A Goalie’s Pre Game Routine

Mental strength is a big part of goaltending. Almost every goalie has his own rituals to mentally prepare for a game. One with a very strict sequence of rituals is Braden Holtby.

Pre-game rituals depend on the goaltenders age, the skills they have or maybe what kind of game they’re preparing for. Over time, this develops into a sequence of rituals that eventually become routine – or maybe a little superstition. For me personally, it’s about visualizing the game. Put yourself in certain game situations before the game. With the help of such rituals, thoughts can be fully focused on the game. Everything else around disappears. But why do goalies need rituals? Well, each game could be viewed as a job interview. You would never ever go to a job interview without preparing it – so why would you do it in a game?

Braden Holtby’s pre-game routine

In 2015, Braden Holtby gave insights into his pre-game ritual for the first time. Holtby plays for the Washington Capitals since 2009. His processes of preparing perfectly for the game are pretty exciting. In the following, his rituals are explained by minute.

Holtby’s preparation includes 3 parts: the physical, the mental and the emotional part.

Two hours before the game

Holtby follows a clear process of preparation. Around two hours before the game he tapes his sticks he will use later to play.

An hour and a half before the game

Holtby looks for a quiet place and does some visualization, followed by slight stretching. Unlike others, Holtby does not stretch extensively. In his process he tries to stay loose with warm-up exercises.

An hour and thirteen minutes before the game

One of the most important skills of a goalie is his hand eye coordination. Holtby throws balls against the wall and catches them again. Sometimes he has almost closed his eyes. This helps later in the game to react quickly to shots.

An hour and three minutes before the game

Time for more visualization. This time Holtby goes on the ice and plays through possible game situations.

Forty one minutes before the game

Holtby has now put on half his equipment and is doing more hand eye exercises. Then he settles down and goes into full focus mode.

Thirty three minutes before the game

The on-ice warmup starts. But his routine doesn’t stop there. Holtby still does some sort of visualization while warm-ups. And then… the game starts.

The following video of the Washington Capitals shows you exactly how Holtby prepares himself for a game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkSNiUe78N0

Find your own pre-game routine

So, go out there and follow Holtby’s routine? Absolutely not! It’s important to find your very own pre-game routine. You could use some NHLers rituals as baseline if you want. But in the end your routine should help you to focus, to mentally and emotionally prepare for the game. Not every goalie has one or two days to prepare for a game. That’s why it’s important to find your way of preparation and warm-up. I know some goalies who doesn’t prepare for a game at all. They stay in the locker room, get dressed and go out for warm-up. But they are absolutely fine with that. I used to get half dressed (just like Holtby), look for a quiet room and then i start stretching with my gear on. After that I do some visualization with my eyes closed. Then I calm down until I’m just focused on the game. All other thoughts disappear, so that I concentrate only on stopping shots. When I have reached this state of concentration, I go back to the locker room and then to the warm-up.

Try to find your own pre-game routine. But remember, this won’t happen in one or two weeks. This may take you several months or even years. It’s a never ending process and your routine will also adapt over the years – just as Holtby’s.

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Sources
Washington Capitals
Goaliecoaches