pre game psychology

Question
I often feel nervous and distracted before games, what can i do to better mentally prepare myself? ( I play major bantam AAA hockey)

Answer
Hi Jake, I never really had this problem playing buy my friend did and he wrote a great article on my website about it. It is called Hockey, the mental game, here is a link http://howtohockey.com/hockey-the-mental-game

I know before a game if I was nervous (like the big games) I would try to envision myself making plays, our team scoring goals, and me deking other players. It helped me stay focused and also prepare my mind for the game.

A few other tricks I have heard is to listen to music to keep from worrying, I know a lot of players do this, and our team used to blast some good tunes to pump everyone up before we played.

If you always get distracted a good way to stay focused is, before the game, set a goal for yourself to complete on the ice. Then think about how you will achieve that goal, and imagine yourself doing those things. You could think of situations that you have been in before and how you could improve. Try it for a month or so and I bet you will find it has helped you a lot!

If you get really distracted and it is becoming a problem you could always pick up this book on mental preperation for hockey (almost like it was written for you) The guy has a website with hockey tips (like me) and also has the book available there, here is the link http://www.score100goals.com/