Mental training article

[Jukka Ropponen]

http://goaliepro.com/en/resources/2009/ ... g.php?id=1

Thanks to our forum member Hannu "Beaver" Majava for the article that he did send to me some months ago already. I finally got around to get it posted on the website.

Comment or ask any questions. I am sure Hannu will be glad to answer.

Jukka

[Jani]

Mental aspects should certainly not be overlooked in successful coaching. This important area has also been recognized by several authors who provide such service for hockey players including goalies:

http://www.mentalgoaltending.com/

http://thegoaliesmind.com/

http://www.mindtraining.net/ice_hockey_ ... ining.php3


Fortunately there is also literature available for those more interested about self-study:

http://www.humankinetics.com/mentaltrainingforathletes/

http://www.humankinetics.com/ProductSea ... 0736051231

[Pavel]

I have a good resource to add to this topic. The book is called Game Day written by Justin Johnson from www.mentaledgenow.com. I've had this book for more than a year and can say it’s a good one to have.
Stephen McKichan has also posted some good articles about mental side of the game on vaughnhockey.com. See the links bellow:
http://www.vaughnhockey.com/goaltending ... ration.htm
http://www.vaughnhockey.com/goaltending ... ration.pdf

[Cubanpuckstopper]

http://goaliepro.com/en/resources/2009/mental_training.php?id=1

Comment or ask any questions. I am sure Hannu will be glad to answer.

Jukka

Hannu,

I find it interesting that your article refers to both goalies and their coaches. Am I wrong or does it seem that a lot of "mental" discussion focuses on goalies, but there is very little "mental training for coaches." My assumption is that coaches know the goalie's mind since they have been in the goalie's skates, but that is not always the case.


On a different tanget, but within the scope of "mental training"; I often ask what is the biggest change in goaltending over the last 30 years? I get answers like, much better equipment, the butterfly style has taken over, goalie are better athletes, etc.

All are very good answers, but in my opinion the biggest change is that goalies were odd, they dressed alone, threw up in the corner due to nerves, and were considered the wierdest players on the team.

In today's game the goalie is looked upon as a team leader, Brodeur, Luongo, Ryan Miller come to mind. Yet, I see no/little training for "The Goalie as a Leader". Does anyone else see this as an opportunity?

[pmgaff]

In today's game the goalie is looked upon as a team leader, Brodeur, Luongo, Ryan Miller come to mind. Yet, I see no/little training for "The Goalie as a Leader". Does anyone else see this as an opportunity?

I absolutely do. As an example, I point to the World Junior Championship game where (to my untrained eye) Sweden's goalie was too hyped up, too emotional. There was a lot of drama out there and I felt it was no coincidence that a team that was supposed to be so skilled looked really ordinary and generally out of synch with one another. I believe that, much like a coach, teams can reflect the mood and behavior of its goalie.

I talk about this a fair bit with my goalies, but I'm coaching young minor hockey players and it's hard to tell how much of that message can be understood by these kids.

[Jukka Ropponen]

In today's game the goalie is looked upon as a team leader, Brodeur, Luongo, Ryan Miller come to mind. Yet, I see no/little training for "The Goalie as a Leader". Does anyone else see this as an opportunity?

I absolutely do. As an example, I point to the World Junior Championship game where (to my untrained eye) Sweden's goalie was too hyped up, too emotional. There was a lot of drama out there and I felt it was no coincidence that a team that was supposed to be so skilled looked really ordinary and generally out of synch with one another. I believe that, much like a coach, teams can reflect the mood and behavior of its goalie.

I talk about this a fair bit with my goalies, but I'm coaching young minor hockey players and it's hard to tell how much of that message can be understood by these kids.

Goalie's state of mind, body labguage and behavior in general has a great reflect on the rest of the team. This is absolutely something that should be teached to goalies.

Jukka

[Topi]

Agree on "Game Day". That's a fairly good mental game resource.

Also, I can recommend "Hockey Tough" by Saul Miller.

[Niemi]

Wow

[Cubanpuckstopper]

More on the mental side of the position

http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol8Iss2 ... Skills.htm

A great quote fron Ken Dryden.

A different kind of drill, colored pucks determine the placement of a h puck/rebound. Has anyone run this drill?

[Cubanpuckstopper]

More on the mental aspect of goaltending.

From Absoulte Mental training http://www.absolutementaltraining.com/




Low Confidence and Self-Doubt: The Performance Killers
By Shaun Smith – Absolute Mental Training

What would you say if I was to tell you that confidence is the most important aspect, physical, technical or mental, for a goalie attempting to develop a consistent, championship mindset? Don’t believe me? Look at every goalie that is successful at the NHL level both past and present and you will soon develop a long list of goalies who believed in themselves almost to the point of being cocky.

