Advice: Lack of on ice confidence

[leftwinger37]

When nerves are a problem, I focus on positioning and solid defensive play. A good defensive play loosens me up ... and in general I find the defensive end to be less affected by nerves than the offensive end, there's more to think about trying to dangle, rip off a shot, receive a pass etc than there is trying to body a guy off the puck. So I start from there and then go.

But I guess everyone's different, so maybe it's finding the thing that you feel like you can do well when you're lacking confidence, and use that to build it.

I didn't catch this comment the first time around. This is great advice!

 

[Bedards Dad]

Update:

This weekend had 2 playoff games

B Division: 2 assists and 100% on face-offs (12/12). Still made a few fumble plays, and am rushing my shots. We just ran into an incredibly hot goalie (42 saves) and lost 3-2 in the shootout

D Division: 2 goals and 1 assist. Hit the crossbar for the hat trick. 13/15 on face offs and no gaffs or rushed shots. Won 6-5 netting the GWG.

What worked for me was to stop trying to force plays, just be smart and keep things slow.

Lots of great advice all around, thanks for the tips

 

[Bedards Dad]

Sometimes people who do something at a high level sometimes feel like they don't belong there. They can think negatively when the situation becomes difficult and they lose confidence; this in turn causes lesser performance and more loss of confidence.

This is irrational thinking. You have to just believe... "know"... that you are playing in B because you deserve it, and that your skill proves it, and then your actions will follow suit. It's that simple. Just play hard and you will gain your confidence back.


Get laid, too; that always helps

That is a big part of it I think. And this weekend was better.

I did get laid before both games, so maybe that's the game changer

 

[biturbo19]

Someone already mentioned it, but the speed at which things happen is different. Which means, you have to play faster the higher the competition is, and you may have to adjust what you try to pull.

For instance, in pick-up I can often skate from my end to over the offensive blue line to get a reasonable shot on goal. In a game I often get jammed at the offensive blue line and need to pass or dump OR even pressured hard in my own zone and NEED to pass.

My point is, you may need to adjust your game based on the level you are playing at. Simplify it and play safe at the higher level. Things will begin to come.

This is pretty much my approach.

At lower levels, i know i have time to dawdle around and make great plays, try things out and honestly, toy with people a bit. But there are games i'll play with and against guys i know are straight up more talented than me...so i'll dumb it down. And specifically, know that i need to move the puck quickly. No lollygagging, no dangling, just move the puck.

Basically give it the ol' Don Cherry treatment - "early, easy".


But that's just me...i'm not the most offensively gifted kid on the block, and never have been. And i know that. What i can do, and am confident in, is my ability to skate with anyone i play against and position myself well defensively. So basically...i go back to what i'm confident in. If what you're confident in is your puckhandling and scoring ability...godspeed to you, and go do that, though your experience is completely alien to me.

 

[QnebO]

People have always wondered how to get the confidence. Old writings say "belief can move mountains". Of course it means believing in yourself!

Now meditate, do buddha, pray ect. If not, you can just do what every one does to get confidence: enjoy when you succeed, dont think for long about failing, ect basic stuff. Outside some belief system there is no other way. Well, some hockey players have belief system like wearing left skate before right and similiar, specially the goalies do.... and the only reason some players "believe" in those is they get confidence from routines and they belief themself succeeding again when they do the magic routines. Strange routines working for some players is based on same system as placebo pills in medication.

I think some kind of meditation or so can actually give you better self confidence.