Just when you thought your new skates couldn’t get any better, you start to feel this sharp pain running down the front part of your ankle.

If this pain is new to you, you’re probably already on the phone trying to get a refund for your now not-so-comfortable skates.

If you’ve felt this pain before, you know that lace bite is the culprit.

Lace bite—known also as tongue bite or skate bite—is a real pain in the @$$ for hockey players.

In this article, I’m stepping away from the usual hockey sense specific topic and I’m sharing a few tips & tricks on how I dealt with lace bite over my hockey career.

Having played 4 years in Major Junior and another 5 in the CIS, It’s safe to say I’ve seen my fair share of new skates (I tested 5 different pairs of skates in one season during my sophomore year in University).

It’s safe to say that me and lace bite, we don’t get along.

Here’s the ultimate guide on lace or tongue bite (i’ll use them interchangeably throughout the article) and how you can notice, prevent, and cure it before it gets painful enough to keep you off the ice (and yes, it can be that bad).

What is lace bite?

Lace bite, simply put, is a sharp pain or pressure that runs down the front of your lower leg down to your toes. It can happen to all athletes who require laced footwear for their sport, but even more so to those who must wear skates or cleats (hockey players, figure skaters, soccer players etc.)

That said, there are several reasons you might experience lace bite in hockey:

• Having been off the ice for a while and jumping right back into it
• Using a new pair of skates.
• Using an old/low-quality pair of skates
• Tying your skates too tightly

Lace bite usually occurs when you mix some of the above together…

If you’ve been off the ice for some time, you’ll want to ease back into it. Chances are your skates are dry and stiff, and the skate tongue is probably more rigid than usual.

Same goes for a new pair of skates—the tongues will be extremely rigid and not well broken-in, which means lace or skate bite can develop if you’re not careful.

And then with old or lower-quality skates, you might be dealing with a cheap or less flexible tongue which again means lace bite can thrive.

Tying your skates too tightly makes all of the above worse, so you’ll want to refrain from tying your skates too tight when you’re getting back on the ice for the first time in a while, or when you have new or even older skates.

So what’s the common denominator here? How does lace bite actually occur?

If you haven’t already figured it out, lace bite occurs due to the pressure of your skate tongue against your ankle.

Too much pressure from tight laces coupled with a stiff or inflexible skate tongue that hasn’t been broken in well enough can lead to painful lace bite, making it extremely unpleasant to skate, let alone play.

What really takes place when you get lace bite

According to Dr. Rob LaPrade, when your laces are too tight, the tongue part of the skate presses up against your ankle and, more importantly, puts pressure on your tendons in this area.

These tendons are what allow you to move your ankle in an upward motion, which happens over and over when skating. In other words, these tendons get a lot of work throughout an entire practice or game.

This is where the problem kicks in—this tendon motion against your stiff skate tongue and tight laces can cause some major inflammation, and can even result in tendonitis in rare cases.

Tendonitis or even just lightly inflamed tendons can mean severe pain every time you put your skates on.

At this point, it’s usually too late, and you’ll be stuck with the pain for quite some time.

I can tell you from experience, there’s nothing worse than wanting to play an amazing game but having every single stride you take feel like death (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but it can be excruciating if it lingers on long enough).

Luckily, I’m going to teach you how to take notice of the early lace bite signs so that you can slow down its progression or prevent it altogether. Then, I’ll share a few products I picked up that allowed me to play through the pain when I otherwise might not have been able to.

How to notice lace bite before it’s too late

Learning how to notice the early signs of lace bite is your best line of defense.

signs of developed lace bite inflammation

Lace bite is essentially a kind of progressive pain, meaning it’ll get worse with time.

Early on, you’ll simply come off the ice with your ankle or ankles feeling uncomfortable. You might feel like you have a small bruise or sharp pain right on the upper part of your ankle.

It won’t be all that painful, but it’ll still be noticeable enough to raise concern. Your ankle won’t necessarily show any physical signs either, so you can’t rely on ‘looks‘ so to speak.

At this early stage, all you can do is monitor the pain to see if it improves or starts to become more painful.

The next time you have a practice or a game, pay attention to how it feels when you lace your skates up. Does it hurt more or less than last time? What about when you’re out on the ice skating?

If it no longer hurts, then you’re safe (at least this time around).

But if you feel it to be equally painful or more painful than your last time out on the ice, there’s a good chance you’re developing lace bite (see picture)!

You might start to notice significant redness, swelling, or even a lump like the one shown above. Any of these signs, along with increased pain, means it’s too late to turn back now—you have lace bite.

All you’re really able to do at this point is limit the damage. Here’s how you can make your new-found pain a little less painful:

How to treat lace bite

So now you’ve got lace bite and there’s no going back to better times. There’s only a handful of things you can do to treat lace bite and keep it under control so that you can at least continue skating.

Time off

This is the least favorite option of the bunch—still, taking time away from the game is a surefire way to help treat lace bite. Being that it’s caused by pressure from your skate tongues, time out of your skates can do wonders.

If you’re an amateur player and only play 1-2 times per week, this should work to your advantage. However, if you’re a more competitive player that skates every day, you’re going to have trouble taking time off. If it’s extremely bad, maybe it’s worth sitting out a practice or two.

I understand that time off isn’t an option for many, which is why these other tips might do the trick…

Ice, ice baby

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, the only thing you can really do outside of taking NSAIDs to battle inflammation is to ice your ankles.

Funny story…

I used to play with a guy that had severe lace bite. Like, all-the-time lace bite.

I played with him for several years, and it followed him like the plague. He just couldn’t help it—he loved tying his skates super tight, and as we were part of the Bauer Hockey testing program, we often got new skates to try.

As a result, I think he had lace bite for most of his career.

Ice, along with a few other things I’ll mention soon, were his best friends when it came to numbing the pain.

He would even go as far as putting ice packs in his skates between periods to numb the pain. I kid you not.

Long story short, if you want to treat tongue bite, icing your ankles before, after, and even during your games is a good idea. The cold not only battles inflammation but also eases the pain, making it a little easier to go out and skate hard without cringing the entire period.

Skate tying technique

This one helped me out quite a bit. The first time I got lace bite, one of the veterans on my team at the time told me I had my skates laced up the wrong way.

What?

I’m pretty sure there’s only one way to lace up your skates. What’s this guy talking about?

“Yeah, your skates are badly laced…that’s probably why you got lace bite. Try lacing them up from the outside in, instead of the inside out.”

What he meant was to pass the ends of the laces through the eyelets of the skates from the outside first, instead of through the inside.

I had nothing to lose, so I tried it out—it made a significant difference, and I never really got lace bite as bad as I did that first time ever again!

I suggest you try it out if you’re fighting tongue bite. Re-lace your skates while always passing the laces through the eyelets from the outside of the skate rather than the inside.

Why does it work? Because the laces simply follow the flow of your tongue better, which gets rid of a lot of pressure on your ankles. Below is an image from a forum thread I came across that shows why this lace technique is better for preventing tongue or lace bite:

You can read the full thread here.

That being said, these simple tips are oftentimes not enough to get rid of lace bite pain or cure it all together.

The best pads for curing and preventing lace bite

I’ve used many different strategies and products for eliminating lace bite pain over my career. Many of them didn’t work, but a few were more than worth the investment. The pads below are those I’ve personally tested out and used when my lace bite was at its worst, and I recommend them to anyone looking for a long-term solution.

Bunga pads

In my opinion, Bunga pads are by far your best option for dealing with lace bite pain. Bunga pads are essentially a thin, elastic sleeve with built-in gel pads that help to relieve pressure & friction on your ankle bone, and you can get a pair on Amazon here.

These pads were a life-saver for me over my career, as I like to skate barefoot (personal preference!). As you can imagine, lace bite can be pretty bad on bare skin—much worse than with socks.

Nothing else I’ve tried has been as effective in both preventing lace bite and taking away the pain.

I keep them in my hockey bag so I always have them with me. I use them all the time now, even when I don’t have lace bite—the extra cushion & protection lets me tie my skates tight without having to worry.

Bunga Ankle Sleeves

The Bunga Ankle Sleeves are also a solid choice for fighting lace or skate bite, and are very similar to the Bunga pads mentioned above.

The only real difference is the way they fit (the material is a little different on each), so your best bet would be to try both, or start with one and see if it solves your issue.

Note: They are sold as one sleeve, so keep that in mind if you’re battling lace bite on both feet (which is often the case when you get new skates). You can check them out on Amazon here.

Good ol’ fashion sponges

If you’re not ready to fork out a few dollars for one of the above solutions, then you can give making your own pads a try.

For starters, try cutting a small sponge so that it fits between your ankle and your skate tongue. Try that out and see how it works—it may be all you need if your lace bite isn’t too bad.

If a sponge doesn’t do the trick, you can try foam from your local craft store—it’s usually green or blue, and you can cut out pieces to place around the spot that’s most painful in order to relieve pressure.

Sometimes, cutting the foam in a circular shape and making a hole in the middle—what physiotherapists like to call a donut—is a good way to protect your ankle. Simply place the donut so that the hole in the middle is directly over the spot that hurts the most.

Those are your 3 best options in order of most effective to least effective when it comes to padding & protection.

Conclusion

No matter how hard you try, you’re going to get lace bite at least once during your career as a hockey player.

It’s inevitable.

That said, you want to deal with it as best as possible so it doesn’t keep you off the ice, and also so that it doesn’t affect your performance.

You have a few simple tricks at your disposal that may help:

• Taking time off—essentially staying out of your skates
• Using ice as often as possible to reduce pain & swelling
• Tying your skates less tightly
• Re-lacing your skates from the outside as opposed to the inside

If that doesn’t work and you can spare a few bucks, then your best options, from most effective to least effective, are:

• Bunga pads
• Bunga Ankle Sleeves
• Homemade sponge pads or foam pads

Unfortunately, lace bite is very real, and the sooner you notice it developing, the easier it is to take care of. Don’t let it linger on…it’ll just get worse and might take you off the ice for quite some time. Use the tips I gave you, and invest in some pads or make your own to keep this painful & annoying problem from ruining your season!

Best of luck.

How do you fight lace bite? Leave a comment below!

About the author

Ben Levesque

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Ben has been playing hockey for 20+ years and has learned a ton from playing with the world's best coaches & players. Among his accomplishments are a National Championship, a President's Cup, a Semi-Final finish at the Memorial Cup, several Queen's Cups and a helmet in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The post Lace Bite Cure for Hockey Players: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

“My shoulder is killing me…I’m not 100%.”

“It’s already 3-0 for the other team. There’s no point in trying anymore.”

Statements like these can be heard in rinks around the world, coming from the mouths of hockey players that struggle with mental toughness.

Truth is, a mentally tough athlete doesn’t say these kinds of things—only a mentally weak athlete does.

If you’re a hockey player and feel like you’ve said these kinds of negative statements one too many times during your hockey career, then you’re going to want to keep reading.

