The “monkey mind” gets a bad reputation.

It’s blamed for overthinking, second-guessing, and the sudden urge to mentally replay a missed pass from three shifts ago, complete with director’s commentary.

Naturally, the advice is to quiet it down.
Clear the mind.
Empty the thoughts.
Achieve a kind of monk-like serenity while skating at full speed.

This is ambitious.

Because the monkey mind isn’t a flaw.
It’s a pattern-recognition engine that has not been given clear instructions.

Your brain is designed to scan for risk, novelty, and change.
When the pace increases and the stakes rise, it does exactly what it was built to do:
it looks for everything that might matter.

The problem is not that it thinks too much.
It’s that it thinks without hierarchy.

So it treats:

• a missed assignment
• a coach’s tone
• a possible future mistake
• and your entire sense of self-worth

as equally urgent.

Which is how you end up mentally busy and physically late.

Elite players don’t silence the monkey mind.
They out-rank it.

They don’t argue with it or ask it to calm down.
They give it a narrow brief.

Instead of What if I mess this up?
The instruction becomes:
Track this lane.
Win this battle.
One touch, out.

The monkey mind is excellent at following instructions.
It is terrible at choosing them.

When left unsupervised, it fills the gap with speculation.
When directed, it becomes precise.

This is the difference between players who feel “in their head”
and players who feel locked in.

Not fewer thoughts —
but better-managed ones.

Taming the monkey mind isn’t about control.
It’s about leadership.

And once your brain knows who’s in charge,
it stops swinging from branch to branch
and starts doing something far more useful:

helping you play.

Stay Sharp and Skate like the wind, Izzy

Photo Credit: Tricia Mercuri

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