Your First Shift: Developing Consistency In Hockey Players

Although hockey is one of the most physically intense sports, it’s an obvious mistake to say there’s no room for training your mind.

Many players are focused on their first shift, or first shot against, as an important indicator for how the rest of the game will go. Although this idea isn’t completely true, it does indeed have a significant impact on your confidence.

Read on below to learn how to start your games on time, every time.

Perfecting your pre-game routine doesn’t happen overnight.

All of the NHL players you see describe their pre-game routine in detail is not the result of something they did once or a coach told them to do. They’ve been perfecting it for years.

Pre-game routines are important because they help you feel familiar with your circumstances and environment. The less familiar you feel, the more your brain might freak out and damage your mental game. At the same time, you’ll be performing exercises that you know lead to your best performances, giving you a boost in confidence.

There are a few shortcuts to optimizing your pre-game routine that come from sport psychology research. Let’s go over some components so you can get a head start on creating your ideal pre-game routine to feel your best at the beginning of every game.

Mental Training (Imagery/Visualization)

This is one of the most popular mental skills athletes use - especially without any knowledge of how to do it most effectively. You may have some experience with imagery, or you may be new to it - no problem!

First, let’s get this out of the way. The name for this skill is misleading. It mistakenly leads people to believe they should only imagine the picture of something.

I prefer the term mental training because it doesn’t focus on any one sense unfairly. As you learn about best mental training practices, be sure to include multiple senses, not just sight. I encourage my athletes to just focus on sight, hearing, and feel (internal & external).

How to mentally train to prepare for your first shift

There are 2 important guidelines - how to do this, and when to do it.

First, understand that the goal of this mental training exercise is to either boost your confidence or prepare your mind to experience emotions that could derail your mental game.

To boost confidence, imagine yourself making the plays you know you’ll need to make on your first shift (skating with your head up, digging into the ice with each stride, effective communication). See yourself executing these plays from the first person point of view, like there’s a go-pro attached to your face. You can opt for 3rd-person, like you’re watching film of yourself, but I prefer 1st-person because it’s more realistic, benefiting your brain more.

To prepare your mind to experience emotions that could damage your game, focus on the senses even more. Hone in on what makes you nervous - is it the loud crowd? Seeing the other team and the arena? Feeling the surface of the ice and wind brush by your face during warm-ups? Your brain is likely to experience a heightened stress response as the result of sensory information minutes before puck-drop. Get ahead of this by feeding your brain this information beforehand, so it’s less intense when the moment comes.

What’s Your Number?

Everyone is different when it comes to the energy they want to feel before games. Alexander Ovechkin once said he’d be a horrible goalie because they need to be calmer than him, who is oftentimes bouncing off the walls before games with energy.

On a scale of 1-10, how much energy do you want to feel seconds before puck-drop that consistently lead to your best performances? A 1 is equal to a really calm, zen-like demeanor. A 10 means you’re like an energizer bunny, screaming and jumping to let it all out.

This question isn’t a matter of what you want to be true - it’s what you know to be true. Maybe you want to be like Ovi and hype everyone up in the locker room right before walking out onto the ice…but is this effective for you? The only wrong answer here is the one where you’re lying to yourself.

If you’re not sure of your starting number, which is common for athletes who haven’t given this question some thought before, start becoming aware of what this number is. The next exercise will help you speed this process up.

Once you understand the starting energy number that leads to your best performances, you have a goal for your pre-game routines.

If this number is 8, you’ll want to be pretty high energy as the puck drops. Loud energetic music, being the locker room hype man, dynamic and more intense exercises are all components you can intently focus on during your pre-game routine to land you at or close to your number.

If your number is 4, however, it’s important to structure your pre-game routine to help you feel calmer, collected, and focused. Spending more time on mental training, using your breath to manage nerves, and listening to a different type of music are all worthwhile suggestions.

I don’t expect you to know your exact number right now. In fact, this number might change slightly throughout your career.

What’s more important is that you’re thinking about this starting number, and working toward a confident answer. The next exercise will be great for awareness building, and much more.

Journaling

Journaling has so many uses to benefit one’s mental game. Here, I’ll discuss two ways in which you can use it to find your perfect pre-game routine.

First, journaling can be a powerful component of your pre-game routine in and of itself.

Research has shown that journaling can be an effective tool to proactively manage intrusive thoughts. Manage, in this case, means reduce and partially control. As a result, you’ll spend more time in games thinking effectively, not about irrelevant worries, distractions, the past, or the future. You won’t rid yourself of intrusive thoughts (welcome to having a brain), but you can reduce its intensity and frequency.

Journaling is most effective when written, but typing on your phone/computer is infinitely more effective than not doing it at all.

As you put words onto paper, you’re putting language to your nebulous, abstract thoughts, allowing you to do some problem-solving and find closure in facing your worries. Again, typing is still worth it - do whichever method you like the most!

To do so, I encourage my athletes to free-flow write about what’s on their mind and what’s worrying them. Not performing up to expectations? Having scouts in the arena? Whatever it is, don’t sugarcoat it or avoid it.

You’re also not expected to keep this journal entry - you can rip it up or delete the file as soon as you’re finished. The benefit is still the same - optimizing your mental game down the line.

I recommend this type of journaling practice the night before games, the morning of, hours before puck-drop, or even moments before you start putting your equipment on.

The second way to use journaling to optimize your pre-game routine…is after your game.

As a hockey player, you know it’s important to learn as much as possible from each practice and game. Many players watch film after their game to squeeze out every drop of learning they can get. Journaling is another method to learn about yourself - including your pre-game routine and so much more.

I encourage all of my athletes to implement post-game journaling into their routines. This could be done in the locker room after the game, the night of once you get home, or even the morning after. It’s important to record your data when it’s fresh though!

As far as pre-game routine optimization goes, take a few minutes to write down what you did before your game and how you felt. Did you try mental training for the first time? Great, how did it feel?

Amazing - you had an incredible first shift. Sounds like this is an exercise worth continuing to see if it will continue to help you be at your best come game-time.

Or

Horrible - it made you feel too relaxed. Ok, you can try changing up when and how you do it next time, or replace it with a new exercise.

Gathering data about yourself, easily done through journaling, is an essential piece to the puzzle of consistency.

These journal entries, unlike the method to manage intrusive thoughts, should be kept. You can look back at these entries after a month, for example, and understand the common denominators that lead to your most confident and impactful first shifts.

Ultimately, optimizing your pre-game routine takes time. There’s no shortcut because you need enough data - many games and seasons - to have confidence your unique pre-game routine. That being said, the next season or two will pass by anyway…why not use that time to develop an excellent pre-game routine to have for the rest of your career?

If you’re interested in individualized, 1 on 1 sport psychology coaching, set up a free call with me by clicking the button below. You’ll have a chance to discuss your obstacles to success, learn about how sport psychology can help you, and determine if we’re a good fit to move forward.