competition fright

[babeonblades]

i have skated in about 4 competitions in the last year and it seems every time i go to do one i don't seem nervous at all. like in off-ice warm ups and waiting to get on the ice but when i step onto the ice for our warm ups and then when i go to skate im so nervouse my legs are actually shaking and then my program really suffers in warm ups i can barely do any spins . does any one have any tips on how to make myself calm down? i know once i have more competition experience i t will be better but i really need help now :D thanks

[dbny]

Two thoughts: When you practice your program, pretend that you are actually skating the competition, alone on the ice and with an audience and judges. Try to really get into it, feeling the adrenaline, etc. Also, try to savor being alone on the ice as a special treat; a time that is yours alone with no one to interrupt you or get in your way.

[doubletoe]

Welcome to the club! Almost everyone I've talked to has the same exact experience, and so do I! I don't think the nerves ever actually go away; you just have to learn to focus and skate in spite of the fact taht you can't even feel your legs. Here are some techniques that have helped me:

1. While I'm waiting to take the ice for warmup or to skate your program, breathe slowly and deeply, counting to 10 on the inhale and the exhale. Slow, deep breathing actually short-circuits the fight-or-flight response.

2. I have cue words that I say to myself on each element every time I do it in practice. When I take the ice for your competition, I say each cue word in my head as I do each element. By doing that, it keeps my mind from freaking out and it also forces me to focus on technique even though I may not even be able to feel my legs! That is what gets me through my elements when I have a case of nerves.

3. I now make your only goal for each competition to say every cue word for every element from the start of my program to the finish. That ensures that my ability to achieve my performance goal is completely within my power, and that takes some of the pressure off.

[doubletoe]

Welcome to the club! Almost everyone I've talked to has the same exact experience, and so do I! I don't think the nerves ever actually go away; you just have to learn to focus and skate in spite of the fact taht you can't even feel your legs. Here are some techniques that have helped me:

1. While I'm waiting to take the ice for warmup or to skate your program, breathe slowly and deeply, counting to 10 on the inhale and the exhale. Slow, deep breathing actually short-circuits the fight-or-flight response.

2. I have cue words that I say to myself on each element every time I do it in practice. When I take the ice for your competition, I say each cue word in my head as I do each element. By doing that, it keeps my mind from freaking out and it also forces me to focus on technique even though I may not even be able to feel my legs! That is what gets me through my elements when I have a case of nerves.

3. I now make your only goal for each competition to say every cue word for every element from the start of my program to the finish. That ensures that my ability to achieve my performance goal is completely within my power, and that takes some of the pressure off.

Gee, I meant to say "I" and "my" on these, and instead I went back and forth between "my" and "your" and it sounds awfully funny. Sorry! I'm trying to type this and "work" (ha ha) at the same time!

[dd45]

I am at challenge i am to good for these lame techniques... :roll:

[sk8er1964]

I am at challenge i am to good for these lame techniques... :roll:

I don't know what "challenge" is, but I would suspect that even elite skaters use these "lame" techniques. (They would certainly help Sandhu, for example.) They are effective, and well used by successful skaters.

Hopefully you will never have to deal with a case of competition nerves, but if you do, listen to those "lame" techniques - they might just help you.

[TashaKat]

I am at challenge i am to good for these lame techniques... :roll:

So, instead of being offensive do you have any tips to help as you're just so good?

[skaternum]

I am at challenge i am to good for these lame techniques...
Oh, you're "challenged" all right! <snort>

[skaternum]

I hate to tell you this babeonblades, but this is normal. There are times when I wondered why they didn't cancel the competition because of the earthquake going on. Surely I wasn't the only one shaking like that? :)

The good news is that it gets better the more you compete. The breathing exercises and "pretend it's showtime" preparations are good, as are the cue words. Everybody has to find his/her own way of dealing with the nerves. Personally, I do better when I (1) acknowledge to myself that I am going to get nervous and it's okay, and (2) try to convince myself that it's just another run through of a program I've done 100 times, and to rely on my muscle memory. The key, though, is to keep competing until you figure out what works best for you.

A slight variation of the breathing thing, if you want to try it, is called Triangular Breathing. Kathy Casey teaches this. (1) Inhale slowly, taking 3 full counts to do so. (2) Hold your breath for 3 counts. (3) Exhale slowly, taking 3 full counts to do so. This physically helps relax you because it controls your tendancy to hyperventilate. It also mentally helps relax you because it gives your brain something to do (counting, controlling).

[sue123]

when i was younger and competed, i never experienced competition fright because i was too young to understand what a competition was all about. but i've performed in some pretty big venues with my flute/piano/oboe. And getting nervous i think helps you do better i think. It helps you focus, and adds a bit of pressure to make sure you do top notch. But of course, it is nice to calm those nerves a bit before you go on. What i've found that works is remembering that the people out there in the audience, they can't do half of what you're doing.

another thing i do, that i don't know if will work for you, is imagine the worst that could happen. When i played carnegie hall, I'd think, lets see, the absolute worse that could happen.... well, the stand could fall sending my music flying into the audience, i wouldn't be able to finish the show, the other 3 musicians wouldn't be able to finish, and so on and so on. then think how you'd recover from that. and usually, the worse the thing you imagine (ie- something unrealistic, like the ice cracking in half when you skate, or the zamboni spontaneously hitting the ice during your performance) the more you'd have to think of a recovery,the less time you have to be nervous.

good luck with everything.