In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly what mental toughness is, how to gain more of it, and most importantly how you can improve it.

Let’s dive in!

1. What is mental toughness exactly?

Mental toughness: A measure of individual resilience and confidence that may predict success in the workplace, education, and sport.

That’s the official definition (give or take) depending on which source you use.

It’s alright, but it’s not the best definition in my opinion—at least not when it comes to mental toughness in sport.

Jim Loehr, a well-known sports psychologist and author of many mental toughness books, describes mental toughness as follows:

Mental toughness is the ability to consistently perform to the upper range of your talent and skill, regardless of competitive circumstances.

That’s more like it!

Having to deal with anything that throws you off your game or puts a wrench in your plans so to speak, can be considered mental toughness.

In hockey, that means being able to deal with things like bad referees, slow/choppy ice, fatigue and exhaustion, injuries, or anything else that gets thrown your way.

And when I mean anything else, I really do mean anything else.

Here’s a quick side story from my time in Junior to help prove my point (feel free to skip ahead if you’d like)…

2. Side Story: The missing bag

Back in Major Junior (I believe it was in ’09), our coaching staff chose to fly to one of our playoff games rather than take the bus there because we’d save on travel time and have fresh legs.

It was a great idea…in theory.

The airline we were flying with ended up losing our stick-bag! There we were, all 30-some of us waiting at the baggage claim for a bag that would never come. Finally, we were told the bag had stayed in Montreal and it would only get to us in 48 hours, which was a solid 24 hours past game time.  Our equipment managers had to scramble to get us new sticks on time for our game that night.

For a minor hockey team, it may not have been such a big deal. But at a competitive level, let’s just say guys are very particular about their sticks.

Our equipment managers tried their best to go out and buy us similar sticks, but it just wasn’t possible to get all the right sticks on such a tight schedule.

Let’s just say we were pretty shook mentally. Some guys just couldn’t stop complaining about their sticks, and it had a huge impact on their performance that night.

Whenever I talk about mental toughness, this story always comes up because it’s really a great example of being able to deal with things entirely out of your control.

How would you have reacted in the same situation? Leave a comment at the end!

Alright…moving on

3. How to know if you’re a mentally tough hockey player

Mental toughness comes in many different shapes and sizes, but one thing I want you to realize is this: it can be learned, just like improving your speed or improving your hockey sense.

Yes, some hockey players naturally have more mental toughness than others. But it’s definitely something you can improve over time, and by the end of this blog post, you’ll have a few new tricks up your sleeve to do exactly that.

But first, how do you even know if you’re a mentally tough hockey player? 

The answer lies with how you react given the circumstances. Do you react positively or negatively when something bad happens?

For example, how would you react if you showed up to a game only to find out that you left your sticks at home and were forced to use a new curve and stick flex, much like what happened to my team and I a few years back?

Would you get totally bummed out? Would you start to panic? Would you blame your bad passes on your bad sticks?

If so, your mental toughness could use some work, and it all starts with understanding the 3 different scenarios of mental toughness in hockey:

• being mentally tough in situations you can’t control (like losing your sticks or bad referees)
• being mentally tough when you’re not at your best (like making a mistake that leads to a goal against)
• being mentally tough when you’re in pain (like playing with a separated shoulder)

Let’s look at these scenarios in closer detail and teach you how to overcome them as a mentally tough hockey player.

4. How to be mentally tough in situations you can’t control

Anything that’s out of your control and that requires increased focus in order to continue performing at your best falls into this category.

These “outside” factors so to speak can be detrimental to your performance if you don’t know how to deal with them.

So what’s the trick? How do you become so mentally tough that things like bad off-side calls, a 15-hour bus ride, slow ice and rowdy fans don’t even phase you?

The key is to change your attitude. You have to change the way you approach situations you can’t control. Instead of seeing them as hindrances or “bad-breaks”, you have to see them as opportunities and challenges.

The key to mental toughness when things are out of your control is to change your attitude.
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The former makes you lose focus and wastes your energy, while the latter motivates you to play harder and forces you to zone-in on the task at hand.

For example, take bad referees—this is something every player, coach, and parent can relate to I’m sure. A mentally weak player tends to focus on the bad calls. He yells and complains, and all it does is get under the referee’s skin. More bad calls are made, and it’s a never-ending downward spiral because emotions are involved.

On the other hand, a mentally strong player knows that the situation is the same for both teams, and that if the referee made a bad call, he’ll try to even it up at some point. Rather than waste energy by focusing on the wrong things, the mentally strong player shuts his mouth and focuses on what he CAN control, which is working hard and moving his feet through battles down low so that his opponents are more likely to hook and interfere.

This gives the referee a chance to make up for his previous bad call, and he’s more likely to make a good call now because he hasn’t been yelled at for the past 10 minutes.

And this goes for coaches as well. I know that sometimes it helps to put pressure on referees, but more times than not it does more harm than good. Instead, you’re better off acknowledging that it was a bad call and getting your players to focus on the task at hand.

In Junior, my coach would literally tell us things like:

“It’s going to be a fun one tonight boys…the fans are booing us and the referees are against us. It’s going to be that much more fun when we win!”

See how that totally flips the situation on its head?

Rather than have 20 players complain about outside factors and things we couldn’t control, he taught us to change our attitude and see every bad situation as a challenge—an opportunity to do something great!

He made us feel like we were David in a neverending story of David vs. Goliath. We were always out to prove something and accept the challenge at hand.

Put simply, make it fun when the odds are stacked against you.

5. How to be mentally tough when you’re not at your best

The other area hockey players struggle with when it comes to mental toughness is bad performance.

How do you stay mentally tough when things start to go wrong? How do you bounce back from a bad pass or from a turnover that leads to a goal? Seeing things as a challenge won’t do much for you here.

The key to being mentally tough when you aren’t playing well actually happens before you even step on the ice. If you haven’t guessed yet, the key to good and consistent performance is preparation.

Proper preparation leads to proper performance.
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That statement holds true in hockey and life.

The better prepared you are for the task at hand, the simpler that task will be and the easier it will be for you to succeed. It also becomes a lot easier to bounce back from bad performances because you believe in your own capabilities.

In other words, if you want to bounce back from a bad shift, a turnover, or a mistake, you have to put in the work to master your craft—both physically and mentally—before they happen.

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and start taking control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey IQ to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

Only then will you be able to brush off bad shifts, turnovers, and small mistakes as if they were nothing. Only then will you bounce back for the better.

One thing I can tell you with 100% certainty is this:

• the years where I had the most success as a hockey player and was able to easily bounce back from mistakes was when I had a great off-season
• the years where I had the least success as a hockey player and wasn’t able to bounce back as easily was when I felt like I had a mediocre off-season

Take your off-season training and in-season practices seriously…they affect your performance a lot more than you think!

6. How the toughest in the world stay mentally tough (and fight through the pain)

What kind of mental toughness guide would this be if I didn’t at least explore how the toughest in the world stay mentally tough?

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about Ironmen, ultramarathon runners, and other badass athletes that clearly are mentally tougher than I am.

We’re talking about people that have run through a desert for 7 days straight or completed a half-ironman triathlon on a broken foot (not even kidding).

These are the toughest of the tough. Here’s how you can take a page out of their playbook and improve your mental toughness in hockey for when you’re feeling the pain.

Jesse Thomas, Long course athlete

Jesse’s event is the triathlon long course, which consists of a 1.2-mile swim followed by a 56-mile bike race, and finishes off with a 13.1-mile run.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound fun to me at all.

To top it all off, Jesse has won three of these events in a row, making him the first male in the world to do so.

The best part? He won the third event after breaking his foot 3 miles into the race. How’s that for mental toughness?

Here’s what Jesse had to say about mental toughness in an article on Greatist:

“I think of mental toughness as your ability to deal with pain and to process it. It’s your body’s ability and your mind’s ability—mostly your mind’s. Mental toughness could be the ability to get out of your body what your body is capable of that day.”

For him, mental toughness is obviously about overcoming the pain that goes with the extreme conditioning that he does.

To get over that pain, he uses ‘mental kicks’ which give him a physical boost:

“In a Half Ironman, I’m out there for four hours. I can have a bad 20 or 30 minutes, come out of it, and still have a pretty awesome race. I have go-to mantras. “You’re kicking ass!” “You’re killin’ it!” I say them out loud, almost yelling them. I’ve found that the more physical you can make them, the better—you’re not only saying them, you’re hearing them, too, which makes a difference.”

This is pure gold!

When asked about his mental toughness training methods, he had this to say:

“I definitely visualize before every race. I try to divide it up into as many key points as I can. I set goals and trigger points and I try to tie as little of it to external factors as possible. So, I’ll say, “At halfway through I want to feel like this and I want to make a move that increases my output by 10 percent.” Those kinds of things make me feel like I am on a race plan regardless of where I am in my overall goal.”

Samantha Gash, Ultra-Endurance Runner

Samantha took a semester off from law school to race 155 miles through the Chilean desert in the Atacama crossing—a self-supported race in which participants carry 15 to 30 pounds of supplies on their backs—for seven days straight.

Then, she did multi-day ultra-marathons in three other deserts, making her the first woman and youngest person ever to complete a four-desert grand slam (yes, that’s a thing).

And she did it all in one calendar year.

Insane if you ask me. But it all comes back to mental toughness:

“I try to focus my mind on the positive of completing. When I’m in immense physical pain, I try to dull the pain as much as possible. Once the pain enters your head (as opposed to just your body), you start to legitimize ways of pulling out. I distract myself by thinking about WHY I’m doing it. My body and mind is stronger than I’d ever think.”

These are just two examples of athletes that harness the power of their mental toughness to keep going through the pain. Steal a page from their playbooks and improve your own mental toughness as a hockey player.

When all else fails, try the following exercises for building up that mental toughness…

7. Two  key exercises for training mental toughness (inspired by war)

Who’s up there alongside Ironmen and ultra-marathon runners in terms of mental toughness?

Soldiers.

This isn’t a debate over who’s mentally toughest (hey, hockey players are really tough too), but rather to take a look at why soldiers are mentally tough and again steal a page out of their playbook so we can apply it to hockey.

I recently came across an article on The Art of Manliness website and thought it was totally fitting. Here are 2 simple exercises for building mental toughness inspired by war, along with how you can adapt them to the game of hockey.

Train to increase confidence

Soldiers go through very rigorous training for a long period of time. They practice the same scenarios over and over again so that when the time comes, they’re ready.

I’ve already talked about the importance of practice and preparation for building mental toughness (and confidence) above. If you want to learn more about how to do this effectively, check out my article on deliberate practice.

The other key to building confidence (and mental toughness as a result), is to overcome smaller failures. By challenging yourself on a daily basis with something you’ve not quite mastered, you develop greater confidence in your skills and learn to deal with meltdowns when larger failures occur.

Things like learning a new language, sport, or musical instrument are a perfect fit for overcoming small failures and boosting confidence.

