Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Push Push Push

When I get stressed in Winter I remember this summer solitude is waiting for me.

Now is the time of the season when we have to push ourselves hard; not to get in shape, not to learn but to apply! That is always the difficult part, the application without breakdown. Anyone can work hard at physical effort, that is just pain that goes away when you stop. The performance of skill under specific, stressful conditions is a thing that can stay with you long after the effort has been expended.

That is why coaching is not all science, sometimes less science than art, and usually a mix of craft and psychology. This month we step up the mental part of performance by doing specific drills that mirror what will happen in games. It is too late to teach new things, we just need to focus on performing what we know. If we did that there would be no problem at all.

When we travel to Regina later this month with our Cadet teams, in a pre-nationals tour, it will be with a team psychologist, maybe even 2. That is meant to bring a new set of eyes to our group so we can adjust things that we have become accustomed to but that are interfering with our performance. That is all meant to aid focus of both individuals and the teams. That involves simplifying what we do and bringing into focus what our capabilities are and how we will maximize our current skills.

What we learn from this process in the spring of 2008 will help the athletes direct the kind of support they want and will get during the full season in 2008-09. Hopefully there is benefit right away but the bigger picture is having Cadet aged athletes understand what part their heads play in their training and performance.

Besides setting team and individual psychology meetings this week I have also scheduled team photos. That will give me some Blog pics to spice things up and the pics may be in some event programs for spring nationals too.

Heather and Serena will both soon be back in Winnipeg and I hope to have some spring time contributions from them both on deck and via the blog to give players some insight into what they went through as pro's this past season (NCAA and Italy).

1 comment:

  1. My what nice green grass you have! Beats snow anyday. This photo must have been taken in 2007?

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