5 Proven Strategies to Build Confidence as a Hockey Player
Before adventuring into the world of mental performance coaching for hockey players, I ran a presentation company for over 15 years. I still own that company today and operate in a Chairman capacity. For the entire length of my career running the company as CEO, I remember clearly the month-to-month stress of having to hit our sales quotas so I can maintain payroll. When months were great, I felt like a winner. When months were bad, I felt like a loser. That mental cycle continued for years where my successes or failures dictated my mindset. Even it if I was having an amazing financial year, one terrible month would bring me crashing down.
The same is true with the sport of hockey. You may be on a goal scoring streak and then all of sudden the goals stop - one game, two games, and so forth with no goals. Although you are a highly skilled player and on the leaderboards your confidence can almost vanish overnight. This is where having the right mindset is needed to avoid this pitfall. Here are five key strategies to maintain and elevate your confidence on and off the ice:
Remember Your Identity
Never forget your identity as a player and as a team. In Saul Miller’s book, Hockey Tough, he shares how Scotty Bowman, former coach of the Detroit Red Wings, has always stated that a team's identity is one of the most important ingredients to winning. If you are known for an aggressive or smart playstyle, own it. Let it drive your thinking at all times. In Miller’s book, he continues with a story about the Montreal Canadians who were losing one evening to an expansion team on home ice. They were down 3 goals and found themselves in the locker room thinking:
"That's not who we are, to lose to these bums."
Their identity was reinstated and they came back to score three goals in the third period. Identity builds confidence.
Know Your Job
You must also know your job and own your role. You have been trained on the behaviors needed and role you must play to win games. When your confidence is diminishing, remind yourself of these basics and stick to the gameplan and the duties required of you on the ice.
Focus on You
As Jim Rohn stated, "If you focus on your career, you will make a living. But, if you focus on yourself, you will make a fortune." You need to focus on you. Practice. Improve your skills. Keep yourself healthy. Get good sleep. Take care of yourself first and the rest will fall into place as you begin to build your confidence back up. Keep practicing these items to maintain it.
Feelings Management
You are the product of your thoughts and feelings. In other words, you will get more of what you think of and focus on throughout the day. If you think you are a winner, you will act and perform like a winner. If you think you are loser, you will act and perform like a loser. The key is to manage those thoughts and feelings by replacing negative thoughts with positive alternatives. For instance, if you are a goalie who is having a bad night, it is easy to get in a fear thought cycle where you have thoughts like:
"I can’t let another goal in."
This is crippling. Better feeling management would be:
"That next shot. I'll stop it."
You are the CEO of your mind. Set the positive tone of your thoughts and feelings.
Choose the Right People
This last strategy requires the same level of intentionality as the others. You must choose your inner circle wisely. There is an old saying about friends being like elevators: some friends take you up while others take you down. When thinking about who to add to network, I always ponder these five questions:
Does this person exude trustworthiness?
Does this person exhibit like-mindedness?
Does this person showcase investment in my holistic state?
Does this person appreciate my shortcomings?
Does this person possess a strength that is a weakness for me?
Bottom line, does your friend group build up your confidence or tear it down?
Parting Advice
Developing and maintaining confidence is a challenging component of every hockey player's mental game. It requires you to step back, pause, reset, and be intentional about the feelings and thoughts which exist in your head. It is the mental game of turning off and tuning out at the garbage and keeping the positive and energy giving thoughts and statements. The good news is with some practice and deliberate effort, you can begin to automate these processes which will result in a more confident you.