This is one of the reasons why so many people recommend playing more than just hockey in the summer. It not only increases your overall athleticism, but also helps you build mental toughness and all-around confidence in your abilities.

Embrace your sense of duty

During war, soldiers face a ton of situations, many of them life-threatening.

One of the ways they stay mentally tough and win the day, is by reminding themselves that it’s their duty to protect their country.

It’s their job, no matter what.

Regardless of how they feel that day, regardless of if they’re scared, hungry, happy or sad—their job is to defend their country, and they get the job done. They embrace their sense of duty and it comes above all else.

You can use this exact same concept in hockey to stay mentally tough. For instance, write down everything you’re responsible for on the ice, based on your position.

If you’re a winger, that might be:

• Be tough on the boards
• Move the puck up the ice on breakouts
• Block shots from opposing D-men at any cost
• Be first on loose pucks
• Win puck battles
• Get to the front of the net for scoring chances

Whatever your list consists of is what tasks you’re responsible for. Think of it as your job description. Those tasks need to get done no matter what—regardless of how you feel or how much pain you’re in.

You can even go as far as taping your list of tasks to your stall so that you see them every time you step on the ice. When you’re clear about your tasks, it becomes easier to get them done.

And if you’re playing to get drafted or to get a full-scholarship, write that down too.

All of a sudden, that soar wrist doesn’t hurt all that much…

8. Required Reading: 4 Books for Boosting Mental Toughness

There’s much more to mental toughness than I can fit into a 4,000  word blog post.

If you want to learn more about mental toughness in hockey and how you can improve it on your own time, I highly recommend picking up a book from the list below:

• Unbeatable Mind: Forge Resiliency and Mental Toughness to Succeed at an Elite Level by Mark Divine
• The New Toughness Training for Sports by James E. Loehr
• Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover
• The Champion’s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train and Thrive by Jim Afremow

If I had to choose just one book from the list above, it would be (without a doubt) Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable. Tim Grover is responsible for some of the success of star basketball players like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and more.

Even though a lot of the stories and examples are from the NBA world, it totally applies to hockey players. Definitely worth a read if you’re serious about improving your mental toughness and overall mental game.

Either way, consider reading through one or more of those books if you’re currently struggling with mental toughness in hockey. It’ll set you on the right path and give you some extra tools to deal with the three different mental toughness scenarios I’ve covered.

9. Conclusion

That just about sums it up for my quick guide to mental toughness in hockey.

Remember…there are 3 different scenarios that will test your mental toughness as a hockey player:

• situations where things are totally out of your control
• situations where you make mistakes or play badly
• situations where you’re in pain

When things are out of your control, remember to acknowledge them, see them as challenges, and set your focus on the task at hand.

On the other hand, mental toughness with regards to mistakes and playing badly happens before you even step foot on the ice. How have you prepared all off-season? Are you prepared both physically and mentally? How hard do you work during practices? In other words, are you prepared to perform?

Being properly prepared to perform will eliminate a lot of mistakes right out of the gate, and for the odd mistake here and there, use my between shifts routine to calm down while re-focusing to get your mind back in the game.

When it comes to being mentally tough and playing through the pain, just remember the two stories I shared with you above. Can you get through a 60-minute hockey game with a minor injury? For the most part, sure you can. People have pushed their bodies to the limit for hours, days, weeks and months.

With practice, you can too. Use “mental kicks”, find your WHY, and visualize yourself playing through pain before it even happens.

Lastly, to learn more about mental toughness, the list of books I mentioned is a great place to start.

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and start taking control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey IQ to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

The post The Hockey Player’s Guide to Boosting Mental Toughness appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

Dr. Jim Taylor, an internationally recognized authority on the psychology of sport, even goes as far as saying that “confidence is the single most important mental factor in sports.”

“Confidence is the single most important mental factor in sports.” – Dr. JimTaylor
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And while confidence is very much a skill that can be learned (contrary to popular belief), it’s still hard knowing where to start.

Well, I’m here to help you out with that…

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to play with and against many gifted, confident hockey players.

The kind of players that want the puck when the game is on the line, that step up and play clutch when it counts, and make things happen no matter what the situation is.

The list you’re about to read is made up of 8 common habits these players had, either knowingly or unknowingly, in some way shape or form, that led to them having full confidence in their abilities.

Here goes…

1. They own where they’re at

Confident hockey players own where they’re at.

If they’re playing well, it’s because of them.

If they’re playing poorly, it’s no one’s fault but their own.

They don’t blame coaches or teammates or outside factors. They take full responsibility for their play, and they own up to it—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Owning where you’re at is crucial if you want to build longlasting confidence because it’s the only way you’ll put the work in when things go bad.

Players that take the easy way out by blaming others for their mistakes and bad performances tend to stay in slumps longer, which eventually takes a toll on their confidence.

Own where you’re at, take full responsibility for your performance, and your confidence will grow.

2. They plan

A confident hockey player not only know’s where he’s at (as mentioned above), but he also knows where he’s headed.

To build and maintain confidence, you have to improve each and every day. The only way to know if you’re improving for sure is to have a plan, work that plan, and check in regularly to make sure you’re making progress.

For example, the confident players I’ve played with always had a few areas of their game they wanted to improve—one-timers, face-offs, skating faster, etc.

They would always dedicate time after practice to work on these skills and improve them, building confidence in their abilities each and every hour they spent on the ice.

If you want to be more confident, adopt a growth mindset—create a plan, work that plan, and evaluate your progress each and every week (Sunday nights before bed are great for this).

Did you get worse, stay the same, or get better this past week?

Only one of those answers leads to an increase in confidence. Make sure you’ve planned and done what’s necessary so that you can answer correctly.

3. They act as if they’re there already

It’s important to own where you’re at and plan your progress, but it’s just as important to pretend you’re there already.

In other words, if you aspire to be a great stick-handler, a sniper, or a shutdown defenseman, you have to believe it with every fiber of your being before it’s even true—and it will eventually come to be.

Fake it til’ you make it.

Pretend until it’s true.

What the mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve.

You might fight this stuff a little farfetched…

If you believe it or not, that’s up to you. But the truth is the mind can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction.

That’s why visualization is a hockey player’s best friend.

Act confident even if you aren’t, and you’ll begin to trick your mind into thinking you are—and then you’ll be!

Act confident even if you aren’t, and you’ll begin to trick your mind into thinking you are!
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Give it a shot. What do you have to lose?

4. They stay humble

No matter how confident they become, highly-confident hockey players always respect those around them and listen to their constructive criticism.

Every ounce of feedback—no matter how big or small—is a chance to grow and improve.

Your coaching staff, your parents, your teammates—they may not always be right, but if they share feedback with you, it’s worth your while to listen.

If several people notice a part of your game that needs work, chances are it does.

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and finally take control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey Sense to the next level.)

That said, being confident does NOT mean being cocky. Be humble and accept criticism, no matter who it comes from.

You never know who will give you a piece of advice that can make a significant impact on your game (this literally happened to me—read about it here).

5. They prepare as best they can

Highly confident hockey players know that proper preparation is the best way to eliminate self-doubt.

From putting in work in the gym and on the ice to working on your hockey sense and improving your mental game, the more you prepare, the more you’ll feel ready to perform.

If you’ve done everything you can to prepare for the struggles and challenges ahead, you’ll be much more confident in any given situation.

6. They aren’t afraid of failure

Confident hockey players aren’t afraid to fail.

To the contrary, they actually embrace mistakes.

They know that mistakes are the key to growth, and they’re okay sacrificing short-term success for long-term growth.

If you think about it, the only way you can make the right play is if you’ve made the wrong play in the same situation at some point before.

In other words, you must fail in order to succeed.

Failure is a stepping stone to greatness.

In life, failure is just a stepping stone to greatness.
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Once you realize that—and realize that failure isn’t the enemy everyone makes it out to be—you’ll get rid of the added stress that’s stopping you from playing your best.

Nothing sums this point up better than Michael Jordan’s relationship with failure:

You must fail in order to succeed. – image source

If you want to become a confident hockey player, your attitude towards failure has to change.

Make that choice. Right here. Right now.

7. They do it for themselves

Confident hockey players work hard for themselves.

They don’t do it for their parents, their friends, or their coaches.

They work hard and push their limits for themselves because at the end of the day, real confidence is built within—not from the praise or approval they get from others.

It’s nice when someone gives you a pat on the back for a job well done, but if you come to rely on that positive feedback to boost your confidence…

…what will you do when it’s gone?

Believe me—you won’t always have people around to pick you up and boost your confidence, especially when things go bad.

At higher levels, positive feedback is even harder to come by.

You have to learn to build your confidence from within, and it all starts with playing the game for YOU and no one else.

Then, whenever you find your confidence is low, kick your work ethic up a few notches so that you can praise yourself afterward.

Rinse & repeat until you’re back where you want to be.

No need to rely on others for approval—you’ve got your own back, and that’s the ultimate form of self-confidence!

8. They find a way to win the day (every day)

Last but not least, confident hockey players find a way to win the day, every day, no matter how bad things go.

That means even if they’re having a terrible practice, they find a way to get just a little bit better at one thing.

That means even if they’re injured and can’t get on the ice, they spend a few minutes visualizing their breakouts so they’re more comfortable with all the possible scenarios.

That means even if they’re a healthy scratch, they hit the gym to improve their skating speed.

No matter what, they find a way to improve every day, even if it’s just a 1% increase over yesterday.

Confident hockey players find a way to win the day every day…even if it’s just a 1% improvement.
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That 1% compounds over time and they know that the more ‘days won’ they can string together, the more confident they’ll be across the board.

More days won = more confidence.

Do what you need to do to win the day. It’s that simple.

Conclusion

If you want to be a more confident hockey player that believes in himself, shines in big moments, and isn’t afraid to take calculated risks, then start by working these 8 habits into your game.

You may already be doing some of them and that’s fine.

Keep doing them.

But the more of these 8 habits you can squeeze in, the more your confidence will start to grow, and the more you’ll start to play like you’ve always known you were capable of.

And that’s exactly what you deserve!

Did I miss any confidence habits? Leave a comment below and let me know because I’d love to hear your thoughts on what it takes to be a more confident hockey player!

The post The 8 Habits of Highly Confident Hockey Players appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

Well, that’s exactly what I told myself when I learned about psychologist Jeff Simons‘ 3-step routine for maintaining emotional control and absolutely owning the moment.

And the best part? This routine literally takes just 30 seconds to complete.

Sound a little over the top?

It’s not, and by the end of this article, you’ll know how to apply this simple 30-second hack to your own game in order to:

• make sure you’re on your A-game as soon as the puck drops
• re-focus after mistakes so that 1 bad play no longer leads to a bad game
• be clutch when the game is on the line

If you struggle with focus, consistency, or simply performing in games as well as you do in practice, then this article is for you…

The ‘Quick Set’ Routine by Jeff Simons

At its core, this routine is built to help you attain maximum focus ‘in the moment.’

