The mental aspects of a game typically fall apart slowly and are hard to detect. The problems seep in rather than rush in. This slow seepage makes both identifying and correcting the problem or problems, very difficult. It grabs hold player by player, until it becomes a plague on the team. It is a virus. Once it becomes a plague, it easily identified. I am a licensed clinical therapist and have a lot of experience with cognitive behavior therapies. The issues are real and the solutions are effective.
The Washington Capitals began seeping last year when they were booted out of the playoffs early. Mentally, the team changed. It changed in two ways. One, the loss was a huge let down and the sense of invulnerability was gone. Two, and more importantly, the loss focused the team away from playing to win each game to believing they must win the Stanley Cup. They mentally became distracted. The current 84 game season has become more of a hindrance they have to tolerate and play through before getting their shot at the 2010-2011 Stanley Cup. Players and teams do not have unlimited mental capacity. Let’s consider mental capacity as focus. Where is the team focus for the Washington Capitals?
The 2010-2011 team focus for the Washington Capitals was significantly shifted. It is printed and stated everywhere and that is the Washington Capitals must win the Stanley Cup to be considered successful. This shift takes the teams focus away from playing to win the game in hand. They are less focused on the present and are now spending some of their mental energy on the future. It can be a subtle process. In the case of the Washington Capitals it has been exacerbated, by the media and themselves, to a level that is mentally draining. This isn’t good or bad unless it reaches unhealthy levels. They are officially distracted and have to direct some of their mental energy/focus away from the immediate game in hand. The less mental focus they have as a team in the present, the more likely they are to make a mistake during a game.
The Washington Capitals are a professional team. It is not unrealistic to keep a bit of an eye on the future or in this case, the Stanley Cup. That isn’t the problem. The problem really only manifests itself when a losing streak begins or a slump starts. Or more than likely a losing streak with slumping players and bad breaks. The Washington Capitals have them all going on. A perfect storm so to speak. A team must be 100% focused on the game at hand. Great and talented teams have some leeway.
Once a slump starts, a team begins to press. Mentally the players focus, with great intensity, on winning the game in hand. They want to break out of the slump. That is exhausting physically and mentally. They begin to expend a tremendous amount of mental energy to break out of the slump or end the losing streak. The longer they fail to break out, the more mentally exhausted they become. This is a slow process. That is why a team in a 3 or 4 game losing streak looks differently than a team in the midst of a 6, 7, or 8 game losing streak. They mentally begin to wear down. It begins to show in their body language on and off the ice. Defeat and doubt begin to set in.
The Washington Capitals are talented. Their talent carried them through the first 25 games of the season. They didn’t start the season focused on winning one game at a time. Their focus was pushed or directed beyond the game in hand directly to getting back to the playoffs. Let’s say that is a loss of 10% of their mental capacity. Being very talented, 90% worked, for a while. The losing streaks, slumps, and bad luck set in. The toll for all these things, let’s say, another 25% drain on their mental capacity. No team can coast through a full season at 65% their mental capacity. The numbers aren’t science but they work for the point.
The team’s focus is way out whack. Their mental energy is spent looking toward the Stanley Cup, wondering why they can’t score, thinking about the shot that hit the post, worrying about what if they lose again, and just about anywhere but on the game in hand. No professional team can be successful if they are mentally in the wrong place. There are no free passes to the World Series of the Stanley Cup. They need to refocus on the present task, not look to the future - which is much easy said than done.
Now add in a long losing streak. What happens? The players become mentally exhausted. Mental exhaustion leads to frustration. Frustration leads to further failure to focus on the game in hand and the downward cycle comes quickly and lingers. Some teams never get out of it. Most teams do. You can see the frustration surface when a puck clangs the post. Players look to the sky. A call goes against them, they look down. Pretty soon when things stop going their way, they slow down. The game, which is a game, is no longer fun. It becomes a chore.
What happens when you slow down in hockey? You get beat. Losing your focus as a player in hockey is losing a step of speed. The Washington Capitals have lost their step. They have lost their attitude of invulnerability to the point they become defeated when the puck doesn’t bounce their way. It is a slow seepage. It catches teams by surprise. It can be corrected.
The good news tends to be found in the timing of the mental exhaustion. Mid season slumps and mental lapses can be corrected. It starts with recognizing the problem and refocusing their minds as players and as a team. The short answer is to recognize this is not about character or talent. The biggest mistake coaching staff can make is to focus on the players skills and character. If they didn’t have that, they would be in the NHL. It is a red herring to chase in the case of the Washington Capitals. It is all about helping them to focus mentally on the immediate game at hand. The team needs to have fun on the ice and win each shift.
The solution is a form of cognitive modification. If a player is on the ice and is worrying about any of the above things, their mind wanders. Their mental focus goes elsewhere. That lapse, even for a second, can cause a breakdown in play. That breakdown, can lead to an opponent scoring. And that goal will then get into the heads of the entire team. And the process that affected one player, begins to replicate itself in all the players. The goal of the coaches is to help the players purge their negative thoughts and give 100% of their mental capacity to the game in hand. In short, have fun, and win each shift. You have to help the player stay focused and not wander down a trail of negative thoughts. It is the same thing we teach our youth players. Focus on the game in hand. Play your shift hard. Win today and we will deal with the next game later. The solution is found in the moment.
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