I have to admit, like many coaches, my life is pretty hockey-centric. Even in the months when I take things a little slower (May & June), I’m still in hockey mode. What can I say, I love what I do and I’m always thinking of ways to help us get to the next level.

So here are the first 4 little pieces of advice that will help you be a better this summer. None of them are life changing, but they could be a game-changer for you when you hit the ice next season.

#1: Take Control of Your Confidence

There is a serious ‘under-confidence’ problem in girls’ hockey. We downplay our accomplishments. We don’t accept compliments because we don’t want to be seen as conceited or full of ourselves. We think we’re worse than we really are and are quick to put ourselves down to make sure that we don’t stand out from the crowd. It is rare that you’ll find a girls’ hockey player who is over-confident in her abilities.

Not only do we damage our own self-confidence by putting ourselves down, but we rely on other people to build our confidence up for us. Confidence isn’t something that can be given to you.  It won’t show up on your doorstep wrapped up in a nice little package. It is something that you must take control of for yourself.

You build confidence by ‘setting and getting’ goals for yourself. When you commit to achieve a goal, and achieve it, you feel good about yourself and that’s where confidence comes from.  If you set a goal of working out consistently all summer long, you can be very confident in your ability to compete at a high level once training camp rolls around.

Confidence is king. Building it isn’t simple. But it is within your control and it’s something you must work on this summer to be your best for the start of the season.

#2: Do Yoga

I know some of you are thinking, “that’s not for me.” And I used to think the same thing. To be honest, I didn’t think yoga was hard enough or athletic enough. Until I tried it and realized how playing hockey had gotten me all twisted up in the wrong places and I desperately needed to work on my flexibility and mobility. Trust me – those first few sessions weren’t pretty. I started on my yoga adventure in my second season of playing NCAA D1 hockey. I bought two VHS tapes online and did them each once a week in my dorm room. I wish I had videos of my doing those videos the first few times – very humbling to say the least. But I got better and it definitely made me a better player.

I recovered faster from games, practices and workouts. I could see a difference in my flexibility and mobility within a few weeks. I felt better.  And when you feel better, you play better. I’ve been doing yoga at least once a week every since. I’m not fanatical about it, but it’s made me a better athlete and a better coach. So try it. You only need to do it once or twice a week to feel a difference.

#3: Become A Better Passer

Players are taught from a very early age that they need to make sure their passes go “tape to tape.” And I think that’s a great guidepost for young players who are just starting to develop their skills. However, I think it can also breed bad behaviour in the pass receiver.  The pass receiver starts to expect that the incoming pass should be “perfect” and if it is behind them, in their feet or out ahead of them, it isn’t their fault that they can’t control it. Wrong.

I believe it is the pass receiver’s job to be able to control any pass that is within 360 degrees of them. The 360 degrees refers to the space surrounds a player in an imaginary circle that would be drawn around them when they are standing on the ice holding their stick out in front of them in their top hand. I truly believe that it is the pass receiver’s responsibility to control ANY puck that is inside that 360 degree circle. That includes passes in their feet, wobbly passes, slap-shot passes and those really annoying passes that dribble a few feet behind you as you head up the ice.

Being able to control those kind of passes, as well as the ones of the laser-like tape-to-tape variety, is an absolutely essential skill for players who aspire to play at the elite level. It’s a skill that coaches must constantly teach and reinforce on the ice during skill sessions, practices and games. And it’s a skill that players can work on in the summer with something as simple as making bad passes to yourself off a wall and working on receiving those passes as cleanly as you can on both your forehand and backhand sides.

#4: Drink More Water

I know you’ve heard this before and it’s not the most exciting topic ever. But if there is one thing that I can guarantee will move you closer to your peak performance this summer and all season long, it’s drinking more water.

When you’re dehydrated, your peak performance goes down at least 10%. I don’t know any player, coach or team that wants to give up 10% of their best performance right out of the gate simply because they didn’t drink enough. You’re dehydrated as soon as you feel thirsty so make sure you always have a full water bottle with you so that you don’t ever get too thirsty.

How do you know how much water you should drink? It’s different for everyone because it’s based on your weight and your level of activity.

Here’s the equation I use as a general guideline.

Take your weight in pounds.
Divide that number by 2.
Now divide that number by 8.

That tells you the number of glasses (250ml or 8oz) of water you need to drink per day in order to stay hydrated. But that doesn’t account for your training. Players need to drink at least another 500ml of water for each hour of activity. So drink more. Stop making excuses of why you don’t and get it done.