In other words, it helps you forget about things like bad referee calls, the mistake you made last shift, your coach’s negative feedback, and all that other draining stuff that takes your mind off the task at hand.

The Quick Set routine is all about regaining 100% focus, regardless of what just happened (the past) OR what’s about to happen (the future), so that you can perform at your best ‘in the moment’ (the present, which is where you want to be).

All that…in just 30 seconds!

Here’s how it works…

Step 1: The Physical Cue – preparing your body

The first step in the Quick Set routine is to establish your physical cue.

Your physical cue is used to prepare your body, get rid of tension, and help you feel loose & relaxed so that you’re physically ready to tackle the task at hand.

For example, my physical cue is as follows:

• a quick shake of the legs to wake them up and get the blood flowing
• a quick roll-of-the-stick between your hands to loosen them up and feel comfortable
• a deep breath or two to relax and flood your body with oxygen

Feel free to copy it or come up with your own.

It doesn’t have to be over the top—the goal is just for your brain to acknowledge that your body is ready to perform.

This should take you no more than 10 seconds to complete, and it’s the first thing you’ll do during your Quick Set routine.

Step 2: The Emotional Cue – building quick confidence

The second part is all about preparing yourself emotionally.

What you need to do here is see yourself performing effectively in your mind in order to build quick confidence before the next play.

I talk more about this in The Hockey Sense Handbook, but essentially you want to see yourself doing the right thing and succeeding in your mind before doing it for real.

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and finally take control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey Sense to the next level.)

For example, if you’re a centerman about to take a face-off, see yourself winning the draw in your mind before you line up.

If you’re a winger going on for a shift in the defensive zone, see yourself breaking out successfully in your mind before you line up for the face-off.

If you’re a D-man about to go on for a tough defensive shift, see yourself winning puck battles in your mind before you jump on.

You get the idea.

The emotional cue is all about replaying past successes in your mind in order to build quick confidence right before you need to perform.

This step should also only take you 10 seconds to complete.

Step 3: The Focus Cue – readying your mind

So far, you’ve prepared your body and built up some quick confidence in your abilities before getting ready to act.

All that’s left is for you to ready your mind with your focus cue.

Here’s where you eliminate all thoughts from your mind, other than the task at hand and the cue that’s going to let you know it’s time to perform.

The runner’s focus cue is the ‘BANG’ of the starting gun that lets him know to take off.

The outfielder in baseball’s focus cue is the crack of the bat when it makes contact with the ball.

The tennis player’s focus cue is when his opponent tosses the ball up in the air for a serve.

As a hockey player, your focus cues will typically be when the puck drops from the referee’s hand, or as soon as you jump over the boards between shifts.

The only thing you’re doing at this step—step 3 of the routine—is getting ready to GO!

Focusing on a specific event—like the drop of the puck or a hop over the boards—helps you zone in on the task at hand and reduces your fear of making mistakes.

Putting it all together

To add this highly-effective hack to your mental game toolbox, all you have to do is establish your 3 cues:

1. your physical cue to prepare your body. Come up with something that helps your legs & hands relax.
2. your emotional cue to build quick confidence in your abilities. Create a mental highlight reel of past successes.
3. your focus cue that lets you know its ‘go-time’.  Clear your mind and focus 100% on the puck drop or jumping over the boards for your next shift.

It’s all about relaxing (step 1), reminding yourself that you’ve been in this same situation before and succeeded (step 2), and that you have no uncertainties or doubts—you’re just ready to get the job done (step3).

Run through this 3-step routine in sequence before your next play (it should only take you 30 seconds), and you’ll be much calmer, focused, and ready to perform.

That’s really all there is to it. Simple, but don’t underestimate it.

If there’s one thing I learned in life, it’s that oftentimes the simplest things have the greatest impact.

Take advantage of it…you’ll be glad you did!

What cues do you use in order to maximize focus? Share them in the comments below because I’d love to hear how you prepare for the next play!

About the author

Ben Levesque

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Ben has been playing hockey for 20+ years and has learned a ton from playing with the world's best coaches & players. Among his accomplishments are a National Championship, a President's Cup, a Semi-Final finish at the Memorial Cup, several Queen's Cups and a helmet in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The post The 30-Second Mental Game Hack for Owning The Next Play appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

We don’t want to sit on the bench, skip shifts, or watch the game from the stands. We want all the ice time we can get.

But unfortunately, not everyone can be out there at the same time, which means some players inevitably get less play time than others during a 60-minute game.

If this sounds like you, or if you’ve been wondering how you can get more ice time as a hockey player, then what you’re about to read may shed some light on why you’re not getting the play time you feel you deserve.

By the end, you’ll know exactly what to avoid and how to fix your game in order to log more minutes and be seen as more of an asset to your team.

Let’s look at reason numero uno of why you’re not getting the ice time you deserve…

1. You’re unreliable defensively

I’ve mentioned this throughout the website more times than I can count because it’s just that important.

If you’re a liability to your team defensively, it doesn’t matter how ‘soft’ your hands are or how hard your shot is—you will NOT play in the crucial moments of a game if you’re unreliable defensively!

In the lower leagues where they roll all the lines equally, you can get by with below average defense, but once you start to play competitive hockey, you can kiss some of your ice time goodbye if you have a weak defensive game.

At the higher ranks coaches play to win, and that means playing the players that take pride in defense. If you’re a one-trick pony that can only score goals, you’ll have a really tough time.

Coaches want to know that when they put you out on the ice, they don’t have to hold their breath every time the puck is in your own end.

If you’re not getting the ice time you deserve right now, ask yourself if your defensive game is up to par. Are you better or worse defensively than your teammates?

If you’re not sure, ask your coaching staff for feedback on your defensive play.

2. You’re not matching or surpassing your teammates’ work ethic

If you’re being left on the bench more often than you’d like, it might be because you’re not putting forth enough effort.

If other players on your team work harder than you in all 3 zones of the ice, you’re going to have a tough time proving to your coaching staff that they should put you on more frequently.

In order to solidify yourself as a player that “deserves” ice time and isn’t just “given” ice time, you’ve gotta work for it.

That means either matching or surpassing the level of effort put forth by your teammates.

Yes, your teammates are your friends—but don’t think for a second that your coach isn’t pitting you against your peers when deciding who to put out there next.

At the end of the day, you’re competing against your peers for ice time, and if you can win on the work ethic front, the odds will sway in your favor even if you’re not as skilled as the next guy.

I’ll be the first to tell you—my entire hockey career and the success that came with it was built off extreme work ethic, not my talent or skills.

3. You’re undisciplined

If there’s one thing that makes hockey coaches cringe, it’s an undisciplined player.

Again, it doesn’t matter how good you are (young guys, I’m talking to you!), if you get into trouble with the refs every time you’re out on the ice, it won’t be long before you’re on the bench for the rest of the game.

Mouthing off, bad body language, stupid penalties—coaches can’t stand that stuff.

If your coach doesn’t believe you can stay calm and keep from taking a stupid penalty in the heat of the action, then he probably won’t put you out on the ice during the crucial moments of a game.

And the worst part is—you might not even know that your ‘undisciplined’ nature is what’s causing your reduction in ice time.

For example, if you were undisciplined a few times in the past, your coach might now have you subconsciously branded as a ‘risky’ player to put on when the game is tight.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way out of this other than to prove to your coach that you’re able to stay out of trouble.

Only once he’s seen you act disciplined on several occasions—when the ‘old you’ would have gotten a penalty or caused trouble—will he begin to trust you.

4. You don’t protect the puck

If you’ve read this far and still don’t know why your ice time is limited, then this might be the one you’ve been waiting for.

If you’re the kind of player that likes to pull off the extra move on the breakout, curls back towards your own zone often, or tries to deke through defenders all the time, then you may be jeopardizing your ice time.

Hear me out—I’m not saying that these plays are necessarily bad. If you can pull them off, great—keep doing what you’re doing if it’s working.

But if you find yourself making risky plays and losing the puck often, then you may be causing your coach to grow grey hairs from the added stress, which directly correlates to the amount of ice time he’s willing to give you in tight games (trust me on this one).

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and finally take control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey Sense to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

I know I’ve embraced making mistakes in hockey before (I believe it’s one of the best ways to develop as a hockey player), and I still stand by that. But here, we’re talking about general puck protection, puck management, and making the right decisions.

You need to know when it’s time to keep it simple, and when you’re able to be creative—and there’s a fine line between both. The best players know where this line is, and never spend too much time on either side.

Note: Read my article on winning puck battles if you’re struggling with puck protection—it’ll teach you how to use your body more effectively to keep from turning the puck over.

5. You’re not making an impact

Last but not least, if you’re still not sure why your ice time is limited, it may be because you’re just not making a big enough impact.

If you’re never implicated in the play or shy away from the puck, it’s going to be hard for your coach to justify putting you on the ice.

Every time you’re out there, you’ve gotta make something happen.

I don’t mean by scoring goals. Goals are a bonus.

But you can get implicated in other ways like being first on the puck, creating turnovers, taking shots, winning faceoffs, blocking shots, laying bodychecks, backchecking hard, playing solid defense, being a leader, and much more.

If you want to be among the players that log the most minutes on your team, you can’t just be a spectator and watch the play go by. You have to make an impact any way you can.

Conclusion

There you have it—5 reasons you’re not getting the ice time you want or feel you deserve.

I may have missed some (if so, let me know in the comments below), but these are the 5 I see most often, especially among younger players.

If you’ve been wondering how to get more ice time as a hockey player, here’s the secret recipe:

• take pride in defense and be responsible in your own zone
• match or surpass your teammates’ level of work ethic
• stay disciplined and limit the bad penalties
• protect the puck at all costs and limit turnovers
• above all, impact the game every time you step on the ice—in your own unique way.

That’s all there is to it. If you remember these 5 things and stick to them as much as possible, your coach will have no choice but to put you out there more often.

Did you find this post useful? If so, I’d appreciate it if you shared it with your friends. Thanks ahead!

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and finally take control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey Sense to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

The post 5 Reasons You’re Not Getting The Ice Time You Deserve appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

You may know it under another name, such as mental imagery, seeing in the mind’s eye, or hearing in the head, but in my eyes, all of the above can be defined as follows:

“A mental rehearsal of a technique, skill, feeling, emotion, or other that you want to change, control, improve, or prepare for.”

If you’re shaking your head right now thinking, “This hockey visualization stuff doesn’t work,” think again…

It’s been proven time and time again that the world’s best athletes rely on visualization to build confidence, perform better, deal with failure, and prepare for tough competition.

Michael Phelps? He visualizes every detail of every race—his starts, his strokes, his finishes—way before he jumps in the water.

Jack Nicklaus? He says he never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp in-focus picture of it in his mind.

Wayne Gretzky? He would visualize himself on the ice to help overcome distractions and focus on his game.

If the best athletes in the world are using visualization to dominate their sport, then why aren’t you?

