The 3-Hour Hockey Workday (Optimize Your Whole Training System)

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Your body is the vehicle that will drive you to hockey success.

Yet you are driving with a flat tire and a broken axle.

Most players hear that their body is their vehicle and think:

"Ok, I will make sure to work out and stretch then".

Working out and stretching is one component of being a great player. That's pretty obvious. So if you are neglecting this, stop reading this and go get a trainer!

The problem I see with most players though, (even top-end guys in most leagues) is that:

1. They do not go much further than workouts and stretching

2. They put too much valuable time into working out and stretching

They:

1. Follow their teams on ice plans

2. Follow the team's workout plan

3. Watch their team's mandatory film sessions

That is what everyone in junior, college, and pro does.

The problem is...

1. It is not what will separate you from others

2. It can get kinda boring if you feel like it's the same exact routine every single day

3. You also need to change things up to keep challenging your mind and body (to avoid the law of accommodation)

4. It's not what scouts look for

I just spoke with a current NHL scout about what he looks for in players.

In a nutshell, said was that scouts are looking for the guys who are obsessed.

Scouts are looking for guys with that extra drive to be better.

Scouts and coaches want to see that you do the extra little things.

They want to see you keep positive body language when times get tough.

They want to see you work on your mental game with experts.

They want to see you go WAY FURTHER than anyone else.

This is because

1. It increases the chances you will be better in the future

2. It increases the chances you will be more coachable in the future

These things increase the perceived value you provide as a player.

We talked about the formula for getting more ice time and how to create value as a hockey player in this article.

Scouts will go around asking the people in your life what you are like.

You want people around you to say things like they said about Kobe Bryant:

"His dissection of the game was at another level. In my entire career, I’ve never seen a player as dedicated to being the best. His determination is unparalleled. He unquestionably worked harder than anyone else I have ever played with." - Founders Podcast on Kobe's book "Mamba Mentality.

If people say stuff like that, you know that Scout is going to put you on his list.

If you do not, then you are fighting an uphill battle to the next level.

It's hard to do all of this extra stuff and be this dedicated... but that's why so many people don't get noticed.

When things get hard, you must remind yourself that this is where most people stop

So not that we know that hard times are expected, but we can attack our habitual actions with clarity.

It's all about habits.

What we do repeatedly is who we are (our Identity)

Changing Your Habitual Identity

Last week we talked about the mindset of scouts and coaches.

We talked about the 10 main archetypes that scouts and coaches will put you into.

They usually use this formula:

Archetype + Strongest Asset + Secondary Asset + Potential Roles

They will see you as:

Power Forward + Strong Skating + Strong Hockey IQ + can play top 6

Pass First Defensive Defenseman + Great Hands + Deceptive shot + Can play anywhere in the lineup.

This is your External Identity.

Scouts and coaches use this formula because:

1. They have many players to think about

2. The human brain doesn't have unlimited

3. They have lives that they also have to pay attention to

So now you understand how others will see you.

You might feel a certain way inside, but if that's how they see you, that's how you will be treated.

So if you want to be noticed, you want to build your game around having a clear archetype + One Main Asset + One Secondary Asset.

To do this, you have to:

1. Have the physical capacity to do them

2. Have the skill capacity to do them

3. Have the subconscious Identity to Believe you are the person who does them

4. Build the subconscious habits to do them in games

Normal players are stuck with the identity and habits they have formed as young players and never change them.

Great players assess or get coaching on what habits are not beneficial, and they deprogram them, then reprogram the ones they need.

Great players figure out how to improve their inputs, so they get better outputs.

It's probably time for you to do the same (if you are not already).

Think of your hockey career as driving across the country.

You are only a fraction of the way there right now.

You have so much more to see.

But that's only if you accept that the hard stuff is the ticket of entry on the highway to the next level.

Let me repeat this again.

THE HARD STUFF IS THE TICKET OF ENTRY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL.

Doing The Hard Stuff

First, I want to ask you two questions:

Do you know what needs to be done, but stopping when things get hard?

Or are you like I was in junior hockey - not sure what else you can do to get better beyond the basics?

After spending thousands of hours learning what worked for me and what didn't

After spending hundreds of hours studying what athletes in a wide range of sports do in all areas.

And after hundreds of hours consulting with minor, junior, college, and pro players...

I have noticed that the best players almost always have a holistic training system.

Weaker players focus far too much on certain things like lifting heavy, stretching, or cardio, but ignore the things that are holding them as an individual back.

It's like driving with a flat tire and going to the mechanic to get work done on the engine.

You can see the sparks flying off of the wheel as you drive, but you are determined that you just need the engine repaired.

I did this by ignoring my speed training and it held me back from making the next level (D1).

I see so many players messing this up too.

