Tip # 7 – Energy is Everything

In today’s competitive hockey world, players are constantly looking for every advantage out there. This tip explains why having energy in both the forms of working hard and enthusiasm is fundamental to successful athletes.

As an athlete striving for success, it is essential to have the energy and the willingness to work hard. If you are a player that only does what’s easy, then you will find that hockey will be rather hard. However if you are a player that is willing to do what is hard, then you will find hockey to be rather easy. A player with the energy and willingness to work hard will put in the extra hours and effort in their off-ice training, on-ice practices and off-ice skill training, to name a few.

Enthusiasm is another form of energy that is an essential quality of successful athletes. Enthusiasm provides an excellent base support to having a resilient focus during a game. A player with a resilient focus comes to the rink in high spirits and lifts up their teammates whose spirits are not so high. When things go sour their attitude stays productive and upbeat, which helps them turn things around. For example when you or a teammate gets a penalty for what you think is the worst call in the history of hockey, a player with a strong source of energy and enthusiasm will stay focused on playing the game, not arguing and complaining about the referee. In my opinion a player who stays focused is so much more valuable to his team then the player complaining about the call.

I’ve personally learned the importance of energy in the forms of hard work and enthusiasm throughout my career. I figured out the work hard portion when I was fairly young, but the importance of enthusiasm didn’t sink in until I had numerous experiences of showing up with a poor attitude and consequently having a poor game. Even with my father’s many attempts to warn me, it took me many years to really understand that coming to the rink and staying enthusiastic, even when things didn’t go my way, produced significant benefits in the forms of self fulfillment and success.

Having energy, working hard and being enthusiastic can be done by any player. They are merely choices and I hope we all choose wisely.