In the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships, about a year ago, Gracie Gold, a favorite for the title, struggled and missed the podium. Instead of pausing to take what could be learned and putting the rest in the past, she went down the rabbit hole of self doubt (see previous article and video interview here). Continue reading “Dealing With Mistakes Can Save Your Season”
Why a Growth Mindset is Key for a Strong Mental Game
Does your mindset keep you in a cage?
A strong mental game requires a mindset of Learning and Growth.
The top performers in any profession understand that:
- Mistakes, challenges and “impossibilities” are opportunities for learning and innovation.
- They keep the big picture in mind. It is not about achieving the goal, it is about the journey.
- They never get “it” done, that there will always be a new adventure waiting.
- They are always capable of change or improvement and new ways of looking at things.
- They can take any criticism, failure or weakness and make it work for them.
Continue reading “Why a Growth Mindset is Key for a Strong Mental Game”
How to Deal With Mistakes in Sports
If you are reading this, you want to improve fast.
Make your practice sessions work for you by doing what elite athletes and musical prodigies do. Continue reading “How to Deal With Mistakes in Sports”
Use Mental Game Strategies For Training
In a perfect world skaters would be able to train year round with no interruption, improving every week. No injuries, no equipment problems, no losing ice to hockey teams.
Unfortunately, occasional interruptions in training happen, but skaters can use effective Mental Game Strategies to keep on improving despite the lack of actual physical practice on the ice.
Turn it Around When Skating Is Tough
I had a conversation with a skater today. Since the end of last season, things had been going well. We have her goals and plan for the year in place, and she has already started landing new triples, and is well on her way to mastering new spins among other things.
But for the last three days, she has been struggling. Jumps feel off, spins are off a little bit, she is finding it difficult to focus and refocus back to the job at hand. Self doubts swirl around in her head no matter how much she uses her doubt rebuttals and other mental game strategies.
How To Keep Your Training Energy High
In the sport of skating, this is the time of year that athletes are a little run down from the long season of pre-competitions. School has started and spending the day at the rink is no longer an option for most.
Even though the first thought for most athletes is to hit the training harder before the end of the season, remember that taking time to enjoy yourself might be the best thing you can do at this time in your training. Continue reading “How To Keep Your Training Energy High”