Mental Game: Anchor Yourself in-Game
- Dylan Ferguson performs the same anchor routine before every whistle: tapping the crossbar and posts, pushing to the top of his crease, clapping his gloves, adjusting his mask, and setting his stance.
- An anchor is a deliberate body movement or series of movements conditioned to trigger a specific confidence or arousal level — not a superstition.
- Mental skills coach Pete Fry compares anchoring to the involuntary emotional response triggered by seeing a police car after receiving a speeding ticket — goalies can harness this same psychological mechanism intentionally.
- Being in your stance before the puck drops creates a 'I'm ready' feeling that primes your reaction before play begins, according to Ferguson.
- Goalies should distinguish between movements done for superstition and movements deliberately practiced to anchor a specific mental state.
Just before the referee prepares to drop the puck, Dylan Ferguson begins his routine.
The Vegas Golden Knights prospect taps his stick on the cross bar and both posts, then makes a quick, powerful push to the top of his crease, where he taps his gloves together in front of him, then arcs his arms straight back and out wide, adjusts his mask and gets into his stance.
Watching Ferguson play for the Henderson Silver Knights in the American Hockey League this week, the pattern never changed. It was the same before every whistle, all game.
It’s what Ferguson and his mental skills coach Pete Fry call an anchor.
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