The Importance of Performance Goal Setting For Youth Hockey With Jamie McKinven
Channel: Mental Toughness Trainer
Date: 2012-12-13

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Performance Goal Setting For Youth Hockey Part 3
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Performance goal setting has a very important role in a kid's preparation towards the game. As we all know, the goal is to win, but how they achieve it, depends on their attitude and determination.

This is Part 3 of a series from an interview with Jamie McKinven, who is the author of the book, So You Want Your Kid To Play Pro Hockey?

In this video, Jaymie will share with us what determination means and how it fueled him as a young player.

"I ended up playing figure eight hockey, I had a couple of setbacks in minor hockey in the sense that I was a late bloomer and I didn't get drafted during my major junior challenge year. For some kids, that is pretty devastating.

I was actually cut from the team that year and had to go down and play at lower level. This is the biggest year of a teenager's life when it comes to hockey, that draft year.

I knew the NHL was not going to be a route for me, so I focused and channeled everything into the NCAA.

I wanted to get a scholarship, that was my determination. I set a goal for myself and I said I was going to do whatever it takes to get it.

I had a coach early on that was very smart. He taught me how to break my performances down into five game segments, into one game segment, and then period segments. We would then break our goals up into what we wanted to achieve in a season.

For instance, our goal might be to win a championship, win your division, different set number amount of wins, so that would be more of your team goals. Then my ultimate personal goal was to get a scholarship.

Then to break them down into five game segments, we would say we wanted to win 3 out of these 5 games. With every game, I would break it down into what I wanted to come out of the game like four blocked shots, 7 finished checks, 3 shots on net, and a plus one plus minus rating. So I was able to quantify my goals.

People think that hockey is more or less about goals and assists, but there are really a lot of things you can quantify in the game of hockey that people don't look at and that don't appear on a status sheet, but are what the scouts are ultimately looking for.

Scouts don't look at stat sheets when they discover players. They come in person. They want to see specific things they can do to fill in a role on their team.

I was able to break everything down into these small segments and it allowed me to manage my confidence that way. If I had a tough game, put it behind me and just focus on the next game and use these short term goals to build on."

Get Jamie's book "So You Want Your Kid to Play Pro Hockey" by clicking here. It lays it all on the line to enlighten hockey fans, parents, critics, arm-chair coaches and players alike about a world beyond slap shots and penalties. 

If you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes, between the whistles, and on the road or you just want a trip down memory lane, grab a cold beer or hot coffee, put on your favourite Gordon Lightfoot album and get ready for a riveting ride.

Visit http://www.teenmentaltoughness.com to download FREE: 

"The 10 Commandments For A Great Sports Parent" ebook

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