Learn the goalie stance: slightly wider than shoulders on the inside edges, knees bent, glove and blocker forward, stick sealing the five-hole. Step by step.
The goalie stance is your "athletic position": feet slightly wider than shoulder width, weight on the balls of the feet and the inside edges, knees and hips bent, glove and blocker in front of the body, the stick covering the five-hole between the legs. Every movement and every save starts from it.
The honest answer to "how do I stand correctly?": there is no one perfect stance. Hockey Canada says it itself: every goalie has their own style, and the stance should feel comfortable [1]. But there are key points that apply to everyone, and you can check them: knees, shoulders and toes lie on one line, knees and hips are bent to match shin and back, chin down and eyes on the puck [1].
What many do not know: the simple standing stance is much easier on your joints than the stances you learn later. In a measurement of 26 goalies, the butterfly and RVH showed clearly more hip internal rotation (16.6° and 22.2°) than the standing ready stance (5.2°), plus more knee abduction [2]. The study's conclusion: butterfly and RVH showed riskier joint angles for typical hip, knee and ankle injuries in goalies. So a clean standing stance is not only the base but also a bit of injury protection.
Prerequisites you can check yourself (practical standard, not a study):
Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder width and your weight on the balls of the feet and the inside edges of the blades [1]. Milestone: you stand stable for 30 seconds without the blades slipping.
Bend the knees so that knees, shoulders and toes lie roughly on one line, and let the bend in knees and hips match shin and back angle [1]. You do not sit, you "catch" yourself. Milestone: your partner sees from the side that shin and back are roughly parallel.
Both gloves at the same height, in front of the body in your field of view, relaxed. The catching glove is open and forward, the blocker rotated slightly outward [1]. The stick blade lies slightly angled in front of the skates, the tip a little ahead of the heel, and covers the five-hole [1]. Milestone: your stick lies in front of your blades by itself without you having to hold it.
Chin down, eyes on the puck [1]. The upper body stays calm. Milestone: when a shooter changes from right to left, your head stays at the same height and does not bob.
Hold the stance 3 times 30 seconds with 30 seconds rest each. Then tip briefly left and right and return without changing the foot width. Milestone: you return to the same stance after each tip.
Have yourself filmed from the front and from the side. Check foot width, knees, hand position and stick. Milestone: you recognize the key points from steps 1 to 4 in the video.
Goalies have a special hip risk: in a case series, 44 butterfly goalies underwent arthroscopic surgery for painful hip impingement (FAI) [3], and the hip is heavily loaded in kneeling stances [2]. Never force yourself into positions your mobility does not allow. Always wear full equipment, even in practice: mask with throat protector, protection for chest, groin and legs. The pads should fit; have someone check them. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training — goalie training with a goalie coach is especially worthwhile.
Test the line with your phone from the side. Straight knees, shoulders and toes on one line are hard to see from the front but obvious from the side. If a line from the kneecap over the shoulder to the toe tip "fits", your center of gravity is over the balls of your feet. This is coaching practice that matches Hockey Canada's key points [1].
Feet slightly wider than shoulder width, weight on the balls and inside edges, knees and hips bent, chin down, eyes on the puck. The catching glove is open in front, the blocker rotated slightly outward, the stick covers the five-hole [1]. Beyond that, every goalie has their own style.
Slightly wider than shoulder width [1]. Too narrow makes you unstable, too wide takes away mobility. Try it on the ice and check whether you can set off in any direction.
The stick lies in front of the blades, the blade slightly angled, the tip a little ahead of the heel to cover the five-hole. It is held at the shoulder of the shaft (top of the paddle), index finger at the side, thumb behind [1].
You first need the standing stance and the skating. The standing stance loads the joints clearly less than the butterfly and RVH [2]. You learn the butterfly later, ideally with a goalie coach.
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