Being a better coach

Checklist for coaches to be a better coach

10. Be Focused – Find the right things to focus on, it will help you stay on the straight path and will lead your mind and body in a positive direction. If you try to do too many things at once, you'll end up not getting anything fully accomplished.

9. Clear Picture – Have a clear vision of your strengths, weakness, and goals. This is very important for creating a successful season. Knowing and identifying a clear picture of what you want out of your season will help you in your practices and games to keep improving your performance and skill.

8. Goals – Long-term goals: Everyone wants to play/coach in the NHL. So, let's keep things in perspective for now and focus on short-term goals because they can be extremely powerful. This is something you want to implement quickly, like tomorrow's practice, your next game, or a plan set before the end of the month. It must be something realistic and something you can finish successfully. Short-term goals may seem small, but completing them can lead to big accomplishments in your life, helping you eventually reach your long-term goals.

7. Mental Preparation – I believe to get the best outcome in preparing for a game is to learn to visualise. A great technique that I like to use is called EPV (End Point Visualization). This is where you picture the strongest, most successful part your game, which is a winning end-result. For example, picture your arms up in the air, shaking the other coach's hand, and seeing all the players skating towards your goalie to celebrate because you made the difference in winning the game.

Always see yourself succeeding. This will boost your confidence and help to prepare you for every game-like situation; you'll know exactly how to respond and what to do.

6. Drills – create great drills. Spend time thinking how a drill fits into the style or age of your group of players. Don't just use a drill because it looks good and includes a lot of movement. Make sure there's a purpose and a "Why?" to each drill. Why are you doing the drill with your team?

5. Health & Nutrition – Choosing the right foods and eating healthily is critical for your growth and development. If you owned a Ferrari, would you ever put the lowest grade of gas in it? No, you would want the best gas to make it perform the way a high-performance car should. Then, why wouldn't you do the same for yourself! Eating responsibly replenishes your energy, helps promote muscle recovery, and keeps your immune system high. This will help you compete harder and more consistently the same way all season long. Lead by example.

4. Watch Hockey – Watch as much hockey as you can, even if it's only for a period or two at a time. Make sure to focus on the different styles and techniques that are being used. Listen to the broadcaster's talk and how they're analyzing the game, and have a complete understanding of the game. Don't just watch the game as a fan; be a student and learn everything that's happening every night. This is a great way to help create hockey sense. This is a subconscious way of reacting and coaching for situations that may develop during your games.

3. Practice Plan – you need to have one; it is extremely important to have a plan as to how you're going to practice.

Don't just skate around and around on the ice for the first 5 minutes, making up drills in your head for the day. Come prepared with drills laid out in order for you to have progression to get better and develop the players. 

Allow CoachThem to help you with Drill ideas and assist with the organization or your practice.

Every drill in practice will allow you to improve on something; try hard to stay focused on what you want to accomplish.

2. Routine – Have a game day routine. This is something that will make you feel energised, focused, and confident.

Energized – Eat healthy the night before a game. When you wake up on game day, have a high amount of protein and slow acting carbs that will all contribute to being performance food.

Focused – Have a good sleep the night before. Consume energy throughout the day, but do not overdo it to where you now start to feel sluggish. Find your balance.

Confident – Be mentally prepared, visualize your success. Stick to the routine that works for you; don't start to substitute positive thoughts with superstitions. You'll start to see and feel successful performances on a consistent basis.

 

1. FUN – This is the most important one of all! If you don't enjoy what you do, it's going to be hard to be good at it.

You must embrace the challenges and pressures coaching brings to you. It's not always going to go your way; in fact, it's a long, hard, mental and physical position that at times is very draining during hockey season. Learning how to handle it and continue to get stronger and grow with it can be the most rewarding and enjoyable ride that you could ever be on.

 

Coach This Way!

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