Data-driven mental preparation

The period before the World Championships is always highly dynamic and sometimes a little chaotic. Team building, finalising nominations, preparatory matches, setting roles and team identity – these are all things that need to be perfected before the championship.

Most of the work therefore, takes place behind the scenes, off the ice. For a team to succeed at the championships, it is not enough to just skate well and shoot accurately at the goal. It is crucial to maintain a stable atmosphere during preparations despite changes in the roster, to unify the communication style of the coaching staff, and, last but not least, to maintain the players’ confidence in the process and their own roles in it.

This is where mental preparation can help.

We already worked with head coach Peter Frühauf in 2020 with the Dukla Trenčín A team. He already knew what to expect from us, and right from the start, we agreed that our collaboration would be based on data.

The basis of our data collection was the so-called CA method (Balance management), which is based on the selection of colors for predetermined words and situations. It maps the players’ subconscious with great accuracy. In practice, it allows us to measure the mental attitude of:

• individuals (strengths, risks under pressure, prediction of behaviour in a match),
• the team (atmosphere audit: what unites them, what is the natural driving force of the team, where are the bottlenecks),
• the coaching team (how their mindset supports or hinders the group of players).

During November, the entire U20 player and coaching team was scanned as part of Balance Management.

In the output, we did not give the coaches a “psychological profile for the drawer” that would gather dust there. Instead, they received a document with specific recommendations. How to communicate with individual players. What to watch out for under pressure, criticism, or in moments of crisis. And specific activities which will support the desired team identity.

The output table included:

• players’ strengths (what works naturally),
• weak points (what can be a problem in a match),
• recommendations for coaching staff(what to do to make the team work the way you want it to).

We went over these results in detail with head coach Peter Frühauf and set up a way to put them into practice on a daily basis.

A very important part of the collaboration was regular individual consultations with the head coach at least once a week. The closer the championship got, the more intense the consultations became. In terms of content, the meetings followed two lines:

1. Team operations – what is happening in the locker room, in the nomination, in the setting of roles.
2. Individual preparation of the coach – to be mentally stable, consistent, and ready for the pressure of the event.

Since the head coach is backed by the entire implementation team, it was extremely important to ensure that its members consciously worked with their influence on the atmosphere in the player team.

At the workshop with coaching staff, I:

• presented key findings about the team,
• gave specific instructions for communication and behaviour,
• set the expected style of functioning with the team,
• divided responsibilities with them not only technically and tactically, but also personally.

The coaching staff thus had the opportunity to confirm/learn who should stabilise the players, who sets boundaries, who supports energy, and who keeps calm in a crisis. After departure and preparatory matches (Latvia, Czech Republic), we moved into match measurement mode.

On the day of the match, each player and coaching staff member received a link to a mini version of the CA method. They filled in their colour choices for words related to the specific match and opponent. I immediately processed the results into a player team profile and a coaching staff profile. My goal was to harmonise these two profiles so that they would support each other and not create counterpressure. For example, if the players were under a lot of tension, too much pressure from the coaching staff would do more harm than good.

Before each match, I communicated mainly with Peter Frühauf and Ivan Švarný and gave them recommendations on:

• the form of communication during the day,
• the tone of the speech,
• handling critical situations in the game,
• how to maintain their own attitude within coaching staff

This approach was tested in the preparatory games and smoothly transitioned into the group games. The feedback from the coach was very straightforward:

Thanks to data, even without being physically present at the championship, I was able to accurately capture the team’s reality and provide recommendations that were immediately actionable. As a result, the public and those around our players perceived them as a well-coordinated, combative, and consistent team with clear roles and discipline.

At the beginning of our collaboration, the head coach wanted to trust the players he had chosen and create an environment where they could perform without unnecessary internal chaos. In the end, he succeeded. A sense of “family” was created within the team.

There aren’t many people in the world who could take a puck to the head during a match and continue their work without batting an eyelid. Head coach Peter Frühauf proved himself in this way in a match against Sweden when a stray puck hit him squarely in the forehead. Despite the visible impact, he refused immediate treatment, and his first reaction was not to take care of himself, but to continue with the team. He returned almost immediately to the instructions he was giving the team at that moment.

This powerful moment had enormous symbolic significance. It showed how deeply the coach was committed to the team, how much he trusted the players, and emphasised that he was fighting alongside them on the ice—literally. It was not a conscious gesture for effect, but a natural expression of his inner attitude and leadership identity. The players saw a coach who shares the pressure, risk, and responsibility with them and who stands by their side regardless of the circumstances.

It is precisely these moments, which cannot be planned or rehearsed, that test the success of mental preparation. In the match against Sweden, it became clear that the Slovak team is truly connected and that all its members are willing to go beyond their limits for success.

Peter Frühauf and Ivan Švarný agreed that working with Headformers significantly simplified the decision-making process during matches. The instructions they received for each player and RT member were simple, concise, and clearly applicable in practice.

“We knew where we stood emotionally. This allowed us to work in such a way that we knew whether the boys needed to be pumped up because they were ‘asleep’ or calmed down because they were ‘over-excited’. This important information helped us and was very accurate.”

Ivan Švarný

Many players and RT members had no experience with mental preparation, and although they were skeptical at first, their distrust quickly turned into an awareness of how helpful this process is before, during, and after a match.

“We consider it most important that we saw real results from this collaboration. Thanks in part to Karin, the RT and players formed a unified, well-adjusted, and determined team with an unbreakable mentality.”

Peter Frühauf

“For all athletes, whether individual or team. It helps with preparation before, during, or after performance. It prepares you to cope with stressful and unexpected situations.”

Peter Frühauf

“If someone is thinking about personal growth or wants to learn more about themselves and what lies within them… If you work as a coach and lead a team, and it doesn’t have to be a sports team—mental attitude and mindset are important not only in sports but also in everyday life; if you want to fulfill your potential, I definitely recommend this method.”

Ivan Švarný

This collaboration has shown that mental preparation can be based on data. This may make it even more tangible for sports, especially for coaches who are used to working with numbers in fitness training, tactics, game statistics, and performance indicators.

At Headformers, we are purposefully moving mental preparation towards:

• data,
• science,
• expertise,
• applicability in the training process.

This makes mental preparation a natural part of athletic performance—not “something extra,” but a tool that can be put into practice every day.