Virtual Lacrosse Goalie Summit 3 Recap
Last week we wrapped up a virtual lacrosse goalie training event I’ve aptly named the Virtual Lacrosse Goalie Summit 3.
16 different coaches presented on a wide range of topics all relevant to lacrosse goalies.
Goalies, coaches, and parents joined in from around the world to learn from the greatest in our sport and it truly was an amazing experience.
Here’s quick recap of the event.
Session 1 – Goaliesmith: Techniques – Read ‘Em and Beat ‘Em & Set and See It
Mike and Andrew Gvozden from Goaliesmith kicked off the event and we started strong.
Lots of college coaches have told me you can really tell when a goalie has attended a Goaliesmith camp, they’re a different bread.
With this presentation we could see why.
They discussed 2 techniques –
- Set and See It
- Read ‘Em and Beat ‘Em
They did a masterful job of explaining these techniques complete with video breakdown and analysis.
Just like when they came on my podcast and then again – these guys crushed it!
Also the chat was cracking up when Mike’s black shirt on black background ghosted him a few times 🤣
Got tons of amazing emails giving mad props to the Goaliesmith guys for such an awesome coaching session.
This one was my favorite:
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Session 2 – Kyle Bernlohr: Building the Complete Lacrosse Goalie (as told through clinic format)
Next up was pro goalie Kyle Bernlohr demonstrating how he builds a complete lacrosse goalie via some of the goalie clinics he runs.
Bernlohr has a college national championship with Maryland and 2 PLL championships with the Whipsnakes. You don’t win those titles without an elite goaltender so he knows what he’s doing when it comes to training.
Kyle started up a goalie training academy called KB Goalie Academy and when he posts clips on Instagram and Twitter, it really is next level training. I’m always like 🤯
If you’ve ever wanted to attend a KB Goalie Academy camp but couldn’t, this is the next best thing.
Kyle took us through all the AWESOME drills he uses to train goalies. I’m definitely stealing most of these drills.
In this session, Kyle introduced us to his Goalie Pyramid and walked through each level demonstrating different drills goalies can do to build those skills. Amazing stuff.
Just like the previous session, I immediately got a ton of great feedback on Kyle’s session too:
Session 3 – Tommy Bruno aka Mr. Wanderful: Live STX Eclipse 2 Stringing with Q&A
This was a really fun one! Tommy strung up an STX Eclipse 2 live and just answered our questions.
Luckily this dude can string and talk at the same time haha.
Tons of great questions about heads, stringing, mesh, patterns, shooting strings, etc.
Check out Tommy on Instagram and hit him up if you want a premium strung goalie head.
Congrats to Marcos who ended up winning the STX Eclipse 2! Can’t wait to see a pic of it!
Session 4 – Liz Hogan: Women’s Defensive Principles
One of the best female goalies (ever) Liz Hogan closed out Day 1 discussing defensive principles in the women’s game.
While I have worked with female goalies, I’ve never coached women’s lacrosse so I found this session incredible useful personally.
Also for many young women, Liz Hogan is their goalie idol so being able to get some live coaching from her was a dream come true.
Goalies are QB’s of the defense and thus understanding the defense at the level Liz does is one of the reason she’s so great in goal.
Session 5 – Justin Goldman: The Power Within – Goalie Mental Health
Justin Goldman is author of the Power Within II and is an emergency backup goalie (EBUG) for the Colorado Avalanche.
Even though he’s an ice hockey goalie the mental concepts that Justin teaches are 1000% applicate to lacrosse goalies as well.
Goldman kicked off Day 2 with a discussion on a very important topic – mental health. He discussed his important Lift the Mask program.
So many times goalies are going through issues and fail to talk to anyone. Justin discussed several strategies to deal with that and it truly was an amazing sessions.
Lots of folks wrote me saying this was the most impactful for them. Even just getting permission to acknowledge that you’re struggling mentally was a huge weight of the shoulder of many goalies.
Grab a copy of his new book here (it’s great!):
Session 6 – Trevor Tierney: Vision Training – Using Your Eyes to Get in the Zone
Former Team USA goalie Trevor Tierney continued the day’s training by teaching a vision technique that’s really revolutionary.
Not many goalies are using this technique but he broke down why it works and how to execute it.
It’s about relaxing your eyes and actually keeping your focus a little bit further back from the shooter’s stick head.
This technique takes practice but will help goalies pickup fast moving objects a lot better and be able to get “in the zone” on a more consistent basis.
He showed tons of video clips to demonstrate the technique and also put it into practice.
Session 7 – Matt Deluca
We had to reschedule this one. See session 17.
Session 8 – Brian Phipps
Closing out Day 2 was pro goalie Brian Phipps discussing and demonstrating drills goalies can do on their own.
This is one more common questions I get – what drills can I do on my own?
Well, Coach Phipps just delivered an entire coaching session on this very topic.
And it was awesome! Great session from Coach Phipps. Tons of amazing drills to do all alone.
Session 9 – Rodney Rullman: Parents – How to Support Your Youth Goalie
Friend of the program Rodney Rullman opened up Day 3 with a discussion dedicated to the parents of lax goalies.
