Focusing on competitors will not help you skate your best. Do this instead:
Skaters and parents can go the whole season in a bubble. Skaters practice at their own rink for most of the year, compete against many of the same skaters at their local competitions, then get a dose of reality when they travel to a larger competition or reach their first qualifying competition.
What do you do when you get on practice ice and see skaters at your level doing higher level tricks?
It’s tempting for skaters to get to competition, look at the skating order and mentally place themselves. “I can beat her, and her.” or “she has a triple triple, there is no way I can beat her.
“Skaters and parents can spend a lot of time and energy analyzing the competition. Watching and studying the scores, looking online to see who is doing what.
There is a time and a place for that, but when you get to competition, comparisons and speculation about outcome are a waste of time and energy.
“Control the controllables.” -Ken Ravizza
At competition, focus on what will benefit and enhance your own performance:
- Focus on preparing your mindset to skate your program.
- Follow your pre-competition routine to get your mindset ready to skate your program the way you do in practice.
- Stick to your plan.
- Do what you have trained to do out there on the ice.
You have no control over whom you compete against. You have no control over what they have in their arsenal.
No matter how much energy you spend on comparing yourself to your competitors, nothing will change except that you will wear yourself out with needless worry and emotion.
Focus on what you can control. Practice letting go of what you can’t control so that when you get to your first qualifying competition, you are prepared to skate your best when you take the ice.
Find solutions to take action on. Instead of just putting band aids on the symptoms, become a detective—seek out the underlying causes that lead to behaviors that keep you from practicing and performing your best.
Mental skills training can help you do this. Start simply, Start your journey to worry free competition. Download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook for a jump start!