Jessica Frame - Buffalo Jr Sabres Head Athletic Trainer / Athletic Recovery Specialist

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You are tapping into the mental game world for all athletes, all parents and coaches. We equip athletes with the mental skills and healthy phone habits to feel unstoppable in life. And their sports phones are decreasing our mental iq and we need to increase sport iq.

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So tune in and learn how to

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master your phones and your mental game.

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Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Mountain Game Sports podcast. I'm here with Jess Frame. Hello. All the way from Buffalo. You guys must be really happy right now.

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It's just buzzing here. It's really fun to be part of it.

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I. I love seeing these videos of these guys that are all skating arena. Yeah, I'm just like these guys. I just want to be friends with them.

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I. There. It's just. It's crazy. I mean, perfect strangers in the grocery store or at a gas station or anything. It's just, it's, go Savers, let's go Buffalo. It's so. It's constant, it's fun and it's.

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It's not just about hockey. It's. They're the same fans for the football. Like, they're just Die Hards.

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Yeah. Yeah, they are.

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I love it. And they're, they're, they're a great fan base.

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Right.

C

And I hate that we're having to play the Canadians because it just seems like there were so many Canadians, especially after the anthems. And it seemed like there were so many Canadians that were messaging me and we're like rooting for Buffalo. Let's go Sabres. And so I hate that we're playing

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them this round, but hey, well, now, I mean, if there wasn't a Canadian team left, I wouldn't be cheering for. But I have to admit, I'm a fan of any underdog comes up. Any underdog.

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That's what it feels like this year. Big time. Right.

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All right, so I'm going to introduce Jess Frame to you. She's one of our newest MGA coaches. You grew up in South Virginia and Georgia. You actually training horses and showing Holsteins, which is really cool. Yeah, actually, I did a lot of horseback riding too, which is kind of cool. You have a bachelor's in special education, Master's of Health, Human performance. You have 16 years of athletic training in sports medicine and over a decade experience in hockey. And this is where I think we met. More is across your experience with the Gohl, Is that right?

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O.J. h.L. Yep.

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Oh, you were in the O.J.

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right.

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Right. So. But through junior hockey, we kind of met and then you took our training and certification. You Became a coach. So welcome, Jess. Jess, tell us, you know, what are you seeing that made you want to take a certification like this or want or change behavior that you've been seeing or something?

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Yeah, actually, it's a great story, and thank you for having me. So I stepped away from athletic training and being on the bench for a few years right around Covid with the border shutting down and everything. So two years ago, I got asked to come back to the Junior Sabres, their Junior A team.

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Yep.

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Yeah.

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And the first road trip, we're on the bus, and the boys are dead silent. And I look at the coach. I know. And I look at the coach, I go, are they. Are they dialed? Or like, this is great. And then I realize they're also Snapchatting one another in groups on the bus, because you'd hear, like, clumps of them laugh, and then maybe like a chirp here or there or whatever or somebody would say something. But no, they were all on their phones texting and snapping one another. And I just remember when I started covering hockey, I was with the University of Alabama, and this was in. Oh, gosh, a long time ago, 2011, 12. And we were watching movies on the bus. Like it was.

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Oh, all the time.

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Yeah.

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Somebody put. What do you call that movie? With the. With the. Oh, my gosh. My brain was a scary movie. Not Halloween. They put Poltergeist.

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No, no, no, thank you.

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And we were like, 14.

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Oh, my gosh.

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No. But it was. I can't remember. I never looked at my tv Or a clown again.

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Oh, no. You know, it was one of the rookie duties. Right. It was kind of like their responsibility. You had to bring good movies, and we all watched the movies together. Everybody shared snacks. So that was really kind of my. Like, oh, it's different. And then I heard your podcast, the one that you did with the coaches site, and it was all about the phone use. And it. I don't want to be dramatic, but it changed my life completely. It changed my relationship with my phone. And then I shared it with the team and had a couple guys buy in right away. They got off their phones. And, you know, you say, like, there's 24 hours. It's a difference. It's exactly what happened. One of the kids went out and he had a hat trick the next game. And then the other kid, he was probably like, I don't know. Bottom pairing on D had the best, best game of his life. And it was consistent after that because those two.

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So they got the physical buy in after that.

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Yeah. And then they started, you know, making fun of guys who weren't taking part in it. Oh, you missed a pass. Oh, you made a mistake. Like, it's because you were on your phone. And that was one of the things, too, is that just watching them be on their phones. So that was what made me really want to reach out, get to know you better. Take the coaching certificate and see how, you know, overall, we could kind of make an impact.

