Interesting article about competition nerves from Trevor Laak's SkateCoach Blog.

http://skatecoach.wordpress.com/2008...igure-skaters/

Kay

__________________
Visit my figure skating journal
http://www.skatejournal.com/

I disagree with his premise that you have to get to the root pyschological cause, I think it's a biological reaction.

j

I read some of the replies and thought this one made sense to me especialy on why I am much more nervous if taking a test than in competing.

Intrinsic goals such as (Enjoy the experience! Have fun during the performance!) and mastery goals (”Learn from the experience/focus on what you have to do) helped more than performance goals(impress others/have a perfect performance).

since in a test you do need to have a near- perfect perfomance to pass and you dont' have music to lose yoursef in and enjoy and you do need to impress the judge.

I don't usually feel particularly nervous in a competition until the moment I step on to the ice at which point the legs turn to jelly no matter what so think there is something physiological goign on as much as mental. Although the only times I dont' get the jelly legs to the same degree is when performing in a show but then you are in a group and it is much easier. Even competign in group things I dont get nervous like I do if I do anything on my own.

Actors get stage fright even if they know they are the best in the business so it must be quite a normal thing and if you get it you are unlikey to be able to cure it by taking away a cause - it just doesn't work like that. You do have to learn how to cope with it and lessen it's effects.

Interesting article - I believe this passage covers it for me:

Embarrassment is a form of shame or a painful feeling arising from something perceived as dishonorable. When stated in those terms, it’s hard to believe skaters think of their sub-par performances as “dishonorable.” But it’s almost certainly the fear of embarrassment that causes them to be nervous.

I'd probably be nervous anyway but that is compounded by the fact that I've sat in the stands and overheard some hateful comments made by skating parents about adult skaters.

then it's a horrible cycle - you're nervous, you misstep...you misstep, you get more nervous, you convince yourself you look like a fool....

eh

__________________
Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

I agree with Looplover yet the crazy thing is the nervousness about making an embarrassment of myself end up causing me to do just that!

Nicki

__________________
www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

Ah maybe another reason why competitions don't make me as nervous as tests (still nervous but not as bad ) because in comps I dont think much about the audience. Particularly if they are just skating mums rather than skaters, as I can remind myself that they can't do it at all so that sort of comment does not affect me.

For me it's more a case of wanting to show them the best I can do, although I know I can't always do it that well in a non-comp or test situation so it's the worry that the 'not so good version of the element' wil be the one to show up rather than the good version. Not sure that makes sense but it does to me.

Personally, it is embarrassment that sets me off...my very first competition (at 12 years old), I was doing a spiral and completely belly flopped It was all down hill from there.

And now as an adult, I was so nervous leading up to my last test...but when I got to the rink (and had my twix bar) I said to myself, there's no use being nervous, if I pass, I pass, if I don't, I don't, as long as I skate the way I know I can skate, I will be happy. And while I didn't pass, I skated very well. But, I was still hella nervous because I kept questioning why I was doing that after 9 years away...and trying to test Intermediate moves at that and seeing the younger skaters doing the moves, as I perceived it, better. But those are the mental games I know that I play with myself...and confidence (in anything) is not my strong suit...

Also, that last test, there was a lot of pressure because many of the people at work knew about it and I knew that I was going to have to tell them that I did not pass.

We'll see how I do this Sunday...I'm testing both my Intermediate moves again and trying my pre-juv freestyle...

I bellyflopped on my biellmann spiral in my first competition. It was a very hot april, I was sunbathing in my camouflage bikini all week afterwards and my hipbones and rib cage were in green colors to match!
I was showing them off to everybody! I was proud of my "battle scars".

I exchanged my forward biellmann for a back biellmann this year so I wouldn't worry about it. I do the forward one only in practice. I think I'll have issues with doing it in competition in the future, LOL, my ribs hurt for 3 months after!

I am so glad that I am not the only one who went through that pain...I wasn't quite showing off those battle scars, but I have a wonderful bruise right now on my right knee that I have definitely displayed....

Maybe it is for some but I think for many it is a self-induced emotional state resulting from pressure they place on themselves.

So far my "pre-competition nervousness" all happens a week before and by competition time I am in "the perfect head-space" - gawd I hope it STAYS that way

__________________
Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Ummmm.....huh? I'm not good with psychobabble.

I get nervous because of fear-I'm afraid of falling on my butt and getting laughed at. Doesn't that happen to everyone at some point in there life, and not just with skating?