If you’ve been looking for a competitive advantage to gain an edge over other hockey players, trust me when I say that hockey visualization is it—but only if you do it right.

That’s what this post is all about.

By the end, you’ll know everything there is to know about the topic and how to use it effectively to improve your game.

And even if you’re done trying to climb the ranks and only play for fun, you’ll find that this visualization routine can get you to start playing some of your best hockey ever (just like it did for me).

Let’s start from the top.

The 5 Golden Rules of a Successful Hockey Visualization Session

Before I dive into the nitty-gritty details of how to run through a hockey visualization sesh’ (as I like to call them), you need to understand these 5 golden rules.

Rule #1: Be specific

This is rule number one for a reason.

Hockey visualization is only effective if it’s specific. The more detailed you can be with your visions, the better.

For example, if you want to score more goals, seeing yourself score more goals over and over in your mind is a great start.

But what’s even better is to choose a specific scenario you’d like to perfect—maybe it’s deflections in close, one-timer goals from backdoor passes, or high-slot shots after receiving a pass in front—and rehearse it mentally in your mind.

The more detailed and specific you can make your visualization scenarios, the more effective your mental imagery will be.

Keep that in mind as you continue reading.

Rule #2: Test both viewpoints

When it comes to visualization, there are two different viewpoints you can use.

One is called associated view, and the other is called dissociated view.

Visualizing with an associated view means seeing through your own eyes as if you were actually playing. You see your hands, your stick, your skates, and what’s going on around you on the ice.

Visualizing with a dissociated view means seeing yourself play the game as if you were a spectator in the stands.

There isn’t one viewpoint that’s better or more effective than the other. You have to test out both and decide which one feels more comfortable (personally, I’m a fan of associated visualization as it feels more real to me).

Stick with what feels right to start, and once you’ve been visualizing for a while, begin to experiment with both.

Rule #3: Pay attention to your environment

While you’re visualizing, it’s important that your mental imagery mimics your typical environment or surrounding.

For example, don’t just picture any ice hockey rink. See yourself skating on YOUR rink at YOUR arena.

If you’re preparing for a road game at an arena you’ve already visited, then try to picture it in your mind as vividly as possible.

If the stands are usually full of people, imagine them being full in your head. If they’re empty in real life, make them empty in your mind.

If you’re an amateur player, see yourself playing against other amateur players. Don’t see yourself in the NHL alongside Connor McDavid.

If you’re a beer leaguer, see yourself drinking beer (just kidding).

Whatever your usual environment looks and feels like, try to reproduce it as best you can when you’re visualizing. Your visions have to be as similar to real life as possible for them to be effective.

The goal is to literally trick your mind into thinking your visions are real, which brings me to my next point…

Rule #4: Use as many senses as possible

To make your visualization sessions even more powerful, you have to use as many senses as possible.

Sight will always be the main driver of your mental imagery (what you see), but you can do better than that.

What does it sound like when you’re on the ice during a game? Try to experience the sound of the crowd in your mind. Try to hear the noise the buzzer makes, your teammates verbally calling for passes, the sound of slapshots, big hits, goal celebrations, the referee’s whistle, etc.

Try to imagine the feeling of the puck on your stick, the flex in your shaft when you take a shot, or the feeling of your skate blades digging into the ice when you race for a puck.

What does your rink smell like? That might sound funny, but I can recall exactly what my Junior rink from back in 2009 smells like because I used to recreate the feeling so often in my mind during visualization sessions.

Remember, you’re trying to re-create real life in your mind, so the more senses you can tie in, the more real it gets.

Taste, on the other hand, might be a tough one to re-create (let me know if you figure that one out).

Rule #5: Fix mistakes & bad habits

Last but not least, remember that the overall objective of your visualization sessions is to improve your game.

If you see yourself making a mistake or carrying out a bad habit in your mind, stop what you’re doing, restart your vision, and do it right.

The beauty of visualization is that you can just “rewind” your thoughts & visions and “replay” the scenario again, this time doing the right thing.

For example, if you’re visualizing a goal scoring scenario, you may see yourself missing the net or hitting the post (this tends to happen when you lack confidence in your skills).

If this happens, just restart your vision and see yourself doing it right. You don’t want to be clouding your mind with mistakes and bad habits.

Getting started with visualization in hockey

With the golden rules out of the way, here’s the what/when/where of hockey visualization.

Optimal visualization frequency and duration

One of the popular questions I get asked with regards to visualization is how often to visualize, and for how long.

There’s no magic recipe, but I’ve found that visualizing:

• 3-4 times per week
• 10 minutes per session

is a great starting point. If you can manage to visualize for 10 solid minutes at least 3 times per week, you’ll start to see a difference in your game in as little as a few weeks.

When starting out, you may struggle to stay focused for a full 10 minutes, so if you can only do 5, that’s better than nothing. Just try and work your way up to 10 minutes and beyond, with 15 minutes being the sweet spot (anything more and you’ll likely zone out and/or fall asleep).

When to visualize

Another important thing to consider is when to visualize.

This varies from player to player, but for me, the ideal times were:

• in bed the night before a game
• a few hours before game time
• a few minutes before getting on the ice
• when needed, between periods and/or shifts

Visualization sessions the night before were to fix what I was currently struggling with in my game, and to stop/re-wind what I was seeing until I saw myself doing it right.

Visualization sessions a few hours before game time were to see myself playing my role well, making effective plays in all 3 zones, and being reliable defensively.

Visualization sessions a few minutes before game time were to see myself playing with full confidence and dominating my opponents all over the ice.

Visualization sessions between periods and shifts were to address anything I was currently struggling with during the game and see myself doing the right thing instead.

This is what worked for me. Feel free to copy it and work it into your routine if it’s to your liking.

If not, find a few times throughout the week where you can squeeze in at least 10 minutes (ideally as close to your games as possible) for your visualization sessions.

Once you’ve decided when you’ll visualize, you’ve gotta decide where.

Where to practice visualization

Two things to look for when deciding where to visualize are comfort and quietness.

The last thing you want is to feel all bunched up and uncomfortable, or lose your train of thought every two seconds because of distractions.

Great visualization spots for me were in bed before going to sleep, in the stands at the rink before warmup (the arena is usually dead around this time) and just outside the dressing room during periods (everyone hangs out in the room, so a chair in the hallway might be your best friend).

You might remember the famous video of Mike Cammalleri visualizing on the bench, long before the fans arrived:

The Simplest Hockey Visualization Routine

Here’s a simple visualization routine you can add to your training to help fix gaps in your game and build all-around confidence.

Step 1: Relax your body

There’s no way your mind can fully relax until your body is at ease.

Finding a comfortable, quiet spot will get you most of the way there, but also try to loosen the tension in your muscles and really ‘let go’ as much as you can.

I found it a lot easier to relax when I was in bed (for obvious reasons), so that’s where my most effective visualization sessions took place.

If you’re just getting started, the comfort of your own bed is a sure bet.

Step 2: Set your intentions

Once you’re in a comfortable, distraction-free setting, it’s time to set your intentions—more specifically, what you want to improve through visualization.

Is it improving your breakouts as a winger? Is it your defensive play down low? Is it beating defensemen 1 on 1?

Whatever it is, be specific and try to think up a “mini-movie” that you can run through in your mind for the next 10+ minutes.

Sticking with the example above for wingers trying to improve their breakouts, I might think up a mini-movie that covers these different scenarios:

• getting over to the boards quickly when my team recovers the puck
• being aware of my surroundings while waiting for the puck to arrive (ie: looking around at my options)
• getting a perfect pass from my D-man versus getting a bad pass from my D-man
• what happens when I have no pressure versus what happens when I have pressure
• the different plays I can make using my center, D-man, far side winger, and skating the puck up myself

Keep in mind that you’re not actually visualizing yet—you’re simply preparing the content of your mini-movie (what you want to improve) for your visualization session.

Remember to be as specific as possible with your scenarios. General visualizations won’t have anywhere near the impact that clear, vivid visualizations will.

Step 3: Relax your mind

With your body relaxed and your intentions + mini-movie set, it’s time to finally relax your mind.

There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel here, which is why we’re going to steal a page out of the meditation playbook.

All you need to do to relax your mind is focus on your breathing:

• Close your eyes
• Inhale deeply and count “one” in your head
• Exhale deeply and count “two” in your head
• Keep going until you get to 10 (ie: 5 deep breaths)
• Repeat if necessary, until your mind is at ease

If your mind starts to wander off to things like school, work, or last night’s upset loss, that’s okay—just bring your attention back to your breathing (if you don’t know what diaphragmatic breathing is, read this).

Once you feel relaxed, it’s time to fire up your mini-movie!

Step 4: Direct your thoughts

With your body relaxed, your mind at ease, and your intentions set, it’s time to start visualizing.

Here’s where you direct your thoughts towards the mini-movie you planned out in Step 2 and start to mentally rehearse each scenario one by one.

Sticking with the winger & breakout example, this is where you would mentally rehearse (ie: see in your mind) sprinting over to the boards once your team recovers the puck on defense, and then every possibility that would happen thereafter. From a clean pass leading to an easy breakout, to a messy pass that ends up in your skates, and everything in between.

See yourself looking for teammates, protecting the puck with your body, exploding up ice when you get the puck, and more.

If your intention was to improve your face-off taking skills, see yourself winning face-offs at all the different face-off dots. See yourself winning on both your forehand and backhand. See yourself with perfect timing. See yourself being sent onto the ice by your coach to go and take an important face-off in the dying seconds of a game.

All the positive imagery that makes up your mini-movie is what visualization is all about.

Positive imagery, repeated frequently in your mind, will inevitably lead to change in your behavior and your actions.

It’s important to mention that your mini-movie doesn’t have to be just about skills.

You can see yourself being more confident, having great body language, bouncing back after a bad play, leading your team to victory, standing up for teammates, etc.

Whatever you want to improve, plan it into your mini-movie and then walk through the scenario in your mind during your visualization sessions.

Last but not least, remember to stop and rewind your movie if you see yourself make a mistake. You’re in control of your movie, and there’s no reason for it not to be 100% perfect—in fact, you want it to be!

Conclusion

Hockey visualization is a powerful training tactic for improving your game.

It’s easy to do, but hard to master—especially when you’re just starting out.

I’ve laid the groundwork for you, but you’ve gotta put in the hours if you want results (it’ll take you a few weeks of consistent visualization sessions before you start to reap the benefits…don’t give up early!).

Start with getting the 5 golden rules down pat, then find a visualization routine that you feel comfortable with. Remember to relax your body, clear your mind, and set your intentions on what you want to accomplish.

Then, once you’re all settled in, close your eyes and direct your thoughts to your mini-movie—the different scenarios you thought up beforehand—so that you can work through them one by one.

See yourself completing the scenarios effectively and successfully each and every time. You’re the director of your movie, which means you decide what happens. You can pause, rewind, or see things in slow motion (especially useful when you want to break down a specific skill or technique) whenever you feel like it.

