Keep Working Towards Your Goals
What are the reasons you play hockey? Each hockey player has specific reasons or motivations to play hockey.
Here are Just a Few Motivations:
- “I like winning.”
- “I love the excitement of playing competitive games.”
- “I love the playoff chase.”
- “I love the challenges.”
- “I love being a part of a team and working towards goals.”
- “I like to improve and master new skills.”
To sum up, hockey players love competing. Hockey players love trying to achieve team and personal goals. When you work towards a goal, you benefit in a number of ways:
- When you set goals, you maintain a level of motivation that keeps you grinding through all the ups and downs during long, arduous seasons.
- When you set goals, you focus your energy toward a desired end. Goals provide you a ‘why’ that explains the purpose behind all your efforts.
- When you set goals, every step forward builds your confidence. Every little accomplishment generates positive emotions that keep you on track and moving forward.
- When you set a team goal, you become a part of something that is bigger than yourself.
Goals help you make sense of putting in the hours of hard work and give you a sense of purpose.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus has caused your season to come to a screeching halt. The lockdown has put your goals on hold for a period of time.
With your hockey season shortened or even cancelled, the positive feelings associated with being part of a team and setting personal goals can leaving you feeling empty and without a purpose.
Since the coronavirus has isolated you from the ice rink, you can no longer hit the ice, race your teammates in sprint drills. You can’t compete against your teammates during scrimmages. You can’t compete against long-time rivals or fight to win the first-place team trophy in a tournament. While stuck at home, it is more difficult to keep your eye focused on an objective that may not happen this season.
How can you maintain focus and purpose, build confidence, foster positive emotions, and develop a sense of accomplishment that is associated with goal setting?
One Answer is to Set Other Competitive Goals Outside of Hockey
For example, NHL goalie Philipp Grubauer of the Colorado Avalanche has been satisfying his need for competing by engaging in other activities.
GRUBAUER: “Before the lockdown came, I picked up some weights out of the gym and built up something in my garage. I bought a racing bike, and I am cycling about 100 miles per day, as well as doing a workout with weights.”
These goals set by Grubauer give him similar benefits and feeling that are associated with having a clear and challenging competitive objective.
You can generate these same benefits by identifying personal competitive goals while being isolated at home and waiting for competitive hockey to resume.
Here are some suggestions for competitive goals:
- Challenge teammates to a sit-up competition.
- Invite friends to FitBit challenges.
- Bike 10 miles, record your time and break your personal best.
- Jump rope every day and record how long you can jump.
- Go on distance runs and create distance challenges.
- Lift weights and try to hit pre-determined benchmarks.
- Ride an exercise bike and keep increasing tension for 30 minutes or run on a treadmill and increase incline.
It’s not just about staying active at home but setting a goal and being competitive while at home.
Maintaining Your Edge During Shutdown
Enlist a few of your teammates to compete with virtually. Each day, a different teammate comes up with a new challenge or drill.
To make it more interesting, build in rewards for the winner of each challenge or competition. Every athletes loves to compete. Now is the time to compete virtually.
Related Articles on Hockey Mental Game:
- How to Maintain your Edge in Hockey Without Formal Practice
- Hockey Players Who Practice with a Purpose
- Improve Your Hockey Skills with Smart Practice
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