The Secret to a Great Performance in Competition

Are you in your happy place?

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Not the first question you’d expect if you are a high level competitive skater. Especially not before you start your off ice warm up on competition day.

I have worked with countless athletes, researched excellence, and am a student of life. It is true, being happy allows you to do your best work. Every day I teach athletes strategies that help them to get to their “happy place”.

That is why I was so blown away when a coach told me that he asked this of his skater.

Continue reading “The Secret to a Great Performance in Competition”

How to Deal With Self Doubt

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This article is about a common cause of frustration for skaters. One that slows them down and can keep them stuck, season after season.

It happens anytime a skater is unhappy with the skills they have (or skills they lack). For some skaters this happens after the intense the summer training season just before their big competitions. But for many this happens every week, or even daily. Continue reading “How to Deal With Self Doubt”

What to Do When You Don’t Feel Ready to Compete

Competition waits for no one.

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Competition waits for no one.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could schedule competitions to happen when everything is perfect and you felt ready to skate? Continue reading “What to Do When You Don’t Feel Ready to Compete”

A Strong Mental Game is About Balance

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What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “bulletproof mental game”? Many people think of an athlete with strong emotional control, almost like a robot devoid of emotions.

The truth is, a strong mental game is about balance. The balance between thinking and over thinking. The balance between allowing and forcing. Continue reading “A Strong Mental Game is About Balance”

Mental Game Training Doesn’t Work for Me (Mental Game Training is for Life #3)

Most of us want to grow, but few want to do the hard work to change Athletes contact us all the time with problems. We work to give the best response possible with an exercise or tip to get started. After a few weeks pass, once in awhile an athlete will say, “I tried it and it doesn’t work.”

Why is mindset change not instantaneous?

Did you land your double axel when you first started skating? No, it took years of development. Maybe you still haven’t landed it yet. There is a great amount of physical and mental development and practice that goes into a double axel. You know that, you live it every day.

Continue reading “Mental Game Training Doesn’t Work for Me (Mental Game Training is for Life #3)”

You Must Be Present to Win in Figure Skating (Mental Game Training is for Life #2)

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The goal of mental game training is to allow you to do your best work. This can be skating a personal best for a win or selling a million dollar business concept.

It is our habit to live in the past or the future. “The last time I competed at this rink I bombed my program!” or “If Peggy isn’t there, then I have a great chance of winning, because I will be the only one with a triple lutz.”

The only power you have is in the present moment. The present moment is the only time your choices and decisions count. You can’t change the past. The future is unknown. Continue reading “You Must Be Present to Win in Figure Skating (Mental Game Training is for Life #2)”