For the past two weeks Skatergirl has been a happy camper. She was jumping well, and even started to get her triple Lutz in her program segments already!
This week is another story. She’s not sure why, but starting on Monday, she couldn’t land her Lutz, and everyday since, practice went downhill. Not just the Lutz, but everything else too. Now she’s tired and frustrated and really worried that she has a big mental block.
Skatercoach said, “Okay, you ran into a mental block. Just get through it.”
But no matter how hard she worked, and no matter what she tried, she can’t figure out how to fix it.
Finally, she remembered that she can always call on Mentalgamecoach.
She explains the situation to Mentalgamecoach, then ends dejectedly, “It’s been a bad week and I am not sure what’s happening.
“It seems like everytime I get on a roll, something like this happens and I lose all confidence in myself.”
“Remember,” Mentalgamecoach says, “The root of all performance problems lie in your concentration (focus).
“Do you remember when we talked about focus?”
“Yeah, the problem is not lack of focus, everyone has pretty good focus. We are focused pretty much all the time.”
“Right, and..?”
“And the problem is that we are not always focused on the right things.”
“You got it!” says Mentalgamecoach.
“The problem is not that you lack the ability to focus, the problem is that you are focused on the wrong thing.
“Great execution and performance rely on an athlete putting their focus on what they are doing. Anything else is a distraction.
“Do you remember the two types of common distractions?”
Skatergirl thought for a moment and said, “Things outside of us and things inside of us can take our focus away and distract us.”
“Yes.”
External Distractions
External distractions are things that are outside of us.
For example:
- The rink-the facilities themselves or the rules or situation at the rink.
- The people in the rink: parents, coaches and other skaters.
- What other people are doing.
- What your coach says.
- The social environment.
Mentalgamecoach asks, “Could it be any of those things? You used to worry about what your training mates were doing, what jumps they were landing and how their lessons were going.”
“No, I don’t think it’s that.
“I have not been worried about that since we worked on it before, and my coach is great since I talked with him and told him what I was confused about.”
“So it must be the other type of distraction. Internal, the one that comes from inside of me.”
Internal Distractions
Internal distractions are things that come from inside our head, namely our thoughts.
Mentalgamecoach asks, “When you go up for the the lutz what is going on in your mind?”
“I am thinking about how I need to not bend forward, stay on my outside edge, and keep my head anchored because I don’t want to mess up.
“I tell myself that I have been landing it, and I want to make sure I keep on improving from last week.
“I remind myself that if I can do the 3 lutz consistently, then I might get to do the pole harness for my quad toes.”
“Good, it’s great to know what is going on in your mind. Do any of these thoughts help you execute the triple Lutz?” asks Mentalgamecoach.
“No. Arrgh! I should know this by now!”
“Hold on. This is easier said than done right?
“It’s easy to know what to do, but it takes a lot of practice to execute it consistently.
“Just like your jumps right? Knowing what to do is one thing. Doing it takes practice.
“Skatercoach gives you feedback on your jumps, and you improve your skills.
“Mental skills training is exactly the same. I give you feedback and you improve each week.
“This awareness is exactly what you need to be able to make the changes. You are on the right track.
“Okay, so where is the right focus when you are doing the triple Lutz?”
The Right Focus
“Well, I need to focus on doing the Lutz. Instead, I was focused on my desire to land the lutz. On cheering myself on to try hard.
“Oh! I was in my head and focused on my thoughts! On my hopes of doing the lutz correctly, and what will happen if I fail.
“I know. I need my focus to be in my body, not my head in order to do the jump.
“I actually don’t need to think about much right now since I have been doing them really well. I feel the jump is in my muscle memory.”
“You got it! High five!” says Mentalgamecoach.
Let’s Recap
For great athletic performance, the right focus is in your body.
The wrong focus is in your brain, on your thoughts.
When your focus is on your thoughts, you are not in touch with your body.
Skaters, and other athletes like gymnasts, and soccer players need their sense of feel in order to execute well.
If you are stuck in your brain with your thoughts, you are not in your body. When you take away an athlete’s kinesthetic sense (feel) is just like asking them to skate blind. (Think Ice Castles, it doesn’t work as well in real life.)
Action Plan
Heighten your awareness of what you are focusing on when you are skating (brain or body)
- Where is your focus when you are skating well?
- Where is your focus when you skate poorly?
- What do you notice? Email me and let me know!
Just like Skatergirl, mental skills training can make a difference for you. You can learn to skate more more consistently during competition and from one day to the next in practice.
Why wait? Start now: Download “Confidence Myth Busters,” a complimentary eBook and make a change.