Providing Sport Psychology Consulting Services in Professional Hockey

Abstract

This article relates experiences and knowledge gained in providing sport psychology consulting services to professional hockey teams over a 6-year period. The process of getting involved in professional hockey is described and the importance of obtaining ample consulting experience before working with professional athletes is discussed. Philosophical and organizational components of service delivery are presented along with the range and type of service provided. The development of trust and confidence in the player/consultant relationship is seen as the key to effective sport psychology consulting. Also, the importance of being able to read situations, fit into the professional sports environment, and adopt a low-key, behind-the-scenes approach is discussed.

An Examination of the Challenges Experienced by Canadian Ice-Hockey Players in the National Hockey League

“…Botterill (1990Botterill ( , 2004 and Halliwell (1990Halliwell ( , 2004 authored their experiences as NHL consultants, identifying demands placed on the athletes with whom they worked. The authors' views resembled the contextual challenges described first hand within the current study.…”

“…More recently Botterill (2004) focused on ensuring that the NHL players knew their roles and were committed to their teams' goals, which resembles the challenge of learning the team's expectations in the current study. Halliwell (1990) identified demands such as building confidence in oneself as well as others, attending training camp, and withstanding the demands posed through the NHL lifestyle. Halliwell's challenges are likened to the contextual challenges herein of earning the trust of team members, training camp, and the NHL lifestyle.…”

“…Despite the barriers described above, authors have provided a glimpse into the psychological demands of professional level sport, an aspect we refer to as "contextual factors" (e.g., Botterill, 1990Botterill, , 2004Hagy, 2002;Halliwell, 1990Halliwell, , 2004Salmela, Marques, Machado, & Durand-Bush, 2006;Schinke, Gauthier, Dubuc, & Crowder, 2007). Côté et al (1995) interviewed 17 expert high-performance gymnastics coaches for the purpose of identifying and organizing the variables that affect elite coaches into a comprehensible framework.…”

“…Botterill (1990Botterill ( , 2004 and Halliwell (1990Halliwell ( , 2004, two sport psychology consultants, commented on their experiences as consultants in the NHL, each on two separate occasions. Botterill (1990) revealed the mental training strategies attempted by NHL players and, pertinent to the present report, the demands (e.g., training camp, development demands, and playoffs) that catalyzed the players' interests in mental training.…”

“…Recently, Botterill (2004) explained that his priority as a consultant, based upon experiences with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers, among other teams, is to meet the psychological needs (i.e., installing objectives and developing relevant mental training skills) of each NHL player. Meanwhile, Halliwell (1990) offered another vantage of the mental training strategies used by NHL players when he discussed his experiences as a consultant with NHL teams. He identified the demands encountered by NHL players, including the need to be confident in oneself as well as others, the stress associated with team selection during training camp, and the mental and physical fatigue caused by the NHL lifestyle (i.e., lengthy road trips, numerous games, and intense pressure to perform).…”