Have you ever seen yourself?

[nexusrage21 1]

So I recently found a clip on youtube from a game I played in a couple years ago. I was on a mens league team with some buddies of mine and someone recorded the game. I had seen the video when it was made, and never noticed myself in it because the focus was always on other players.

Anyways, I caught a glimpse of myself and noticed that I was skating around very lazily, bad form, and I was just disappointed with myself on an overall level. Especially because a lot of the things I tell my friends not to do, I was doing.

I'm not totally sure, but I'm pretty positive this is not normal for me, especially now, but it really bothered me to see that I was skating around like that. Granted, I've had a lot of foot problems/skate problems, so there is a chance this was just a result of unbearable foot pain, but I'm pretty sure it was just a case of me being lazy.

So the question is, who has seen themselves play before? Were you happy with what you saw? Did you adjust anything from what you've seen?

[shotty 7]

i saw a picture of myself where i had just jumped the boards. i had my stick in my right hand (i'm right handed), half way down the shaft, toe downward toward the ice. horrible

[flyers10 57]

I picked up a pocket video camera for cheap and have had my wife shoot some clips during a few games. It felt to me during the game that I was bending my knees enough, moving fast, good passing & skating form, etc but when I watched it I was like...who is that?!? It helps to see yourself on video so you can really concentrate on those areas of weakness. Now during stick times I really try to exaggerate knee bend, rolling my wrists over, etc and I am slowing seeing improvements over that past 2-3 months.

[DarkStar50 679]

I have seen myself on video. It ain't pretty. It is funny how you imagine your stride as pretty good and then see it on video and just die!! But I do work on that stuff during practice time. I guess I should get another video done.

[Law Goalie 147]

I love video. It's an odd, disjointed feeling - the visual equivalent of listening to yourself on audiotape - but the advantages are great. The bad stuff is informative, and the good stuff (rare though it may be) feels fabulous. I don't have much occasion to get myself recorded, sadly; takes a mighty bribe to make someone sit in the frozen stands watching bad hockey - or worse yet, me farting around on the ice by myself - and few enough people will take it even if the capacity is right.

Personally, I'm always pretty pleased with my reads and visual attachment, OK with movement, but really pissed with depth selection and hand position.

Video is, however, absolutely vital for developing players, who have no sense at all of their own objective movement in space; call it a general lack of self-awareness. I've been trying for ages to get my minor hockey association and the city to tape everything: both for instructional and liability purposes.

[iceNsteel 0]

In bantam, midget, and juniors we used to watch tapes of games on dry land training days. It was very helpful to have an objective perspective on what you were doing. Things can feel good while you're on the ice, but to actually see it in third person it's a lot different. It also helped developed my hockey sense a lot. By seeing what I did on the ice, and how it turned out in a way that I could watch something several times really helped me to understand what worked in different situations and why. When you're playing you just don't have that kind of time to analyze what you're doing.

[Law Goalie 147]

One of these days, I'm going to bribe someone in the Phys Ed. faculty for access to a Dartfish terminal, too...

[team50 20]

I look slow...really SLOW.

[jds 20]

I look slow...really SLOW.

I have only seen photos and it is not pretty. I concur on the feeling of bent knees when in fact I am standing as tall as a freaking sentry. I prefer to keep the mental image I have of me skating like Jagr and splitting the defense with my powerful moves rather than the reality of me looking like I need to hold onto the back of a turned around chair as I skate.

[RadioGaGa 162]

I have only seen photos and it is not pretty. I concur on the feeling of bent knees when in fact I am standing as tall as a freaking sentry. I prefer to keep the mental image I have of me skating like Jagr and splitting the defense with my powerful moves rather than the reality of me looking like I need to hold onto the back of a turned around chair as I skate.

I've seen you skate...it's not as awkward as you describe....and I'm not just saying that 'cause you once called me "fast" *L*

[Chadd 916]

Someone taped one of our games a few years back and about the only positive thing I could say was; At least I was in good position.

[BCheetham93 0]

I've started doing a lot of video for my game prep. If you make (or can make) a highlight video of yourself it really improves your confidence, especially before facing a really good team.

I made highlight reels for every individual team we played against before playoffs and watched them to show myself what I as an individual need to do to step up my game. Watching yourself do good is so much better than watching an Ovechkin highlight reel just because you know in the back of your mind that isn't you

[lotus 2]

Recently only pictures. Every time I see them I just keep telling myself that I need to cut my hair.

