Goalie Drill – Cone to cone skating – Hockey Resource

This drill practices goalie lateral mobility (t-pushes, shuffling), hybrid slides, butterfly slides and getting up using the correct leg for the situation. While the core mobility can be covered with the box or triangle drills, it extends the length and changes the path so the goalie does not get bored with practicing the core mobility skills.

For this drill set up two staggered lines of cones approx. 2 meters (6 ft.) apart. The goaltender starts at the first cone and t-pushes (or other movement in the variation section) from that cone to the next and then proceeds to the cone after that.

Getting up with the correct leg

This drill works particularly well for slides and getting up with the correct leg. By that we mean that once in a butterfly, the goalie needs to get up with one leg first in order to be ready for the next movement. In some cases, the goalie may want to directly slide to stop a puck without getting up at all, practicing getting the correct leg up first enables this move. If the goalie is on the right side, and will likely need to move towards the left, the right leg should get up first (skate on the ice) so the goalie can push off with it. If the goalie is on the left side, likely moving to the right, the goalie should get up with their left leg first so they can push off to the right.

Drill Variations

• Instead of the t-push, the goaltender can also shuffle from cone-to-cone.
• At every cone, have the goaltender fall into the butterfly position. They must then get up using the correct leg (left leg first if moving to the right, right leg first if moving to the left) before pushing to the next cone.
• For intermediate levels, the butterfly slide (getting up, pushing off and sliding in a butterfly) from cone to cone.
• For advanced levels, the goaltender should use the hybrid slide, never getting up during the drill.

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