Mental Game Skills for Skating Success
Several years ago, back when there were fewer electric cars on the road, there was a sedan called a Nissan Leaf.
The Leaf was relatively inexpensive compared to a Tesla, but for some reason, I didn’t see any on the road.
At least, I didn’t think I saw any.
I asked my son, “What does a Nissan Leaf look like?”
We were in the car at the time, so my son quickly pointed one out to me.
Skatergirl is working on her triple flip.
Skatercoach asked her to do ten reps, focusing on keeping her head forward on the takeoff.
This correction is supposed to keep her over her left side in the air.
Skatergirl was letting her head rotate too quickly during the takeoff, which was pulling her off axis.
Skatercoach wants her to get a few extra reps under her belt, before her next lesson.
Skatergirl is working on her double lutz. She strokes around the end
of the rink and cuts across center ice. Then, she executes a right
inside mohawk, switches to a left back outside edge, and transitions
into backwards crossovers on the opposite circle.
Are you stuck? Are your jumps great one day and a disaster the next?
Do you usually find it routine to practice well, but recently just “don’t care”, and don’t feel it’s helping?
Do you usually eat in a balanced, nutritional way, but have a really hard time even knowing it’s helpful?
Were you diligently doing your program run-throughs only to
find that recently, you haven’t been doing them as consistently?
Is your motivation low? Do you have zero energy? Do you feel
discouraged, bored or burnt out?
Don’t worry, there’s a solution for your woes. Mindfulness
Continue reading “This Is How You Build Mindfulness”
In a past article, we talked about the front
brain and hindbrain. If you haven’t read it yet you might want to check
it out, but here’s a quick refresher.
Your front brain is where you do your thinking (aka in your head). It
is also where that oh so helpful (not) critic lives.
Let’s look at a simplified view of your brain through the lens of mental skills training. There are two parts of your “brain”, the front brain and hindbrain.
The front brain is where your critic lives.
It’s the part of your brain that thrives on being in charge.
The hindbrain is where your muscle memory lives.
It’s the part of your brain that you want to be in to perform your best.