Assertive Vs Aggressive Part 2

I discussed last year my opinions on how assertiveness was important for success in hockey and aggression was not. A year later I have now immersed myself in the literature and done my own research on aggression and success. Thus, I have much to add. Within this context the definitions of aggressive and
assertive are:

Aggressive - a behaviour that intends to cause harm physically or psychologically to another person.

Assertive – an action that is forceful, vigorous, and legitimate, but the individual performing this behaviour has no intent to cause harm to any living being; instead has a strong intention to complete a task while respecting the well-being of others.

Everyone involved in hockey knows aggression exists, and the literature has supported this social norm for all levels of hockey. What stands important is working towards changing the culture where young boys and girls are encouraged to use and accept aggression. However, first we must understand why aggression is so prevalent in hockey.

I have found two plausible explanations for this social norm of aggression. The first explanation I’ve found is the frustration-aggression theory. This theory simply means that frustration or failure is followed by acts of aggression. From my review of the literature I did not find research to significantly support this theory for individual failure and frustration, such as missing an opportunity or making a mistake. However, I did find enough evidence to suggest that some of the existence of aggression is the result of team frustration. Specifically, the research illustrated that when a team is losing by two or
more goals late in a game, players were significantly more likely to be aggressive.

My second explanation for the existence of aggression, as I touched on last year, is that aggression leads to success. Research has found that players do believe that aggression is necessary for success. Further, research has supported Bandura’s (1973) social learning theory which predicts that aggressive acts are followed by successful performance, encouraging future aggressive acts. However, this belief that it LEADS to success can rightfully be challenged. First off, the research has only shown correlations between
aggression and success not causations. Secondly, although the definition of aggression is set in the literature, the measures of aggression are not without flaws. A lot of the research has measured aggression by observational tactics such as recording body checks or penalties taken. The problem is that these measures are assuming that all of these actions always include the intent to cause harm. Therefore, a researcher may record a slashing penalty as an aggressive behaviour, but the player could have had no intention to hurt the other player, he/she merely wanted to win a puck battle and was being
assertive, not aggressive.

Therefore, my research and past research, which claims to find correlations between aggression and success, may in fact be more indicative of the relationship between assertiveness and success. This is what I believe is the true relationship. However, future research will need to be able to distinguish
aggression from assertiveness before this relationship can be illustrated through an academic study.

Now we can apply this knowledge to help change our culture. First off, we need to be teaching players how to properly deal with frustrations. Instilling fair play, respect and sportsmanship is fundamental in sports. However, this doesn’t seem to always be the case with hockey. More specifically, researchers Cote, Trudel, Bernard, Boileau, and Marcotte (1993) believe that some coaches are actually encouraging aggression by displaying contradicting behaviours when losing by two or more goals. Such contradicting
behaviours included arguing with the referee after telling the players to respect the officials. Cote et al. suggest that these incongruences may be interpreted by the players as permission to violate the rules. So as coaches and parents, be aware that the actions you choose influence how young players choose their actions.

Moreover, it is essential to be emphasising that players need to be assertive, not aggressive. It appears that our current culture is sending out mixed messages about aggression. Players are told to go out and be aggressive, but are then told not to hit players from behind. The word assertiveness needs to be utilized in order to change the culture. I strongly believe that if we started to encourage assertiveness, and separate aggressive from assertive, then we will start to see a decline in on-ice aggression at all levels.

In conclusion, I will re-emphasise that players need to be assertive. Particularly, some players need to turn up their intensity and assertiveness level. This doesn’t mean you have to be a big hitter. I’ll use a skilled player like Crosby for example. He plays with a high level of assertiveness but he isn’t a big hitter. On the other hand is a player like Ovechkin. He also plays assertively, but his style is slightly different, being that he is out there making clean big hits. The point here is that they are both great players and they are both assertive, yet they have different styles of play. So how you play is your choice, but I stand that if you want to be successful you need to be assertive.

Conversely, if you find yourself being too aggressive, contemplating hurting players, then you need clarify your intentions. You are probably getting results, but you probably also receive the odd suspension. You could get the same results without the suspensions if you firmly set your intention on performing tasks
while respecting the well-being of others. You may even be thinking that aggression really isn’t that bad. It’s more so unfortunate for the other guy and you even get away with it sometimes. However, the kind of player you are is also a reflection of the kind of person you are. So, if you want to stay an aggressive player, careless of injuring other players, you will have to live with that player off the ice. You can take it from me, a player who has played my share of hockey on the line between aggressive and assertive, that life is a lot more enjoyable being the player and the person who doesn’t disregard the well-being of other people.

A full look at my research and accompanying sources will be made available soon.

