Rather than holding a typical practice Tuesday afternoon, Penn State field hockey coach Char Morett decided to mix things up.

Morett felt her players would be better suited by not stepping on the field and improving their physical skills. There were no passing drills and no penalty corners, but rather a weightlifting session followed by a team discussion.

The coach, who is in her 23rd season with the Lions, described this point of the season as "walk the walk time" for her team.

She is tired of talking about how her team needs to improve its on-field effort and its competitive spirit.

The Lions are 2-8 and with five conference games remaining the coach called on Penn State sports psychologist Dr. David Yukelson to address her team.

"I think we definitely needed a day to kind of regroup and lay everything out there and talk about what we can do differently," goalkeeper Ali Meves said.

"We talked about what kind of changes we need to make and I think that's almost as important as getting on the field and playing."

The decision to hold the meeting came after Morett asked her team to rate its intensity during its first Big Ten game of the season. After the players rated their intensity with what Morett said was a "pretty low number" she knew her team needed better mental preparation.

"We need to come out when the game starts with our energy, enthusiasm and passion and show that we want to win that game," Morett said.

"And I'm at a loss as to why we don't do that and with Dave hopefully in his mental power, guru way he can draw that out of them."

Morett said she feels like she has been questioning her team a lot lately and felt that the message would be better understood if is came from someone other then herself.

As a former player, she is aware of the mental aspect of the game and didn't want her team to overlook that in its preparation.

The Lions gathered in the East Area Locker Room and junior Daneen Zug said Tuesday's alternative form of practice was meant to help them regroup. She said the team needed time to reflect and to think of other ways to improve its play.

"Dave's really good with sitting us down and calming us down and really making us focus on what's important," Zug said. "I think we came together as a team and kind of threw out some of the things that are on our mind and that are keeping us from playing well as a team and individually."

Zug said the main idea Morett wanted her team to take away from the meeting was that it needs to play with more emotion and be more competitive. Many of Zug's teammates agreed with her assessment of the meeting and felt it was necessary.

"I would say basically in this sport it's 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical," goalkeeper Ayla Halus said.

"It's just your mental state and I think Tuesday's practice was a good day because it just helped us as a team reestablish our mental focus and what we want with the rest of the season."

The Lions won't have to wait long to see if the meeting helps spark their play as they face No. 18 Ohio State on Friday.

While the team needs to focus on staying mentally sharp, senior Bethany Marvel said Tuesday's meeting helped her teammates keep the season in perspective.

"After Tuesday," Marvel said, "everyone has a new sense of confidence and understanding of where we want to go from here."