RVH vs Overlap... What's better?
This is a debate that has been that has been at the front of mind for many young goalies and coaches. There are many different opinions on the topic both technical and tactical, however there is not enough emphasis on the why. We still have an epidemic of studio coaching in North America, especially with rising ice costs limiting the amount of time and space to train young goalies. There needs to be three steps in the learning process to help goalies train technique but IQ as well. Often we learn in a vacuum (the studio) in a goalie camp or session, some times we are able to have the goalie coach attend practice but we rarely get the opportunity to have influence over a team drill or do game review with young goalies. The most effective process is to first learn in a training environment where the goalie can learn in a low stress environment, with a lot of feedback. The team practice environment with a goalie coach present will then help the goalie to execute in more of a “live” environment with feedback from the GC. Game video review will help the goalie see where they were successful.
Overlap: Where the goalie’s post side foot/leg is set just outside the post, creating double coverage but putting the goalie at the most optimal position on the initial shot. The overlap is a bad to dead angle coverage option, best used off the rush. It is most optimal with a short side threat and no backdoor option on the play.
Reverse Vertical Horizontal (RVH): Is a shoreside blocking technique best used only on dead angle plays, with pass options. The RVH is best used when the puck is above the goal line and inside the dot lane. The goalie needs to be able to articulate on the post to change their position base on the hand of the shooter and the location of any pass threats.
The RVH has unfortunately become a “hope” save, where many young goalies train in a controlled environment with little to no risk. Hope - meaning, I drop into this one position the exact same way, every time and hope the puck hits me. We often train for technique with multiple reps in the “same” manner. IF you watch a goalie session RVH is most often done with one to two shooters and the attack often is done the same path with little to no variation.
Pro Video: In these videos we have Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators with an excellent demonstration of when and how to use the Overlap and RVH. What you want to look for is the type of play, the options and the recovery. In both clips we will see Ullmark identify the immediate scoring threat, then continuously look off the puck or “track” who and where the secondary threats are.