Relax

I’m not referring to putting your feet up, sitting back and watching
TV, but the abilities that you can learn to help regulate stress and enhance
performance. Although the end of a hockey season is the ideal time to relax,
recharge and take a break, relaxation techniques are important to use
throughout the entire year. The proper use of various relaxation techniques
include: physical benefits such as enhanced recovery, increased self awareness
and increased energy levels; and psychological benefits such as quieting a
worrisome mind, clarifying your focus and controlling your attention.

The following relaxation techniques can aid a player in preparing for
the physical demands and stresses of being an elite hockey player:

Diaphragmatic Breathing – Proper
breathing serves as a corner stone for optimal relaxation. There are two key areas to proper breathing:
qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative breathing refers to how you breathe. Experts
in relaxation recommend breathing using your diaphragm, or simply put, your
belly. The reverse of breathing deep into your stomach is breathing up into
your chest. If you breath in and your chest raises or expands this causes
unnecessary tension and stress to your back and shoulders. Quantitative breathing
refers to the ratio of your inhalations and exhalations. People under stress
will often inhale more than they exhale. Optimal relaxation occurs at a 3 count
inhalation with a 6 count exhalation.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation
or Muscle Afferent Training – The
purpose of these techniques is to help you develop greater awareness of your
muscle tension and provide you with the ability to decrease unnecessary
tension. Essentially both techniques build your awareness by giving you a
contrast between your muscles relaxed and contracted. Specifically, Muscle
Afferent Training works by contracting and relaxing one muscle at a time. The
contractions last for 7 seconds each and are never more than 50% intensity. You
start with your hands and arms, moving to your trunk, legs and feet, and
finishing with your head, neck and face. You always work in pairs, for example
after you do wrist extension you would do wrist flexion.

Autogenic Therapy – This
technique brings your body into an optimal state for relaxation and recovery.
Specifically it dilates your blood vessels, providing your muscles with a
greater ability to repair themselves. The technique takes about 15 minutes and
goes through 6 stages. It is a variation of self hypnosis and as such each
stage consists of a set of visualizations you would repeat to yourself, at
least 3 times, to induce a state of relaxation.

1. “My right arm is heavy” – for each limb, then
“My arms and legs are heavy”

2. “My right arm is warm” – for each limb, then “My
arms and legs are warm”

3. “My heartbeat is calm and regular”

4. “My breath is calm and regular”

5. “My solar plexus is warm”

6. “My forehead is cool”

There are many other relaxation techniques, but I think together these
provide a solid foundation of relaxation techniques to help you regulate stress
and enhance performance. Diaphragmatic Breathing
is a quick and easy way to relax when in a stressful situation. The more you
practice it the better and more natural you will become at it. Muscle Afferent
Training is useful to decrease anxiety and heighten your awareness, which can be
helpful for players to do a few hours before a game. Lastly, Autogenic Therapy
is great for recovery and relaxation, so practicing it after a workout,
practice, game or before going to bed would be ideal.

It has been said that an anxious mind can’t live in a relaxed body. Therefore,
relaxing your body is the key to relaxing your mind. Hence, not only are these
techniques very useful for you physically but also mentally.

Success

I do not define success to winning games, medals, trophies, and awards. For me, success is something much more valuable and attainable on a day to day basis. It isn’t the materialistic things that only few of us can receive, it is the energy, intentions and effort we give.

How often do players worry about how they are performing, how many points they have, or how many mistakes they’ve made? I know I have had my fair share of these moments and it has been my experience that the tiresome worrying so many of us do about achieving outward success is nothing but an unnecessary obstacle preventing us from acquiring what we truly want.

In other words, worrying about achieving outward success will only bring you farther away from acquiring it. Two things happen when players worry about outward success that limits them from achieving it. First, they are no longer as focused on what will help them achieve the outward success, hence decreasing their chances of acquiring it. Second, worrying is just the first step to losing self confidence, which leads to self doubt and a vicious self-fulfilling prophecy.

My suggestion to overcome these obstacles is to sit back and actually consciously change what success means to you. I first began to change my understanding when I read “Leadership” by John Wooden. Wooden was an astounding coach who won ten basketball NCAA national championships with UCLA in a twelve year span, including four perfect 30 and 0 records, achievements unmatched by any other college basketball coach.

One of Wooden’s famous quotes and part of the core of his coaching philosophy was:

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”

So you can take it from me or from one of the greatest coach’s of all time, either way true success is winning the inner battle where your only opponent is you. In fact, from focusing on achieving inner success and giving your best effort, you will more than likely ended up having more outer success than you would have thought possible.

Winning championships, scoring goals and making it to the next level are great goals to set. However, it is the energy, intentions and effort you give that will bestow you the most satisfaction regardless of achieving your goal.