In games you see a shooting lane but instead of ripping the puck... you pass the chance up. And let a teammate take the glory for themselves. You can tell yourself you're being a good playmaker. But let's be honest. If that net is wide open for you. And your teammate is NOT in a better scoring position. Are you really being a good playmaker by passing to him? Or are you really just letting your fear of the moment control what you do with the puck? Passing shooting chances aka 'deferring' can become an automatic response. Somewhere along the way, your mind learned that giving the puck away felt safer than risking a mistake. So being told to “just shoot” isn’t enough. You already know you should shoot. You first need to recognise the split-second fear or doubt that appears before you defer. Once you can catch that response, you can begin changing it. In this video, I’ll help you identify that mental block and take the first step toward developing a stronger shooter’s instinct. Good luck with the pre-season, - Corson Searles Founder of Identity Shift Hockey

A dad noticed that his son could play confidently in one game, then hesitate and play scared for another team the same day. His ability had not changed. The coach had. When every mistake leads to yelling, embarrassment or immediate benching, players can begin associating mistakes with danger. They hesitate, overthink simple decisions and look to the bench for reassurance. This means they are effectively “renting” their confidence from the coach. When the coach approves of them, they play freely. When the coach becomes critical, their confidence disappears. Players cannot choose every coach they play for. So every player must be able to build the 'Internal Confidence' to last under a tough coach without losign their game.