Burakovsky advocate of mind over matter
Capitals forward leaning on new mental coach
WASHINGTON •Beforeand after every game, Washington Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky opens his journal to a fresh page and answers a series of questions, writing down what he wants to accomplish that night and then how he felt about his performance immediately after the fact.
When he can sense stress creeping in, he turns to the breathing exercises he learned during the summer, sitting or standing in a certain posture to promote deeper and steadier inhales. Anytime he starts to internally berate himself for a shot missed or a puck turned over, he reminds himself to stop.
“Before, I would always just be so mad at myself after games for three or four days,” Burakovsky said. “Now every shift, if I have a bad shift, I just forget about it. I’m just looking forward to the next one.”
Burakovsky hired a mental coach during the summer and he’s kept up the exercises he learned, like the breathing techniques and regular writing.
The stakes are high for him to have a good season. The 23-year-old is in a contract year, due to become a restricted free agent next summer.
Burakovsky learned of Swedish mental coach Andy Sward through his work with New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt, a sixthround pick in 2016 who was one of the league’s most promising rookies last season and credited much of that success to Sward.
Sward put Burakovsky through a series of stress and personality tests. Certain personality traits become amplified in a negative way and with athletes in particular Sward found their hands and feet would become significantly colder.
“It’s commonly known as getting stiff ankles or wrists or the pass is not functioning when it’s game time,” Sward said. “Everything works in practice, but in a game you feel you can’t do your shift 100 per cent and you feel tired and you can’t see the things in the right way because everything is going so fast. That’s because you’re in a changed state.
“Very often, the clients actually themselves lower their performance capacity by 20 to 25 per cent.”
Sward focuses on helping clients channel their optimal performance when stressed.
Among the prompts Burakovsky writes about before games is a list of the six most important things he needs to do to play well and a plan of what he wants to do on the ice. Sward said a person in “the changed state” will always challenge that agenda, but reflecting on words written when in a normal state can erase doubt.
“I’m waking my brain up a little bit when I’m doing that,” Burakovsky said. “You get your mind ready.”