Why can’t I play like I practice?

[Colander]

2 hours ago, Jonathon v said:

I do the dressing all the same and mostly packing. I felt good at my game yesterday when I was just joking around with my teammates and trying to have fun. Should I do that along with trying the water bottle tactics too? Those seem like they go against each other, as the water trick seems to make you try and focus and the joking around is to try and make me feel loose and not overthink 

No, they are not competing with each other. By taking a drink from  the water bottle during both highs (good saves) and lows (bad or any goal against) or any other time what you are doing is training your brain to reset as @Chenner29  said. It's Pavlovian (look up "Pavlov's Dogs") - it eventually teaches your brain to come to a neutral point after a swig. I do this whenever I make a good save (so two swigs in the last 6 years) whenever I let in any goal and whenever my team scores. It really helps bring me to a neutral state, which for me is what I need. As you said, the joking around gets you loose which helps you not overthink, which augments what the water bottle is doing.

[Chenner29]

14 hours ago, Jonathon v said:

I do the dressing all the same and mostly packing. I felt good at my game yesterday when I was just joking around with my teammates and trying to have fun. Should I do that along with trying the water bottle tactics too? Those seem like they go against each other, as the water trick seems to make you try and focus and the joking around is to try and make me feel loose and not overthink 

You’re way overthinking it bud. @Colandernailed it. It’s a mental reset button to get you to zero. 

The point of practice is to prepare for games. Practice is the time to be more cerebral and tactical about what you are doing so it’s automatic when you play against another team. 

To take another gem from McKichan - “overanalysis causes paralysis”. Find your flow and go.  

Your self talk should be relentlessly positive all the time (but not to the point of delusion), and it is a tremendous life lesson that you will apply if hockey doesn’t work out for you and you enter the workforce. 

There is a massive difference between “we are getting dominated this shift” vs “I gotta carry these guys for a bit”

Shit happens. Bad goals go in, guys get left open in the slot for easy tip ins or 3rd rebound opportunities, and refs may miss the wraparound game winning goals for your team in the 2001 Junior AAA NARCh championship game in Estero, Florida (I’ll never live this down, we lost in OT and had our goal on video). 

You can’t control these things, but what you can control is how you respond to them.  The guys in front of you know they shouldn’t have left that dude open, and they feel bad for you when you let that shot in from the blue line - but you gotta move on mentally from these things or all that negativity’s gonna weigh you down as you continue playing. Learn to let go and move on

[Jonathon v]

5 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

You’re way overthinking it bud. @Colandernailed it. It’s a mental reset button to get you to zero. 

The point of practice is to prepare for games. Practice is the time to be more cerebral and tactical about what you are doing so it’s automatic when you play against another team. 

To take another gem from McKichan - “overanalysis causes paralysis”. Find your flow and go.  

Your self talk should be relentlessly positive all the time (but not to the point of delusion), and it is a tremendous life lesson that you will apply if hockey doesn’t work out for you and you enter the workforce. 

There is a massive difference between “we are getting dominated this shift” vs “I gotta carry these guys for a bit”

Shit happens. Bad goals go in, guys get left open in the slot for easy tip ins or 3rd rebound opportunities, and refs may miss the wraparound game winning goals for your team in the 2001 Junior AAA NARCh championship game in Estero, Florida (I’ll never live this down, we lost in OT and had our goal on video). 

You can’t control these things, but what you can control is how you respond to them.  The guys in front of you know they shouldn’t have left that dude open, and they feel bad for you when you let that shot in from the blue line - but you gotta move on mentally from these things or all that negativity’s gonna weigh you down as you continue playing. Learn to let go and move on

Ok thank you very much 

[Jonathon v]

5 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

You’re way overthinking it bud. @Colandernailed it. It’s a mental reset button to get you to zero. 

The point of practice is to prepare for games. Practice is the time to be more cerebral and tactical about what you are doing so it’s automatic when you play against another team. 

To take another gem from McKichan - “overanalysis causes paralysis”. Find your flow and go.  

Your self talk should be relentlessly positive all the time (but not to the point of delusion), and it is a tremendous life lesson that you will apply if hockey doesn’t work out for you and you enter the workforce. 

There is a massive difference between “we are getting dominated this shift” vs “I gotta carry these guys for a bit”

Shit happens. Bad goals go in, guys get left open in the slot for easy tip ins or 3rd rebound opportunities, and refs may miss the wraparound game winning goals for your team in the 2001 Junior AAA NARCh championship game in Estero, Florida (I’ll never live this down, we lost in OT and had our goal on video). 

You can’t control these things, but what you can control is how you respond to them.  The guys in front of you know they shouldn’t have left that dude open, and they feel bad for you when you let that shot in from the blue line - but you gotta move on mentally from these things or all that negativity’s gonna weigh you down as you continue playing. Learn to let go and move on

17 hours ago, Colander said:

No, they are not competing with each other. By taking a drink from  the water bottle during both highs (good saves) and lows (bad or any goal against) or any other time what you are doing is training your brain to reset as @Chenner29  said. It's Pavlovian (look up "Pavlov's Dogs") - it eventually teaches your brain to come to a neutral point after a swig. I do this whenever I make a good save (so two swigs in the last 6 years) whenever I let in any goal and whenever my team scores. It really helps bring me to a neutral state, which for me is what I need. As you said, the joking around gets you loose which helps you not overthink, which augments what the water bottle is doing.

