Playoff hockey brings out the best in everyone: players, coaches, trainers, mangers, parents and fans.
Battles are waged on ice and outcomes are decided based on the team that can win every shift of every game.
Players who excel under these extreme circumstances have taken their game to another level of physical and emotional intensity.
The right conditioning plan gives players the critical ingredients necessary to continue to excel, out-perform the opponent and remain injury free, but how do players find that playoff emotional intensity?
The Mental and Emotional Aspects of Sport Success
Athletes that are blessed with the right combination of physical skills may still only reach a certain level of success when competition heats up and the ability to make decisions under pressure is required.
Physical skills are the raw materials needed for sports, but to be able to excel at the next level, athletes need a strong mental and emotional skill set as well. ‘
Sports psychologists spend a lot of time profiling exceptional athletes to understand their mental and emotional make-up.
The top 10 areas of commonality include the following characteristics: drive, passion, emotional stability, mental toughness, attitude, realism, focus, effort, persistence, competitive nature.
Most coaches and psychologists agree that drive is a significant factor as the best athletes become obsessed with their sport (some at a very young age) and are driven to succeed.
The best athletes work on their psychological skills as much as their physical skills
What Separates the Good from the Great?
The evaluation of physical attributes can provide tangible information that can be manipulated to achieve improvements.
Mental and emotional skills are harder to identify but improvements can be accomplished when weaknesses are challenged. At the peak of the performance pyramid, all athletes have amazing talent, but still, there are some that stand out from the most elite crowd to be “exceptional.”
These individuals possess rare gifts that many coaches dream of exposing.
Deep in the athlete talent pool, the best of the best show the following characteristics: the ability to maximize their talents, leadership of themselves and others, a vast understanding of the sport, the ability to rise to the occasion and produce the big performance, a killer instinct, exceptional read and react skills to anticipate the opponent, and they are coachable with the ability to see and learn sports skills and execute the required skills with ease. Upon review of this list of characteristics, it becomes evident that many of these extra athlete assets are actually valid skills that can be identified, evaluated and enhanced with the right training focus.
Parents and coaches are encouraged to challenge young players to expose their playoff mentality to help them learn to harness the next level of emotion appropriately. Just like practicing shooting and skating, learning to be successful in situations where expectations are high lays the groundwork for a strong mental game.
The more we understand the ingredients needed for long-term sports success, the better the experience will be for everyone involved. Our goal should not be to develop millionaire pro athletes; it should be to encourage healthy activity for inactive kids, teach life skills, develop a long-term enjoyment of sport and give the naturally gifted athlete a valuable experience while they pursue being the best they can be.
Peter Twist, 11-year NHL Conditioning Coach, is President of Twist Conditioning Inc., a company that provides franchised Sport Conditioning Centres, Smart Muscle™ Hockey training products and home study coach education. www.twistconditioning.com |