In Nascar Racing, drivers want a car that isn't "tight" so they may turn or pass cars without struggling to get the front end in the proper direction. At the same time, they don't want a car that is too "loose." A "loose" car will result in the back-end of the car coming out from behind the driver. How "tight" or "loose" a car is depends on it's make-up and how it is built. The driver's crew is responsible for building the best possible car in preperation for each race, but may not know how the car will react until it is out on the track.

Goaltenders and Nascars are similar in this respect. We don't want to be too tight or loose while we are playing. Being too tight might result in getting "handcuffed" on a shot. Playing loosely may cause unnecessary holes, leading to goals. We practice and train ourselves in order to keep a happy medium. We falter sometimes because we are human.

I find, from my own experience, I tend to loosen up after having played well for a number of games in a row. My mental game relaxes. This type of attitude leads to slumps. The tendency to relax takes us off our game. We lose our mental sharpness when we no longer have the fear of playing badly. The difference between good goalies and great goalies is the ability to never be satisfied with a good performance. Great goalies never stop working on their mental game, and are at their mental peak for a longer period of time. Everyone goes through slumps, but the great ones spend less time there.

So what can we do to prevent ourselves from relaxing?

Sometimes in professional hockey, the fear of losing a job is enough. Once a job is lost, it might be hard to find work with another team in the years after. In youth hockey, a good starting point is recognizing and never forgetting that there are so many good goaltenders in the world. And no matter how good you might be, there is always someone else out there who is better than you. Use this as motivation so that when you meet that person head-to-head, you will win.