You just arrived at a competition. You know you practiced hard and you feel proud of the work you’ve put in.
As you enter the rink to warm up what are you feeling? Is it anxiety or is it confidence?
Ideally, you feel calm, relaxed, and prepared to compete. You aren’t stressed about what the judges might think, worried that you might trip or fall, or scared that you’ll disappoint your coaches and parents.
You are in the moment. You just did a great run through on practice ice yesterday. Today, you’re ready skate your program and excited to show off how much you’ve improved since your last competition.
When you have momentum, things go smoothly. Jumps are effortless and programs come together nicely. It’s easy to keep your mental game together. You feel positive and confident.
But what happens when you take the ice for the six minute warm-up, and you pop a jump? What if you try to brush it off, but it happens again. And again.
What if you didn’t land a single element in the entire warm-up, and you look up to see “THAT” look on your coach’s face?
Thoughts start in your head…
- Why does this always happen to me?
- What’s wrong with me?
- I’ve worked so hard, what more can I do?
- What do I do now? My program is doomed.
At this point maybe you try to give yourself a pep talk… “Do not give up, you got this. Pull yourself together.”
Maybe this works, maybe it doesn’t.
Your confidence is shaken and start to worry. You’re scared.
Recipe for Disaster
The best way to sabotage your confidence is thinking that you must have a perfect warm-up in order to have a perfect program.
This expectation can lead to:
- Panic after one mistake which causes more mistakes.
- Worry that you can’t land a jump in the program after missing it in practice.
- Focusing on correcting mistakes instead of getting into the competition mindset.
With all of this playing through a skater’s mind, one can easily spiral down the hole of self doubt and negative thoughts.
Get Your Priorities Straight
The most important thing to accomplish in the 6 minute warm up is to get your mindset shifted into competition gear.
Think about it, if you needed to do your program without an on ice warm up, you could probably do it pretty well.
But if your mindset is not on the ice with you, your performance will suffer.
Yes, this is true.
Remember all that practice you did leading up to this competition?
- The multiple ice sessions a day.
- The off ice training.
- The lessons.
- The endless program run-throughs.
- The simulations (exhibitions.)
- The previous competitions.
Does one terrible 6 minute warm up erase the months of skill development and practice leading up to this competition? Of course not.
Whether or not you landed your jumps on practice ice or during warm-up is not a direct indicator of how you will perform in competition.
Keep Calm and Carry On
Your mindset going into the event is the best indicator of well you will skate your program in competition. Therefore it is your number one priority in competition.
So the next time you have a poor 6 minute warm up, put it behind you when you step off the ice. Take a few deep belly exhales and prepare to do a great program.
What about you? Have you ever skated a super program after a terrible warm up? I’d love to hear your story.
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.