Brain Game

We’ve all heard the phrase “Bigger. Faster. Stronger”. Too often a different phrase is not brought up, that being “Work smarter, not harder”. No one can be the best by just following one or the other. Around the country, and the world, we are seeing more and more specialization in sports, and within that realm, a push for younger and younger kids to do additional strength training to be better physically at a given game.

Now more than ever, the real world is starting to realize what brute brain power can achieve. The most incredible plays are being created with a player’s mind, and not with their physical ability. Analytics of sports have taken a massive jump over the past two decades, as commemorated by the movie “Money Ball”. Coaches at all levels now are not looking just for the most gifted athletes, they are looking for players who can make the smart play, and be efficient, as opposed to trying to do it all themselves and be statistical and physical anomalies.

To keep within the baseball movie references, the eye test should never die though. “Trouble with the Curve” showed that although someone may dominate the game statistically on a small scale (youth, amateur, low level professional), once a player advances, they may not be able to mentally adapt short term within a game or series. It may even take a mental toll on the athlete to no longer be the big fish in a little pond. We’ve all seen the Peewee that dominates youth hockey tournaments but may not pan out to be a Division 1 athlete, and the mental game may be the cause.

There are many new creative ways to become faster and more creative between the ears. USA Hockey has promoted their Hockey InteliGym, Sense Arena has come out with a Virtual Reality Application. Not everything creative needs to be electronically driven either, maybe just kids creating fun ways to enhance the game of hockey, like trick shots in the summer, or even playing other sports in a pick-up fashion can help train players to see the world differently and apply it to their main sport.