Dr. Chris Winter wants hockey players to start focusing on their sleep. Considering his client list – defending Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants – it’s clear he knows what he’s talking about.

“We want our athletes to be as strong and as fast and as well-recovered as they can be,” said Winter, the medical director at Martha Johnson Hospital’s Sleep Medical Center. “If you’re not getting sleep, either an adequate amount, or adequate quality, you’re not going to physically be what you could be.”

Maximize Growth, Development and Performance

The secretion of growth hormones – a necessity of any young athlete – occurs primarily during a child’s ‘deep sleep’ during the night. That necessary building block, along with other benefits like tissue repair, protein synthesis and immune system functions, is crucial to a hockey player, though Winter knows it’s a difficult concept for youngsters to understand.

“That young athlete might be great, and every time he or she skates out onto the ice, that kid just destroys everybody,” Winter said. “But to get through to that child, ‘look, I know you’re really good, but you’re staying up playing video games all night long – you could actually be better.’ It’s hard to make that kid really motivated to be better than the best, if that makes sense.”

For more detailed, age-specific explanations, watch these videos on Sleep and its Effects on Performance.

The physical and mental attributes associated with inadequate sleep could be likened to operating at a legal level of intoxication, according to Winter.

“Anything from mood to reaction time to brain processing speed to your attention to detail, your attention to your coaches, your ability to process all the things that are happening so quickly on the ice – all of those things diminish when you don’t sleep properly,” Winter said. “Your motivation to work out, your motivation to be better, your motivation and your ability to take and process all this complicated information and do all these things your coaches want you to do and think about is just so impaired.”

Tips to Better Sleeping Habits

To improve one’s quality of sleep, Winter said it is crucial to have a consistent schedule, especially when it comes to wake-up time. While student-athletes tend to already live a very structured lifestyle, consistent night-time sleep is necessary, and waking up at the same time each day – no matter what happened the day before – will benefit a person in the long run.

‘Guerrilla Sleep’ – what Winter calls sleeping sporadically with napping or sleeping in on occasion – does not allow a person to reach the ‘deep sleep’ cycle that grows and heals the body.

Other sleeping tips include keeping a good sleep environment – keeping your bedroom dark, quiet and technology-free.

“It needs to be free of cell phones and angry boyfriends and girlfriends texting you asking you why you haven’t called them back and all the stress that goes along with that stuff,” Winter said. “There’s a place for cell phones and text messages and all that stuff, but it shouldn’t be in or around the time the individual is sleeping. Dark, quiet, peaceful, not doing homework in your bed, not watching TV in your bed – all that stuff happens elsewhere.”

Find the Right Messaging for Your Kid

The important thing for parents, of course, is to communicate to their young student-athlete the benefits of sleep. Winter said that no matter the client, he avoids negative reasoning.

“Try to play on their intellect, rather than fear, like, ‘If you don’t fall asleep right now or go to bed, I’m going to take away your privileges this weekend,’” Winter said. “We always try to avoid punitive. We always try to present the positives.”

You don’t have to scare them into it. That may be counterproductive.

“To me, a parent’s job right now is to say, ‘Hey, I pulled up this article on the Internet and did you know that the New York Rangers work with this guy who says that it really helps them and they went to the Stanley Cup Final last year and maybe if you pay attention to your sleep …’” said Winter. “To me, that’s what you can hold over your kid’s head is that, look, no matter what you do, whether it’s hockey or school, sleeping better will make you better at that endeavor.”

How do you promote good sleeping habits for your players? Tell us on Twitter at @MinnHockey and on our Facebook page.