Active Hands – Standing Drill

Active Hands are a very important skill for goalies of all levels. By having active hands, we make saves out in front of our bodies (See active hands lesson for a recap). This is very important at higher levels as shots get better because it helps give a narrower view of the net, by cutting down the angle more (See box control lesson).

We start the drill in our basic stance at the top of the crease. Please note, if a crease isn’t available that is fine, as the drill is about hands, not our crease depth. We have the shooter shoot pucks at our goalie and aim for the area between the hip and knee. This forces our goalie to exaggerate our hip bend. The goal in this drill is to have our goalie start in our stance and really lean forward into the shot and extend their hands and body forward to meet the puck. We again, track the puck over the top, all the way in and out. We can use both our gloves and blockers, with the idea being the same.