6A — Thursday, October 25, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan players using different methods to improve mental strength
Assistant
coach
DeAndre
Haynes preaches the importance
of having a short-term memory
on the court. When Isaiah
Livers first heard the advice,
the sophomore forward found
it so striking, he wrote it on
his shoe. That way, every time
Livers looked down, he would
remember to forget, developing
an aspect of his game that was
largely absent last year.
In basketball, the ability to
block out noise and remain
calm amid distractions is a vital
and underrated aspect of the
game — a skill many players
don’t develop until later in their
careers. But in the offseason,
when
the
Michigan
men’s
basketball team’s practice time
is limited, many players worked
on their mental games — and
they’re beginning to see it pay
off.
Livers didn’t stop at his shoes.
He spent a lot of time reading
books by his idol Bruce Lee.
“I learned more about, life is
gonna happen, you just gotta let
it,” Livers said. “ … That sticks
with me every day now. Even
before practice, I think about it,
like if you’re gonna miss a shot,
you were supposed to miss a
shot because it’s what fate had
for you, so I kinda don’t try to
control everything as much as I
did.”
Livers
didn’t
make
a
single 3-pointer in the NCAA
Tournament. It’s a stat that still
sticks with him — a byproduct
of not having enough of a short-
term memory last year. A jump
shot is all about fluidity and
muscle memory, and because of
that, being slightly off mentally
can have a big impact physically.
It’s a lesson Livers now wishes
he could have used in every
game of the postseason.
That’s why the coaches have
also
been
emphasizing
the
psychological
aspect
of
the
sport. Michigan coach John
Beilein has brought in a person
to
run
guided
meditation
sessions and help players with
the mental side of free-throw
shooting. Sometimes, it works
almost too well.
“We’ve
been
doing a lot of
meditation,”
Haynes
said.
“(Beilein)
brought in a guy
the
other
day,
and we all was in
the media room,
and he actually
put
a
lot
of
people to sleep.
He just taught us
to relax.”
And while meditation can
seem soporific to some, many
players
have
discovered
its
benefits — and credit it with
improving their mental game on
and off the court.
“It’s done a lot,” said junior
guard Zavier Simpson. “At first,
I’m not gonna say I wasn’t a fan
of it, I just didn’t do it. As I began
to mature, so I would probably
say beginning of last year, I
started doing a
lot of meditation
amongst myself
and just trying
to read certain
books
that
dealing
with
mental
health,
just
trying
to
make
life
and
basketball
and
everything
around me a lot
easier.”
Simpson keeps his specific
meditation practices to himself,
but he’s also happy to give his
teammates advice if they ask.
After all, as one of the team’s
veterans — and one who has
faced his fair share of adversity
— he has a lot to offer to younger
players beyond his on-court
presence.
He frequently tells teammates
to find little segments of time to
relax and take
their minds away
from everything
else going on —
even if it’s just
a few minutes
per night spent
reading or doing
meditation.
Many
of
the
underclassmen
are
now
discovering how
much of a difference it can make.
“I’ve been doing a lot of
yoga
and
meditation,”
said
sophomore guard Jordan Poole.
“More relax time. I’m saying
I used to just want to hurry up
and leave and go somewhere last
year.”
Poole went beyond just taking
time to relax. After a brush with
celebrity following his buzzer-
beating March Madness shot
against Houston, Poole wanted
to
learn
more
about
himself.
He deleted most
social
media.
He
went
to
pumpkin farms.
He watched real
estate-themed
TV shows with
his parents. And
most of all, he
took the time to
learn new things
and discover everything the
world had to offer.
Last year, Poole was always
moving. Now he knows the
importance of slowing down.
“(I learned) to be extremely
composed, not get overwhelmed
with things because when so
much is getting thrown at you,
you can start to … freak out a lot
and and start moving too fast
and not go back to the basics,”
Poole said. “But when things
are being thrown at you, and
you’re able to just relax and in
the moment and calm down and
take things slowly, I feel like it
helps on the court and off the
court.”
The mental side of the game
is
something
players
often
learn from each other, and for
no teammates is that more true
than Poole and Livers. Over
the summer, the two hung out
constantly,
swapping
video
games, TV shows and books.
Even subconsciously, the best
aspects of Poole’s effervescent
personality and Livers’ mellower
one influenced the other.
“I
noticed
(Poole)
was
changing
and
getting
more
mature. He used to be late to
everything. Now he’s more on
time,” Livers said. “No matter
what it was, he was late, so I was
like, ‘Dang!’ I think he’s more, I
think I rubbed off more on him.
“ … That swag and that chip
on his shoulder rubbed off on me
a lot because the offseason I was
working on my mental game and
just hearing his positivity every
day helped me a lot.”
In theory, the changes are
simple. But in a sport where
the right frame of mind can
be the difference between a
flood of shots and a scoring
drought, those changes can be
monumental. And while every
player has a different method
of developing confidence and
ignoring distractions, everyone
has started to see the value in it.
