Internationally, the figure skating season is drawing to a close, and what a treat the 2018-19 season has been to spectate. Of course, the change to the +5/-5 GOE has seen numerous World records and personal bests being achieved. In the Ladies event, we’ve seen Rika Kihira (JPN) and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) landing triple axels of amazing quality, as well as numerous Russian Junior Ladies landing quads. In the Mens, the quad race continues as the technical difficulty of the sport continues to be pushed. However, Jason Brown (USA) continues to remind us the power of the +5/-5 system, breaking 100 points in the short at US Nationals without a quad. However, we’ve missed some familiar faces, with Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) continuing to struggle with injury, and we saw the retirement of Javier Fernandez (ESP) after his historic seventh European Gold medal. The season continues to build in the coming weeks, and the skaters at an elite level have one final push to make it to the World’s in Saitama City, Japan, which take place just over a month away, 18th-24th March.
For a lot of skaters, however, the next season is already beginning. Chances are, if the highlight of your competitive calendar is the National Championships, or at least building towards qualifying for that event, you’ll have been in your off-season phase of training since December. This is the time most skaters build new programmes, design new competition outfits, perhaps start focussing on training new elements, and set a plan for the coming season. It is important during this phase of the season to reflect on the previous season, to evaluate your wins and losses, the struggles you faced, and recognising where you might have been luckier than you cared to admit at the time. But that’s a topic for a future blog.
Here, I want to focus on where we are now in the season - in the pre-season phase. Most skaters will be focused on the upcoming Qualifier for the National Championships, and beginning to build towards the highlight of their year in late-November: the National Championships. Some of you may have faced the disappointment of not qualifying last year? Some of you may have qualified last year, but now aged out of that category, and need to move to the next competitive level and qualify again? Or, you and your coaches might have made the decision to move up this season to challenge you? This is important, because it frames how you view the upcoming challenge.
If you’re chasing a score, that’s great. To have the goal to qualify is a great goal to have. And, if successful, qualifying is a great accomplishment - not to be taken for granted. But how are you going to ensure you are successful in achieving your goal? ‘Hope’ was never a part of a successful performance plan. Wanting something bad enough isn’t enough. Unfortunately, it means a lot of hard work in the rink, every day. Your coaches might have talked to you about needing to put the work in, or your parents might tell you that you have to practice when you’re at the rink. I guess they have a right to ask that of you - ice time is expensive, after all, right? But it can be frustrating, can’t it? Hearing the same thing over and over? What’s more, sometimes it can feel like the people around you “get” the pressure behind all this more than you?! But it’s important to realise that the people around you, your team - mum, dad, coach(es), sometimes grandparents, siblings, or even other skaters in your club/rink - are there to help you. Your job? Stay on task when you need to. You have a job to do when you’re at the rink: to skate. That’s it. And you love it, right? You’re being asked to do something you love doing - how amazing is that?
Doing everything you can, every session to make sure you are using your ice time to the best you possibly can is the first step to success. But, again, hoping that that in itself is enough to secure you a great performance isn’t enough. Just because you feel you’ve put in the work in training doesn’t mean you’re owed a great performance. See, the people on the podium have worked hard, and as the photo shows, they have demonstrated passion, focus, desire, sacrificed late nights, and committed to training, even if it’s been at unsociable hours. But, arguably, so have the athletes who placed in 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, all the way to last place. Training hard is great - and it is important - but it doesn’t automatically mean a great performance under pressure, or guarantee you the qualifying score you’re after. Like everything, you should have a strategy - a plan for success, which you execute when it counts. But, you have to hold it together when it matters. Easier said than done, right? Well here, I list three simple tips to help that happen more effectively.
