Flexibility Training for Hockey Goalies

Look at any of the spectacular saves on the highlight shows and you will see hockey goaltenders displaying their great mobility.  Does this happen by chance?  It should not be.  If you want to steal more wins for your team, then you must have amazing flexibility, so here are my top three stretches to help you make those impossible saves.

Standing Groin Stretch

If you are a hockey goaltender, then hopefully you are not making many saves from your butt, however if you look at goalies stretching routines, they spend much of their time sitting down with their feet in a wide ‘V’ position to stretch their groins.  I am not saying that is a bad stretch, I just think it can be better by taking the athlete into a standing position.

• Stand with your feet double hip width apart.
• Slowly creep your feet outward until you feel a medium stretch in your groins. 
• Hold for 30 seconds and as the stretch sensation decreases creep your feet out a little further.
• Perform three repetitions with your chest up and three repetitions from a forward bend position with your hands on the floor. 

Prone Hip Internal Rotation

If you play with the butterfly style, then you need hip internal rotation which means you must stretch your hip external rotators.  The stretch I will describe below is an active stretch meaning that the hockey goalie will contract his hip internal rotators to help him stretch his hip external rotators. 

• Begin by lying flat on your stomach on your stomach with your legs flat on the floor.
• Pull your feet and knees together.
• Now bend your knees to 90 degrees.  Your shins should be parallel to the floor.
• Try to keep your knees touching as you pull your feet apart (keep the knees bent to 90 degrees).
• Pull the feet outward for five seconds and then relax.  Perform 15-30 repetitions.

Foam Roll

Do any of you stretch your muscles but find that your flexibility still does not improve?  The problem may not be that your muscles are tight, but rather your fascia may be stuck.  Fascia is a connective tissue that surround every muscle and it can get tight or get bonded down to the underlying muscle.  Unless you actually get the fascia moving you will have trouble making gains through stretching.

If you do not have a foam roll, get one.  If you are serious about your sport then you should have one. 

Use the foam roll for 5-10 minutes targeting your groins, glutes, iliotibial bands and even your lats.