Learn the butterfly slide in hockey goaltending: push with the outside leg, slide in the butterfly and recover. With milestones, joint load and protection.
The butterfly slide is a sideways movement in the butterfly: you push off with the outside leg, slide on your knees across the ice and thereby cover cross-ice passes without getting up. It combines push, butterfly and recovery in one movement.
The honest answer to “Is the slide just a sideways butterfly?”: no, the push decides. The Hockey Alberta goaltender guide names five points for the slide from standing: eyes look to the ice and the head turns in the direction of the push before the body moves; weight transfers to the outside, back leg; the lead, inside leg hits the ice first and covers the bottom of the net; the stick stays in line with the centre of the body and covers the five-hole; the pads come together quickly [1].
On load: the slide is a demanding movement for the legs. In a case study of a professional goaltender, the butterfly drop and the lateral slide with subsequent recovery were measured with different blade alignments, a hint of how much small details influence the movement [2]. But it was a single goaltender on synthetic ice, so only an observation, not a general result.
In the slide, whoever controls the push wins, not whoever slides the farthest.
Why is the effort worth it? Because cross-ice passes are the moment when a goalie would have to get up and drop down again, and the slide saves you that time (practice). That presupposes that you master it in both directions. So always practise both sides in turn so that you do not develop a favourite side (practice).
You kneel in the butterfly: pads flared, elbows against the body, stick on the ice [1]. Milestone: ten clean butterflies confirmed by your coach on video.
Eyes on the ice, head in the push direction, only then does the body move [1]. Milestone: your coach shows you the direction, you turn your head first, five times in a row. Then build in small slow motions: hold briefly after turning the head before you push.
The weight transfers to the outside, back leg, and the push comes from this leg [1]. Milestone: ten pushes from the stance in which the shoulder line stays calm. Make sure your upper body does not tip forward.
The lead, inside leg hits the ice first and covers the bottom of the net. The stick stays in line with the centre of the body, the pads close quickly [1]. Milestone: ten slides over two metres with no gap left between the pads.
After the slide you get up again: head first, lead leg under the body, push off with the outside leg [1]. Milestone: seven out of ten slides with recovery end in the stance facing the puck.
The slide stresses hip, knee and groin. In a survey of 132 goaltenders and 43 coaches, 25 % rated the butterfly as very or extremely demanding for hip and groin, and movements into the post were rated that way by 11 to 40 % [4]. In 26 goaltenders the butterfly showed higher hip internal rotation and knee external rotation than the standing position [5]. Wear pads, knee protection and a mask, warm up thoroughly and increase the distance slowly. Stop if your hip, groin or knee hurts. This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training or a coach. Also plan fixed breaks: when tired, you lose accuracy first and then posture, and that is exactly when most mistakes happen (practice). Agree with your coach how many repetitions per session make sense.
Practise the slide first over a distance you mark: one line is enough. That way you see whether you really slide over the same distance. This is coaching experience, not a study.
A sideways movement in the butterfly: you push off with the outside leg, slide on your knees and thereby cover cross-ice passes.
With the gaze: eyes on the ice and head in the push direction, then weight onto the outside leg and push [1].
The inside, lead leg hits the ice first, and the pads come together quickly [1].
Yes, the butterfly is among the techniques goaltenders rate as demanding for hip and groin [4], and it brought the hip to the passive limits of internal rotation [3].
Usually yes: you get up with the recovery when the puck goes to the other side [1].
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