Mental Game Skills for Skating Success
Skatergirl was warmed up and ready to go for her long program. She’d finished her six minute warm up and since she was skating second in her group, she was standing with Skatercoach behind the boards waiting to be called.
Unfortunately, the skater right before her had a costume malfunction. Swarovski crystals ended up scattered across the ice, forcing the referee to call for an emergency ice resurface.
Continue reading “Routines are the Key to Dealing with the Unexpected”
Skatergirl was preparing for an away competition.
Double run-throughs. Triple run-throughs. Segmented run-throughs. Skatergirl was doing them all.
Continue reading “Stop Focusing on the Results and Improve Your Performance”
Skatergirl was worried.
What if there is a traffic accident on the way to the competition.
What if her plane is delayed.
What if the competition runs early.
What if…
“You want me to do another competition?” Skatergirl asked.
“Yeah,” Skatercoach said. You definitely need more practice.”
“But, I just did a competition last weekend.”
“Exactly, it will be good practice for if you ever have to do back to back competitions.”
Continue reading “Why Do I Do Great in Practice but Bomb in Competition”
Two weeks earlier, Skatergirl secured a spot for herself at Nationals by placing fourth at the championship series. Initially, she’d been super excited that she’d made it through, but now with the competition coming up in two weeks, she was in full preparation mode.
For the past several weeks, Skatergirl had been on fire during practice.
Her jumps were crisp. Her run-throughs were clean. She was even hitting all the rotations in her spins, which was something her coaches had been nagging her about recently.
Life was good. Everything was going great.
However, today Skatergirl was falling apart.
Continue reading “Skatergirl and the Upcoming Competition”
Holding on to your mistakes during performance and competition is a huge mental mistake. This habit can also negatively affect your skill improvement and the quality of your practice sessions as well.
The time to work on mistakes is always in practice, never in a performance or competition. Continue reading “How to Let Go of Mistakes”