Goalie Communication

One of the most important jobs of a goalie is to communicate with his defense. There are some basic calls that a goalie should know and his defense should understand at the intermediate level. When making these calls, the goalie needs to be loud and commanding as he is the quarterback or captain of the defense.

A goalie should call out where the ball is at all times. The different positions on the field are top-center, top-left, top-right, left-wing, right-wing, right-pipe, left-pipe, back-left, back-right, and X. A goalie needs to make these calls so all the defensemen know exactly where the ball is without looking at it.

Another call that the goalie has to make is “hold”. The hold call is made as an attackman drives up to goal line extended so that the defenseman can turn his hips and make the attackman inside roll. If you drew a line from where the two bottom pipes meet in the back of the net, which form the v of the goal, and you drew a line from the tip of that v to the sidelines. This is the line at which goalies should make the hold call so defensemen have time to react and adjust by the time attackmen drive to goal line extended.

The last call that is important for goalies to make at this level is the check call. Anytime a pass is thrown towards the middle or any time a feed is made to someone who can take a shot, the goalie should call out “check” so that his defense knows to check the hands of the player receiving the pass. For an intermediate level goalie, these are the important calls that need to be made. A young goalie needs to understand that it is up to him to lead the defense. He needs to be a loud, vocal leader on the field so that the defense plays as a cohesive unit.