:: PRACTICE IS WHEN GOALIES BECOME GREAT ::

Shaun Smith is the founder of Absolute Mental Training and provides The Goalie Guild with a weekly column that is posted every Tuesday. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email him atssmith@absolutementaltraining.com!

On June 26, 2010, Andy Strickland tweeted, “A highly rated kid told NHL teams in his interviews that his least favourite part of hockey is the practice! That’s why you fell out of 1st round!” Nothing’s worse than telling your future potential bosses that the one thing you dislike about the sport that you play is the hard work that will ensure that you become a great player. No player or goalie has made it to the National Hockey League without a lot of hard work and this ill advised answer sent a highly touted prospect out of what surely would have meant millions of dollars for being a first round draft pick.

By no means am I going to tell you that athletes enjoy pushing themselves to the point where they feel like they may get sick or the inability to climb stairs after a gruelling workout, but it is in those gruelling workouts that good athletes become great. This is why scouts and coaches look for athletes who want to get better and who understand the value of practice. Don’t believe me? Look again at the same draft and the Phoenix Coyotes 27th overall pick that surprised many experts when they drafted Mark Visentin. While many were surprised that Visentin was drafted so high his comments after the draft highlighted to me why the Coyotes were willing to take Mark with such a high pick. Visentin stated in an interview with Niagara this week that “Practices are huge for me. I try to bring my great work ethic and I think it feeds off onto the other players. When you practice hard it shows during a game.”

There is no such thing as flicking a switch and turning it on when it is game time. Many athletes who fail to work hard in practice often tell me that they can turn it on when it is game time. The truth is that failing to compete in practice leads to bad habits. These bad habits will show up during your games and will result in poor goals and performances.

The proof is very evident in athletes who fail to prepare or work hard in practices. Poor practices will result in the following:

- Little or no improvement
- Loss of focus
- Loss of drive
- Decrease in confidence
- Letting down others
- Poor tryouts
- Weak games

Looking to improve your practices? Ensure that you are working on the following:

- Work hard. Be the first one on the ice and the last one off of the ice every time as well as being the hardest working person on the ice.

- Create game situations and solutions to those game situations that will set you up for success.

- Work on your weaknesses. You will only be as good as your weakest skill set unless you work on your weaknesses. We all have weaknesses, even the most elite athletes, the secret is to know your weaknesses and work on making them your strengths.

- Be active. Continue to evolve your game and stay on top of new techniques that will help your game. Failing to recognize the transitions of today’s game has left many goaltenders without a job.

- Never Quit. Never quit on a puck. Elite goaltenders hate to be scored on in practice and work hard to ensure that they don’t get beat even during practice.

How you approach practices can have a dramatic effect on how you perform as a goaltender as well as the likelihood that a coach or scout is willing to take a chance on you. This was evident during this year’s draft when you look at the two very distinct stories of the unidentified player and Mark Visentin. Which athlete’s route do you want to follow? It’s up to you. Developing appropriate practice habits and creating a successful plan for each and every practice are skills that I regularly work on with athletes. I truly believe that no words can explain the importance of going to practice working hard and focusing on getting better every time on the ice. If you are not willing to put in the effort someone else will.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to email me at ssmith@absolutementaltraining.com!