Mental Training

[luna_skater]

My last two practices have been really crappy, and I think I've partially discovered why. On a good day, when I go into a move I am concentrating on all the things I'm supposed to be doing to make the move happen. Body position, timing, etc. On my bad days, everything I'm supposed to be concentrating on goes out the window, and the only words running through my head are "Don't fall."

This is incredibly frustrating, because I know it's so logical, but at the same time so difficult. Does anyone have any experience in "training your brain" to think a certain way?

[TimDavidSkate]

Until to this day, I still have to manage a good mentality in practice. At days when I am alone and no one is watching, I am a mess. But when a competitor is there overlooking, I do ok. I really myself for being that inconsistent. I kinda take things for granted. I sorta trust myself enough that I will do just fine when it comes time for the official practice, warmup, and competition.

[dbny]

On my bad days, everything I'm supposed to be concentrating on goes out the window, and the only words running through my head are "Don't fall."

The fact that you are thinking "Don't fall" indicates that you are feeling fear, which is a big monkey wrench in the works. I'm very familiar with this problem. I've been flying though a move that I enjoy and had a vision of a major spill enter my brain, whereupon I stop flying and start klutzing around the rink. One thing that helps me is to carry a very small MP3 player and listen to songs with a good beat that get me moving and feeling good. Something else that helps is to be on the ice as much as possible. Even if you cannot practice, just being on the ice is helpful.

[nerd_on_ice]

A while back I read this article (http://www.headgames.ws/articles/OvercomeFearCch.htm) on this exact subject. Here (http://www.jonatmat.zen.co.uk/jonatmat/Nutrition/Fear.htm) is another good one with examples of "mental choreography" statements. Both articles concentrate on gymnastics but you can see the ideas would easily adapt to skating. These days I am constantly badgering my coach to tell me what I should be thinking about as I'm doing each move! :D

From my experience, hearing upbeat music helps a lot, as does staying out there on the ice even if things are going badly. If I get frustrated I'll stop what I'm working on, do a couple laps of stroking to clear my mind out, then go on to something else and come back to the problem area later. That way I don't leave the rink discouraged.

The longer I skate, the more I think mental toughness is the real crux of this sport. I am improving in this area, but it's definitely a challenge!

[dbny]

Excellent articles, nerd_on_ice. I love the Mental Choreography concept. I think we probably all do it to some extent, but formalizing it and making it a part of practice and performance is something I am definitely going to try.

[luna_skater]

Those articles are excellent, I'm definitely going to try that!

[sue123]

i actually read somewhere that if you're constantly thinking of something with a "don't", like don't fall, your brain doesn't fully understand the meaning of don't and all you register is fall, so you're more likely to fall if you think don't fall as oppossed to stay upright.

[Isk8NYC]

Keep a log for a month. Write down what you eat, how much you sleep, and how you exercise. Any catastophes or accidents. And, for you ladies, your cycles. (Maybe for some of you guys, too. My brother-in-law says he gets cranky every month from living with three women.)

If you keep an eye on it, you can spot patterns. I can't skate when I'm tired. I need more sleep toward the end of the month. I shouldn't eat (just making this up) McDonald's before practice.

It really works. Plus, it puts you in control of your attitude.

[luna_skater]

Keep a log for a month. Write down what you eat, how much you sleep, and how you exercise. Any catastophes or accidents. And, for you ladies, your cycles. (Maybe for some of you guys, too. My brother-in-law says he gets cranky every month from living with three women.)

If you keep an eye on it, you can spot patterns. I can't skate when I'm tired. I need more sleep toward the end of the month. I shouldn't eat (just making this up) McDonald's before practice.

It really works. Plus, it puts you in control of your attitude.

Oh, I definitely know lots of my patterns!

I have my head very in control when competing (synchro) because I've been doing it forever. But since I've been taking private lessons, I've had to work on all the things *alone* that I was always scared to do because I'm so used to holding on to others. I can do anything in a line. I have my brain trained to think that when I'm holding on to others, I won't fall down, and when I'm by myself, I will.

But I think some of the tricks mentioned in those articles will work great, because now that I think about it, I did sort of use them in a way when I was working on my European. I couldn't get the rhythm of the three-turns until I started using a few key words in my head to replace the actual counts. It worked great, and my brain was busy thinking about something and didn't have time to worry about falling.

