Isabelle Hamptonstone MSc. - Hockey Confidence: Train Your Brain to Win in Hockey and in Life

PRAISE FOR HOCKEY CONFIDENCE

I believe the mental part of hockey and positive thinking are very important. Isabelle has provided interesting and helpful insights.

JAROME IGINLA, NHL, Colorado Avalanche, all-star, Canadian World Junior, World Cup, and World Championship team

I feel confident that this book can be beneficial to various hockey players, coaches, and families of players who deal with adversity at all levels.

GUY CHARRON, NHL, formerly Detroit Red Wings, former head coach of the Kamloops Blazers

Isabelles book will be so helpful to players struggling with all the emotions of being on a team.

MARK KACHOWSKI, NHL, formerly Pittsburgh Penguins

The tools found in this book will help grow your confidence and equip you to be mentally tough in big-game situations.

RILEY NASH, NHL, Boston Bruins

When you can link the mind to the ability to perform, you create a winner. Izzy creates winners!

DR. MATT JAMES, international speaker and educator

Isabelle delivers rapid results with integrity and passion.

DR. JOHN RYAN, communication and transformation trainer

Isabelle Hamptonstone combines a sound foundation in human behavior with a keen awareness of the human condition... Her passion is contagious!

DR. PATRICK ROSS SCOTT, trauma recovery specialist

Copyright 2016 by Isabelle Hamptonstone

Foreword copyright 2016 by Doug Lidster

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a license from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

Greystone Books Ltd.

www.greystonebooks.com

Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada

ISBN 978-1-77164-201-9 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-77164-202-6 (epub)

Editing by Shirarose Wilensky

Proofreading by Lana Okerlund

Cover and text design by Jennifer Griffiths

Cover photograph by iStockphoto

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Government of Canada for our publishing activities.

The information contained in this book is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional medical or legal advice. Any use of the information in this book is at the readers discretion. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any and all liability from the use or application of any information contained in this book.

For Jean-Pierre

Thank you for teaching me two powerful lessons:

Those who appear to have the most confidence are sometimes

those in most need of help to develop their confidence.

We never really know what another person is dealing with,

so always, whenever possible,

be kind.

It is always possible.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

IN 2005, after coaching athletes of both genders, young and old, I became a coaching mentor. Id played for Team Canada and won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers, and then another with the Dallas Stars. Id had experience winning as a coach as well, and I was looking for another way to give back to the sport that had brought me so much joy, learning, and opportunity.

When my generation was young, a large part of parenting centered around the kitchen table. Typically, dads went to work and moms would be at home. A lot of positive conversations happened during the times when Mom would meet with her friends at home for coffee around the kitchen table. The moms shared ideas and mentored each other. When Dad got home, he and Mom discussed those ideas and supported each other to become better parents. We dont have as many opportunities like that anymore.

Similar to parents, coaches require their own kitchen table time. As a mentor, I discovered just how challenging it is to get hockey coaches together to exchange ideas and brainstorm solutions to help their athletes develop confidence. In my personal experience, developing my own confidence affected my ability to be successful. The best help we can give our players is to provide them with the opportunity to develop their hockey confidence so that they can become their own best friend and develop the personal skills that will last them a lifetime!

This book focuses on the needs of players who are looking for tools and solutions for the challenge of developing hockey confidence. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in high-performance hockey, and its also a valuable tool for self-development.

I am thrilled to support Izzys work and help her build a legacy of providing exceptional resources to help hockey players, and their coaches and families.

Enjoy reading this book and building your own hockey confidence!

DOUG LIDSTER

Stanley Cup champion, Canadian Olympic hockey team,

NHL coach

INTRODUCTION

HOCKEY CONFIDENCE:
YOUR KEY TO WINNING

Playing the Game of Your Life

PICTURE THIS...

Your heart is pounding.

The crowd is exploding, screaming your name.

Again and again, you hear your nameit becomes an anthem.

The anthem gets louder. The sound vibrates through your chest. It becomes a war cry.

The clock is running down. The team is watching you, trusting your every move.

You are in complete control. This is your time. The opposition is nothing more than a mere distraction.

You feel your heart banging against your rib cage. You are sucking in air. You are smiling.

You smell the sweat thats built up over the years seeping out of your hockey gear, its presence somehow reassuring.

You. Are. Beyond. Confident.

You inhale the frozen air coming off the ice. It reminds you of all the years youve spent flying from one end of the rink to the other. This is your ice.

You are solid, stable, balanced. Ready to take off.

You see the image of a panther in your minds eyedangerous, fully focused, and ready to explode at any second with controlled aggression.

This is your time.

This is your game.

You are playing the game of your life!

Then, in the time it takes to power a puck from one end of the ice to the other, you hear,

What the hell did you do that for?! You are an idiot!

What?!?

Within seconds, that hockey dream is now your worst nightmare.

The puck turns over. The other team is running away with your vision, your mission, your future.