Learn how to master your mental skills

 You spend countless hours training and practicing the physical skills of your sport...  Working out  Skating  Shooting pucks How much time do you spend working on the mental side?

 Been so nervous before a game that it had a negative impact your performance?  Had trouble getting motivated to workout or train?  Lost confidence in yourself and your ability coming back from an injury?  Had a bad performance and carried it with you into your next game or practice?  Walked away from a performance knowing that you could have done better?

 What are mental skills?  What are the benefits of mental skills?  How do you develop your mental skills?

 MENTAL SKILLS : internal capabilities that help an athlete improve performance by learning to control their minds efficiently and consistently as they execute attainable goals

 Clear away the obstacles that keep you from achieving peak performance.  Enhance consistency in your preparation and performance for your sport.  Increase your ability to perform successfully under pressure.  Believe in your ability to accomplish your goals.  Prepare for and handle the challenges of training and competition.  Develop the confidence and focus necessary to take your sports performance to the next level

 CONSISTENCY!!  Very similar to strength training, mental skills training takes time.  To develop a strong mind, you have to PRACTICE and apply these skills on a DAILY BASIS! “We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act, but a habit.” ~Aristotle~

 Goal Setting: Winning one day at a time  Attitude: Your attitude changes everything  Routine: Mental and Physical Preparations  Motivation: Find your inner drive!  Self-Talk: Positive and Negative communication with yourself  Imagery: Visualization of Success  Anxiety Control: Performing Under Pressure

 Who set GOALS for today?  Who set GOALS for this week?  Who set GOALS for this year? “Excellence can only be achieved TODAY – not yesterday, or tomorrow, because they do not exist.”

“When I go to sleep at night, I’m a better martial artist than when I woke up in the morning.” ~Georges St-Pierre~

Why do we set Goals? What types of Goals are there? How do we set Goals?

 MOTIVATION  FOCUS  SELF-BELIEF  CONFIDENCE

 Increase your drive, your effort, will to succeed.  Increase awareness of strengths or areas of needed improvement.  Goals can be a guide to follow your dream.  Commit yourself to daily acts of excellence with your dream goal in mind.

 Short-Term: Focusing on the here and now.  Portions of the Day  Daily  Weekly  Monthly  Long-Term: Look towards the future.  6 Months  1 Year  18 Months

 SPECIFIC  MEASURABLE  ADJUSTABLE  REALISTIC  TIME-ORIENTED

 Think it then ink it!  Write them down  Put them somewhere you will see it everyday  Bathroom mirror  Refrigerator  Inside of car  Locker  Don’t allow yourself to escape from your plan.

Jonathen Toews : Kept a notebook/journal and repeatedly wrote his goals in his book and what he needed to do in order to achieve those goals. I need to eat better I need to sleep more Better preparation for practice