Do you ever put in just a half-effort? How do you catch yourself when you do it? I always feel lousy when I realize I've been coasting. For me, it's the lame hand on the stick that tells me I need to get my act together.

-- Ann (ann@sporto.org), February 11, 2000

Answers

If I catch my self faking it, i get a sub and sit down. while im sitting i try to watch these 2 guys who ALWAYS coast and who just arent hungry to win, then when its wy shift again im so peterfied of looking like them that i skate like mad...

-- Bryan (my soup hates me@aol.com), February 14, 2000.

I don't know if you can really call it "faking it", but I know what it feels like when hockey games just stop being fun. You go out there you're playing, you're not having a good game and with other contributing factors its just not a good time. So maybe you are a little more flat footed and you're doing a little more reaching than normal, not skating hard into corners, not wanting the puck. I went through this myself just a couple of weeks ago, ice hockey games, roller hockey games, all losses and it wasn't fun. So I went to a NCWHL clinic last Saturday and had a great time. I seemed to remember that playing hockey was fun. It was nice to just work on things mess around and have a good time for a change. Well after that clinic I played my ice hockey game and had one of the best games I've had all season. No points, we still lost, but the difference - it was FUN!!

-- Teresa (tlopes@psomas.com), February 18, 2000.

yeah, i do. especially when my teammates aren't putting in a full effort, either. we had one girl show up to our game friday night drunk, and that made me really not want to play as hard.

i've been better about playing hard lately, though. my team, a college women's club team, isn't very good - we hadn't won a game in two years before last thursday night, when we beat a university of minnesota club team 1 - 0 in the famed and fabled mariucci arena. towards the last seconds of the game, my line was on the ice and one of their girls had a breakaway that would tie the game. when i realized that i was the last line of defense (with 6 seconds left) and i was not going to catch her, i flung myself and my stick at her feet. i cut the hell out of my hip (don't ask me how) and have a huge bruise covering my hip and my leg. but i know that i went hard and that makes it worth it.

plus she didn't score.

-- aggie (donkara@carleton.edu), February 28, 2000.

Ok I am only 14 but I have had some of those games. I know when I am only putting in half effort when I am not even starting to get worn by the end of the 1st and middle of the second. Plus then my coach shortens my shifts and puts me on the third line. But I also notice when i am not moving my feet that is one thing that if I notice my self not doing I will try really hard to make sure that I start to move my feet. Well I better get goin. I have to leave for a game in 15 minutes yes at 6:00am and the game is at 11:30am. We are a travel girls team.

~Michelle

-- Michelle M. Hutchinson (rubber_duckie_girl@hotmail.com), December 15, 2001.