Index
Skate Aloha 2003
Hawaii FSC
Articles
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(Reprinted from Recreational Ice Skating magazine with permission
from the Ice Skating Institute (www.skateisi.org))
Positive Mindset Controls Butterflies:
Overcoming Performance Anxiety.
by Alyssa Owen Lewis
You may be looking forward to a time when you no longer get nervous before a performance.
Unfortunately, even the best skaters feel butterflies before they skate. The difference
is that they use their nerves to their advantage. Before you can take control of your
anxiety you have to understand a little about it.
There are two main components to the nervousness you feel before you perform: the physical
excitement, which ranges from butterflies in your stomach to stiffness in your legs, and
worries/fears you have about how well you will skate. While many may feel that it is a
bad thing to be nervous before you skate, this in not necessarily true. Simply put, you
only get nervous about things you care about; nervousness is your body's way of getting
ready for something that is important to you. However, our minds tend to see the
butterflies as something bad and that is where the worry and fear comes from. If you
change how your mind thinks about your body's excitement, it will be easier to skate.
So the first step to dealing with being nervous is to look forward to it!
By looking forward to the situation you can put yourself in a positive mindset.
This mindset can be the first step towards a great performance. Savor the moment
and look forward to doing your best. Picture yourself easily and successfully
completing your routine. Buld up your confidence in your ability to perform and
perform well. Don't dwell on past flubs, instead remember the times you did things
well and how that felt. Once you've established the right attitude, the next step
is to figure out how you best handle being nervous.
Think about your best skating performance and ask yourself several questions:
- How did you get ready for the event?
- Did you talk to friends or parents or did you take a few moments by yourself to
think about your performance?
- What were you thinking about before you skated?
- What were you thinking about during your performance?
- Were you energetic or calm?
Next think of your worst skating performance and ask yourself the same questions.
In this way you should be able to know which preparations enhance your performance
and which destroy it. The idea is to try to to embrace actions, thoughts and feelings
from your best performance and avoid those from your worst.
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Use the answers to your questions to create a plan of what you are going to do and
what you are going to think
about before and while you skate. Use your best performance as a model to decide
how to perpare yourself to skate. Your pre-skating plan should include what you eat,
how you warm-up off ice, how you think about your program, and what you do in your
on-ice warm-up.
For each element in your program, you need to give yourself simple but specific
instructions. If your opening element is a jump, during the two or three crossovers
before the take-off, take a deep breath. Then give your brain one thought to focus on.
If it is an easy, consistent jump for you, you should think "easy lift" or "nice and
strong." If it is a jump that is not always consistent, pick one thought that seems to
help you get through the jump. Do you need to jump higher, control the take-off, or
check out strong? What does your coach tell you that seems to help you land the jump?
Experiment with different thoughts during practice sessions to see what will work best
for you.
You do not have to pick specific program elements. If there is a whole section of the
program that you have problems with, pick a thought that will help you take control of
that part of the program. You might get overexcited at the end of your program because
you are almost done and end up making mistakes in the last footwork sequence. Perhaps
you really lose energy in the middle of your program. Make sure you give yourself
specific places in your routine to breathe. Then come up with something to think about
that gives you a lot of energy.
The most important thing about these plans is the YOU make them. They do not work nearly
as well if someone makes them up for you. The thoughts have to mean something to you.
What energizes your coach may not energize you. Make every thought very personal, even
if you think some of it sounds silly. It doesn't matter if it seems silly, as long as it
makes you skate better.
Once you make your plans for your program, you need to use those plans every day in
practice sessions. We all know how important it is to practice every day, to train your
body to the best of its ability. It is just as important to train your mind the same
way. Remember: one difference between good skaters and great skaters is that great skaters
use their minds, as well as their bodies to create a great performance.
* Editors Note: Alyssa Owen Lewis is a skating instructor at Goggin ice Arena at Miami
University and at Sports Plus in Cincinnati, Ohio. She holds a masters degree in Sports
Studies with emphasis in Sport Behavior and Performance.
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