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Wow. They. And a lot of people don't understand. Jess. That phone time, when you decrease it, you will see instant physical changes like speed, aggression. Hitting board work is a lot more, I want to say, fiery. And one of the Calgary Flames that we work with, he's like, I feel like I'm a fire. I'm like, okay, I'll take that. And he was. He goes. He goes. I feel like an animal. I feel like I'm. I'm like, I'm feral cat. I'm like, okay, let's. Yeah, you're good. And. But. But they should all feel that way. They should all feel that energized. They should all feel that focused. And that is what we see when you reduce phone time. But let's be very clear. Scrolling and social media are different.

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Right.

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One slows down our hippocampus, and social media crushes our social or our confidence. So they're both destructive. And then when we reduce it within 24 hours, we see aggression, speed. And in a few days, though, then the hockey IQ picks up. They're like. Because now they're more aware of where they are without the puck. Where they are. Right. Where they are on the. On the ice, where can they join the play? And the. And the hockey IQ definitely goes up. Is that what you saw?

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Absolutely. The reaction time. And that's what I always say. I noticed the most in the difference in the levels that I've worked is the reaction time. It's the players who don't have to think about the next move. They've already seen the ice completely.

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They've already seen three moves ahead. And that's.

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Yeah, yeah.

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They really are quite more impulsive and they don't strategize today as well. Right. So over the last, I don't know, little while, what are you seeing in hockey that. That you would like to see get better, sort of that junior level?

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Yeah, I would like to see the holistic development be addressed. Part of my niche with athletic training or athletic therapy, however you want to title it, is recovery. So when I moved. Yeah. And it's all nervous system regulation. So there's all kinds of gadgets and gimmicks and tools and things like that. But number one recovery is sleep. And we know it's a problem tying that into phones, but tying that into kind of holistic lifestyle. Right. Nutrition, it's everything. And so for me, the X's and O's, the edge work, the strength and conditioning, all of that is being addressed really, really well.

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That's the best science we've ever had.

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Right. There's so much data out there and I'm a science geek. I want evidence based, actionable things to be implement. And so for me it's like, how can you provide an equal playing field, give all these kids recovery that isn't going to cost. Like this one, you know, X amount or this one, like what can you offer? So I started doing recovery classes or sessions. Yoga based movement, mobility, breath work, lymphatic drainage, somatic exercises. Somatic exercises, yeah. And that's what I loved too about yours. It was like, all right, I felt like I had that part on lock, like post game or even we do our recovery sessions typically like before we go into a big weekend. But how are you mentally prepping and how are you physically prepping prior to the game? So I would like to see organizations put more emphasis on that, put more stock, put more resources into it and really addressing it overall, mentally and physically.

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Yeah. So what we see is, and typically by this junior level, these AAA players have not seen themselves get scratched, they have not seen themselves get less playing time and now they're all at the top here trying to get up if they haven't drafted. And I'm very fortunate that I've seen a lot of kids out of our U16 program draft, but they bought in, they showed up, they did the cognitive performance course that we offered, but they also did the sleep, the phone. And how you talk to yourself is basically how you tell your nervous system to think. So if we tell ourselves we're a loser or we're not good enough or what if I make a mistake? You just showed up in yellow on your traffic light. So unless you know how to use the tools to get out of yellow to go back to green, you're really not going to be that successful for your team.

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Right.

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And so this is where you know, the cognitive part comes in and then the mental performance side, that's easy. That's, you know, the goal setting, the staying positive and, and having strategies, that's great. But unless you know how to talk to yourself effectively, Productively and quickly. Then the next level, the junior level, is very hard. And I have to say that some coaches at the junior level are not very good at communicating why an athlete is being scratched. They need to sit down and have a very honest conversation. Did you take too many people on your roster and you're just sitting someone? I mean, that's really not fair, but that's the way it's going. I mean, almost 30% of all the guys in junior hockey end up my way because they're frustrated at being sat and benched and not talked to.

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Right, right.

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Communication overall, I think, is key. Relationships overall is key. And with our phones, as much as it's awesome to be tied in to technology and it's too much noise, we were not built for this much stimuli. And I think that the adults and the kids are suffering because we've. We've turned our communication over to some work. Texting. Right. So that goes across the board. Yeah. For everybody.

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And it. I'm even seeing coaches need this program as much as, you know, so in terms of some of the athletes and you're focusing on recovery, do you put them on programs yourself or how does it work with you with a team? Like, if someone wants to get in touch with you, what the. What would the program look like?

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Yeah, so I like to do team programs.

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Yeah. And they work better for the kids.

