In hockey and in life, attitude is everything.
Having a winning — or positive — attitude, can turn good players into great ones, impact organization culture and pay huge dividends over the course of a long season.
“An obstacle is going to be placed in front of you everywhere you go, whether in sports, in school, in relationships or just in life,” said USA Hockey Coach Developer Mike Schwartz. “You have to persevere and fight through it. If you have a don’t-quit attitude, that’s the one trait that is going to help anyone be successful.”
What Is a “Winning” Attitude?
Probably the easiest way to define a winning attitude in hockey is a mindset that no matter what, you’re going to exude positive energy, bring your best effort to practices and games, show respect for everyone involved and be a supportive teammate on and off the ice.
It’s the kind of mindset, and player, that every coach will want on his or her team.
“Coaches will always be drawn to the hard work players,” said Schwartz. “Coaches want players who are really competitive and can lead by example, who bring their best every day. You always look for people who have an optimistic attitude about everything in life. Because if they have a smile on their face, things can be going bad, but they see the bright things that still come out of it.”
Case in point, Schwartz believes it’s possible to have a winning attitude even if you’re struggling or at the bottom of the standings.
“Sports is a unique animal, because at the end of the season only one team gets to raise the trophy, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is a failure,” he said. “You can have a winning attitude even if you’re losing games because you’re being realistic. Usually, you find that if people are realistic and understanding, they set different goals other than winning or losing. Winning and losing are merely the results of something that you did along the way.”
Why It Matters
Schwartz has more than 30 years of experience teaching and coaching at all levels of the sport. His extensive background includes coaching youth, White Bear Lake High School, the United States Hockey League, Augsburg University, professionally in Italy and working with the NHL. He’s seen firsthand many times the power a positive attitude can bring to individuals and to a program, and also what happens if a negative vibe is prevalent.
“It works both ways,” he said. “A detractor can suck the life out of your team, so you might have to find another leader within your group to build your team culture around. We want to show gratitude and be thankful for the opportunity we have to play hockey and make someone else’s day better.”
Body language is also huge, according to Schwartz. He says it’s often easy to tell if a player is having a good day or a bad day based on their facial expression, effort and overall mood. With any outward expression or action, good or bad, an individual can impact the larger group.
“As a coach, you want to watch the kids and see where the vibe is. You’re always trying to put them into a situation where they’re reliving the positive vibe. Maybe the group is just having a bad day. So, you say let’s have some fun and just go get it. There are other days that no matter what you do, you can’t get them out of a funk. In that case, maybe you cut practice short, tell them to go home, have a good meal, get some rest and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Making an Attitude Adjustment
As the adults in the room, it’s important for coaches, parents and administrators to try to instill positivity, gratitude and resilience in our young skaters and help them understand why these things are valuable.
“Sometimes changing a negative attitude has to be done with repetition by the coaching staff and through constant encouragement,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz shared some simple ways hockey leaders can do this, starting with putting the emphasis on the process over results and valuing smaller goals to measure success.
- Coaches could have a theme or team slogan for the year.
“Augsburg’s national champion wrestling program would say, ‘Get 1% better every day,” he said. “It’s important to have the kids help you implement whatever it might be. They have to be part of the process.”
- Make smaller goals that are attainable.
“This doesn’t mean they’re easy, but you break it down into smaller things that matter that will allow your team to have some success. Make it things players can control; those are the things you want to stay focused on in your games and practices. Are we getting better every day? Are we coming to the rink with a great attitude? Are we giving our best? Put players in the environment where they can have success.”