Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1513704
JAN/FEB 2 0 2 4 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M 13 sively on rushes but also on the defen- sive side, too, coming back into the zone and stopping at the net or stopping in a defensive area." Coaches can emphasize this action (and others) with the drills in their practice plans. "If you're doing a drill where you shoot the puck and, after you shoot it, you go to the corner and get a new puck, you're not incentivizing them to stop at the net. You're incentivizing them to go to the corner right away. So we need to be intentional as coaches as to how we're designing drills and what we're asking of our players." Show up to every practice with a good attitude and relentless work ethic. PRACTICE LIKE IT'S A GAME Practicing with a game-day kind of energy will prepare you for being at your best when it counts. "It's so important to practice with that intensity and effort because that trans- lates to game situations," she said. "So if you practice at 70% and you go to a game, it's really hard to turn that up. "It's hard in practice to mimic that exact game-like environment, but the higher intensity that you can practice and compete in that effort, the more ready you are going to be in those situations and able to make plays under pressure." REFLECT ON YOUR HABITS Fryklund encourages players and coaches to think about some of those habits regu- larly in order to keep them front of mind. Coaches should concentrate on one or two specific items during a practice and then "really highlight those things you're doing and have the kids reflect on those things" after practice. "Maybe it's, 'Hey, we're really going to focus on our communication in practice today,'" Fryklund said. "And after practice, ask yourself, 'On a scale from 1 to 5, how do I feel like it did on my communication? And can I con- tinue to work on that?'"