By Steve McKichan /
What can a goalie do when they get nervous?
Every goalie goes through a bout with nerves. Many are nervous before every game. Legend has it that Glenn Hall was physically sick before every game.
Fear of failure is really the root cause of nervousness. The fear of letting down teammates, friends, family and yourself can be overwhelming.
As with concentration, worrying about a performance is the result of thinking about impending doom and not worrying about the present task at hand.
Many times, a bad result against a team in the past keeps replaying in the goalie’s mind and then the jitters start.
The first step is noticing the physical clues that you are nervous. Sweaty palms, butterflies in the stomach and increased breath rate are examples.
Once you become aware you are nervous, you can trick your body back into a calm relaxed state.
By consciously slowing down your breathing and focusing on that for a few moments your body will naturally become less stressed.
From a mental point of view you then need to start thinking about peaceful calming enjoyable things.
When I felt nervous I would fill a sink up with cold water in the dressing room and dunk my head under for a few moments while thinking about cruising in my corvette, top down along our local beach.
As with concentration lapses, bringing your thoughts back to the present will also help alleviate these feelings of nervousness.
What does the term, ‘peak performance’ mean?
Every athlete strives to have his or her absolute top performance at the right time – all the time.
Realistically, this is impossible but the more often an athlete can call up a peak performance, the more successful they’ll be.
For instance, a youth goalie may play absolutely great three games out of ten.
A goaltender in the minors may play great eight games out of ten.
An NHL goalie would play great nine out of ten games.
The mental strength of the athlete is what allows these performances to happen on such a frequent basis.
Along the same lines as the question about consistency, peak performance requires a detailed study of a peak performance when it happens.
There are games where everything seems easy, controlled and natural. You are playing outstandingly well, everything seems clear and it is as if you know you will win.
That is a peak performance.
Full details like location, timing, preparation and nutrition should be documented when these performances happen. What you were thinking and how you were feeling are also important factors.
To call up these performances again consistently you must try to repeat the preparation mentally, physically and emotionally.
What is ‘positive self talk?’
Whenever I felt negative thoughts creeping into my mind, I would use a trick I learned from a book when I was in college.
If you keep repeating positive comments about yourself and your game it will displace any negative thoughts and program your subconscious mind to deliver a good performance.
I simply placed four to five simple positive sentences on a sheet of paper and every time I thought about it I would read them to myself five or six times.
For example, a couple would be:
I always control rebounds.
I stop all the easy ones and most of the impossible ones.
I am a smart, controlled puckhandler.
I am aggressive.
I am as a quick as a cobra.
Although corny at one level, they did work and I am a firm believer they helped my performances.
Steve McKichan BS.Ed, former NHL Goaltender Goaltending Coach, Toronto Maple Leafs 03 - 09?www.futurepro.com |