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MARCH 2 0 2 2 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M 17 shut down their thinking. We create too many robots." ROAR LIKE A LION Have you ever had someone to tell you to relax and breathe when things get stress- ful? Jones says you're always breathing, of course, or you'd be dead. It's not inhal- ing air that's the problem; it's exhaling. Athletes get in trouble mentally when their exhale becomes short or they start holding their breath in. Breathing out is a great way to bring back your focus. "Something players can do right when they get to the bench—before they say anything—is take a really long exhale," Jones said. "What that does is it calms the body, which then allows you to calm the mind. It's harder to calm the mind some- times and we can control the body more, so let's change how the body feels and that helps change how our head feels. And they can do that on the ice or off the ice." "Lions roar in the wild because when they start to get tense, that is their way to extend their exhale. It gets the CO2 out, and CO2 creates lactic acid and causes fatigue. That's when the mind starts to go, 'I'm stressing. I'm making mistakes.'" BE BRAVE Coaches aren't mind readers, and it can be hard for them to know what you're thinking. Be brave enough to let your coaches and teammates know how you're feeling and what you're thinking. "Mental toughness is not about sucking it up and fighting through your feelings," Jones said. "It starts with self awareness, and then having the bravery to be vulner- able with yourself and then being brave enough to be vulnerable with the coach or with someone who can help you. "Coaches need to create that kind of environment for kids and teach them how to be more self aware, too," Jones said. "But athletes hold the key because they're the only ones that know what they're real- ly thinking and what they're focused on." PREPARE IN PRACTICE Practices should simulate games as much as possible, and that's something hockey gen- erally does well, Jones says, especially with the intensity of small-area games. It's also important to make sure players understand how those drills transfer into their games. Ask them the same questions you would on the bench or between periods in a game. Making the environment difficult can help, too. "A lot of times we set up practices for success, right?" Jones said. "But when you go play against another team, they're not setting anything up for you to succeed. "I'm always saying, 'How do you create an environment that simulates some of the things they're going to feel in a game?' You change something with their senses. So what do they hear, see? So is it playing different kinds of music or loud music so they have a harder time communicating? How are they going to work through that? Is changing the rules of a drill and seeing how they respond? Are they reacting emotionally or with wisdom?" "Mental toughness is not about sucking it up and fighting through your feelings. It starts with self awareness..." Creating a game-like atmosphere and environment during practices helps players with pressure, decision-making, adversity and much more.