A skater wrote to me asking for advice to overcome “circling.”

Here is her description:

Circling is where I’m about to do a jump and then chicken out at the last moment and repeat that until either there is no one there or my coach has yelled at me to get it over with.

Thank you for a great question. A wise teacher once told me that if you have a question, then at least 10 other people have the same question. Congratulations to this skater for being proactive and looking for answers to this problem on my website, trying it and then asking for additional information.

This skater is a great example of the champion mindset. She was proactive and looked to my website to get some answers. When she needed more information, she ask for help.

Most of the time, a skater will circle (abort) or pop a jump because they are not confident that they will be able to land the jump.

This lack of confidence usually happens because they are focusing on the results. They are worried that they will fall or two foot the jump, or be short of rotation. They are worried about the landing and are not focused on what they are doing, the jump entrance.

Sometimes there is too much chatter in their mind or “everything doesn’t feel right.” They circle again and again hoping to get all their ducks lined up in a row so that they are ready for the landing.

They want the perfect landing. Their mind is in overdrive with thoughts, doubts, and “what ifs.”
If they don’t feel like they are going to land the jump, they pop or circle.

Here are two steps you can take to begin to change your mindset and stop circling.

Allow yourself to make mistakes. Practice is for learning. In order to learn, you need to make mistakes.
Focus on the process. Instead of the worrying about the landing, focus on the entrance of the jump. Skating coaches will tell you that the way you take off is the way you will land.

If the entrance to the jump is technically sound, then most likely the landing will be too. If your timing, your head or body position is off going into the jump, your landing will be off as well.

Action Plan

Instead of evaluating the success of a jump by the number of times you land it, strive to increase the number of times you go into the jump with proper technique.

Changing your mindset is a process. It requires constant attention and practice just like your skating. While I offer as much information as I can in my free articles, it is often not enough if you have big goals in skating.

Work on your mental game to build the tools you need to excel in your sport and in life. Imagine what it would be like if you knew you could turn out your best performance every competition? Start your journey to worry free competition. Download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook.