Sometimes it is tough being you isn’t it?
You have the goalie you are and you have the goalie you want to be.
And the path to get from one point to the next is uncomfortable and perhaps inconvenient.
It might be physically uncomfortable – — thinking of those Stamina workouts in this months module (OUCH)!
Or it can be emotionally uncomfortable.
Case in POINT: I had to take my own medicine yesterday and I didn’t like it.
So here is a perfect example…
I used to get VERY nervous before I played with my Sunday morning shinny group – – yes, very nervous to play nothing hockey with friends and acquaintances 🙂
It has gotten better. Still nervous, but better.
I am not happy to be the same goalie this year that I was last year, so I need to get on the ice more. As luck would have it, the rink literally 200m from my house has Adult Stick and Puck sessions from on Monday (when I work from home on GoalieTrainingPro.com). How can I NOT do this?
Well, first I was slammed with a case of the “what if’s”
- What if everyone is really good
- What if I don’t know what to do
- What if I go out there and looks stupid
- What if the dressing rooms are filled with dudes and I don’t have anywhere to change (yes I honestly thought that)
- What if there are already goalies there and they don’t want more
And the cure for that case of the “What if’s” was reminding myself of m
y “Why” and asking “is there a better and easier way?”
No, there was not a better and easier way.
Going to the end of my street to practice skating in my gear, work on my movement patterns and taking shots is pretty much as easy as it gets.
So I pulled up my Big Girl pants and headed down there….
And HERE’s what happened…
I had a dressing room pretty much to myself (a guy came in just as I was heading to the ice).
I got out on the ice and stumbled around the ice a few laps, then had time (for the first time pretty much) to just work through patterns and try things like lateral release, recovery to my skates, butterfly pendulums… I even tried t-pushes (still awful).
And then my self-preservation mode kicked in again.
My Inner Voice: “I think I will just work on my movement patterns today rather than taking my place in the net to face shots”
My Inner Voice: “That is a really good idea, that’s what you came here to do after all and you might pull something if you get in the net… remember you haven’t been in the net
for a few months.”
My Inner Voice: “You are right, that is the smart thing to do, you are very clever. THIS session you will just get your bearings again and then NEXT time you will take some shots”
My Big Girl Voice: “Look… you came here to get better at stopping pucks. You have practiced your movements, it has really helped… not get your ASS into that crease and stop pucks!”
And I did.
And I was shelled like it was a contest to see how many shootout breakawa
ys the boys could take in 5-minutes or less – – probably saw 20 shots a minute 🙂 – – maybe not quite that many, but it sure felt like it.
Third shot a guy skated in and took a clapper from the hash marks hitting me square in the old pelvic girdle – – it hit so hard I thought my pelvic protector must have shifted – – OUCH.
Then we had the guy who full on kicked the puck in but still did a huge celly… does that happen at every stick and puck? Is that just the way it goes?
… And it was all awesome. I had some great saves; some simply awful attempts and I was gassed after probably 3-5 minutes of not stop shots. But the beauty of stick and pu
ck is that I could just skate over to the side, regroup and come back for another barrage.
You gotta get comfortable…
You will never grow until you get comfortable being uncomfortable sometimes. The next time I go to stick and puck it will be way easier – – I know how it works, where to get changed, what to do.
I know some guy will do a slapper or my pubic bone, I know someone will score a chintzy goal and celly and I know I will get better.
I will even map out a plan of the exact drills I want to practice and then the intervals when I will take shots.
That’s how you get better.
Know what you want.
Know why you want it.
Do what you have to do to get there.
Cheers,
Maria
PS – on the road again later this week.
1st stop – Kelowna, BC for a Day with Carey Price and Eli Wilson
Stop #2 – Ft Myers, FL for the last week of The Hockey Summit Training Camp