1. Accept that nerves are ok - they’re not the enemy!
First things first: nerves are just biology. It’s a throwback to when we were hunter-gathering cavemen. Heard of the whole fight or flight scenario? That’s how we’re programmed. Our brains are millions of year’s old. Think an iPhone 3 is old and slow compared to an iPhone X? Think about how little our brains have actually evolved over time. Our brains are complex - massively more complex than any computer that’s ever been built. But, they haven’t had an update in millions of years. At a competition, do you feel more sweaty than normal? Have a dry mouth that won’t go away, even if you’re drinking like a fish? Get sweaty, or clammy palms? Find yourself yawning, excessively, for no apparent reason? Feel sick? Get butterflies in your tummy? This is your body’s biology reacting to the fact something major is coming up. The trick is accepting that these feelings aren’t necessarily negative. It’s about getting the butterflies to fly in formation - working with you towards the goal you’re trying to achieve. In the overused words of sport psychologists around the world, ‘control the controllables’. You cannot control the way your body behaves in these circumstances, but you can change how you feel and think. Take some time to think about which feelings you have at a competition. Write them down. Don’t let them be a trigger that something major is going on. Recognise the signs, but frame your reactions positively. Instead of thinking, ‘Oh God, I’ve got butterflies, I feel so nervous about nailing my double lutz’, think, ‘I’m so excited to get to feedback on my new programme, and to try my double lutz in competition. I’ve got this!’. Be in control of your thoughts and feelings.
2. Know that you’re capable of delivering what’s being asked of you
My second tip in helping the butterflies fly together is to be confident in your skills, and to know that you’re being asked to deliver something that is within your power - within your abilities. First thing, check your programme content is high enough to reach the TES of the qualifying score. Sounds simple, but even if you know that it is enough content, calculating this and writing it down makes it clear your programme is enough. Have a new element you’re not too confident with? Do you need it? Can you hit your qualifying score without that element? If you can’t, you can’t stress about the element because there’s no other options. Accept it, shift your expectations of the element and do your best with it. If it’s going to be downgraded, with a fall, calculate your TES with this as the real outcome you face in competition. If you can, switch it for another jump. You need to be happy about your programme as possible. If that means settling for easier content, and aiming for quality marks, remove the distraction of that problem element. Take inspiration from Jason Brown. As a side note, take a second to split your technical elements, either by group (jumps, spins, steps) or by the ‘sections’ of your programme. Where are the most points locked up? Is your content mainly at the back end of the programme? Or all in the beginning? Is it all in the levelled elements? Or the jumps? Or is it all pretty even, and doesn’t really matter? Why is that important? Well, it might change the way you view what’s important in training, or at least the way you train your programme.
3. Focus on the process, more than the product!
My third tip: concentrate on what you can control in this scenario. Linking to the previous point, do you have a jump that’s under-rotated, or downgraded in practice? When the pressure is on, it’s very hard to step up a gear. If 90% of your double axels in practice are under-rotated, realistically, the probability of fully rotating it in competition is very small. All you can do is focus on getting the best score possible for the under-rotated double axel. How about levels in your spins or steps? Do you need maximum levels in these elements? Is that what your projected TES is based on? Can you guarantee having these levels called? You could argue that yes, it is 100% in your control. And in some ways, you wouldn’t be wrong. However, remember, you’re not the one evaluating these skills. You cannot control what calls you get. The call you get from the technical panel is the product of your effort. Need a Level 4 spin? Focusing on the process means successfully completing all the features you have in that spin. Sounds simple, right? But remember, technical panels differ in their calls from time to time. If you can step off the ice, knowing you did everything you could to complete the features in that spin, regardless of the call you get, you did your job. That’s all you’re responsible for. Focus on the process, not the product. This is one of the most powerful strategies for helping you feel more in control of you performance. Focus on the process, and the product - the outcome - will take care of itself.
In summary...
Avoiding nerves isn't a sustainable or positive approach to performance. For me, sport psychology is about helping athletes strengthen their mindset, and develop the mental skills and strategies to be as mentally prepared for competition as their bodies are physically. It's not about finding ways to avoid being nervous, but how to deal with the feelings of your competition nerves. Take control. See those feelings of competition how you want to see them. Seize the power. Know that you're capable of delivering the result you're asking of yourself. And, finally, focus on the process of delivering your performance, don't get too focused on getting that qualifying score, because ultimately, you're not in control of the score you're awarded. That's the Officials' job. All you can do is do your job, and deliver your skills the best that you can.
Thank you for taking time to give this a read, I hope it's been useful. Be sure to share this post with anyone you feel would find it useful. Its intended audience is athletes, but coaches and parents might find something useful in it to support athletes on their road to competition success. Let me know if you've found this useful by getting in touch, or leaving a comment.
Want more information? Drop me an email (sw.performancepsych@icloud.com) to discuss how I can help you with specific areas of improvement. Or check out my website, or social media platforms to see how my psychological services might be able to help you overcome the hurdles you're currently facing.
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