Pro Training with Kristen Campbell (and James Wendland)

JJames Wendland has become a staple here at InGoal Magazine when it comes to helping goalies right up to the NHL keep their bodies aligned, healthy and moving in a way that helps them stop more pucks without getting hurt. Wendland, who is a manual osteopathic therapist and kinesiologist, was back at InGoal recently with PWHL goalie Kristen Campbell sharing 6 Exercises for Better Hips, Alignment and Balance, which also served as a precursor and warm up for this article tying that work into the “gaze stability drills.”

“You’re learning how to separate visual, spatial and vestibular,” Wendland explained. “You constantly see straight lines and you’re using straight lines to balance. We need to separate vision from balance; separate visual-spatial from vestibular. When you do that, you increase the capacity to stabilize your body and track a puck. When you do this properly, you can stop sand. If you’re visually dominant you can’t stop a beach ball.”

Filmed during Kristen Campbell’s KC Elite Goaltending Camp last summer, these drills start with a Fitter First Rocker Board, then moves on to incorporate balls and goggles. As Wendland said after off camera, the board is to “simulate a skate edge.”