[mikawendy]

A while back I read this article (http://www.headgames.ws/articles/OvercomeFearCch.htm) on this exact subject. Here (http://www.jonatmat.zen.co.uk/jonatmat/Nutrition/Fear.htm) is another good one with examples of "mental choreography" statements. Both articles concentrate on gymnastics but you can see the ideas would easily adapt to skating. These days I am constantly badgering my coach to tell me what I should be thinking about as I'm doing each move! :D

Thanks for the links, nerd_on_ice! It's interesting--one of the mental choreography statements is "I can do this," which is exactly the same thing I wrote in my skating notebook several times in the weeks leading up to the pre-bronze MIF test that I recently took. I also have been doing mental choreography without knowing it in my notebook--for each element I do in a lesson, I write one or two things to remember about it, especially for moves. I write all the corrections and things to think about, but I usually summarize with one or two key words per element.

Strange thing is that a few nights before my test, I dreamed that my coach was asking me to start working on Intermediate MIF! (Those of you who know me know I'm not ANYWHERE near that level. :D But maybe my subconscious was preparing my confidence for the test.)

[pennybeagle]

There's a book out there titled _The Mental Edge_ by Kenneth Baum that a friend of mine lent me once. I recall that it was pretty good (and short), with a lot of motivational stories and practical tips. If anything, I remember the following points:

Practice like you compete (with the "mental choreography" in place)

Tell yourself the same "cue word" every time you do an element. Lately, I've been thinking "lift through" as I step into my axel, and it's been working (instead of over-thinking with: stay over the edge, step up, get the knee through, over the right side...) Basically, it's too much for your brain to do in that split second. If in practice, think through the element before you do it, visualize it, and then go for it with confidence.

Do a lot of mental practice off the ice, using those cue words. Visualize yourself doing the jump, spin, or what have you. Visualize in slow motion. Visualize in real time. See yourself from your point of view. From a spectator's point of view. Listen to the music (or the sounds of the ice) in your head. Smell the ice. Basically, re-create everything in your head. This takes a lot of work, actually. Baum's argument is that your brain, when trained this way, does not distinguish between "actually" doing the skill and visualizing the skill.

There were other things in there about relaxing and competing, but I can't remember it all. I will say, though, that visualizing DOES work, if you do it well and you do it consistently. (Hmm...maybe I need to start doing this again...)

All of this is easier said than done, of course. Personally, I know I have a tendency to panic and then all that mental training goes out the window... :giveup:

[samba]

Luna Skater: looking at that "I'm going to fall" thought having read your profile you are quite young so hopefully it should get less and less, starting much older is far worse as you tend to think more about it and your courage goes and of course a bad fall will reinforce the problem but I think given time it should get better for you but hopefully never completely go away, afterall its what keeps us all alive!!

[luna_skater]

Luna Skater: looking at that "I'm going to fall" thought having read your profile you are quite young so hopefully it should get less and less, starting much older is far worse as you tend to think more about it and your courage goes and of course a bad fall will reinforce the problem but I think given time it should get better for you but hopefully never completely go away, afterall its what keeps us all alive!!

Given time? I've been skating for 20 years. ;)

Tried out some of the mental tricks over the past week and I think it did help on the ice today.

[bladebabe69]

I know somtimes it is hard to think positive but the only way you will ever be able to be a successful skater and be good is to conquer the fear of im gunna fall i used to have the same problem believe it or not i used to be scared to do axels and the thing is when u are skating dont say I cant do it because it doesnt get u anywhere it makes u lose what you are doing right in the jump or spin and we all have our bad days but you cant let it get to u i used to always let it get to me but then i realized this is stupid cuz i kno i can and the thing is if u do it on ur good days then u kno u can do it and just think about it and dont over think it like wen u kno u can just do it because otherwise all the bad thoughts come to your head and yea i hope i helped

[doubletoe]

I have specific technique cue words for every element I do. Whether I'm feeling afraid or confident, I ALWAYS say every cue word in my head while I execute my more challenging elements. That keeps me focused on exactly what I'm doing *right now* and the more afraid I am, the more I force myself to focus on my cue words. If I have to, I'll walk through the element slowly, saying the cue words before actually attempting it for real, but the point is always to get myself to focus on the cue words and not let any other thoughts into my head, regardless of whether I complete the element successfully. This is particularly useful during a competition, when it's easy to get scared or distracted.