Build visualization into your training, stick with it for at least a few weeks, and believe me when I say you won’t want to stop.

It’s extremely powerful, but like anything worth doing, it requires practice.

Put in the work, and you’ll be rewarded!

Did I miss anything? Is there anything you’d like to know more about? Leave a comment below because I’d love to hear your thoughts and improve this guide over time!

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and finally take control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey Sense to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

The post The Hockey Player’s Guide to Visualization and Mental Imagery appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

That’s a quote from John C. Maxwell, best-selling author, speaker and visionary on everything leadership-related.

Maxwell believes that everything rises and falls on leadership, and I totally agree—especially when it comes to hockey.

After having been on losing teams where we won a handful of games all year, to winning teams where we crushed league records and won trophies, one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is this: a team cannot accomplish great things without a strong leadership core.

It can be as little as 2 or 3 players, to as many as 8, 10, or more.

And contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to score goals every game or put up 100’s of points per year to be considered a leader.

Whether you’re a natural scorer, a grinder, a stay at home D or even a reserve player, there’s a way for you to lead and help guide your team to victory.

In this post, I’m going to share the 5 prominent hockey leadership styles I’ve come across in my career that, when all of them were present, made a massive impact on our success as a team.

By the end, you’ll know exactly where you fit into this leadership puzzle and how you can start being more of an asset to your team.

And if you’re a hockey coach, you’ll know what leadership qualities to look for when analyzing your roster.

Here goes…

The Only 2 Ways to Become a Leader in Hockey

Before I dive into the 5 different leadership styles, I feel it’s important to cover the two different ways you can actually become a leader.

Many young players ask me how they’re supposed to be leaders for their respective teams if the coaching staff chooses the captains and assistant captains.

The answer’s simple…there are only two ways to become a leader:

1. be appointed as a leader (also known as prescribed leadership)
2. become an emergent leader (earned through your actions)

In others words, you don’t have to be given or appointed the “C” or an “A” by your coach to be a leader on your team. You can become an emergent leader by your actions and your attitude, which are 100% under your control.

You can emerge as a leader in hockey by your actions and your attitude, which are 100% under your control.
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So if you’re pissed off because you didn’t get a letter on your jersey when you feel like you should have, don’t let that stop you. Let your actions speak for themselves and become an emergent leader.

Keep that in mind when you’re reading through the 5 leadership styles below.

Leadership Style #1: The Performance Leader

Ahh, the coveted performance leader. Everyone wants to be one, but not everybody can.

A performance leader has the power to directly impact the outcome of the game based on his play alone. A performance leader can rise up to the occasion whenever he’s needed and help his team pull through by doing what he excels most at.

Sometimes, that’s scoring goals, but don’t get it twisted— you don’t need to score 50 goals a year to be considered a performance leader.

You don’t need to be a 50-goal scorer to be a leader in hockey.
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Performance leaders can lead in other areas of the game such as playmaking, physical play, shot blocking, killing penalties, making saves, etc.

Whatever it is the performance leader excels at though, he really is the best on his team and takes pride in bringing his “A-game” night after night.

He leads his team by his individual performance, and he makes everyone else around him want to be better.

How to Take On the Role of a Performance Leader

You find the one thing you’re exceptionally good at, and you work on becoming even better at it so that your team relies on YOU to get the job done when the time comes.

Let me give you an example…

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and finally take control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey Sense to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

If today you asked me which 3 players from my championship team back in 2009 I would choose to win an important face-off, score an important goal or block a big shot, I’d give you the names of 3 specific teammates without even hesitating.

And if you were to ask any of my other teammates from that year, they would name the exact same 3 players.

If you don’t see yourself as a performance leader, then maybe this next leadership style is for you.

Leadership Style #2: The Workhorse Leader

On every team, there’s a guy that never gives up. He’s always the hardest worker and never backs down—from anyone or anything.

This too instills confidence in teammates, and it’s another great way to lead.

It’s easy to do (you just have to work really hard), but it’s just as easy not to do (not everyone has what it takes).

The player that fits this bill is what I like to call a workhorse leader.

This type of leader doesn’t need praise or a pat on the back to know that he’s making a difference. He’s the kind of guy that works hard regardless of who’s there watching him.

A workhorse leader works hard regardless of who’s there watching.
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If there’s one word that sums up the workhorse leader perfectly, it’s inspiration. He inspires teammates to work harder, give the extra effort, and keep going even when it hurts.

He makes everyone around him strive to match his work ethic, and he does it without even having to say a word (he lets his actions do the talking).

The workhorse leader is also the guy that has the right to get angry when there’s an obvious lack of effort from his teammates, because no one’s going to challenge the workhorse leader on the topic of work ethic.

He doesn’t have to be the most talented or most vocal player, but the workhorse leader is without a doubt the hardest worker.

How to Take On the Role of a Workhorse Leader

The workhorse leader role is not for everyone. In fact, if you need to ask, it’s probably not for you. Becoming a workhorse leader requires work, plain and simple. Work in the gym. Work during games. Work after practice. Work when everyone else is done.

Once people start using words like “tireless”, “relentless” to describe your playstyle, you’ll know you’re halfway there—a workhorse leader knows he can always work harder!

If not, there’s always the vocal leader…

Leadership Style #3: The Vocal Leader

So far, the first two leadership styles have been based on actions: performing and working hard.

And even though actions speak louder than words, that doesn’t mean we can neglect the power of words when it comes to leadership.

That’s where the vocal leader comes into play, and he’s absolutely crucial to a team’s overall success.

The vocal leader is the guy that knows exactly what to say at exactly the right time in order to get the team fired up.

He knows the game really well and shares what he’s seeing throughout the game with his teammates, both individually and collectively as a team (ie: between periods, on the bench between shifts, etc.).

The vocal leader is usually one of the players that talks the most, but there’s an important caveat; in order for his message to be received by his teammates, he needs to back it up with action.

In other words, he can’t just talk the talk—he has to walk the walk.

How effective would a comment about backchecking be, coming from someone who cherry picks at the opposing blue line all the time?

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say not very effective.

What if the vocal leader on your team stood up between periods and told everyone to relax and stay disciplined, when shortly after he was the first one slamming his stick and mouthing off to the referee after a bad call?

It just wouldn’t fly.

That’s why being a vocal leader is harder than it sounds. You have to say the right thing at the right time, but also make sure you’re practicing what you preach.

If that weren’t enough, there’s one more issue—the more you say, the less of an impact it has on your teammates.

Unfortunately, a lot of the so-called “vocal leaders” I played with throughout my career struggled with this, and only a handful had it all figured out.

When you say too much, your words lose power. After a while, your teammates get tired of hearing you and just tune you out. There’s a fine line between saying just enough and saying too much, and the best vocal leaders I’ve played with know exactly where that line is.

How to Take On the Role of Vocal Leader

In theory, becoming a vocal leader is simple—just talk more.

But as you’ve read, it’s a lot tougher than that. For your words to make an impact, you need to be saying the right things at the right time.

The only way to do that is by really paying attention to what’s going on around you.

What’s your team’s energy level like? Are guys feeling a little sluggish? If so, think of what you can say on the bench or between periods to motivate them and get them amped up.

Notice a linemate has bad body language after making a mistake? Pull him aside and reassure him that things are going to be okay. Sometimes, all he needs it to be reminded that the team is counting on him.

Are you up by 2 goals going into the third? That’s the worst lead in hockey. It might be time to stand up and let everyone know the game’s far from over—that’ll get everyone’s mind back on track.

As a vocal leader, these are the kinds of things you need to be paying attention to. It’s all about analyzing things like the current game situation, your teammates, their body language, their energy levels, etc.

Not a fan of confrontations or having to make quick motivational speeches on a whim?  Maybe you’re more of a locker room leader kind of guy…

Leadership Style #4: The Locker Room Leader

You’ve probably heard the old hockey saying that goes a little something like, “the team that wins is not always the team with the most talent, but oftentimes the team with the most chemistry.”

That’s what the locker room leader is all about—he’s the one who fosters team chemistry and brings everybody closer together.

You can have a team filled with talented players, but if no one is willing to sacrifice themselves for the guy sitting next to them, then you don’t have a team—you have 20 individuals looking out for themselves and their own personal gain.

The locker room leader is there to fix that by bringing everyone closer together. He organizes off-ice events and gets everyone involved so that everyone gets along and respects one another.

When arguments surface (hint: they’re inevitable), he’s the mediator and makes sure no grudges are held.

He breaks up any unhealthy cliques and gets the outsiders to join in when they otherwise wouldn’t.

Much like the vocal leader, he also pays attention to what’s going on in his teammates’ personal lives so that he can intervene, give advice or get outside help when necessary. Things like school trouble, family issues, relationship woes and more are all part of the locker room leader’s dealings.

And lastly, he’s gotta be willing to do all of this without getting any recognition because much of what he does happens off the ice and goes unnoticed.

How to Take On the Role of Locker Room Leader

To become a locker room leader, you need to make team chemistry your #1 objective.

Take initiative and organize outings with your teammates away from the rink. It can be as simple as having a few guys over to play Xbox or hitting up a local restaurant to watch an NHL game. It really doesn’t matter what you do—the key is to create as many scenarios as possible to allow team chemistry to grow and flourish.

You’ve also gotta watch out for anything that can hurt or hinder team chemistry. Be on the lookout for negative attitudes or players that dislike or hold grudges against others. Address these players and deal with the situation as soon as possible before it snowballs and completely destroys any team chemistry you’ve already built up (believe me…it doesn’t take much).

Last but not least, make an effort to include everyone when you plan things. There are usually a handful of players that shy away from team events and outings and end up being outcasts. This can severely hurt your team’s chemistry in the long run. Do whatever it takes to include them right from the start so everyone can learn to get along and respect each other.

If you can manage to have everyone ready and willing to sacrifice themselves for the guy sitting next to them, you’ll be amazed at what your team can accomplish over an entire season, regardless of how many superstars or talented players you have.

Leadership Style #5: The Roleplay Leader

Last but not least, there’s what I like to call the roleplay leader. This is one that isn’t spoken about often enough in my opinion.

On every team, there are players that get a lot of ice time, and there are players that get less. That’s just the way it goes, and the higher the caliber, the more this statement holds true.

Think fourth liners that play a few minutes per period, guys that log most of their minutes on the penalty kill, or reserves that only play every other game.

Even though they have reduced ice-time, these players are still crucial to the team’s overall success.

Unfortunately, they don’t always see it that way (it’s easy to get down on yourself when your ice-time gets taken away), and that can pose a problem if they start to build up a negative attitude, as it can affect their teammates and everyone around them.

That’s where the roleplay leader comes in. He takes players with limited roles under his wing and shows them that they’re just as important to the overall team’s success as everybody else so that they stay positive and continue to support the team, regardless of their own personal challenges.

How to Take On the Roleplay Leader Role

If you find yourself in a limited role, you can take charge and be a roleplay leader for the other guys in your situation.

