Understanding and Controlling Focus

Picture this: You are in the middle of a high-stakes hockey game.

The arena is roaring.

The pressure is on.

Distractions are everywhere.

How much time is left on the clock?

How’s your stance feel? Are you holding your glove in the right position?

What does your coach think of that last goal you let in? Will he pull you if you let in another one?

Why are the referees allowing so much contact in your crease?

In these moments, it is important to know that you are in control of your focus — and more importantly, how to control it — because where you direct that focus determines success.

“In a game we want to focus on the puck or the play,” Pete Fry explained at the 2023 Goalie Mindset Seminar. “What happens when you look up at the clock? It takes away your focus. Now you are thinking, ‘why isn’t time going down faster or slower,’ depending on if you’re winning or losing. Is your job any different five minutes into a game than it is with five minutes left? No. The only time that matters is being in the present and focussing on the right things in that moment.”

No one can focus for every second of every hockey game they play. The best goalies in the world understand this, learn how to identify when that focus drifts and is not on the right thing at the right time, and then develop tools to bring that focus back when it matters the most.

Some goalies use a trigger word to bring their focus back. Others use a gesture or movement.