Consistency

[karlusha]

:frus: :frus: :frus:
I seem to be stuck in a rut and cannot really move forward with anything because one day I will do well and the next I cannot do anything!

Is this normal? Am I not practicing enough? A few weeks ago I told my coach that I was going to practice 6 hours a day and he said that wouldn't help me.

Currently I practice, on average, 2 hours/day but I take Saturday and Sunday off. I do gymnastics and some off ice stuff as well.

I just don't get it and it is so frustrating! I know it is hard to really say without seeing me skate on a regular basis, but I don't know what to do. If I am having an off day, what is the point of continuing with my practice when I can't do anything and I just get so frustrated at myself that I am in tears the whole time?

Yeah so I am sure I am not making any sense but I guess ... is this normal? What do you do?

Thanks!

[doubletoe]

:lol: :lol: :lol: Welcome to the world of skating! You will find that even the best skaters in the world have the same complaint, so don't worry, you're in good company!

[Isk8NYC]

Start keeping a log of what you eat, exercise (on- and off-ice) and how much you sleep. Eating right and getting enough rest is critical to having a good skate. You'll soon figure out what the right balance is for you; everyone is different.

If it's a day-to-day issue, it could be fatigue. If you really wear yourself out one day, you'll be weak the next day. Can you rearrange your schedule to skate 3 hours every other day? You might find you skate better with every other day off. Also, make sure you include some aerobic activity (biking, running, walking, or similar) to build up your stamina. It's really critical to success and consistent performance.

Focus on doing each element by the book. Often, skaters get sloppy on some day and can't repeat the prior day's success because they're dropping their shoulder, pre-rotating the jumps, cheating the landings, etc. They keep "Flinging and praying" that they'll get lucky and do it right. Better to take your time and do it right - it pays off in consistency since you don't reinforce bad habits into your muscle memory.

You could also be trying to work on too many things at one session. I know that some of my students get excited when we start working on higher-level spins and try to do five different spins every session. As a result, they only practice each spin 3 or 4 times, which isn't enough. Try using the "Rule of 10" - practice a few key elements PROPERLY 10 times during the practice session.
(For example: Mon-Scratch and Sit Spins, Wed-Camels and camel-sits, Friday-Sit and sit-scratch spins.)

Ice time is too expensive to waste. When you find yourself getting frustrated, give the "Rule of 10" a few good tries, but just let the higher elements go if you're really overwhelmed. Work on things that ALWAYS need improvement and practice: crossovers, edges, turns. I tend to start doing serpentine figures and paragraph threes toward the end of a session when I'm too tired to jump but still have time left on my freestyle sessions. I always need to practice crossovers on the circles, too. These things are vital to good skating, but require more concentration than exertion.

Good luck!

[blackmanskating]

This happens to all of us! Man there are some days that I am spot on!!! I land almost every jump I attempt and I flow across the ice. Then there are some days I skate like Frankenstein and I couldn't land a double jump if my life depended on it. My coach promises that consistency comes with time, repetition, and patience. My coach only has me do 3 attempts of each element before I move on to the next. We break the elements up into specific days so I know which ones I work on. I don't focus on the same element constantly especially if you are falling in the process. All it does is teach you how to fall. We gradually improve all the aspects of skating at the same time. But every person is different. You'll get the hang of it. Stick with it.


BlackManSkating

[jazzpants]

If consistency was easy to get, skating would be easy now, would it??? ;)

I just finally had a good skating day just yesterday where my loop and flips came back in spades! All this was after a couple of weeks where my loops and my flips went on vacation. I had all sorts of factors that would screw up those two jumps. Fatigue, lack of sleep, ice conditions, weight gain, weather/energy changes, back pains... you name it, it does change it.

What did I do that worked? Well, the Zamboni being fixed certain helped!!! :P The fact that I've sent Auntie Flo packing on Friday worked too! But I'm glad I listen to my trainer to take the day off and not do much yesterday. (He always worries that I don't eat enough and don't rest enough.) My body was exhausted and needed the rest all of Saturday!

But who knows about tonight... :roll:

[SynchroSk8r114]

:lol: :lol: :lol: Welcome to the world of skating! You will find that even the best skaters in the world has the same complaint, so don't worry, you're in good company!

Yep, you've definitely got some company here. Doubles one day, the next...well, not so much. It's a bummer, but hey - it's the skating world!

For now, try and be patient. At least that's what my coach tells me. Of course, that's easier said than done, but don't worry...everything works out in the end. Always does...;)

[sue123]

You are in good company. There are days where absolutely nothing works, where my legs just don't want to move. Other days, I feel so good, i could do no wrong. Sometimes, taking time off for a little helps. Could also be what you're eating. If I was skating in the morning, I used to eat a bagel for breakfast. And on those days, I would have a bad skating day. So now, if I skate n the morning, I would have some oatmeal, and then eat again afterwards. Works muhc better for me.