Rodney has been on the podcast and participated in the Virtual Lacrosse Goalie Summit 2 discussing “Lacrosse in the 70s”.
If lacrosse goalie is the hardest job, lacrosse goalie mom/dad is second hardest.
Even though I’m not a Dad myself I thought this was an amazing discussion that helped a lot of parents understand what their youth goalie is going through and how they can help him/her.
Many parents wrote me after the fact and said this was their favorite session because they learned what their son/daughter is going through in the goal and some very practical ways they can support them if (or I should when) they have a rough game.
Session 10 – Barb Curran: College Recruiting for Lacrosse Goalies
If you have a goal to play goalie in college (D1, D2, or D3) this was the session for you.
I never went through the college recruiting experience as I played in the MCLA at Cal so getting to understand the process from an expert who has helped many athletes was a real treat.
Barb Curran, who runs Positively Recruited, shared tons of tips and info on what is required in the college recruiting process in the sport of lacrosse.
Loved this one!
Session 11 – Angie Benson: Week in the Life of a D1 Goalie
Current Virginia Tech goalie Angie Benson shared her story and discussed what life is like as a D1 athlete. She crushed it! Such a great session.
She was very open, very real, very honest, and yet inspirational.
There were a lot of young goalies who loved Angie’s session. So much so that I think Virginia Tech will have an amazing class of goalies come 2027, 2028.
I think this comment in the chat really summed up everyone’s experience:
Also a programming note: my power went out in this session so I was literally in the dark connected to the internet via the cell phone. Sometimes you gotta roll with the punches. We made it work! Thanks to everyone for sticking with me.
Session 12 – Ronnie Fernando: Lacrosse Goalie Footwork
Coach Ronnie closed out Day 3 with a masterclass in footwork drills.
Lots of goalies write me wanting to know how to improve their footwork.
And it makes sense because good footwork is so critical to us as lacrosse goalies.
Coach Fernando discussed its important and also went through tons of drills and exercises you can use to improve your footwork.
In the session, Coach Ronnie also announced a giveaway for a StringKing Mark 2G over on his IG page.
Session 13 – Dom Madonna: Improving Your Game with Film Review
Kicking off the final day was MLL goalie Dom Madonna discussing how he uses game and practice film to improve.
He reviewed several clips from some Boston Cannons games and some Syracuse games to show both the good and bad and show what he’s looking for.
Incredibly informative session for anyone looking for an extra edge to get better!
Tons of practical questions about youth goalies can get started with using film review in order to get better.
We also got to see Dom’s championship ring with the Cannon up close and personal:
Session 14 – Coach Sash: Live from the Box – The 33 Technique for Low Angle Shots
Coach Sash joined live from the Box and gave an amazing on field clinic.
The topic was the 33 and how to play low angle shots. He coached the technique then had a young goalies (a small goalie, medium goalie, and a large goalie) demonstrate by taking shots.
Watching goalies take shots together was amazing experience and I think I’m going to bring back more of this in the next Goalie Summits.
I think we can all agree the star of the show was 9 year old SeaBass. He crushed it!
Although many will say “Lacrosse Dude” had an amazing performance as well.
Session 15 – Dallas Eliuk
Former NLL pro goalie Dallas Eliuk joined to discuss the basics of box goalie.
I want to give Dallas major props for even hosting this session. A few days earlier he fell on ice and fractured his back. But not even a broken back could stop Dallas from giving us an awesome presentation.
For me it was amazing to see how many similarities there are between box and field goalies.
Session 16 – Coach Damon: Lacrosse Goalie Equipment
Yours truly closed out the Summit discussing Lacrosse Goalie Equipment.
First time moms and dads often have tons of questions about the equipment and this session was meant to answer all those questions.
The chat was going nuts too. Looks like folks love discussing lacrosse goalie equipment options.
I went through all the required gear and all the optional gear that goalies can (and should) use.
Let’s all call a spade a spade – lacrosse equipment is insanely expensive. I went through a strategy to get amazing deals on used gear and how to upgrade your goalie equipment piece by piece.
Session 17 – Matt Deluca: The Wide Base Stance
If you checkout this pic of PLL Waterdog goalie Matt Deluca you’ll definitely notice something unique.
It’s that wide stance baby!
In this session, we reconvened Tuesday night and Coach Matt Deluca gave us a masterclass in how to play with a wide base stance.
He discussed his theory of goaltending and how he arrived at this playing style. Why it works for him and drills he does to perfect the technique.
The Q&A was full of questions clarifying how to use this technique and Matt diligently answered every single one. Great stuff!
That’s a wrap!
So there you go! That’s my summary of the Virtual Lacrosse Goalie Summit 3.
I had a ton of fun and I hope you did too! But more importantly, I hope you feel inspired to play goalie and armed with the knowledge to get out there and kick butt.
Next Virtual Lacrosse Goalie Summit coming in June or July.
Coach Damon
PS – Which coach do you want to see in the next Lacrosse Goalie Summit? Leave me a comment down below.
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