Skill Acquisition in Goaltending: Part 2: Decision Training
- Decision Training focuses on training the brain to make correct unconscious choices in complex, time-pressured situations — not just conscious, deliberate decisions.
- Behavioural Training (stimulus-response repetition, like Pavlov's dogs) is widely used in goalie practice but is not the most effective method for game-ready skill development.
- Dr. Joan Vickers' Motor Learning Paradox (2007) shows that training methods producing the best short-term results in practice often produce inferior results in competition.
- How you train matters as much as how hard or how often you train — evidence-based practice design is a key lever for goaltender development.
- Coaches and goalies can improve development outcomes by deliberately replacing Behavioural Training drills with Decision Training principles in everyday practice.
This article in our Goaltending Science series is from Brandon Thibeau, inspired by his work as the founder of the IQ Goalie e-digest newsletter series. Instagram: @IQ_Goalie
Thibeau is a former Canadian Hockey League and Canadian University goaltender. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s of Science degree in Physiotherapy. He is currently coaching U18 in Nova Scotia and is a Scout in the QMJHL.
As mentioned in Part 1 of this article, the way we train can be just as important for development as how much or how hard we train. Giving the brain the best possible chance of making a correct calculation in critical moments is the essence of training, practice, and preparation.
Knowing this, would we not want to practice in a way we know, based on evidence, achieves this goal? This is where many goalies and coaches can improve their basic practice habits to implement more Decision Training and less Behaviour Training.
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