The new dry land workout: Practical writing exercises for professional hockey players

摘要

Many people assume that professional hockey players live a life that others could only dream of having. What many are not aware of, however, are the extreme challenges that professional athletes face on a regular basis. Through various talk-therapy approaches (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy), sport psychologists aim to reduce the negative psychological effects that result from the need for professional hockey players to be not only physically fit, but also mentally and emotionally strong. These strengths can be difficult to maintain and the loss of such can have severe effects on any professional athlete's career. Although talk therapy has been proven successful in many instances, the focus of this article is on the use of writing for the purposes of healing, self-development, and building confidence. Examples of practical writing exercises that may be used by professional hockey players to aid in coping with challenges such as pressure, loss, failure, injury, and athlete burnout are presented. Benefits of such exercises are discussed, accompanied by examples of exercises in use, from a professional hockey player.View full textDownload full textKeywordsBurnout, coping, hockey, poetry, self-development, sports, writingRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08893675.2012.736177