Skatergirl is struggling with her triple loop. For some reason, she can’t do it consistently anymore.
“Try this,” Skatercoach says. She demonstrates a new entrance that Skatergirl hasn’t ever seen before. Left inside mohawk into change of edge.
Skatergirl walks through the entrance a couple of times, then goes and tries it on several double loops. Once she’s got it down, she goes and tries it on the triple.
Step. Step. Hold. Jump.
Bam. She lands it.
No hesitation.
It’s crisp. It’s clean. It’s even better than before.
“Okay,” Skatercoach says. “From now on, make sure you use this entrance.”
“Right,” Skatergirl says, grinning. “I will.”
Three weeks later.
Skatergirl is struggling with her triple loop. For some reason, she can’t seem to do it consistently anymore…
Why does this happen?
What’s going on? Why is Skatergirl struggling again?
What about the new entrance? Didn’t it fix her problem?
Let me explain.
The first time Skatergirl started landing her triple loop, she was hyper focused on the jump itself. She was in her body. She was focused on her present action.
But, as she became more comfortable with the jump, her focus started to shift. Instead of focusing on the jump itself, her focus shifted to the results.
Rotating the jump. Landing the jump. These two thoughts became the target of her focus, which ultimately led to Skatergirl’s struggle with consistency.
Why did Skatergirl start landing her triple loop again when Skatercoach taught her the new entrance? Because it was new and unfamiliar.
When Skatergirl started using the new entrance, it was similar to when she first started landing her triple loop. In order to land the jump, she had to put her entire focus into executing the entrance. In other words, her focus was on doing the jump, not on the results.
However, as time passed and Skatergirl got more comfortable with the entrance, she slipped back into focusing on the results. This is why she started having consistency problems again.
What’s the solution?
Ok. So, what is the solution?
When faced with consistency issues, many athletes chase what worked for them in the past. Instead of treating the root of the problem, they focus on fixing the symptoms.
For Skatergirl, this might mean asking Skatercoach for another new entrance. This might help alleviate the problem temporarily, but it wouldn’t be a long term fix. Since the root of the issue remains, the symptoms would inevitably reappear.
Instead, it is important to figure out why the new entrance helped fix the problem in the first place. And as explained above, the reason lies in the novelty of the entrance which pushed Skatergirl’s focus back onto executing the jump, which allowed her to land it.
In other words, the key lies in Skatergirl’s focus. Whether she is focusing on the jump itself, or the results.
In order to land the jump, Skatergirl needs to focus on the jump itself. She needs to stay in her body and focus on what she is doing.
Instead of putting a bandaid over the symptoms. Take a moment to look deeper. Get to the root of the problem, which is often related to the mental game. This will give you a more permanent solution.
Check out these articles to learn how to do that.
If skaters took Mental skills training as seriously as they do their on ice technical skills, they would find that their technical skills would improve exponentially.
Start here. Download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook and make a change.