So, since I am new and January will be my debut at Wyandotte, competing Bronze...hoping to make Nationals...

What are some suggestions and any advice you may have for stepping on the ice for the first time in adult competition. What did you do to remain calm? What did you observe? Like/Dislike?

I don't think I manage to stay calm... But my coach is great for distracting me in the build up time. I'm paranoid about missing my slot so end up with boots on too early, but we'll go off into a quiet corner away from the action and just discuss life (you know - not skating!) and the distraction helps keep the nerves under control.
And the key bit for stepping onto the ice, is that I remind myself that I spend too long complaining about people getting in the way, and for once there's no one to get in the way and I need to enjoy that.

I also like remembering that HA! I get the ice all to myself!!

Key for me is to enjoy it. After all, there's no fixing I can do out there once I'm competing, so I might as well have fun. If I bomb, so be it.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

I listen to my music on my iPod; take tiny-tiny sips of water; mess with my makeup (mostly the lip stuff); and keep my warm-up going (lifting knees, pacing, lite stretching) until the official warm-up. After that, I be sure I'm right there and know how many are ahead of me; I also scope out where the judges are and make sure I look at them before I start and when I finish (small bow/curtsy to the judges & audience to be polite).

Also, I make sure my last bathroom trip has been taken care of, about 30-45 minutes before I am scheduled to skate. Then I adjust my costume, if necessary.

Breathe & focus!!!! And don't forget to have fun!!!!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Like others may have said, it isn't always possible to remain calm, but you can still make your body do what it needs to do as long as you remember to breathe, stay focused on timing and technique for each element and stay down into the ice. Here are the tips that probably helped me the most:
- Practice your preparation routine in the weeks leading up to your competition.
- Check the schedule when you get to the rink and make sure you know which group is up and what number skater they are on. Sometimes competitions will end up running early and yours could start ahead of schedule.
- Stay warm before getting onto the ice and keep your legs moving so your knees don't stiffen up.
- Take slow, deep breaths before stepping onto the ice for your warmup and your actual skate.
- Focus on keeping your butt low to the ice during your entire program so your knees stay bent (because knees stiffen up when you're nervous!).
- Don't do anything differently in competition than you do in practice or it will mess you up. Do not try to skate faster, do not try to jump bigger, etc. etc.
- Give yourself a gold medal for just getting out there the first time!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I'll be making my adult competition debut in a little less than 3 weeks. I guess I'm a little different because I have many years of music auditions under my belt which has helped with the nerves and staying calm. Honestly, it is almost an adrenaline rush to be out there competing. (I have only ever done one standard track competition) Remember why you were sucked into this crazy sport! I have a couple quotes that I really like and apply really well in these situations. (I might have taken some from other posters here, but I think they are really beneficial.)

"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives." William Dement

Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become, the hours of practice, the teammates who believed in you, and the fans who cheered for you, is the little girl who put on her first pair of skates—who fell in love with the sport, and never looked back. Skate for her. (I don't know who wrote this one. I think I found it in another poster signature.)

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

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~Always Dream!~

Check my progress at www.freewebs.com/sk8tegirl06

I agree with what the others have said and here is one more idea.

a few weeks before the competition plan your warm up. such as stroke around, do each jump in order it is in your program, then do each spin. if you have trouble with an element go on to the next one. repeating it right away will most likely cause you to repeat the error. after you have done all your elements, go back to the difficult one if there is time.

be sure you know when you skate in relationship to the warm up. if you are the first skater after the warmup, you probably don't want to skate full out for the entire warm up.

after the warm up and until you skate, keep warm and keep moving until it is your time to skate.

good luck and let us know how it goes.
Linda

Have someone there with your planned out schedule in hand (what time you need to arrive, start warming up, start getting skates on, etc) to make sure you're where you need to be at the right time and that you don't feel rushed, that your hairpiece is in securely, and to hold your warm-up jacket, tissues, water, guards, etc while you're skating. If your coach is there with you and isn't running around with other skaters too, he/she can help you. If you're competing coachless (most of us do), grab a friend.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

Breathe. Focus. Practice running through your programme after only 2.5 minutes on the ice warming up. Have a dress rehearsal to make sure you're comfortable skating your programme in what you plan to wear.

And on the day, remember you can't control how other people skate, and you can't control what the judges are going to think. All you can do is relax and enjoy having a chance to run through your programme on clean, empty ice, with an audience rooting for you and hoping you'll do great!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Open and close the 4-6 minute warm up with an element that's comfortable (doesn't have to be the same thing). After I stroke, I always do a back scratch as it's very comfortable, looks good and is a foundation element for everything else in skating (loop, flip, Lutz, Axel, 2S, 2T, Change combo spins, fly spins) in my program. I always close the warm up with a bauer or spread eagle to leave myself a good impression.

