|
A exciting field of the recent past is the field of expertise. This is especially important for hockey players to know about.
Many authors, coaches, teachers and researchers have searched long and hard to identify just what it is that separates the good player from the great one. Despite decades of theories and studies, the only consistent thing that comes up again and again as “the reason” for why some players “make it” and some don’t is the amount of time the great players spend focusing their efforts on improving their game.
This had been somewhat neatly packaged into what is now called the 10,000 Rule. Quite simply put, to really become an expert in anything requires diligent effort that amounts to a total of 10,000 hours of practice over time. In every field, this rule has been shown to be true. Hockey is no exception.
This sounds quite simple…just put in the time and I’ll be an expert player, right? Well, let’s look at this a bit closer. Simply by the numbers, this is a daunting task. 10,000 hours of practice means about 20 hours a week, every year for 10 years. That’s a tough task, and something that needs to start at a relatively young age simply because, in the case of hockey, you can’t start playing in your 40’s and hope to make it to elite college or professional play!
So, the time commitment to reach the magical 10,000 mark is significant, but it’s not just a matter of putting hours in. The clear message in all the studies on expertise and the 10,000 hour rule is that it’s not just the time you put in, but the quality of that time. It really comes down to this; the focus of your efforts in practice and training has to be on a clear assessment of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as an organized plan of attack to allow your training to help you make continuous progress as a player. Your individual practices and training then need to focus on specific elements of your play. This whole concept is called directed practice.
Another hugely important consideration here is that players who follow the 10,000 hour rule understand that all they do becomes important over time. In other words, this season’s accomplishments, in and of themselves, are only important in terms of what they do for you over the course of your career.
We all know players who are dominant at 13, only to be less dominant at 15, and just another player at 16. Part of the reason for this is that many early-teens who are dominant in hockey reach that level because of natural advantages, such as early growth spurts, early strength increases, and generally, early pubertal changes. These players often fail to work on their game for the long term, but instead focus everything on now…how many goals they can score now, for example, without recognizing that the things that allow them to score goals now may not help them continue to be goal-scorers later in their careers. Those players who continue to work on their game, and understand that things that help them continue to improve will have a lasting effect on their development as players, generally reap the benefits over time.
Let’s look at an example to help make things a bit more clear. If it is clear that your shot is a weak point, there are several possible areas that would require your directed practice over time, so that you could develop an effective shot. Having a coach who is knowledgeable in hockey, and in how to shoot specifically, who can help evaluate your game’s needs, specifically your shot, would be a good first step.
That way, the question of whether your strength, your balance, your skating, your accuracy, the way you approach the shot, or the quickness of your release and your ability to read the best time to shoot are just some of the multiple areas that could be involved in the problems with your shot. Once you’ve figured out exactly what areas need work, it’s time to put your efforts into planning your workouts around those areas, at least until you’ve brought your shot to the level you desire.
Many players, knowing their shot is lacking, would focus a great deal of effort on taking more shots. I’ve seen players spend hours shooting, taking literally thousands of shots in an attempt to improve a weakness in their game. But, the problem with that approach is that, if your shot is poor, and you practice it without really looking at why it’s poor, you’re likely to be practicing…taking shots poorly. That’s why practice and training have to be directed at improving the specific areas of your game that need work.
To continue this example, let’s assume your coach shows you that the primary issue in your shot is your overall strength. In order to figure out exactly what you need to do to improve your strength so that your shot improves now would require the input of someone who has experience in strength and conditioning for hockey. That way, you can direct your workouts to improving strength so that your shot improves, without compromising other aspects of your game.
This is where a bit of planning is extremely important. Why? Well, consider that most hockey players who find their shot is lacking will, on their own, hit the weight room and begin hard training on the logical areas…their arms, shoulders and chest. After all, shots are taken with the arms, right? Well, it’s not quite that simple, and I can tell you stories about athletes who have spent enormous numbers of hours in the weight room, gained greatly in their bench press, for example, then come to hockey season to find that, not only is their shot not improved, but it’s actually worse!!
Why? The shot in hockey isn’t generated from the arms alone, in fact much of it is generated from the hips. The balance, coordination, speed of thought, skating skill (so you get into the right position to take a shot, at the right time, ahead of your opponents), and quickness of release, as well as many other factors, that build an effective shot have to all be evaluated and improved in order to affect the shot.
Even more important, the work that you perform has to be assessed on an ongoing basis, so that you improve your shot, as well as the parts of your performance that go into improving your shot. The lifts you perform are important, in this example, as are many other factors, but none of that will help if you don’t use the improved strength, quickness and other factors that they bring to your game unless you…practice your shot so you bring into it all the improvements your training has brought you.
As you can imagine, addressing your game in this fashion will add time to your schedule, but it’s a far better solution that mindlessly going to hundreds of shots, hoping that your shot will improve from the repetition! Directed practice like this is often the difference between players of similar skill ending up at vastly different levels of play as time goes on. And, as you learn that becoming a great hockey player is a matter of putting time into improving your game, element by element, attacking each part of your game with a plan that will help add up to making you a complete player.
Thinking about your game like this, it becomes somewhat easier to manage the 10,000 hours of the rule. Because, when your efforts are directed at improving your game, and you understand that breaking down what you need to do, then seeking help from qualified coaches to find out how to best do that, and then implementing that in your training, you will start to qualify as an eventual “10,000 hour club” member. By and large, those who “make it” pay attention to this rule.
Remember, it’s not just the time, but how you spend it, that counts!
|