They get to the next level and wonder why they can't compete.

They have massive weak points (due to holes in their training) and it catches up to them when the level of difficulty increases.

It's like a boat with holes in it - once the water gets high enough you will sink.

You might be able to get away with a flat tire or holes in the ship while in junior hockey, but in college it will hold you back.

So doing the hard stuff means doing the work that needs to be done but maybe isn't as fun at the moment.

And trust me, it is way more fun to be the best player on the ice because you did the hard work.

I have this saying:

"Things can be hard it practice, or hard in games. But you can only choose one" - Corson Searles

Said another way:

"Things can be easy in practice, or easy in games. But you can only choose one" - Corson Searles

Nothing beats the feeling of being the most dominant player and having everyone watching you every moment you step on the ice.

But you only get to shine in the light, if you do the hard stuff in the dark.

So let's get into the more practical stuff.

Why Your Performance Is Like A Car

Let me break this down in more detail.

So a car is not just one component.

A car is a collection of parts working together as a cohesive system.

It is a system just like the human body is a system.

When the system works properly, then the system performs properly.

When a part is not working, usually the rest of the system breaks down immediately, or over time.

For a player this means when your physical body and skill set is performing at a high level, then you have the capacity to perform at a high level.

This is where many players are.

They have the body and the skill to be a top-level player, but they lack the ability to use them.

Why is that?

If we want to drive somewhere fast, then we also need to have a good driver right?

In hockey, think of this as the driver being your mind.

Your mind drives the body like a driver drives a car.

Your brain subconsciously tells the body what to do.

The mental game is made up of 4 parts in the Identity Shift Framework: 1. Mindset

2. Focus

3. Confidence

4. Hockey IQ / Sense

Like car parts, each of these is a complex system on its own.

The problem you may be facing is that you spend so much time on the vehicle (physical body, and skills), that you are neglecting to work on the driver.

You might have a F1 race car, with a driver that only has a learner's permit.

That's what happens when a player has high-level skill, but they have a weak mental game.

Then they wonder why they are not playing at their best.

There is a good chance you are in this situation.

If that's the case, you must begin to implement mental training into your system.

Right now you have a hole in the boat which can only be filled with mental training.

Introducing The 3-Hour Work Day

This is the system that has made a massive difference in all of my player's lives.

The reason it works is because it takes the complicated training system and makes it simple.

Here is how it works.

1. Split your day into 3 chunks:

Mind

Body

Skill

2. Now pick whichever one is your top priority and work on that for 1.5 hours.

3. Then pick your second priority and work on it for 1 hour.

4. pick your third priority and work on it for 0.5 hours.

You can do the whole time amount in one session or break it up into smaller sessions throughout the day.

You do not have to stay strict with this 3-hour time limit.

Some players like to aim for 4, 5, or even 6 hours.

Those splits would look as follows:

4 Hour Workday

Main priority - 2 hours

Secondary Priority -1 hour

Tertiary Priority - 1 hour

5 Hour Workday

Main priority - 2.5 hours

Secondary Priority -1.5 hour

Tertiary Priority - 1 hour

6 Hour Workday

Main priority - 3 hours

Secondary Priority - 2 hour

Tertiary Priority - 1 hour

You may end up switching up the times, but these are just a solid structure to plan around.

Think of your day like Lego blocks.

You build your ideal days and then repeat them as many times as possible.

Keep in mind that you do want to make sure to have a more overall strategy so that you progress over time. But we will cover this topic in future articles about development.

Filling The Blocks and Placing Them

Now that you have the blocks, we want to decide what they will be made of.

We want to pick what mental, physical, and skill actions we will take to improve.

I am going to give you a solid list today of what you can drag and drop in.

Mental

• Meditate

• Visualize

• Redesign your visualization plan (come up with new things to visualize)

• Study your game

• Identity study (watch game film of other players and see what you can learn from

• Sensory deprivation tank session

Physical

• Full workout (45-90 minutes)

• Mini workout (20-30 minutes)

• Work on strength or durability in certain muscle groups (ex. forearms, knees, shoulders, etc)

• Stretch

• Walk

• Run

• Intervals

• Sprint

• Agility

• Bound

• Roll out

• Cupping

• Acupuncture/Dry needling

• Hot tub / cold tub

• Sauna

• Cryotherapy

Skills

• Skate or rollerblade

• Stickhandle (on ice, off ice. with various balls and pucks

• Shoot

• Pass

• Do drills with people

• Work on hand-eye coordination

There are many more that can be added, but this is a solid base list that hopefully inspires you to dig deeper.

In future Identity Letters we will dive into more specific of these specific topics, so don't worry.

if you want access to all of the stuff we are working on right now, come apply to join the academy today.

Hope you crush it this week!

- Corson