The key is enthusiasm. You must be enthusiastic in all that you do, from workouts to warmups, and from practices to games. Everything you do has to be done with full enthusiasm.

When teammates in your situation (ie: limited playing roles) see that you’re having fun, working hard, and supporting the team, they’ll feel like complete idiots for being negative and will, in turn, follow suit.

Enthusiasm rubs off on people, and the more you can get your limited-role teammates to jump on your ‘I’m happy even though I’m not playing as much as I’d like to‘ bandwagon, the less likely they are to develop the kind of negative attitude that can destroy your team’s chemistry.

It can be hard to keep at it when you’re not happy with your own play time, which is why being an effective roleplay leader so tough.

But if you can find a way to maintain your enthusiasm and realize that you’re still an important piece to a bigger puzzle, you’ll be seen as a leader by all of your teammates (not just the ones in the same situation as you).

Conclusion

Being a leader isn’t easy, but it’s not as tough as people make it out to be.

You can be a natural goal scorer and lead by your performance alone, but you don’t have to be.

You can also lead by your work ethic.

Or if you’re respected by your teammates and have a certain influence, you can lead with words.

Or if you’re a social butterfly that likes listening to people, organizing events, and providing advice during hard times, then you can lead off the ice.

And lastly, if you’re part of a small group of players who’s playtime is limited, why not help the team out by making sure everyone remains positive with a level of enthusiasm that’s contagious and gets everyone fired up?

These are the 5 leadership styles I’ve seen most often throughout my career, and the winning teams I’ve been on had all of them covered.

So the question is no longer, “are you a leader?” but rather, “what kind of leader will you be?”

Leave a comment below with your leadership style, and if you’re a coach, share which leadership style your team is missing right now!

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and start taking control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey IQ to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

The post The 5 Hockey Leadership Styles That Make Up a Winning Team appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

“Ben, I’m scared of making mistakes in hockey. I’m scared to mess up and lose the puck or cause a goal against. How do I get over my fear of failure? I feel like I’m not playing up to my potential!”

Joe’s fear of making mistakes was literally keeping him up at night.

I started writing up a long email to put him at ease and give him some pointers on how to get over his fear of making mistakes, but then it struck me that he probably wasn’t the only one.

I scrapped the email, opened up a word document, started typing furiously, and this blog post is what came out.

If you’re like Joe and have struggled with the fear of failure (ie: being scared to make mistakes on the ice) in the past, or if it’s something you’re going through right now, then keep on reading.

In this post, I’m going to walk you through 3 important realizations that will completely change the way you think about the game of hockey and help you overcome your fear of making mistakes.

They’re the same realizations that helped me get over my fear of making mistakes back in my early teens, and as simple as they are, the newly found confidence and poise they led to allowed me to totally revamp my game for the better.

In fact, if you sit down with a sports psychologist to talk about your fear of failure in hockey (a luxury not everyone has), odds are they’ll walk you through something similar to what you’re about to learn in this blog post.

By the end, you’ll know how to tackle your fear of failure in hockey and learn to play with more confidence.

Sound good? Let’s dive in.

Realization #1: The spotlight is not on you.

Most of the time, hockey players are afraid to fail because of what other people (teammates, coaches, parents) might think.

As a result, they play it safe, keep it simple, and give the puck away as soon as possible—even when unnecessary.

They play as if all the attention is on them, as if they’re in the spotlight or under the microscope. They play like their every move is analyzed and scrutinized by their peers.

If this sounds like you, guess what…

There aren’t as many people paying attention to you as you think!

As humans, we greatly overestimate the rate at which other people notice us and the things we do. This is called the spotlight effect:

“The spotlight effect is the phenomenon in which people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are. Being that one is constantly in the center of one’s own world, an accurate evaluation of how much one is noticed by others is uncommon.”

This is the first important thing you have to realize in order to get over your fear of making mistakes in hockey. There are 12 people on the ice at any given time, aside from referees. The play changes directions every second. The lines change every minute. There’s a speeding puck. There’s noise. There’s music. There’s clapping. There are SO many things going on that people aren’t paying attention to you as much as you think they are.

A small mistake you made at 12:07 in the first period likely went unnoticed and will not matter tomorrow. In a 30+ game season, that small mistake is even more meaningless.

Realization #2: The worst that could happen isn’t all that bad.

If your fear of failure isn’t brought on by what people will think of you after a mistake, then it’s likely due to fear of what will happen if you make a mistake.

In other words, you’re scared of the unknown consequences of making a mistake:

• Will you get benched?
• Will your teammates make fun of you?
• Will you become a healthy-scratch?
• Will you get kicked off the team and sent down a level?
• [insert scary consequence here]

The fact that you don’t know what’s going to happen if you make a mistake is what scares you.

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and start taking control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey IQ to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

Luckily, there’s an easy way around that: walk through all the possible scenarios in your head of what could happen if you were to make a bad mistake in your next game.

Go ahead…I’ll wait.

Done?

Chances are you only came up with a few different scenarios, and I bet none of them were even remotely close to life-threatening.

In fact, the consequences I mentioned above—getting benched or healthy-scratched—are probably the worst things that could happen to you.

There is absolutely NO need to fear making mistakes as a hockey player. Let me tell you why:

1. Hockey is a game of mistakes. All games would end 0-0 if everybody played perfectly.
2. The consequences of making a mistake (the “unknowns” we just talked about) likely aren’t that bad. It won’t event matter tomorrow.
3. You’ve got more to lose by “just playing it safe” than you do by trying to make the right play—even if you risk making a mistake.

If that third one doesn’t hit home, then I don’t know what will. Read it again if you have to.

As a hockey player, you’ve got more to lose by “just playing it safe” than you do by trying to make the right play, even if you risk making a mistake.
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Then, you can start taking control of your game and making things happen on your own terms.

Realization #3: The only way to fail less is to fail more

Last but certainly not least, the only way to fail less, is to fail more!

Why do clutch players seem to always make the right play at the right time, even under a tremendous amount of pressure?

It’s because they’ve been in the same situation hundreds of times already, and failed hundreds of times already.

The famous quote from Michael Jordan—which I’m sure you’ve seen or heard already—is both powerful and accurate:

img source – AZ quotes

Michael Jordan failed more than any other basketball player of his time, which is why he ended up having unrivaled success.

You can replace basketball with hockey, soccer, chess, business—the situation doesn’t matter. The only way you can be prepared for tough situations is to have been through them before and failed.

There’s no way around it. This is called experience. A hockey player that has failed and made many mistakes is an experienced hockey player.

Want to know why veterans play such a huge role in winning teams, even though they’re typically older, slower, and not as conditioned as the younger superstars?

They have experience. They know what it takes to win big games because they’ve lost a ton of big games, and they show the way to the rest of the team.

It’s the same for you. The only way you’ll make the right play the next time around, is if you learn from your mistakes the first time.

Mistakes are needed in order to improve and grow as a hockey player. Instead of being scared to fail, you need to learn to embrace failure because it’s what’s going to get you to that next level as a hockey player.

Conclusion

So there you have it…3 things you need to realize in order to get over your fear of making mistakes as a hockey player.

First, there’s no spotlight on you. As humans, we tend to believe we’re special and that others watch our every move. Now you know that’s just not the case. Your mistakes likely go unnoticed for the most part, and the ones that do get noticed get forgotten pretty quickly. In other words, play like nobody is watching because they aren’t.

Second, if you’re scared of what might happen to you after you make a mistake, you need to figure out what that is. Figure out what’s the worst that can happen to you in order to put your mind at ease. Once there are no more unknowns, you’ll be much more comfortable with failure, and it won’t be some big scary monster that forces you to play safe. You’ve got more to lose by playing safe than by making mistakes anyway.

And third, failing leads to experience. The more you fail, the more you learn. You cannot be at the top of your game—regardless of what level you play—if you haven’t failed a ton. Learn to embrace failure and use the lessons you learn along the way to grow into the best player you can be.

Lastly, always remember that failure is required in order to grow. If you’re too comfortable, you’re not getting better.

If you’re not failing in hockey, it means you’re too comfortable—and comfort kills progress.
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Is the fear of making mistakes something you or your players struggle with on the ice? Leave a comment below because I’d love to hear how you’re dealing with it!

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and start taking control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey IQ to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

The post 3 Realizations That Will Cure Your Fear of Making Mistakes in Hockey appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

Being clutch is another one of those things—like hockey sense—that people believe you’re either born with or without.

I’m here to tell you that’s not the case. Anyone can be clutch, not just goal scorers or goalies. Grinders can be clutch. Defensive defensemen can be clutch. Heck, even coaches can be clutch.

If you want to learn how to be clutch and make the right play when the game is on the line, no matter how much pressure there is on your shoulders, then you’re going to want to keep reading…

Below, I outline my 3-step process for being a clutch hockey player in ANY situation, regardless of what’s on the scoreboard, who’s in the stands, and what’s up for grabs.

Step 1: Let go of the outcome and what it means if you fail

If you only remember one thing from this entire article, let it be this—let go of the outcome. If you haven’t read my blog post on outcome versus task thinking, then I suggest you give it a read.

The key is to forget about what happens if you succeed or fail. Whatever it is that you’re nervous about, whatever part of your game you’re trying to be clutch at, you need to forget about what happens afterward.

Way too many players start drawing out these elaborate scenarios in their heads about scoring the “golden goal” like Crosby did, or worse, missing an open net that leads to losing the championship.

And even though positive thinking can be useful at times, you want to make sure you’re focused on the present—the here and the now—so that you get the job done.

That’s what step 1 of the ‘being clutch’ process is all about: letting go of the outcome and focusing strictly on the task at hand because nothing else matters.

The ability to ‘let go’ is what makes these 50 hockey players so clutch, but the best example of ‘letting go’ and focusing on the task at hand actually comes from outside the hockey world…

Professional snowboarder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White is the epitome of being clutch when it counts.

img src – cbc.ca

Hockey players train for months and have an entire 80-game season to make up for mistakes and bad plays. Shaun White on the other hand, trains for four years straight and is judged on just a few short minutes of snowboarding.

That’s way more pressure than we’re used to as hockey players!

He has to be clutch in the moment. He can’t be thinking of failure, success, or anything in between. All that matters is the task at hand. The next jump.

And then the next. And the next.

What’s Shaun White’s secret to being clutch? How has he managed to win two Olympic gold medals, 10 EPSY awards and the most X-games medals in history?

In his own words, “It’s simple, really.” Before the gates open, he tells himself two simple words that allow him to perform exactly like he does in practice, with no added pressure or nervousness: “Who cares!”

Those are the last two words that flash in his mind before the gates open. That’s what allows him to relax in the moment and be clutch, regardless of what’s on the line.

