Mental Game Skills for Skating Success
For figure skaters, dealing with the disappointment of poor results in a competition event can cause a lot of stress.
This stress can be managed, even eliminated if a parent or a coach is present to gently point out the opportunities for learning and improving instead of compounding the disappointment by adding their own negative opinions about the outcome.
Continue reading “How to Deal With “Unfair” Judging in Figure Skating”
Parenting styles in sports are as varied as the types of athletes in the world. Everyone has heard of, or been around the “nightmare” sports parent. You know, the one with the cringeworthy behavior; like screaming at their child after a competition or game, the child mortified, more about being shamed in public than how they performed.
Continue reading “A Sports Parents Guide to Youth Athlete Success”
Many parents become concerned, even upset when their child stops making progress, or seems to regress in skills. Skaters are frustrated and angry because they can’t seem to land the jump like before, and life can be difficult to say the least.
Before you start questioning your coach’s competence or blaming it on your child’s work ethic, please read this.
In the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships, about a year ago, Gracie Gold, a favorite for the title, struggled and missed the podium. Instead of pausing to take what could be learned and putting the rest in the past, she went down the rabbit hole of self doubt (see previous article and video interview here). Continue reading “Dealing With Mistakes Can Save Your Season”
Do you as a parent feel comfortable sharing your thoughts with your skater’s coach? Or do you keep your mouth shut because you think you don’t know enough about skating?
You as a parent have a very important role in your child’s skating career. Continue reading “What Every Great Figure Skating Parent Knows”
.jpg "By David W. Carmichael CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons")
I had the privilege of sitting in on a question and answer session with the great Kurt Browning. He was in Vancouver, BC for Stars on Ice and took time out to teach a seminar for skaters in the area.
I have always been a fan of his fun and creative style, and his skill on the ice. His showmanship is in a class of its own.
Watching and listening to him talk about skating, one can feel his genuine love of the ice fill the room. It’s tangible; the ice becomes a presence sitting in the room with us. What Kurt Browning does when he skates is what coaches mean when they say “be one with the ice.” Figure skating to him is a way of life, a way of being, not just something he does.