Between the Pipes Newsletter:

August Edition

"Sure, at some level, every experience in life boils down to your interpretation of it. And if you can shift your mindset, then perhaps you can turn a negative experience into a positive one. But life is not a hallucination. You still have to deal with things. A healthy perspective can lessen the burden, but so can taking action. A problem that is solved is one that you don't need to mentally reframe."

^{From the James Clear Newsletter click here}

Fall-Ball Checklist

Mental Prep

Visualize having success, making saves and game-like situations. Create positive self-talk for pre and mid game and after goals. Set attainable goals that help push you.

Physical Prep

Be in shape; running, lifting and stretching. Have equipment ready to go including back-up stick. Get reps with shots and wall ball.

Fail Fast

Avoid being afraid to make mistakes. Each time you play is an opportunity to learn and improve. Work on things you struggle with - shots, clears etc.

Prepping For A New Season

Incoming Freshman - College

Go in ready to compete. Make no assumptions about the other goalies, and prepare/work to start. Limiting yourself before you step on campus will only create doubt in your ability to save the ball.
Be yourself in the goal, avoid changing who you are to fit in.
Find success in preparation to develop consistency in the cage
Pace/Skill - To avoid being overwhelmed, focus on the process not the outcome. Take each day/shot as it comes

Back-Up Goalie The Year Before

Believe In Yourself!
Go in ready to compete - have no expectations about your role
Stay present - can't predict who will start, can't change past performances/goals. Stay present and take each shot as it comes
No outcome is set in stone. Push yourself to be the starter.
Prepare mentally/physically to stand out and to be the starter

Starter Last Year (College/High School)

No rest for the weary - prepare as if your job is jeopardy
Create competition to push yourself - can be with the other goalies or shooters
Prepare mentally and physically to show up for consistency
Never look back - focus on what you can do improve and not what your competition is doing

Goalie Battle

Control what you can control - avoid comparing yourself to your competition
Process not the outcome - a coaches decision doesn't come down to one save or goal.
Every shot is a chance to show your value/worth - let the game come to you
Never Settle - praise success/saves but move on and keep grinding - conversely, move on from goals and failures. Keep it simple.
Maintain a positive relationship with the goalie you're competing with - a negative relationship creates unnecessary stress
Be a team player

What are you waiting for?
Make saves today and subscribe to the Focus Lacrosse Online Platform.

GW Mix - Former UPenn Head Coach and MLL GM

Tim Cassi is one of the most effective and innovative goalie coaches I have ever been around. He constantly works to enhance the mental and physical drills and exercises he incorporates into his goalie training sessions. For almost ten years, Tim has been consistently developing some of the best goalies in Southern California, including a number of US Lacrosse All-Americans, CIF Champions and NCAA Division I starters. If I wanted to play goalie at the highest level possible, or wanted to be able to coach kids to achieve that same goal, I would spend as much time as I could learning from Tim Cassi and his FOCUS program.

Virginia High School Head Coach

Focus Lacrosse made big impacts not only for my goalies, but how I coached my goalies. It provides something different than just searching for goalie tips on the internet. As a coach I felt more confident reinforcing the drills and key phrases from Focus Lacrosse and I could see our goalies felt more confident with their play. Focus helped me put the explanations and visuals together better and gave my goalies a big boost - after one of our goalie focused sessions (which is hard to plan with just 2 coaches on our high school staff) our starting goalie had 17 saves against a very good opponent. She indicated the exercises we had gone over from just that one practice made a big difference. By the end of the season, she earned 2nd-Team All-District.If you need a breakthrough in your goalie position, Focus Lacrosse is it!

Hoyt Crance Yale '19

As an accomplished player and coach, Tim Cassi has developed an incredible understanding of what it takes to become a successful goalie at all levels of the game. Whether you are a young goalie who just stepped into the crease, a coach looking to learn more about the position, or an accomplished goalie looking for additional pointers, Focus Lacrosse is an excellent resource detailing the goalie position. Throughout my high school career, I could always rely on Tim to find issues with my game and create effective drills to eliminate these issues. Without a doubt, I can say Tim/Focus Lacrosse played a critical role in my development as a goalie and was a major reason I was able to play Division 1 Lacrosse.