__________________
deannathegeek
"It's like trying to do a toe loop in hockey skates-you have to have the right tools for the job."

I think I agree with this. I'm not nervous because I think I will be embarassed. My PB MITF test I was SO ready, I could do it in my sleep. I was completly prepared and totally unnervous- I knew I'd pass, and if I didn't, it didn't matter at all, I'd do it again later. I was testing at a different club, the only people who knew me were my coach and my husband and I didn't need to impress either. I just needed to skate the same patterns I had everyday for months. NO nerves at all. As soon as I touched the ice, I could barely stand up. My legs were shaking, twitching- it was awful. I thankfully didn't forget the patterns, but I only did 3/4 of the figure 8 fwd crossovers. The nerves were a biological response- mentally I wasn't nervous.

I have a competition coming up- once again, I'm not nervous about it. I'm excited to skate my program. I really enjoyed the exhibition I did and can't wait to have the ice to myself again. If I fall flat on my face- so what- the elites do it all the time! Skaters fall. BUT- my heart starts pounding when I even READ about tests and competitions. I have NO pressure on myself, no fear of embarrassment. My brain is acting how I want it to, my body is not responding the same way.


That said- my nervousness over an upcoming synchro competition probably DOES result from what this article talks about. If I mess up there, I let my team down. But for solo competitions- if I mess up, I don't really care, so the nerves are not a result of potential for embarassment.

__________________
-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I am another one who gets more nervous on tests than competitions, mainly because near perfection is required on a test, but in competition you are only competing against other imperfect human beings, not some unyielding standard. The way I see it, there is no real "failure" in competition.

I also think each skater has a different reason for being nervous. For me, it probably has a lot to do with the amount of precious time and money I spend to prepare myself for a test or important competition. Knowing that I have an upside-down debt-to-savings ratio thanks to my skating expenses makes it pretty hard to take it lightly or believe that this is "just for fun".

In any case, nerves are a function of that "fight-or-flight" response that kicked in whenever our hunter-gatherer ancestors were in an important situation, i.e., escaping from an attacking saber-toothed tiger or chasing down the deer that would feed the family this week. Our biology has not evolved to differentiate between those important situations that require adrenaline and those that would be hurt by it (like disconnecting a ticking bomb or trying to land an axel in competition, LOL!).

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

That's a very good point doubletoe!

There's actually three basic types of reaction people get to dangerous situations: fight, flight, and freeze, the latter being only a small part of the population. I'd be interested to know whether there's a difference in how competition nerves are handled by the fight group, by the flight group and by the freeze group?

Nerves oftentimes give me an edge to perform better than usually, and I'm mostly a fighter - basically I only turn to the flight strategy after handing out a few punches and kicks. I wonder if that may somehow be connected?

Yes, I would say the "fight" types would do better in competition than the "flight" types, but in a fine muscle coordination sport like this one, any kind of adrenaline rush is bad unless you are really good at channeling it. If you get yourself too pumped up--even if it's a positive pump--you can overshoot a jump or spin entry and actually flip yourself over (yes, I've done it, LOL!).

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

I skate really well when I'm pissed off - I haven't tried that yet for a competition, but maybe I should just make sure I take work home before my upcoming competition? Takes away the nerves! Makes you attack the ice!

__________________
Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

No. I'm not at all afraid of making a fool of myself. And logically speaking, I know that even failing a test is not the end of the world, but I get nervous anyway. It used to be much much worse. That's why I don't believe getting to any root causes and trying to logically argue with any "reasons" why you are nervous are a waste of time. It's not rational, it's biological, it's an adrenalin thing, which is why I think the very techniques he was poo-poohing are going to me more effective than any exploration of "root causes"

And just getting used to it. To me the thing that helped the most with nerves was practicing things exactly how they would go in a test or competition, practicing a warm up and then doing my program, without gloves, ect.

j

Interesting that Trevor has this site. He used to compete at AN back in the day!

I always get really nervous for tests and competition, and I think moreso for competition because it's do or die. I don't feel that way about tests, because if you fail you can take it again, but there is still a level of performance anxiety.

Funny how a lot of times we get nervous because we want to do well, but when we get nervous we tend to stiffen up and thus kinda sabotage ourselves!