I know how the experiment works kind of. But may I ask how does it build  up to resetting my brain? If I let in a goal and take a sip after every one couldn’t I build my way up to having a bad mental state after every sip 

[BadAngle41]

31 minutes ago, Jonathon v said:

I know how the experiment works kind of. But may I ask how does it build  up to resetting my brain? If I let in a goal and take a sip after every one couldn’t I build my way up to having a bad mental state after every sip 

That entirely depends on your ability to refocus. Whether it's sipping water... figure 8... post tap... whatever... you should be focused on resetting yourself for the next shot not replaying the one you didn't save. Personally I think you need something that would be outside the normal course of things to help reset. Sipping water is what I do when I'm thirsty... of course I'll take one after one gets past me... but I also do it when one goes past the other guy... or most any other time there is a break in play.

I try to do a figure 8 usually... or at least one side of an 8 by skating around the dots. Lets me focus on my edges as I turn and clear my head of what occurred... could have been a misread by me or other circumstances. Either way I can't get it back... but I can do something and that's make myself ready for the next shot. 

Yes there is the whole train your brain to not think of "goals" (allowed) and rather "saves" (made or not made) but I think that mindset may be a little far off for where you are at now. Just being able to consistently get yourself reset mentally after a missed save... meaning you're in a positive place and focused on the task ahead (not behind) is a great thing to strive for now.

[Jonathon v]

27 minutes ago, BadAngle41 said:

That entirely depends on your ability to refocus. Whether it's sipping water... figure 8... post tap... whatever... you should be focused on resetting yourself for the next shot not replaying the one you didn't save. Personally I think you need something that would be outside the normal course of things to help reset. Sipping water is what I do when I'm thirsty... of course I'll take one after one gets past me... but I also do it when one goes past the other guy... or most any other time there is a break in play.

I try to do a figure 8 usually... or at least one side of an 8 by skating around the dots. Lets me focus on my edges as I turn and clear my head of what occurred... could have been a misread by me or other circumstances. Either way I can't get it back... but I can do something and that's make myself ready for the next shot. 

Yes there is the whole train your brain to not think of "goals" (allowed) and rather "saves" (made or not made) but I think that mindset may be a little far off for where you are at now. Just being able to consistently get yourself reset mentally after a missed save... meaning you're in a positive place and focused on the task ahead (not behind) is a great thing to strive for now.

Ok thank you 

[Colander]

1 hour ago, Jonathon v said:

I know how the experiment works kind of. But may I ask how does it build  up to resetting my brain? If I let in a goal and take a sip after every one couldn’t I build my way up to having a bad mental state after every sip 

You're taking the sip after goals against, goals for, good saves, grandma's birthday, basically everything - that takes your thoughts and emotions away from one specific form and just flatlines them. Note that this will not be a short term solution - your first 5 sips may all be after bad goals against, but after 100 or so sips (which sounds like a lot but think of how often you take sips in a regular game it's not really) it will start kicking in. I did the sip thing for a couple of games before I found it made a difference.

Note as the saying goes, YMMY with this method. @BadAngle41 has mentioned a number of options. The trick is probably more in finding what works for you than getting it to work. It's really training your brain whatever way you can. As an example, I've realized that you play well when you are enjoying yourself and the inverse is also true but how do you enjoy yourself when it all goes pear-shaped? One game I tried an experiment after becoming frustrated on how it was going: I decided to force my self to laugh about it and joke a bit with my team about the bad stuff - the result - my game really came up. I actually made my play better by making myself enjoy the experience, It  makes absolutely no sense, but it worked. As other said, I think we all tend to overthink things at some time...

[Jonathon v]

32 minutes ago, Colander said:

You're taking the sip after goals against, goals for, good saves, grandma's birthday, basically everything - that takes your thoughts and emotions away from one specific form and just flatlines them. Note that this will not be a short term solution - your first 5 sips may all be after bad goals against, but after 100 or so sips (which sounds like a lot but think of how often you take sips in a regular game it's not really) it will start kicking in. I did the sip thing for a couple of games before I found it made a difference.

Note as the saying goes, YMMY with this method. @BadAngle41 has mentioned a number of options. The trick is probably more in finding what works for you than getting it to work. It's really training your brain whatever way you can. As an example, I've realized that you play well when you are enjoying yourself and the inverse is also true but how do you enjoy yourself when it all goes pear-shaped? One game I tried an experiment after becoming frustrated on how it was going: I decided to force my self to laugh about it and joke a bit with my team about the bad stuff - the result - my game really came up. I actually made my play better by making myself enjoy the experience, It  makes absolutely no sense, but it worked. As other said, I think we all tend to overthink things at some time...

Alright I will try I have 3 game this week thank you 

[Jonathon v]

On 9/9/2019 at 2:22 PM, Colander said:

No, they are not competing with each other. By taking a drink from  the water bottle during both highs (good saves) and lows (bad or any goal against) or any other time what you are doing is training your brain to reset as @Chenner29  said. It's Pavlovian (look up "Pavlov's Dogs") - it eventually teaches your brain to come to a neutral point after a swig. I do this whenever I make a good save (so two swigs in the last 6 years) whenever I let in any goal and whenever my team scores. It really helps bring me to a neutral state, which for me is what I need. As you said, the joking around gets you loose which helps you not overthink, which augments what the water bottle is doing.

Is doing some thing with my Gatorade bottle but with milk while I play video games a good way to speed up the process whenever I make a good or bad play I think positive and take sip? Or do I clear my mind and take sip

[dreadlocked1]

I'm glad everyone is hydrated.

[Colander]

18 hours ago, Jonathon v said:

Is doing some thing with my Gatorade bottle but with milk while I play video games a good way to speed up the process whenever I make a good or bad play I think positive and take sip? Or do I clear my mind and take sip

If you can clear your mind and zero out your emotions that would probably end up working very well for you.