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Well, and if everybody's doing it, then you've got an elevated advantage, whether, you know, because there's always going to be a couple of the kids that buy in. They're going to be your top performers. And so if they're doing the extra work and going the extra mile, they're going to continue to separate themselves from the group. And that's not helping the team overall. So, like, let's get everybody in there. And my typical session set up, you know, anywhere from an hour and a half to 45 minutes, depending. I always do a little knowledge dump a little mindset or mindfulness bomb on them to tie into something, you know, whether it's leadership or confidence or visualization, anything like that. Habits. So I start with that. And then while they're kind of digesting that, we start with some breath work to do, focus. So like, I like box breathing. And then we go into a lymphatic drainage. So it's called the big six. And it's a self massage almost. It's really easy. I mean, you're just hitting the main lymph point. When you do that, you kind of get the lymph flowing, you get the blood flowing as well. And then we shake that out. So you get the sillies out. Because they're usually coming to me right after practice too. So let's get the sillies out and then. And then move into some flow. And depending on what their schedule is, like, are they. Are their hips super tight? Are we dealing with a lot of low back issues or T spine? Yeah, T spine mobility. Like, what are we dealing with? So I can adjust the flows and the movements based on what they're telling me. The feedback that I'm getting from them. It's easier. Obviously, when I'm on the bench, I know them really well. And then at the end, get them down on their mats, get them down on the ground and then they whine

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and then they curse you and they're like, this hurts. Did it every day. It wouldn't hurt.

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I know. And to me, it's not about stretching, it's about mobility. It's about control, connecting the breath to the body. So they love the end part of it though, right? Because that's when they get to lay down and the lights are all off and we go through like a guided visualization meditation or breath work. And it's the same as at the end of a yoga class, like Savasana. So many of them fall asleep at that point.

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That's the way they should.

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They're doing it right. Then you flip. Congratulations, you flipped the switch. Right. You got your body into rest, digest. That's what we want. So that's what the sessions kind of typically look like. And you tailor them to the sport specific movements. But pretty much everybody, you know, needs some like, lumbosacral stability. They all need something because they. They all sit for the majority of the day. So your hip flexors are tight and they all sit kind of legs open. So they're in external rotation. And then they all sit slipped over.

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So let's get the chest open and like this.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly.

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Right?

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Yeah. The. I saw a little, a comic the other day of what, what we're going to look like in 20 years, the kids. And it was like looking like an 80 year old with a cane. But it was like put a phone in the guy's hand and I was, I was just laughing at that. I thought it was really funny. So in. In terms of like, you're in Buffalo, you know, how can people get a hold of you?

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Yeah, yeah.

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You know, I think Instagram is a blessing and a curse. We've talked about social Media. But that seems to be one of the best ways that people get in touch with me. You get like a DM from a coach or. And then again it's relationships. So, you know, a text and email is the easiest way. And then let's have a conversation. What does it look like? What's your schedule look like? What do your athletes need? What's the budget? What's the time frame and go from there.

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Yeah. And typically, I mean, since I've met you, you've been working with junior teams and we're also in colleges. This is also for college hockey as well. We've been working with D1 teams for five, six years now. Five, six years. And U Sports and OHL. So this is a program that is for everyone. And, and now we know that if you want performance, you have to equip them with mental skills. There is no other way to do it today or they're, they're gonna absolutely flop. So. And the kids are just frustrated and the kids are gonna quit.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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Right.

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And it's neat because it's um, it's a trickle down effect. Whatever they're doing in the pros catches when gets popular and then it trickles down into the lower levels. So I just saw, you know, Kevin Neild, he's, he's with the Bruins and he's got a great podcast, Sports Science Sports Performance. It's an awesome podcast. So they're talking about one of the tools that they use for recovery and it's a guided visualization. And there's some more that's fancy and it's expensive, but it's like there's so much of this that we can do and the kids can do it day in and day out for free. Right. They just have to, we have to empower them with the knowledge and then.

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And the why and the why.

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And then it's up to them to buy in.

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Yeah. And well, once they see the results, which are more ice time, more hockey IQ and more points, they generally.

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Right.

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Or your plus minus is better. But it's nice because this helps them stay in that really nice. The consistency zone, which is not a flashy, sexy part of your season word. But it's so hard for athletes to stay consistent today. Yes. This will only add to their ability to be consistent, which is what I really like for them as well. So if you want to get a hold of Jess, she's definitely on our website too. Definitely on our Instagram. It's jessentalgameacademy.com is your email as well. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you for popping on and sharing your knowledge. But we have a sleepless generation and the kids need to sleep. They need to recover. They need to work more on the recovery post practice, post game. So if you want to get in touch with Jess so your team can join her program, this is a great one for you.

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Yeah. Thank you for having me again. I hope we get to do this again soon.

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We will. Probably.

C

I love it. Thanks.