Stop Overthinking When You Make Too Many Mistakes

Skater girl feels overwhelmed. She’s working on her double axel and there’s too much to think about. She is able to land it every so often, but it’s inconsistent.

In Skatergirl’s last lesson, Skatercoach said, “You’ll land your double axel once you make these corrections.”

After the lesson, Skatergirl wrote down the corrections so she wouldn’t forget them.

• Anchor head to a spot on the wall during take off.
• Keep feet close together on the kick through.

“Try to make these corrections by the next lesson.” Skatercoach’s words echo in Skatergirl’s brain.

Ok, Skatergirl says to herself. Let’s do this.

She skates around the end of the rink and starts her entrance. Mohawk. Back outside edge. Step forward.

Make sure you anchor your head to the wall to keep it from moving and keep your feet close together as you kick through.

Fall.

Skater girl gets up and shakes her head in frustration. She had two corrections. She wasn’t able to do either of them. And she fell.

This time, I’ll do it, Skatergirl tells herself. This time I’ll keep my head anchored and my feet close.

She goes into her entrance. Takes off. And falls.

She was able to anchor her head, but her leg went wide.
Ugh.

Again.

Jump. Fall.

Jump. Fall.

Pop.

Pop.

Pop. Fall.

Once again Skatergirl shakes her head in frustration. Why is this so hard? Why can’t I make these corrections?

In her last lesson, Skatercoach said, “These corrections aren’t hard to fix. Look at Suzyskater, she was able to fix them in a day.”

Pop.

Aaaaaargh. This is too hard. I suck. 

The Next Day

The next day Skatergirl had a session with Mentalgamecoach.

“I can’t land my double axel and I don’t know what to do,” she says. “I keep trying to make the corrections that Skatercoach gives me, but I can’t do it.

“There’s too much to think about. The more I try, the worse it gets.

“I’m able to fix one of the corrections, but when I try to fix both at the same time, the jump falls apart.

“What do I do?”

 

“Well,” Mentalgamecoach says, “remember, for the purposes of mental game, your brain can be split into two parts. The front brain and the hindbrain. 

“The front brain is the thinking part of your brain and the hindbrain is the autopilot part of your brain.

“Do you remember what part of the brain you want to be in when you’re doing a jump?”

“The hindbrain,” Skatergirl answers. 

“Right.

“But when you’re thinking about corrections, what part of the brain are you in?” Mentalgamecoach asks.

“The front brain.”

Ah!

“So I need to figure out a way to get out of my front brain.

“But how do I do that?

“Don’t I need to think about the corrections to fix the errors?” Skatergirl asks.

 

“Yes.” says Mentalgamecoach, “But instead of thinking about the corrections themselves, focus on doing one simple action that will fix the correction.

“For example, instead of thinking about anchoring your head as you takeoff, pick a spot on the wall and focus on looking at it as you takeoff.

“If it helps you can say to yourself, ‘look’ or ‘head.’

“Do that for 3 reps, then move on to the next correction whether you get it or not. 
This will help you focus on one thing at a time.”

“Ok. I’ll try that next time I’m on the ice,” Skatergirl says.

 

“Great, the second correction was to keep your feet close together on the kick through.
“What is one thing you can do that will keep your feet closer together?” Mentalgamecoach asks.

“Bring my feet close together.”

“Can you simplify that even more?”

“Right foot?”

 

“Great.  Play with that when you’re doing your axel during practice tomorrow. 

“Do 3-5 repetitions with all your focus on your right foot, then, even if you don’t have it solid, switch to doing the next 3-5 repetitions with all of your focus on your head (spot on the wall). “

“Ok.” Skatergirl says.

A New Way to Practice

The next day, Skatergirl goes to practice with a plan.

When she’s working on her double axel, she’s going to do walkthroughs with her focus on her right foot first. Specifically bringing it close to her left foot on the kick through.
Nothing else matters.

Then she does a couple of walkthroughs of her double axel, focusing on her head.
Specifically fining a spot on the wall and looking there. 
Nothing else matters. 

Alright, She says to herself. Time to do the actual jump.

Focus on “right foot”.

She skates around the end of the rink and starts her entrance. Mohawk. Back outside edge. Step forwards.

Right foot.

She lands it.

It isn’t perfect. She does a slight turn out, but it’s an improvement. She was able to bring her right foot close to her left on the takeoff.

Next she does three more jumps with the focus on her head.

After practice Skatergirl felt accomplished. Even through everything wasn’t “fixed” yet, she felt that she had made a lot of progress in one day. She was surprised that when focused on her right foot,  her head was a little better as well. 

Can you relate to Skatergirl’s problem? You are not alone. Here’s the action plan that Skatergirl used with success. Feel free to use it as a guide when you have too many corrections on your jumps. 

Action Plan

• Focus on one thing at a time.
• Use walkthroughs or drills to warm up for a jump .
• Use this warm up time to focus on making corrections first one, second one, etc.
• Pick one (simplified) correction at a time to focus on when executing a jump.
• Let go of mistakes on the other parts of the jump.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I am happy to help. 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.