How Martial Arts Training Makes You a Better Goaltender

Photo Credit: The Sporting News

Part of being an exceptional goaltender is taking your off ice training as seriously as you do your on ice training. Obviously you want to work out regularly. In a previous post, we also mentioned playing other sports, like baseball or tennis as forms of off ice training. We mentioned ball drills to help improve your hand eye coordination and tracking. Another very beneficial off ice practice that you may want to throw into your routine can be training at a martial art of your choice.

At this point for the 2024 NHL playoffs, everyone has heard of Sergei Bobrovsky. So far, “Bob”, has carried the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup finals with his stellar play. Still improving at 35 years old, according to him, Bob is known for his intense training and preparation routine. Certainly his work ethic and focus are large parts of what has allowed him to continue to improve at an age where most people start to decline. But when we were reading about his routine, we came across something quite interesting that Bob injected into his training the offseason before his second Vezina Winning season in 2016-17— martial arts training—specifically, Han Mu Do (Amalie Benjamin @ NHL).

Han Mu Do is a self defense fighting system like most other schools of martial arts. While it contains strikes, blocks, and grapples like other schools, Han Mu Do focuses primarily on balance— balance of the body in many different positions, and balance of the mind to be at harmony in any given situation (Martin, Way of Ninja).

How could something so foreign to the game of hockey improve your skills and performance as a goalie? We at Modern Goaltending have added weekly Martial Arts training to our own repertoires, and we have noticed may tangible benefits that have improved our game on the ice.

Physical Speed and Accuracy

Anytime you learn and practice a new type of physical skill, you are asking your body to move in a way that it may consider foreign. Martial arts is no different. Some movements in martial arts are fast and sharp. Others are smooth and done with flow. Both are valuable to playing goalie. You want your movements to be sharp when you are moving around the crease, stopping, or reacting to a puck. But you want these fast movements to also be done smoothly. Smooth means efficient. Efficient means fast. If you are executing fast movements choppy and erratically, you will become off balance and unable to react to a shot. Martial arts combines the two, similar to how you want to be able to move on the ice. Practicing these new movements or skills will a part of your physical ability that you didn’t know was there. You will become faster, smoother, more agile, and stronger in different positions— all of which make you a better goaltender.

Another common theme in martial arts is striking and blocking. Both require quick movements of your hands directly to a target, whether it be a target you are striking, or an opponent’s strike you are defending against. You have to move both your feet and hands efficiently and directly to the target to strike or block it, very similar to making a save. When you are making a save you move your feet to get into position, and then you move your hand directly to the puck to make the save. Wasted movement or inefficient movement could result in a goal.

When thinking about balance and efficiency, you could understand how this sort of training has helped Bob. The proof is in the pudding. When you watch Bob, you will notice that his movements are incredibly sharp and efficient. He moves everything right to the point it needs to be sharply, with no wasted movement. Many say he is the best in the world with his movements, and he credits his martial arts training to be a big reason his movements are so sharp and smooth (Benjamin, NHL).

Strength and Flexibility

Martial arts often requires you to hold positions you may not be used to. Doing so will develop strength and flexibility in these unusual positions, and will therefore develop strength and flexibility in ways that you may not know you had, or ways that aren’t typically trained. This will help you when you find yourself asked to make a difficult save when you are in an awkward position. Maybe the puck hit something you didn’t expect and it took a bad bounce and it threw you off balance. If you are able to be strong in this position, you will be able to make that save in a situation where you normally would have no chance. Being able to regain control and make an outstanding save in a situation where he should be done for is one of the things that allows Bob to excel.

Mental Focus and Harmony

It’s a common saying that goaltending is mostly mental. And while it’s hard to measure just exactly how much, certainly a substantial part of successful goaltending is maintaining mental focus and consistency.

Martial arts is one field that purposely and intensely trains mental focus and consistency. Having to train a new skill already requires an immense amount of focus by itself. But the expectation in martial arts is to train your focus with a series of practices that would include exercises such as meditation, breathing techniques, visualizations, movements, and mantras implemented into every practice to sharpen your mind.

These are the mental skills you strengthen during martial arts practice:

• Directing the intent of your thought and focus.

• Clearing your mind so that it can focus.

• Remaining mentally calm and focused in chaotic situations.

• Remaining mentally tough and confident.

• Cultivating a “warrior’s mentality” of determination of competitiveness.

Each of these has tangible benefits when putting them into the context of playing goalie.

Being able to control your thoughts and remain disciplined with them is one of the most difficult things to do during a game. Being able to be aware of your thoughts, and direct your focus to where it needs to be puts you at the peak of your game.

Often times, we get in the way of our own focus. We try too hard to focus, rather than just clearing our minds so that we can focus at our best.

When we get scored on, or are facing a high pressure situation at the end of a game, it can be easy to become distracted by the pressure, and lose focus. But being able to remain in “harmony”, or focused in chaotic or stressful situations, is a skill that goalies highly benefit from. And to stay mentally tough and positive after getting scored on allows you to continue to play your best for the rest of the game. Much of the game is out of our control. Having the ability to remain confident despite this fact is what makes a great goalie.

Goalies have to be competitors. You have to hate being scored on. Cultivating this competitor mentality is what unlocks your focus and the peak of your skill as a goalie.

When watching the NHL playoffs so far, you can notice that Bob seems to have an incredible ability to do each of these. To maintain the amazing .984 SV% he has so far on the biggest stage— The Stanley Cup Finals— is a testament to his mental game. He appears incredibly focused and confident. He is a competitor without a doubt. But one thing that really sticks out is his ability to maintain unwavering focus even after he is scored on. In Game 3, Bob was scored on twice in the 3rd period, and watched a 4-1 lead quickly evaporate into only a one goal lead. The pressure in a situation like this is immense—it’s easy to think about whether the other team will tie it up. But Bob didn’t seem to feel the pressure. He made an unbelievable pad save directly after the Oilers pulled to within one, and held strong the rest of the game, despite being in a 6 on 5 situation for almost 2 minutes.

Yes Bob has had a lot of years of training and experience. But could his commitment to martial arts training help him remain calm, focused, and in “harmony” in such a chaotic and high pressure environment? From watching the Finals, and from our own experience with martial arts, we believe the answer is undoubtedly “yes”.