You can and should add this “who cares!” trick to your arsenal too. I personally wish I had heard his story earlier (if you’re interested, you can hear Shaun’s story on Episode #140 of the Tim Ferris Podcast: Shaun White – The Most Unholy Snowboarder Ever)

Bottom line is this: whether you succeed or fail, everything is going to be okay, so who cares!

If you succeed, you’ll be happy. If you fail, you’ll learn what to do for next time, and your life will go on. You’ll go home to your family and get back to doing the things you always do, plus you’ll have a little motivation to work harder next time.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t about goofing around and not taking things seriously. It’s about realizing that, at the end of the day, it is just a game, and the guy that realizes this will deal better with pressure than the guy that is afraid to fail.

Step 2: Recall successful attempts

So you know that you’ve gotta focus on the NOW rather than what happens if you succeed or fail, but how do you put all the odds in your favor?

That’s where recalling successful attempts comes into play. Even though this is step 2 in the process, this is something that should take place in the moments leading up to the event where you need to be clutch. Think on the bench, when you’re skating towards a face-off, or between whistles.

In a nutshell, what you want to do is remind yourself of a time where you did exactly what you were about to do and succeeded. For instance, if you’re a goal scorer, your coach might put you on the ice with a few seconds left to try and score the winning goal.

Leading up to that moment, whether it’s on the bench, between whistles or skating to the face-off, you want to think back to all the times you were in the same position and succeeded. Think about past games. Think about during practice. Think about a time where you were in a similar situation and made things happen.

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and start taking control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey IQ to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

The key is not to dwell on this. Think of Step 2 as a quick reminder that you’ve done this before and you’ve succeeded. You don’t want to be thinking about anything other than the task at hand once you’re actually in the play (think back to Step 1).

In other words, it’s a glorified confidence booster before the puck drops.

You may feel like Step 2 isn’t all that necessary, but believe me when I say that the clutch players you see pulling off the unbelievable plays are all recalling successful attempts one way or another, perhaps without even realizing it. It’s what allows them to perform under pressure without really feeling that pressure. When you can approach a tough situation with the confidence that you’re able to succeed (because you’ve done so in the past), being clutch becomes a whole lot easier.

Step 3: Find a way to reset

Last but not least, you need to reset.

You need to calm your mind and body so that when the time comes to ‘be clutch’, you’re ready. You can’t be overstressed or overanxious. You need to be just right.

Calm. Cool. Level-headed.

Focusing on the task at hand (Step 1) and recalling successful attempts (Step 2) will help you get there, but it’s not enough.

You need to get your head, hands and feet ready, and there’s no better way to do that than with something I like to call a comfort routine.

Let me explain…

Back in Major Junior, one of my tasks (and one I truly excelled at) was shutting down the opposing team’s top players (guys like Brad Marchand, Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and more). More precisely, that meant I was out on the ice in the dying seconds of games and whenever we had a penalty to kill.

Me trying to strip the puck from Taylor Hall at the 2009 Memorial Cup Tournament

That meant I had to be ready to ‘be clutch’ at any moment, regardless of how I was playing that day or how I felt (if you’ve never played an 80+ game season, trust me when I say that it’s impossible to play well every single night).

The trick that allowed me to ‘turn it on’ almost like a switch and be clutch when I needed to be was my comfort routine. Before lining up for a face-off, I would just:

• Take a deep breath and exhale slowly
• Roll my stick loosely in my hands
• Bounce on my skates a little bit

That’s it. That was my comfort routine. That’s how I let my mind and body know that it was go-time—that it was time to ‘be clutch’.

That’s how I knew that both the good and bad plays I made earlier no longer mattered—it was all about the next play, the here, the now.

My comfort routine was my reset switch, and it allowed me to prepare my mind & body to be clutch in even the toughest of situations.

Conclusion

There you have it…my simple 3-step process for being clutch in hockey when it counts!

To recap:

1. Let go of the outcome and what it means if you fail.
2. Recall successful attempts from your past in order to boost your confidence.
3. Find a way to reset with your own unique comfort routine.

Being clutch in hockey is all about being confident and calm, and this process helps you achieve exactly that.

I can’t guarantee you it’ll work 100% of the time, but if you use this process each time you’re called upon to be clutch, you’ll come out on top way more than you fail.

How do you stay clutch? Leave a comment below because I’d love to hear your thoughts!

(NOTE: Want to stop making mistakes with the puck and start taking control of the game? Grab a copy of The Hockey Sense Handbook and take your Hockey IQ to the next level. Click here to learn more.)

The post How to Be Clutch in Hockey (when the game is on the line) appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.

You just finished up your hockey game and are on your way home when you get a text from your friend.

“How’d the game go?“

It went well, you tell him. Your team won!

“That’s great! How’d you play?“

This one’s a little harder to answer…

If you’re like most players, you’ll answer “I got a goal” or “I got an assist.“

But how would you answer that question if you didn’t get a goal? If you didn’t get any points?

Is ‘not getting on the score-sheet‘ considered a bad game?

I’m here to tell you there’s a lot more to it than that…

And unfortunately, too many players gauge their individual performance on results (like goals, points, saves, etc.), when in reality they need to be evaluating their performance at a much deeper level!

If you’re fed up with inconsistency, mediocre performances and just not knowing if you’re improving as a hockey player, then you’ll find this 3 step framework I’m about to share with you extremely helpful.

It’s short, to the point, and doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to implement. All you have to do is follow the instructions I lay out in this blog post and you’ll have a much better idea of your performance—as well as progression—as a hockey player.

If you’re a hockey player looking to get better, start following this framework for immediate results.

If you’re a coach, teach this simple framework to your kids and get them to evaluate their own performances based on how they played (the process) rather than the outcome (the results).

Let’s dive in!

But first…

A quick lesson on progress

The definition of progress is:

“Forward or onward movement to a destination.”

Simple statement right?

Nothing complicated here.

Yet so many people have trouble when it comes to monitoring progress.

That’s usually due to one of two things:

1. A focus on results (as mentioned above)
2. No concept of where they’re at or where they’re going

That first one is straightforward. Evaluating performance & progress should NEVER be based on results. Results can help benchmark your performance & progress, but should never dictate them outright.

Individual performance in #hockey should never be based on results. They’re half the story.
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But what about the second statement…

No concept of where they’re at or where they’re going.

This one is the key!

In fact, it’s the underlying concept of the 3-step framework for evaluating your performance and fostering continuous progression & improvement as a hockey player.

Now, I won’t leave you hanging…

Here’s how to actually implement it yourself to start improving your game.

The 3-step framework for continuous improvement

Before we start, I want you to understand that this isn’t some novel idea…

Business consultants, mentors and life coaches have been using this simple framework for decades to help their clients succeed—many of them make a very good living doing so.

Why?

Because many business owners & entrepreneurs put their head down and work until their eyes bleed, without paying much attention to anything else.

The ‘wise consultant‘ simply comes in and offers help by forcing them to take a step back and analyze where they’re at, where they want to be, and what it’ll take to get there.

Boom. Easy peasy.

Hockey players are just as guilty…

As hockey players, we too tend to put our head down and work hard. We focus on things like our skating speed, our hockey sense and our overall abilities, without thinking of much else.

What we rarely do is assess our progression—where we’re at, where we want to be, and what it’ll take to get there.

That’s the key to continuous progression.

Serious #hockey players act like business consultants when it comes to improving skills.
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But how do we leverage this concept?

Simple.

Be your own consultant and ask yourself the following 3 questions after each game in order to properly evaluate your performance and ensure you’re constantly getting better:

1. What did I do well?

After every game, instead of looking at the score sheet to see if the referee gave you that assist on the 2nd goal, ask yourself what you did well.

Forget statistics. What did you do well?

Think of the question on a mental, technical, physical and tactical level.

• Did you manage your stress well (mental)?
• Were you effective on the breakout as a winger (technical)?
• Did you skate faster than most of your opponents and win races to loose pucks (physical)?
• Did you play within your team’s system for an entire 60 minutes (tactical)?

*Shout out to The Champion’s Mind (affiliate link) for this one—great book and one I highly recommend for becoming a mentally strong player*

Really ask yourself these kinds of questions. Keep a log book or journal if you have to.

In fact, I did this for most of my career and it helped me tremendously.

Over time and after evaluating a few of your performances, you’ll have a good grasp on what you’re good at.

2. What do I need to improve?

Now it’s time for the bad.

What are you struggling with time and time again? What facet of your game needs to get better in order for you to grow as a hockey player?

Again, consider the 4 criteria I mentioned above:

1. Mental
2. Technical
3. Physical
4. Tactical

You’ll see that over a few games, many of the same things will pop up over and over again—these are red flags that need fixing.

Once you’re done, it’s onto the last step of the framework…

3. What do I need to do in order to become my best?

This is where you map out the details of your progression.

You’ve identified what you’re good at. You’ve identified what needs work.

Now you have to list the actions you must take in order to improve.

Confused? Let’s look at an example.

The 3-step framework in action—Tim’s continuous progression

I want you to meet Tim—he’s a Builtforhockey subscriber just like you (wait, you’re not a subscriber? Get my free hockey IQ quiz and a bunch of other goodies by signing up here!)

Over the past few months, I’ve learned quite a bit about Tim as a hockey player via email. Among other things, he let me know what he’s currently comfortable with and struggling with in regards to his on-ice performance.

Long story short, Tim struggles with face-offs.

If Tim really wants to improve his face-off taking ability, here’s how he’d do it with the 3-step framework for continuous progression…

After Tim’s post game evaluation, he’d have something along these lines:

• Did well: Won puck battles down-low
• Needs improvement:  Face-off effectiveness

Then, the 3rd step in the framework—what do I need to do in order to become my best—might look something like this in Tim’s case:

• Take at least 20 face-offs next practice against the best center-man on my team, ask my coach for advice, and try out different face-off taking techniques.

See how powerful this is?

Tim has identified what he’s already good at—winning puck battles down low. This lets him know he can focus his time elsewhere, at least for now.

Tim also identified what he’s struggling with—winning face-offs. This lets him know where the bulk of his time should be spent next time he’s out on the ice.

By turning his findings into actionable tasks on his quest to become his best, progression becomes inevitable!

Turn post-game feedback into actionable tasks for inevitable progression in #hockey
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Conclusion

As hockey players, we need to do the same thing the business consultant does for his clients—establish a road-map to go from where you are to where you want to be.

It’s time hockey players take progression and development into their own hands.

It’s time hockey players start identifying what it takes to improve.

It’s time hockey players become their own consultants and map their way to success with this proven 3-step framework!

How do you gauge your on-ice performance?

Leave a comment below because I’d love to hear your thoughts on player development.

About the author

Ben Levesque

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Ben has been playing hockey for 20+ years and has learned a ton from playing with the world's best coaches & players. Among his accomplishments are a National Championship, a President's Cup, a Semi-Final finish at the Memorial Cup, several Queen's Cups and a helmet in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The post How to Know if You’ve Played a Good Game: 3-Step Framework for Evaluating Your Performance in Hockey appeared first on BuiltForHockey.com.