You can save yourself a ton of energy and get back up to speed faster if you take a moment to set some ground rules before you take the ice.
Athletes perform better when they are relaxed and ready in body and mind.
Negative thoughts, worries and self doubts cause tension in your body and distractions in your mind that keep you from performing your best.
Give yourself a period of adjustment to get back up to where you were BC (Before COVID19). Let’s see how Skatergirl does it.
Story 1
Skatergirl decided set a ground rule for herself: to give herself at least 1 month to get back up to her BC shape.
At first she could only get onto the ice 2 days a week for one hour. She was able to skate more as the weeks went by, but even after a month, she wasn’t skating as much as she did BC.
She realized that she would need to adjust her Return to Play Plan to 2 months because she didn’t have as much ice as she hoped.
In addition to not placing pressure on herself by expecting immediate improvement, she had a Return to Play Plan that helped her practice the right things on the ice every day.
She continued to keep up with her off ice routine, just like she did before the ice was available.
She was super sore, but she made sure to follow her Return to Play Plan and roll out and stretch every day.
Because she wasn’t doing too much too soon, she saw continual improvement. Much sooner than she expected, she was able to do a few of her triples.
Even though she didn’t do many of them, just knowing that she could do them was a huge boost to her confidence and momentum. Things were going to be fine.
Skatergirl felt great to be back on the ice. She was able to enjoy the practice time even though she was sore. It didn’t matter. Every day she felt more and more like herself.
Story 2
Skatergirl went back to the ice without a Return to Play Plan or setting any ground rules.
She decided that she would, “get back up to speed as soon as possible.”
She didn’t like the idea of giving herself a month. That felt too long.
She could only get onto the ice 2 days a week for one hour. She was able to skate more as the weeks went by, but even after a month, she wasn’t skating as much as she did BC.
When she got onto the ice, she skated just like she did BC. She only had an hour, so she tried to pack it with as many things as she could. Her priority was jumps.
She warmed up briefly with stroking, then did her jump warm ups. She had to wear a mask, and halfway through, she felt nauseous, but pushed on.
She could do singles, so she moved on to doubles. Some of her doubles were off, so she did tons of repetitions to try to fix them. She got more and more frustrated with herself.
By the time she got to her triples, her shoulders were so tight that every jump was wonky. She left the ice feeling frustrated, nauseous and discouraged.
The next day she was sore. She was so sore that her triples were worse than the time before. She started to worry about never getting them back. It looked like a long road ahead. How could she do it if she only had ice once in a while.
This is what went through her mind, “All that time off the ice was wasted…all those years I skated, all that effort, down the drain.”
“I am so hopeless.”
Each day that she did not reach her goal of getting back to BC shape, Skatergirl felt worse. Her mind was filled with frustration on the ice and off the ice she constantly worried about the future.
Her mom tried to point out that she just got back after 3 months off the ice. Also, she had only been able to practice 6 hours in the last 3 weeks.
Starting this week she will have 1 hour of ice each day, but in the past she skated 3 hours a day.
Her mom knew that Skatergirl was not being fair to herself by expecting to be “normal” in this abnormal situation.
But Skatergirl’s mind was fixed, and nothing could make her feel better.
Eventually Skatergirl did get back to her BC shape. But her mindset kept her miserable and created obstacles for her to overcome every day. She constantly compared herself to how she used to be, which only slowed down her improvement.
Slow down to go faster
Setting ground rules for yourself is a simple tool that lets you stay relaxed and ready each practice.
Remember you will skate your best if your body and mind are relaxed and ready.
This decreased pressure allows you to focus on improving your skills instead of constantly worrying about how far you are from the results you want.
Here’s what to do:
- Set your ground rule: I will give myself XX months to get back up to speed.
- Remember the purpose of this ground rule: To allow you to be patient and kind to yourself–so that you are relaxed and ready in practice.
- Adjust it to your situation. Be realistic based on the limitations and availability of ice and coaching. For example: 1 month if you are back to your (BC) amount of coaching and ice time. Longer if you have limited access to coaching and ice time.
- This ground rule is not an expectation:
I should be back up to speed in 1-2 months.I must take 1-2 months to get back up to speed.
Give yourself the time and space to focus on your skills in practice.
This is a great mindset tool that can help you avoid the usual negative thoughts, worries and doubts that slow you down and keep you from making the improvement you desire.
Mental skills training can help to keep your emotions on an even keel so that you can practice and compete your best.
Start here; download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook and make a change.