What a Death Metal Drummer Taught a Pro Goalie About Rebounds
Double-bass footwork, split-second recovery and a metronome set to 220. A former touring drummer now runs reaction drills for goaltenders.
After twelve years of touring, Nick Ferro knew two things well: how to play very fast with his feet, and how to recover when something went wrong in the middle of a song. Neither seemed like a hockey skill until a goalie friend asked him to watch practice.
What Ferro saw was a timing problem. The goalie could make the first save. The trouble was the second one, the half-second scramble when the puck bounced loose.
The Drills
Ferro now runs off-ice sessions built around a metronome. Goalies shuffle, drop and reset on the beat, and the tempo climbs every week. The top speed on his whiteboard right now is 220 beats per minute.
A drummer who misses a beat does not stop. He lands on the next one. That is a rebound.
Nick Ferro
The drills are simple, and they are brutal. Ferro says the athletes who struggle most are the ones who try to be perfect instead of fast.