I would like advice on this as well because I am incredibly nervous about my first competition. I think I put too much pressure on myself. I feel that pressure on Moves and Free tests too.




BlackManSkating

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Proud to be one of the few black men out on the ice

Goals
Pass my Silver Moves Test
Finish Choreography for Silver Program
Land a Clean Double Toe and Double Lutz
Work on Double Axel and Rockers
Speed up back Camel

Here are a couple things that help me:
-Breathing...important yes...inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts. Repeat that cycle.
-Be comfortable with your warmup routine ahead of time
-Smile and have fun!!! Enjoy the experience...it's just a sport and not the end of the world if you fall or don't place. Now if you were performing open heart surgery then that would be a different story..hehe.
-Even if you fall or make a mistake, DO NOT STOP and go back. Just keep going as if it never happened.
-Realize how far you've come to get to this point and now competiting...that's a great accomplishment!! Just being there is a wonderful thing! Don't get all up in your head about winning or how other skaters perform. Just skate your programme as best as you can, smile periodically, and play to the audience/judges....thats all you can do.
-If you end up not doing as well as you expected, just recognize those problem areas and work on them in your next practices....your coach will probably help you with that.

Best of luck to you

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[i]Beauty May Be in the Eye of the Beholder
But passion is in the heart of a skater.[/I]

I'm doing my first ever competition the end of January so I am following this thread with a lot interest. Thanks everyone for your great advice.

Thank you everyone for your info!!! It will definitely come in handy. I can't wait to compete but am also nervous about it. The competitiveness in me will come out...but that's me. I am looking forward to the new experience that will come out of this.

one thing I think is very important if your skating in a new rink is to do some mental imagery when you first get there. So your body isn't as tense skating in a new place, spend some time up in the seats and visualize your whole solo on the ice and figure out where you will start, which direction etc., Visualize yourself doing a perfect solo.. good luck

Depending on your music, here's a suggestion: Try not to start on the very first note. I found that starting right away made me even more nervous (try practing this technique first on a session and see how it feels).

After taking your position on center ice, inhale and exhale very slowly with your lips slightly open. Usually there's a 10-second(?) lead before your music starts. Again, try this technique first on a session; also try to smile.

Get into your music. Show emotion. If it's "happy" music, smile; if it's "sad", relax your facial expression. Actually, you can practice your emotions off-ice, at home while playing your music as a walk-through, in front of a mirror.

Good luck.

My first adult competition was last night. Apparently the best way to not get nervous is for the competition to run half an hour early.... There was no time to even think about anything. I got there about an hour before my event was supposed to start, checked in at the front desk and headed to the locker room. Thankfully I put my skates on to walk through the program out in the lobby, while I was doing that my coach goes to check in with the ice monitor. She then starts to wave at me to come to the entrance...your warm up is next...uh ok. Thankfully I was not first and had a little time to get myself together, but when in competition 1:30 seems to go by so fast and before you know it, I'm up.

The program went really well, started out strong and powerful. I even remembered most of the footwork sequence, granted I almost ran into the wall right before my spiral sequence, but all in all I was very happy and ended up 3rd overall. The biggest surprise of all was in the ordinals, I had two 3rds and one 1st Needless to say, I think AOSS has claimed another victim....

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~Always Dream!~

Check my progress at www.freewebs.com/sk8tegirl06

Congratulations! Glad you had fun.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Yay!!!! Congrats!

Hi

Yeah, congrats on winning the competition!!!!!!!!

londonicechamp

Thanks! But I didn't win the competition I came in third, so bronze medal. It was judged on 6.0 system, so each skater received ordinals instead of points. One judge ranked me first, which was a pleasant surprise. However, since the other two judges ranked me third that is where I ended up. Maybe first place at the next competition in January

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~Always Dream!~

Check my progress at www.freewebs.com/sk8tegirl06

Yay!! Congratulations!!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I do this -exactly- ALL the time, every time. Even if it is a familiar rink. I usually like to do it when I first arrive in whatever town I'm competing in. Sometimes even b4 I get to the hotel. Just the thing I do! lol. Drives my family nuts!

I also check out the locker rooms, decide which one I want to use. Check out where the bathrooms are, snack bar, where the awards and results will be posted. And generally...get the 'smell' of the place. That's what I said...the smelllllllllll. I take off my jacket to get a feel for how cold it is. (Even though it can be different the day I compete). Sights, sounds and smell of the ice. Yup. I'm disturbed. Yup.