Why Playing More Hockey Isn't Making You Better
Every adult hockey player I speak to wants to improve.
"I want to skate faster."
"I need better hands."
"I'd love a harder shot."
They're all great goals.
The problem isn't knowing what you want to improve.
The problem is finding the time to improve it.
Most of us aren't training three or four times a week.
We're balancing work, family and life.
If we're lucky, we play one or two games a week.
Maybe we arrive ten minutes early, take a few shots in warm-up and then play sixty minutes.
That's not practice.
That's performance.
I know because that's exactly where I am.
I usually play two games a week. I'd love a harder, more accurate shot. But when I stopped to think about it, I realised something.
In a typical game, I might take three or four meaningful shots.
Add another half a dozen during warm-up and that's it.
Ten shots a week isn't going to transform anyone's shooting.
So I had to stop expecting games to improve my skills.
Instead, I started looking for ways to improve away from the rink.
I built a simple shooting area at home so I could practise regularly without needing ice time.
I began working on my core strength because generating power doesn't start with your stick—it starts with your body.
And I started using visualisation.
It might sound unusual, but there's a growing body of evidence suggesting that mental rehearsal can improve performance when combined with physical practice. Elite athletes have been using visualisation for decades because the brain doesn't always distinguish clearly between vividly imagined movements and real ones.
Before games, I don't picture the goalie making a save.
I picture the puck finding the top corner.
I imagine receiving the pass cleanly, taking a breath and executing the shot I've practised hundreds of times.
By the time the opportunity arrives in a game, it feels familiar.
The game hasn't changed.
I've changed.
That's when I realised something important.
Games are for expressing your skills.
Improvement happens everywhere else.
It happens at the shooting range.
It happens during twenty minutes with a kettlebell.
It happens while improving your mobility before work.
It happens on a walk while mentally rehearsing your next game.
The players who keep improving into their forties, fifties and beyond aren't always the ones who play the most.
They're the ones who find small ways to get one percent better between games.
You don't need ten extra hours a week.
You just need to stop expecting games to do the job of practice.
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