Yay me too. Recently I was really mad at my coach (also daughters coach) for suddenly dropping Monday lessons (one of daughters) without warning. I told him I was cross and that every time I landed a jump it was mentally ON HIS HEAD!!! They were the best jumps I've ever done, so now he says he will just make me really mad before any competition

I'm not sure I can express my anxiety about performing, testing or competing. I'm big on control and none of these activities put me in the position to have this. As an adult, who didn't skate as a child, all these events are new and uncomfortable. What I'm unsure about and can't control gives me tons of stress. I've made the decision to skate for me and my coach. I have thought about it and maybe someday I'll make the journey. I find that I'm willing to push myself in things I'm not comfortable with when I want to. In this position I feel like I'm in control. Anyhow, for me, I agree that maybe nerves can come from hidden issues. I also agree that your coach can be a positive or negative influence and how you handle skating stress.

teresa

I've realized that I have few different stages of nervousness. Pre-competition nerves usually make me stiffer than usual in the last month of practise leading up to the competition. These just feel odd and comes in various amounts but I manage to get through program fine enough.

There's the semi-bad competition /performance nerves. I get this for a few rare competitions, tests and post-competition performance

Then theres the bad competition/performance nerves. I get this for a performance, exhibition at a new location, and most of my competitions. This is the worst full blown I can't feel my edges type and I don't feel like I'm in control of my core. I landed one axel once in that state and I don't know how I ever did it. The next few times I landed my axel was in the semi-bad state.

Why do I get nervous? I know its partially due to personal high expectations of what I want to achieve, in general, most performances with lower risk elements leave me less nervous than performances with high risk elements. However, I've had programs with lower risk elements encountering the same kind of nerve results aka stiffness, jelly knees wooden legs. So there is something else not quite present in my concious mind that gives me nerves as well.

Alot of other things seem to come into play apart from that. A new location/unfamiliar surroundings makes me nervous too. The inability to discharge the nerves before the competition also makes me nervous. I'm used to having a cold sweat heart pounding episode a day or two before competitions where I get over it. When I miss that and am unusually calm on those two days I get nervous over that fact. Long time away from competition also brings nerves... there must be some kind of "learning" factor that stays with the body on how to control it?
Also, I would suppose its my basic character... my automatic reaction to alot of stressful situations off the ice also result in nerves, so it translates onto the ice as well.


Another note is that once I'm nervous and the biological problem is there: stiffness, core out of control, then no matter how aware I am of it (and painfully aware too) Its a struggle trying to keep those limbs under control, which tend to complicate things.

Surprisingly or not... I still really do enjoy skating with it and despite it. I rarely get a whole program with that, but any moments in which I manage to break past those nerves and perform, even for a split second... with that kind of adrenaline going... its just amazing

__________________
~
Tidesong

No-one has made me mad enough at a skating comp yet to try this out, but I do know it helped me in my first orchestral performance as an adult. When I arrived for our warm up, everyone was already there, and the conductor told me off for being late. Well I'd checked with him about the time the week before cos I had to arrange a baby sitter, so I was really angry with him. After a while, I realised I had lost my nervousness, cos I had something to focus my energies on.

Maybe I'll have to find someone to get mad at before my next comp.

__________________
Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Maybe I am digging too deep. I do not frequent comps, so I have not hear too much gossip in the stands. However, I cannot help but wonder what the comments are. PM me if you feel uncomfortable posting.

Kay

__________________
Visit my figure skating journal
http://www.skatejournal.com/

The last time I competed at the British Adult Championships, in 2006, I was really angry with the judges at what I saw as over-harsh marking (with hindsight, I expect they were right, but one of the judges had given me what I had thought was more appropriate marks, so why didn't the other two?) Anyway, went out there to skate our free dance in a totally angry state of mind, ended up in our final pose - well, lets say a certain number of fingers were pointing skywards.... but we danced it probably the best we ever did that dance!

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

I have heard comments from COACHES about adult skaters in competition, comments about "lack of skill", "shouldn't even be competing", "not good enough to be in competition" and about adult competition being "a joke" and "an embarrassment". Some people just don't get it and miss the whole essence of adult competition. I suspect some of the coaches I have heard talk this way are frustrated former competitors.

Sorry, didn't mean to derail the thread!

__________________
Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )