Mitch Fenton, associate head coach for the University of Colorado women’s lacrosse team, shared the fundamentals of goaltending with his “No Goalie Coach? No Problem” presentation during the USA Lacrosse Denver Regional Academy last year.
- Denver Regional Academy, Dec. 6-7, 2025 for coaches and officials
Proper goaltending starts with the stance. And it’s one of the things goalies can have control of at all times.
“You can’t control what that offensive player is going to do,” Fenton said. “You can’t control necessarily where they’re going to shoot the ball for the most part. But I can control my attitude when I’m in the net and I can control my stance. I can be ready to go, rock solid in a great position that makes me look big.”
The basics for the stance:
- Feet outside of shoulders
- Toes pointed at the shooter
- Knees bent
- “Chest up, butt down”
- Straight back/good posture
- Stick up and outside of the helmet
Beyond that, some key points of emphasis from Fenton as the goalie is getting ready to face a shot:
- Sit still
- Be athletic and ready
- Be in a position you can explode from In this drill below,
Fenton shows examples of goalies in the stance and how they can translate that stance into explosive movement. The goalie is set up on the far side of the cage and the shooter aims to force the goalie move to the opposite pipe. Fenton wants his goalies driving athletic across the net and being aggressive. The focus is on the last four-tenths of a second from when the ball leaves the shooter’s stick to when the goalie is making the save.
“If the goalies are doing this drill correctly and you as a shooter are shooting it where we want to shoot it, they’re going to make a lot of saves with the plastic, a lot of saves with the top of their stick.”
USA Lacrosse platinum-level coach members can access more of Fenton’s presentation, along with other USA Lacrosse online coaching resources. Join today or if you’re already a member, access the e-learning portal for a list of available courses.
