Skatergirl was preparing for an away competition.
Double run-throughs. Triple run-throughs. Segmented run-throughs. Skatergirl was doing them all.
But, Skatergirl was worried. This was an away competition with a lot of big name skaters, and she wanted to put in a good performance.
Skatergirl’s goal for the competition was to achieve a personal best score. She was consistently landing her high value jumps in her practice run-throughs, so she wanted to improve on the results from her last competition.
Unfortunately for Skatergirl, the competition was a mess. Not only did she pop every jump in her short program, during her long program she became a living Zamboni.
All that time wasted. All that work for nothing. Skatergirl spent the entire car ride to the airport in tears.
When she arrived back home, Skatergirl had a session with Mentalgamecoach to discuss the competition. She wanted to figure out what went wrong before her next competition at the end of the month.
“How was the competition?” Mentalgamecoach asked.
“It was a disaster,” Skatergirl said. “I popped all of the jumps in my short program and fell on almost everything in my long program.
“It’s so frustrating. I don’t know what happened. Training was great leading up to the competition. I was running clean programs and everything.”
“Did you feel more tense than usual before this competition?” Mentalgamecoach asked.
“Yeah,” Skatergirl said, “but it was an away competition with a lot of big name athletes, so I wasn’t surprised. I just wanted to get a personal best score. Was that too much to ask?”
“There are two things that contributed to the tension. Seeing this competition as a ‘major’ competition, and your goal.”
“My goal?”
“Yes, getting a personal best score. Who gives you the scores at a competition?”
“The judges.”
“Right, and are those judges the same at every competition?”
“No.”
“Different judges. The athletes at the event. The overall quality of the performances. All of these factors can affect the scores at an event.
“Judges aren’t robots. So, the scores at each competition may vary.
“This means that a score from one competition can’t be directly compared to a score from another competition.
“You have no control over any of those things.
“This is one of the many reasons athletes should never take their goals into competition with them.
“Let’s step back and talk about goals in general. It is important to make your goal something that is under your control.
“When you focus on things that are out of your control, you become tense and nervous, which hinder your performance.”
“Okay. How do I do that?”
“Let’s take the goal from your last competition: I want to score a personal best. What do you have to do in order to reach that goal?”
“I have to land all of the jumps in my program.”
“Okay. Do you have control over that?”
“No?”
“Right. So, what do you have to do in order to land all of the jumps in your program?”
“Focus on the one thing I’m doing in the present moment?”
“Exactly. When you notice your mind drifting to anything else, refocus yourself on the feeling of what you are doing right now in the present moment.
“Outcome oriented goals are useful, but they have no place in competition.
“So, at the next competition, leave your goals at home.
“Work on your mental game by taking one element at a time. Each time your mind drifts to the results, like getting a personal best or not falling on a jump, refocus yourself back on the feeling of your current action.
“This will take the edge off of your nerves and bring you closer to your peak performance.”
Mental skills training can make a difference because it can help you access what is already there during competition and practice.
Start here; download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook and make a change.