[doubletoe]

By the way, it does help to keep a skating notebook, where, after every practice or lesson you write down what elements you got working that day and what you did to make them work. That way, you can look back on the days when a particular element isn't working and see if you can find some "fixes" in your notes.

[karlusha]

Thanks to all for the replies and reassurance...makes me feel better (: Thanks for all the tips as well - I will give them a try. Hopefully tomorrow will be better than today!

[SkatingOnClouds]

Everyone has off days and if we're lucky we get those days when everything goes right. Mostly, for me, it's a mixture.

What I think is that as we get better, then our worst flip (loop, axel, whatever) will still be landed. Might not be as much height, distance, and flow as on a good day, but it will still be landed. And same with spins, that on a bad day our worst sit spin won't travel as much as it used to on a bad day, and will still be recognisable as that spin.

I'm not explaining it very well, but what I'm trying to say is I think that consistency is not about getting it perfect every day, but getting it okay every day, even on bad days - narrowing the gap between your best and worst. I think when you can do that, then you truly "have" that element.

Or am I being unrealistic?

[chowskates]

I'm not explaining it very well, but what I'm trying to say is I think that consistency is not about getting it perfect every day, but getting it okay every day, even on bad days - narrowing the gap between your best and worst. I think when you can do that, then you truly "have" that element.

Or am I being unrealistic?

That's a good way of looking at it.

Speaking of unrealistic, I once said that:
"I want jumps consistent so that even if I don't feel like doing the jump, even if my blade slips in take-off, even if there is a rut I end up in, the jump will be landed (i.e. no falls, no touchdowns, etc). It may not be the nicest jump, but it should happen!"
:roll:

[doubletoe]

Everyone has off days and if we're lucky we get those days when everything goes right. Mostly, for me, it's a mixture.

What I think is that as we get better, then our worst flip (loop, axel, whatever) will still be landed. Might not be as much height, distance, and flow as on a good day, but it will still be landed. And same with spins, that on a bad day our worst sit spin won't travel as much as it used to on a bad day, and will still be recognisable as that spin.

I'm not explaining it very well, but what I'm trying to say is I think that consistency is not about getting it perfect every day, but getting it okay every day, even on bad days - narrowing the gap between your best and worst. I think when you can do that, then you truly "have" that element.

Or am I being unrealistic?

I always think of skating progress like the stock market. When you look at it from day to day, or even week to week, the value goes up and down, seemingly without any particular pattern. However, if you look at the trend over a year, you will see a gradual increase in your skating ability, so that your average days are now as good as your best days last year. Of course you're also adding new elements, which you won't be doing as well, but just doing new elements is progress, too!

[teresa]

I like the way you say things doubletoe. =-)

teresa

[SkatingOnClouds]

I like the way you say things doubletoe. =-)

teresa

Me Too! Much better than my explanation :)

[blackmanskating]

I always think of skating progress like the stock market. When you look at it from day to day, or even week to week, the value goes up and down, seemingly without any particular pattern. However, if you look at the trend over a year, you will see a gradual increase in your skating ability, so that your average days are now as good as your best days last year. Of course you're also adding new elements, which you won't be doing as well, but just doing new elements is progress, too!

Doubletoe, I really like that analogy. Very insightful.

BlackManSkating

[doubletoe]

Doubletoe, I really like that analogy. Very insightful.

BlackManSkating

Thanks. :) If only my skating analogies had been so well received in business school, LOL! (My "scratch spin theory of project management" got me nothing but blank stares in Organization Theory class :roll: ).

By the way, Karlusha, there is a good reason to stay on the ice when you are having a "bad" day. On days when our spins or jumps are working fine, we rarely understand why they are working, we just take it for granted. So it's only on the days when an element *isn't* working that we can try different fixes for it and figure out which correction works and why. Then you can use those fixes to get it working next time, too, and really show the "bad day" who's boss. :)

[Sonic]

That really makes sense, Doubletoe.

If I have a number of bad skates in a row though, I get myself all stressed and seem unable to think rationally: instead of 'Okay, it's not working, so let's try and figure out why', it's becomes 'Oh s***w it, my skating just ain't working, so why even try?' This has happened to me recently - partly due to outside circumstances, and my way of dealing with this is to take some time out - stay well away from the rink until I'm in a better frame of mind and ready to start acting like a grown-up.

The last time I said I was gonna take time out, it lasted a whole four days before I was itching to skate and couldn't resist any longer. This time, I'm taking at least a week out, though I have to say I hear the rink calling again already...albeit faintly. I know I'll be in a better frame of mind when I go back and 'remembering' that I skate purely because I love it, not because I feel I 'should' skate and 'should be' making progress.

S xxx