Negative Perspective
Today, Skatergirl had a bad day at practice.
Nothing went right. She couldn’t land her double axel. She couldn’t rotate her triple salchow.
Skating is stupid, Skatergirl thinks to herself. Why can’t I do anything right?
Skatergirl stuffs her skatebag into the trunk of the car and slams it closed, then she slumps into the passenger seat.
“How was practice?” Skatermom asks, giving Skatergirl a smile.
“It was horrible,” Skatergirl says. “I couldn’t do anything today.”
Skatermom pats Skatergirl on the shoulder. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” she says.
“No, it definitely was,” Skatergirl says. I couldn’t land anything. Skatercoach said I was a Zamboni.”
“You looked fine from where I was sitting.”
“You must have been staring at your iPad again.”
Bad Mood
When Skatergirl gets home, she goes directly to her room and does her stretching routine.
She tries to distract herself from practice, but negative thoughts keep pouring into her mind.
She was horrible. She couldn’t do anything. Her skills are regressing. She’s getting worse.
Skatergirl finishes her stretching routine and goes downstairs.
“Perfect timing,” Skatermom says, setting a big pot of spaghetti on the dining room table. “I just finished making dinner.”
Skatergirl sits down and starts to eat. Spaghetti is her favorite, but she can’t enjoy it because she’s still frustrated about practice.
“Let’s watch a movie to help cheer you up,” Skatermom says, when the two of them finish eating.
“No, thanks,” Skatergirl says. “I’m going to go to sleep early.”
Perspective Shift
The next day, Skatergirl has an appointment with Mentalgamecoach.
“How was your week?” Mentalgamecoach asks.
“It was awful,” Skatergirl says.
“What happened?” Mentalgamecoach asks.
“Practice was horrible,” Skatergirl says. “I couldn’t do anything. I kept falling and popping. My coach said I was a Zamboni.”
“Was it like that the entire week?” Mentalgamecoach asks.
Skatergirl thinks back over her week. She skated well on Monday. Skatercoach said that it was the best practice she’d had all year.
“Well, I had an ok practice on Monday, so I guess it wasn’t the entire week,” Skatergirl says.
“What about Tuesday?” Mentalgamecoach asks.
“I rotated a triple toeloop during my lesson on Tuesday, so I guess it was ok.”
“Wednesday?”
“It was fine…”
“Thursday?”
“I actually rotated two more triple toeloops.”
“Friday?”
“Friday. Well, Friday was bad.”
“So, the whole week wasn’t bad,” Mentalgamecoach says.
“No, I guess it was only one day,” Skatergirl says, smiling sheepishly.
“Ok,” Mentalgamecoach says. “Tell me what happened.”
“Well,” Skatergirl says. “I got onto the ice for practice like normal. Practice was going fine. I had a lesson with my coach and we worked on double axel and triple salchow.”
“After my lesson, I decided to do a few more double axel and triple salchow reps, but no matter how hard I tried they weren’t as good as the ones I did during my lesson. I tried to focus on my key words, but it didn’t help, so I got super frustrated.”
“Ok,” Mentalgamecoach says. “How many sessions did you skate on Friday?”
“Two.”
“Ok. When was your lesson with Skatercoach.”
“On the first half of the second.”
“So, you were practicing your double axel and triple salchow during the 30 minutes after your lesson?”
Skatergirl nods.
“Is it possible that you were a little tired?” Mentalgamecoach asks.
“I suppose,” Skatergirl says.
“So, is it fair to say that you were fine for most of the week?”
“Yeah, I guess I was fine for everything except for the last 30 minutes of the last session on Friday,” Skatergirl says.
Action Plan
“Alright,” Mentalgamecoach says. “Here’s what we’re going to do. From now on, after every practice I want you to write down the answer to these two simple questions.”
- What are two things I did well today?
- What are two things I want to improve during my next practice?
“Write these down and keep them in a place where you can refer to them later. This will make it easier for you to maintain a perspective when the negative thoughts start to take over on a bad day.
“Ok,” Skatergirl says.
Be like Skatergirl
After your next practice session, answer these two questions.
- What are two things I did well today?
- What are two things I want to improve during my next practice?
At first, you might find it hard to answer the first question.
That’s ok.
Remember, there is always something you did well. It could be big, like landing a quad toeloop. Or it could be small, like going to practice even when you didn’t want to. Your answers to this question will help you put things in perspective when you’re having a bad day.
When you answer the second question, focus on these two things.
Be specific. Write, “I want to keep my head anchored on the takeoff of my double axel” not, “I want to become better”.
Focus on the improvement not the outcome. Write, “I want to kick my right leg through straight on the takeoff of my double axel” not, “I want to land my double axel”.
After you’ve answered both questions, put your answers in a safe place. Now, whenever the negative thoughts start to take charge and you begin lose perspective, you can boost yourself up by remembering the things you did well and focus yourself by remembering what you want to improve.
Don’t wait until competition to work on your Mental skills! You need time to train your brain. Confidence doesn’t happen with a flip of a switch, but is built with technique and practice. Start here; download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook and make a change.