Mental Preparedness Series: Mental Toughness

You’ve most likely heard of an athlete who has “mental toughness” at some point or another. But what exactly is  mental toughness? Aside from GAAHockey’s third installment or our Mental Preparedness Series it is (or should be) a HUGE part of any goaltender’s game, and is absolutely essential in order for goaltenders to successfully transition their play to the elite levels of hockey.

Mental toughness can be broken into a variety of areas and are generally unique to each athlete as athletes receive and respond to information, circumstance of events, criticism, etc, differently. However, it can be broken down into three main areas that once a goaltender has mastered them, they will become a force to be reckoned with.

Goaltenders able to deal well with anxiety are generally able to keep cool as important games approach. Anxiousness can be overlooked often, or in some cases, mistaken for excitement. Understanding the difference between the two is crucial for goaltenders in order to understand where anxiety is coming from and so that they may use their anxiety for their learning process, and to their advantage.

Goaltenders at elite levels of play are able to study their opponents and themselves by reviewing game footage. Doing so allows them to see where they may have gone wrong when they were scored upon in previous games, or allows them to easily recognize their opponents set plays in order to avoid falling into the same traps again. By studying game footage, goaltenders increase their knowledge of their opponent, and themselves. Doing so will also boost their confidence the next time that they face this opponent as well.

In many cases, anxiety can help a goaltender perform better in games, but the key is becoming knowledgeable of when and how to turn anxiety into excitement or intensity on the ice. In many cases, this comes with time and experience for it to be effective; goaltenders will then need a full understanding of the importance of Self-Motivation, & Visualization.

In hockey and many sports, emotions run high. Everyone’s seen the “hot-head”, and every team has its player who takes bad penalties. For goaltenders, this can be one of the toughest areas to master as goaltenders constantly feel the weight of their teammates on their shoulders. As a goaltender, you are the last line of defense for your team, and when you’re not performing, the score of the game reflects it. Goaltenders at the youngest ages feel this weight the most due to a lack of understanding of the position by their teammates, and possibly even their coaches. Not that it’s right, but it’s become a known saying when a child expresses their desire to become a goaltender, parents or coaches will explain, “the goaltender receives the blame for losses, and receives none of the glory for wins”.

Keeping one’s emotions in-check is a hard thing to do (especially during a must-win game). But it is an absolute necessity in order to achieve success with becoming mentally tough. In order for goaltenders to ensure that they’re not allowing their emotions to get the best of them, they need to consider how their emotions may impact their game. One (and the most obvious example) may be the goaltender that lets in a bad goal. After the goal, the goaltender should regain his composure by replaying the goal in his mind through visualization. How did the puck go in? What occurred during the play to cause the goal? What could I have done differently to stop the goal from happening? These are all questions which the goaltender should attempt to retrieve the answers for prior to the next puck drop. In some cases, there are just goals that the goaltender couldn’t have done anything about such as the odd fluke redirection off of a defenseman’s shin guard. For goals like this, rather than dwelling on it, it’s alright for a goaltender to just consider that he may have done everything right in order to be in position for the proper play, but that he is merely unable to control the uncontrollable. Accepting that sometimes there are just bad bounces, and therefore bad goals can be just as important as the steps listed above.

Occurrences such as playing in front of larger audiences, friends or family members are other areas which athletes are faced with and which test their emotional well being when they are required to perform. At times, these may actually be worse for athletes to “shrug off” than instances such as letting in a bad goal (especially if they’re not used to it). Blocking out the audience comes with time and experience, and requires an immense amount of focus on the game on the ice. Some of the best professional hockey players have said that while they’re playing, that they rarely hear the crowd. This should be something that goaltenders should strive for in their quest for mental preparation mastery.

Maintaining concentration on the task at hand is something that many people in sport or even in an office environment happen to struggle with. Athletes however, are constantly under the microscope and must master the ability to concentrate in any environment which they face.

In order to master this essential aspect of the game, goaltenders need to ensure that they become capable of resisting distractions both in the arena and at home. As mentioned above, an example of the arena distractions may be playing in front of a larger-than-normal crowd, in front of family, or friends. Other arena distractions may come from fans, or the opposition. Resistance of these distractions at times is easier said than done, but a goaltender’s ability to resist distractions such as these may mean the difference between a win and a loss.

Along with the ability to resist distractions is the athlete’s ability to regain concentration. Dwelling on events during a game, or thinking about something which may have happened earlier at home will generally result in the athlete falling off of their game. Athletes therefore need to clear their mind, and be mentally present (or be here and now as specified here by Jack J. Lesyk, Ph.D.). For some, a goaltender being “in the zone” is the goaltender’s ability to stop pucks. But for experienced elite goaltenders, being in the zone is something else. Instead, it is the ability to not think, and when they do catch themselves thinking, it’s the ability to stop. Elite level athletes have the ability to easily react to circumstances which they are faced with in order to benefit themselves and their team, therefore causing a positive impact on the game.

Athleticism may come naturally to some athletes, however reacting correctly to specific circumstances comes from practice and repetition of each circumstance which they’ll be faced with during competition. Therefore, in order to be physically prepared during competition, a goaltender must be mentally prepared first.

Becoming mentally tough or mentally strong takes time, experience, and a lot of practice and unfortunately, there is no fast tracked way to become successful in this area due to the need for applied learning through consistent dedication to learning, training and practice.