Jackson Slauenwhite

If you know that pre-game naps help you play to your potential, then by all means, nap away!

Oh you'll be back. Sounds like you'll be back with a new focus and a few buds (the friendly kind and the beverage kind). No problem!

Great Question Mark! There are a lot of factors that can come into play for a situation like this. To give you a really in-depth answer, I'd definitely need to have a deeper conversation and have some particular questions answered. However, reading through your question, here are a few things that came to mind: - I see athletes going through this type of thing around this age group more than any other (13-15 years old or so). - Confidence and aggressiveness can be coached. Typically there is one main underlying limiting belief that the player holds as true which causes a more hesitant, wait and see approach. When this is the case, once the player can identify and accept the belief that is holding them back, they can begin to let go of that belief and replace it with a more desirable one (If they so choose, of course. Some players don't want to change this). In many ways what you said about having fun and not worrying about anything else would be the end result of changing the limiting belief! Feel free to respond with any other questions you may have!

Great question! Many people think this is just a personality thing that can't be coached, but the truth is that compete level and hunger can be coached. The key would be engage them in drills that promote aggressive, initiating play, and positively reinforcing the behaviour when it happens. Hopefully when it happens the player gets a good result, which will reinforce the behaviour. The player will probably like the result, which will further motivate them to play aggressively in order to seek out that result. At the same time, doing this in practice will build the player's confidence in that style of play, making it more likely to show up games. Confidence issues and being scared to make mistakes could certainly be a possibility here, as some players are very good at hiding these things. It never hurts to ask your players about what they feel their style of play is, and starting a harmless, curious discussion about what that player wants to be like and tweaks to their game they could make in order to get there. Hope this helped!

Based on the thread, I know you said at one point that wins aren't the cause of your funk, but to me it sounds like a fair bit of the position you find yourself in is due to focus on things out of your control, which includes wins. You can stand on your head and not get the win. That's just part of the game. If you're having fun when you're winning but not finding a way to enjoy yourself even when the game doesn't go your way, then it would be important to ask yourself "when I am feeling good, what's happening? what would make me want to come to the rink?" and then do all you can to figure out how to create those conditions. In all honesty, this sounds like a situation that would require some deeper questioning and understanding on my part, but for what it's worth, I think finding things to get excited about and have fun with surrounding the game that aren't based on things out of your control (wins, how your team plays, your opponents, etc.) would be a good starting point!

Great Question DK! I'll keep it very simple for you, sounds like you're focusing more on what you lack than what you bring to the table before games. This is likely why you're feeling anxious! I'd just ask you this, what if you wrote a quick list of 2-3 strengths you bring to the table, and purposely focused on those pre-game? Comparing yourself to everyone around you is just going to take your focus off of what you have to do to perform well, and will increase your anxiety. Try keeping your focus simple and on your strengths, not where you lack or comparing yourself to others

Good question! In simple terms, it sounds to me like you're talking yourself into having a bad game overall once the 1st doesn't go your way. If you're focusing on the fact that you're having a bad 1st, or you had one, then your focus is on the negative things that happened. We tend to get what we think about, so if you're thinking about having a bad game, you're likely going to have a bad game. In situations like this, it's a good idea to try to focus on your strengths and the good things you can bring for the rest of the game. This shifts your focus back into productive thinking, and will thus be more likely to produce!

Hey everyone, I'm a mental performance coach/consultant working in the CHL and with Hockey Canada.Normally at this time of the year I'm deep into playoff prep, but because the league is currently suspended, I've got a bit more time on my hands.If you have any questions about the impact of mental performance on the game, sport psych, developing elite players, etc., feel free to ask away!