By Dr. Kolin Kriitma (BHK, MHK, MBA, EdD.)
Certified Mental Performance Consultant®
Fall tryouts can be a nerve-wracking experience, leading many athletes to make common mental mistakes in the process. Understanding and avoiding these mental mistakes can enhance performance, increase the chances of crushing your tryout and making the team. Here are some of the biggest mistakes hockey players make during tryouts and how to overcome them:
1. Overthinking and Analysis Paralysis
Overthinking your performance, leads to hesitation and mistakes. When you focus too much on the mechanics of your game (i.e. skating, passing, or shooting) you can become paralyzed by analysis. It's essential to trust your training and let muscle memory take over during tryouts to perform at your best.
2. Fear of Failure
The fear of failure, in this case, fear of not making the team can paralyze athletes during tryouts causing you to play too conservatively or tentatively. This mindset can negatively impact your performance on the ice. Instead, focus on playing confidently and aggressively, showcasing your skills without the fear of making mistakes. This aggressive mindset is known as the high performance mindset where you bring the right level of focus, intensity, and compete level for every situation you encounter.
3. Negative Self-Talk
Engaging in negative self-talk can undermine confidence and increase anxiety causing mistakes.. Phrases like "I can't make this shot" or "I'm not good enough to be here" are detrimental. Replacing these thoughts with positive affirmations like “I got this”, or “I am ready for this”, “It is my time” can boost your self-confidence and enhance performance, especially when dealing with adversity.
4. Comparing Yourself to Others
Constantly comparing yourself and your abilities to other players can lead to decreased self-confidence and increased anxiety. Focus on what you need to do next.
5. Focusing on Outcomes Instead of the Process
Being overly concerned with the result of the tryout (making the team) rather than focusing on executing your skills and strategies can increase pressure and decrease performance. Concentrate on your process to stay focused with a next play mentality.
6. Lack of Preparation
Not being mentally prepared for the tryout, such as failing to visualize success, practicing relaxation techniques, or developing a pre-game routine, can lead to suboptimal performance. Mental preparation is just as crucial as physical readiness and most importantly it develops a sense of control and helps you remain calm, cool, and collected to perform your best.
7. Inability to Manage Stress and Anxiety
Failing to effectively manage stress and anxiety can result in physical symptoms such as increased heart rate and muscle tension, which can impair performance. Techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, and progressive muscle relaxation can help manage these symptoms. Failing to manage stress can also result in psychological or mental symptoms such as worrying about what people are saying about you, letting yourself or others down, or simply just being stuck in your own head.
8. Loss of Focus
Allowing distractions to interfere with your concentration can lead to mistakes. Staying focused on the task at hand is crucial during tryouts. You are human, you are going to lose your focus or concentration at some point so be ready with a refocus cue to get back on track.
9. Unrealistic Expectations
Setting unrealistic goals or expectations for your tryout can lead to disappointment and increased pressure, negatively affecting performance. Set achievable goals and focus on improving each session you skate. Consistency is a key to team selection because you show the coach you can perform the same way regularly.
10. Inadequate Warm-Up and Routine
Not having a proper warm-up routine or failing to follow your usual pre-competition routine can disrupt your mental and physical readiness. Stick to a consistent pre-performance routine to enhance focus and readiness. It will help you be calm, cool, and collected.
Putting it All Together
In part one of this article we looked at mental performance strategies to put your mental skills package together. In part two we looked at common mistakes to avoid during tryouts. When you combine these two parts you can now take a self-reflective moment and ask yourself:
How can I use the strategies in part one, to address the mistakes in part two?
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