From Patrick Roy’s “I can’t hear you I have too many rings in my ears” to the calm and collective demeanour of the likes of Martin Brodeur, goalies at the NHL level are confident and believe that on any given night they can stop anybody. Finally, who can forget the image of Carey Price from last season where he could not even look at the cameras as he tried to explain his declining performance?

Price was visibly frustrated and a goalie who was one year removed from winning the Calder Cup and being compared to Patrick Roy was struggling to just complete an entire game without being pulled. There are examples of how much of an impact confidence can have on an athlete every day, all over the media.

So why is it that confidence has such a huge impact on athletes at all levels? One reason is that every movement we make as a goaltender must first be processed by our brain before the signal is sent to our muscles. With pucks coming at goalies at over a 100 mph goalies must make quick reactions with little or no thought. The chain of reaction starts with the goalie reading the puck off of the stick heading to their glove side. The eyes send a signal to the brain which quickly tells the muscles of the goaltender to extend the glove to make the save. This is what happens when a goalie is full of confidence but unfortunately this is not the case when a goalie is lacking in confidence. Goalies with low confidence often are overcome with self-doubt which leads to what I call a noisy mind. By ‘noisy mind’ I mean a mind where there is so much mental chatter going on in the athletes head that they are not able to play at their peak performance. That glove save that used to just happen is often delayed because the mind now has to interrupt the self-talk which is going on in the goalies head to tell them to move their glove out.

One of the keys to playing with confidence is the ability to defend yourself from self-doubt. Self-doubt is what often deteriorates confidence and often athletes who are low in confidence have replaced their minds with self-doubt in the absence of confidence. Pessimistic, perfectionist and over-motivated athletes tend to hold too tightly to doubts, which if unchecked, can ruin an athlete’s mindset and derail performance.

The problem for many athletes is that in the moment they are unable to identify the self-doubt that they are currently experiencing. Their self-doubt has slowly crept into their performance and is now a silent killer. Many athletes will even start doubting themselves before they even start the competition or make an error. Others will feel confident and ready to play, again Price made mention that he felt ready to play before every game last year, but after making a mistake or performing poorly in competition he would become overwhelmed with self-doubt about his ability to play.

An example of this is a shot that the goalie misses ringing off of the post. Normally goalies would blow this off or think ‘I had the angle and made them hit the post.’ A goalie that is experiencing self-doubt will worry about whether they can stop the next puck because that one almost beat them! After one bad goal or one close encounter early in the game, many goaltenders, especially young goaltenders (Price, etc) begin to doubt their ability to stop the puck at their current level. This feeling of self-doubt will then remain with the goaltender for the rest of the day and makes it virtually impossible to regain control of the game and perform well.

The first step in overcoming self-doubt is to become aware of the thoughts or feelings that deteriorate confidence. Be aware that self-doubt is often very subtle and disguises itself in the form of questions, such as “Can I perform as well as I have been performing in practice?” Learn what questions or self-talk statements your mind will use as each athlete’s self-doubt is unique to the individual. Your first task is to identify your self-doubts, both direct and subtle, so that you can defend against the negative effects of self-doubt.

Once you recognize the triggers that are causing self-doubt, the next step is to counter the self-doubts by encouraging thoughts that will lead to better outcomes. To begin select one or two self-doubts that you are experiencing when your performance is not going well or after you’ve made a mistake. Now that you have identified a self-doubt such as “I’m really fighting the puck today” the next step is to counter-act or refute the self-doubt statement with something such as “Missing an early save does not mean I will continue to miss. My changes are only getting better; I will stop the next one.” You must learn to identify and cut off your self-doubts and think in a way that leads to confidence.

Although confidence and self-doubt may be a bad mix you too can learn how to think like a champion!





Shaun Smith has been an athlete and a coach for many years and competed in many sports growing up, including hockey, baseball, basketball, golf, lacrosse, soccer and curling. It was while playing sports at a competitive level that Smith first experienced the dramatic effects of the mental game on overall performance.

Throughout high school and college, Smith experienced both the joys of winning and the lessons from failure when you are expected to win. Shaun went on to study and research exactly how the brain affects physical performance and how a personalized program could have positive effects on athletes. With the knowledge needed to build champions, Smith dedicated his mental foresight to helping coaches, trainers, parents and every athlete, whether junior, amateur or beginner, to excel in his or her sport.

Shaun has done this by creating a evaluation program that tailors each aspect to the individual athlete. Today, Shaun is the president and founder of Absolute Mental Training and has consulted with many high profile teams and athletes.

Shaun is pleased to join forces with The Goalie Guild in order to share a unique and fresh perspective of the mental aspect of goaltending. We hope this blog will expand your understanding of the game as we provide you with a fresh and unique perspective of mental training. Feel free to leave any comments or questions for Shaun so that he may better help YOU become a master of the mental game!