“Where is a good place to start practicing for newer player? Goalie? Forward?”
Most players start out playing goalie simply because it requires more time and practice to become a successful forward. Five row passing, shooting on the three row, and zone defenses are more advanced skills that come with time, so improve your goalie game while working on your forward passing and shooting skills. Remember, most players aspire to be great forwards, but everyone wants a good goalie on their team!

“What is important to work on when starting out?”
When working on goalie skills; trapping loose balls in your area, keeping out slop, clearing the ball past your opponents three row, and finally shooting. Contrary to the belief of some people, there are techniques and skills for each of these. Find a good goalie and ask them their secrets for each. I will offer a tip I learned from a Pro-Master years ago regarding trapping loose balls and keeping slop out of your goal.

First, when a loose ball comes into your goal area, tilt your goalie three row back 45 degrees, and tilt your two row forward 45 degrees. While trapping the ball (maintaining possession), keep your men facing in this position the entire time. This does three important things for you; first, your goalie being tilted back 45 degrees “closes the door” to the corners of your goal and helps keep the ball out of your goal; second, your two row facing forward gives you a better chance of keeping the ball in your goal area; three, with your goalie facing back, and your two row facing forward, you have more table space between your men for an unobstructed save. We have all had balls bounce off of our men into the goal while we’re trying to trap a ball. This technique will help you get more blocks, and decrease the amount of slop that goes into your goal. Go to your table, move your men into these positions and you will see that it’s just common sense why this works. Keeping out slop and trapping balls are both learned skills.