I would be curious to see how my skating compares to the last time I saw myself on video ~3 years ago. I'm really not sure I want to at this point. I've worked so hard this summer to prepare for the upcoming semester and I don't want to shatter whatever confidence I have. Video points out skating above anything and I already know that it is my weakest point...if only it were as simple as firing some pucks on goal after practice.

[Law Goalie 147]

Someone taped one of our games a few years back and about the only positive thing I could say was; At least I was in good position.

I wish I could say the same... there were times my glove was doing a fabulous job of defending the scoreclock behind the net.

[jds 20]

I've seen you skate...it's not as awkward as you describe....and I'm not just saying that 'cause you once called me "fast" *L*

Gee, you're swell. I still have to think about bending my knees. Never seem to be low enough even though I think I am.

[HattrickSwayze 3]

I've had quite a few of my games taped, and it's a sobering experience. Rarely do I watch any footage and go "hey, that's pretty good." It's frustrating to see yourself look so bad, but when you finally see a portion of video where things start to come together, it's a pretty nice feeling. The best part about watching the video is seeing all the things you're doing wrong, so you can focus on it and fix it.

[doodman 0]

Seeing myself play totally changed me. It was a revelation to see what I thought I was playing like and what I was actually doing. I saw that I could totally go to another level of effort and JAM. It was like getting slapped in the face, a serious wake up call. I can't say enough how seeing myself play on video helped my overall game.

[ndlancer95 0]

Two things I noticed are that I am slow and I look like a fool with my tounge trying to lick my ear (figuratively). It's not even wagging, just lips closed, tounge poking between towards my left ear it seems to be

[SolarWind 23]

yeah - what a humiliating experience :) Just like others said it's not even funny when the reality hits - for me personally all the visualization I had in my head about deep edges & knee bend went straight out of the window!

so as others said videotaping yourself is an invaluable training tool, the only other thing that is better than that is when you get someone experienced to critique your form.

[Balzinsker 0]

I'm definitely the exception here, but the few times I've seen myself play I'm surprised by how much better I am then I think I'm playing. That doesn't mean I'm a good player or anything like that, I'm just overly critical of myself. For the most part I feel like I played a horrible game unless I really play a flawless game.

[Konig von Kuhlem 0]

Yeah, watching video of our games... it's so slow and I think, "I'm lazy; I should bend my knees more". Every now and then, though, you're rewarded with seeing a good play, a burst of speed, or a goal (which I repeat in slo-mo ). Maybe one day I'll have enough for a montage!

[shotty 7]

I love video. It's an odd, disjointed feeling - the visual equivalent of listening to yourself on audiotape - but the advantages are great. The bad stuff is informative, and the good stuff (rare though it may be) feels fabulous. I don't have much occasion to get myself recorded, sadly; takes a mighty bribe to make someone sit in the frozen stands watching bad hockey - or worse yet, me farting around on the ice by myself - and few enough people will take it even if the capacity is right.

Personally, I'm always pretty pleased with my reads and visual attachment, OK with movement, but really pissed with depth selection and hand position.

Video is, however, absolutely vital for developing players, who have no sense at all of their own objective movement in space; call it a general lack of self-awareness. I've been trying for ages to get my minor hockey association and the city to tape everything: both for instructional and liability purposes.

figured it'd be easier for a 'tendy. tripod pointed toward the net and walk away.

[Fisticuffs 0]

I played High School hockey in New York back in the day. We played in a mini tournament every year, and our games were broadcast on local public access TV. My freshman year, one of our defenseman hit me with a pass just above the hash marks on the boards while breaking the puck out of our zone. The puck was a bit behind me, and I looked down for it. As soon as it hit my tape, I got blasted by the opposing defenseman who pinched in from the blue line. I kind of hobbled to the bench seeing stars after having my bell rung.

Watching it again at the hotel that night (they rebroadcast the games about two hours later) was almost as painful as living through it the first time.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Gee, you're swell. I still have to think about bending my knees. Never seem to be low enough even though I think I am.

I think no matter who the skater is, and what level they play. Anyone who watches a short, isolated video would probably pick out things they could do better...and, knee bend is probably top of most lists.

[xrickyb86x 1]

I had my girlfriend take a few clips of me at a pick up game one time. My stride, which I thought was good, was awful. I looked super stiff. My hands, which I always thought were terrible, looked awesome as far as puck control goes. Very quick, very good at protecting the puck.

It's great though. My stride is now better and I'm much more loose when skating. It helped my game a lot. It's a great way to critique yourself.