“Just
finding
peace
and
blocking out all the noise,” said
junior center Jon Teske. “ … I
think that’s a big part of the
game too.
“ … I kinda just, kinda clear
my mind. I love naps, so I kinda
just take a nap.”
As long as they’re not during
meditation sessions.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore forward Isaiah Livers wrote a message on his shoes to remind himself to have a short memory, especially after he makes a mistake on the court.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
“I kinda don’t
try to control
everything as
much as I did.”
“I’ve been
doing a lot
of yoga and
meditation.”
Jake Slaker helping Wolverines’ top line of Josh Norris and Will Lockwood
You saw a taste of it Friday
night against No. 19 Western
Michigan.
Jake Slaker, Josh Norris and
Will Lockwood made things
happen.
However,
in
the
opening
game of the season, the No. 11
Michigan hockey team’s top
line had a slightly different
look. Instead of junior forward
Slaker, Michigan head coach
Mel Pearson chose to go with
sophomore
forward
Michael
Pastujov in his stead, opting for
a moderately bigger and more
physical option in the crafty,
speedy line.
And though the line produced
a goal, a change was needed
after a 5-2 loss against Vermont
in the opener.
And that change was Slaker.
Slaker had been the heir
apparent for the first line after
the previous year’s top line —
the Dancs, Marody, Calderone
line — had departed. Of the
returning players, Slaker had the
second most points and the most
goals at 27 and 15, respectively.
And more importantly, he did
it with Norris as a linemate. So
it was a surprise to many when
he was put on the third line
instead.
But upon being promoted
to
the
first
line,
Slaker’s
performance has justified the
decision.
Since his entry into the line,
the
top-line
forwards
have
produced three goals and two
assists.
“Last year, Slaker played with
Norris pretty well the whole
year. I just showed Josh the
line chart today from last year
when we played in the regional,”
Pearson said. “We had Slaker
and Warren and Norris together.
So Josh and Jake played well
together and we feel there’s
some chemistry between Will
and Josh right now. And you’re
trying to find that chemistry.”
Chemistry
is
essential
for success in any sport, but
especially hockey. As Slaker
noted — the game is so fast that
sometimes the players don’t
even have a chance to look and
see where their linemates are.
“Sometimes, you don’t really
have a chance to look,” Slaker
said. “You kinda just know
where the guy is or you kinda
sense where the guy is and I
think that just comes with time
and situations and we’ve only
played
two
games
together
this year and now we’ve got
Lockwood, a new linemate,
so I think once we play a little
longer together, it’ll really add
the chemistry.”
In Friday’s matchup against
Western,
Norris
initiated
an offensive attack midway
through the second period.
Slipping through the defense, he
drew the defenders and brought
the puck to Joseph Cecconi, who
in turn passed to Lockwood. Set
in front of the net, Lockwood
scored
Michigan’s
second-
power play goal of the game.
“They’re
all
good
players,”
Pearson
said.
“They
all
can
skate, They all
can score. They
all
can
create
offense.”
And
the
offensive
push
continued
minutes
later,
this time with
Slaker.
“It was a power play goal,”
Slaker said. “Quinn made a nice
pass to Josh, and Josh likes to
take that one tee on that side,
and it’s one of those things
where usually the net front guy
falls off back door just to be
an option. If he does miss the
netter or if he
does
rebound,
then I’m right
there.”
Having
fought
for
position, Slaker
capitalized after
a
hard
battle
for the front of
the net. Earlier
in
the
week
during practice,
Norris had approached Slaker
to talk about what to do in that
situation. It was a chemistry-
building moment that can only
strengthen a line. So during the
talk, Norris suggested to Slaker
to fall off and put his stick
towards the net.
“Honestly, I didn’t even see
the puck,” Slaker said. “It came
so fast, I just had my stick and
placed it and I felt it go off.
“I was just pretty excited. Just
one of those situations where
you kinda get the ball rolling for
the season, and happy it came
then because it turned out to be
a pretty big goal as it came down
to a 6-5 game.”
And it wasn’t just Slaker who
had the ball rolling. The three
linemates and their chemistry
displayed potential throughout
the weekend that had Pearson
seeing flashes of last season.
“We saw some good things,”
Pearson
said.
“We’ve
seen
Norris score, we saw Slaker
score, we saw Lockwood score
this weekend so that’s good.
We think that can be a really
dominate line, not unlike the run
‘DMC’ line we had last year, with
Dancs, Marody and Calderone.
We see that they can play against
anyone else’s top line.”
The
difference
between
Pastujov
and
Slaker’s
top
line impact is style. Whereas
Pastujov has a little bit more
physical style of play, Slaker
complemented
his
linemates
with his speed, puck control and
puck movement.
“I think once we get our
chemistry going, we can really
get something special going,”
Slaker said.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior forward Jake Slaker has fueled Michigan’s top line since he joined them after the Wolverines’ 5-2 loss to Vermont in the opening game of the season. Slaker and his linemates have improved since.
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer
“Last year,
Slaker played
with Norris
pretty well...”