[Chico]

Well, I tend to get "competition fright" when working with my coach. I think it's the being watched thing and being observed for mistakes and weak areas. I can't even tell you how many things that I do during practice that bite the dust when my coach shows up. (I've changed coaches recently.) But, my old coach used to scream, "I SAW THAT!" during practice ice at me. Sometimes, not always, this was the trick to getting me to do it during lessons. He knew I could, he saw me. I tend to get less so with my new coach, but I do have my days. A competition could kill me. Congrads for still being alive. =-) And I found, like mentioned, tha deep breathing and focusing on the skills helps. And during practice, listening to my coach.

Chico

[TimDsk879]

Try to put a practice day during the week where you pretend it is competition. Like on Fridays for example.

First do a dry practice run in the morning if you can, skate for 20 minutes, very conservatively. Then arrive at a later freestyle in the afternoon and get on the ice and warmup for 4 to five minutes. Get a stopwatch :-)

Then step off the ice for 8 minutes max, then do your program. This will help you, i guarantee it.

If you can't do the morning practice, it is ok to jump into the sudo-warmup off the bat when you get to the rink.

Enjoy, let us know what happens.

[icedancer2]

I don't compete, but one thing that we did at our rink before a test session helped me -- we set up a morning where everyone who was going to test went through their tests (Moves) while the rest of the group watched. It definitely gave you the feeling of being the only one out there while someone was watching you. I was amazed at how nervous I got skating in front of my friends, even though I skate with them all of the time. For that 10 minutes the ice was all mine, and they were watching me.

Of course they were very nice and encouraging and applauding and stuff, but I was amazed how stiff my legs felt and how odd it felt. So when I took the test the next week the feelings were quite similar, but I had felt them before, and it was okay.

Good luck to you. I admire your courage to compete!!

[Aussie Willy]

Welcome to the club.

Over the past year I have found I have less nerves when I compete. And it was at least 18 months since I had last competed!!

I think what has helped me is that because I am a driving instructor and take kids for driving tests I apply what I tell them to myself and as a result I found when I competed for the first time in a long time I was not as nervous as what I used to be. Also it is quite nerveracking for the kids taking their test so I have kind of gotten used to it after doing over 100 tests.

But seeing not everyone is a driving instructor I also find that I try to enjoy my music, look forward to the chance to have the ice to myself, do one thing at a time, instead of telling myself I am nervous I tell myself I am going to have a good time and also to push myself as the program goes along.

Another thing I found was once I got really nervous before I competed (deliberately did it) that by the time I got on the ice I had gotten rid of the nerves and skated pretty well.

Maybe take a video of your program next time you compete and when you rewatch it look at all the things you need to improve. Then the next time you compete think about those things instead of the nerves.

There are so many things that you can do to help yourself and most people here have some useful advice. But believe me, the more you do it the more you will learn to relax. Good luck for the future!!

[doubletoe]

[QUOTE=Aussie Willy]Welcome to the club.

Another thing I found was once I got really nervous before I competed (deliberately did it) that by the time I got on the ice I had gotten rid of the nerves and skated pretty well. QUOTE]

Actually, I have found that to be true as well! If I stay nervous and stressed out about it all day, then by the time I actually step onto the ice, I'm just tired of being nervous and stressed and I'm feeling like, "Oh, whatever, I'm just glad it will all be over with in a few minutes!" Then I'm not so nervous when I start my program!

[doubletoe]

So, instead of being offensive do you have any tips to help as you're just so good?

My bet is that this poster is a 13 year-old boy who doesn't skate. ;)

[TashaKat]

My bet is that this poster is a 13 year-old boy who doesn't skate. ;)

Well he/she/it (http://www.saunalahti.fi/sakarit/kerro-lisaa/troll.jpg) is definitely not going to survive on here with that attitude :)

Why DO people feel the need to lie about what they know and don't know? They've got to be pretty sad.

babeonblades - anyone who cares about what they're doing is going to get some form of nerves and, yes, it does get better. Always make sure that you're more than prepared for your competition. If you can almost skate your programme in your sleep, if you're comfortable in your costume, if you're fairly happy with all of the elements then your body will take over from the nerves more than if you're worrying about something before the nerves kick in.

Another thing close to my heart :) is NOT to change your routine too much. If you don't usually warm up then don't. If you don't usually stretch then don't. It took my coaches a while but once they realised that my 'warm up' was a quick circuit and then back to the barrier for a chat (they wouldn't let me off ;) ). It worked for me and I was happier than when I was made to do off-ice and then get on the ice and thrash around for however many minutes. My theory was that if I stuffed something up on the warm-up then I'd worry about it in my programme. I realise that NOT warming up doesn't work for most people but it does for me. What I'm trying to say is do what YOU feel comfortable with.

[lil-sk8r-chick5]

Try to do similations at your club.. like a day at a competition... do it like 1 every week or 2..... come half an hour befour you skate to warm up and stech... then get your skates on for your warm up on the ice and do a program... i found that that helps me alot!

i have skated in about 4 competitions in the last year and it seems every time i go to do one i don't seem nervous at all. like in off-ice warm ups and waiting to get on the ice but when i step onto the ice for our warm ups and then when i go to skate im so nervouse my legs are actually shaking and then my program really suffers in warm ups i can barely do any spins . does any one have any tips on how to make myself calm down? i know once i have more competition experience i t will be better but i really need help now :D thanks