the way they walk. It’s the way they carry themselves. It’s the way they interact with their teammates. It’s the way they check their posts. It’s the way they handle giving up goals.

If your body language is down, your thoughts and feelings will be negative. If your body is up, your thoughts and feelings will be positive. Walking the walk involves moving with your head high, chin up, eyes forward, shoulders back, arms swinging, and a bounce in your step.

You look and move like a winner.

When you walk the walk, not only are you telling yourself that you’re confident, but you’re also communicating confidence to your teammates and your opponents.

Your teammates gain confidence from you and your opponents gain frustration as there is nothing more discouraging than scoring a few times on a goalie and yet still seeing him/her pumped up, positive, motivated, and CONFIDENT!

Conclusion

Confidence might be the most important thing a lacrosse goalie can learn. Because without it, it’s pretty hard to stop shots.

Through repetition and by going through different experiences lacrosse goalies can learn and earn confidence. Unfortunately, it does take that experience to become confident.

Confidence is a fragile thing that can be lost quickly in a bad stretch so building confidence and mental toughness is something that should be taught from day one so goalie’s build a solid base.

Finally, becoming confident has a lot to with the communication to yourself. Both verbal and non-verbal, watch what you’re saying and make sure it’s only positive.

Until next time! Coach Damon

How do you build confidence in your goalie?