I think I am going through a period of what I would call “Bipolar Skating Disorder”. Lately at practice sessions, I have had the most difficult time staying focused. I just end up stroking around the rink thinking: “oh, I need to do work on spins, I need to work on 3 turns, I need to practice my salchow, waltz jump, toe loop…, Oh, I need to work on….” I end up becoming paralyzed with this sense of being overwhelmed with what I need to work on instead of actually practicing what I need to be doing. Then, I go from being overwhelmed to having no motivation, and choosing not to skate at all. This has been happening for a month now. I have tried a practice list, but end up forgetting it. During lessons it is ok, because my coach is there to provide focus for me. It is only during practice that I completely blank out, or think of everything all at once to work on.

It might be that fact that summer is coming and I don’t have any competitions or shows coming up. Who else has experienced this skating drought? Does anyone have any suggestions for getting back on track?

I think the idea of a list of things to work on, in order of priority, is good. Even if you don't physically bring a list with you, you can still plan your practices by deciding to spend, say, 15 minutes on jumps, 15 minutes on spins, 15 on moves, etc. Ask your coach to help you come up with specific elements that need the most work that he/she thinks you would have enough time to work on - in other words, maybe just 1 or 2 jumps or spins, etc., for each block of time. That way, you'll be able to spend a lot of time focusing on a particular element rather than feeling the need to speed through things and getting overwhelmed.

I personally don't let this happen to me in freestyle. I have a long list of things to do and I do them all. I do the same routine everytime I hit the ice, and I'm not fed up of it yet. Try creating your own routine, maybe that will help.

I have rountines for different days of the week. On Tuesday and Thursday I do dance first and freeskate second, then field moves. On the other three days I do freeskate first, dance and then moves. I run through all my jumps and make 10 attempts at each of my doubles. I then work on combos, sequences and footwork. After that spins, one of each solo then 2 postion combos, 3,4, 5... It took a while to figure out the order that worked for me, how I warmed up etc. You need to find an order that works for and stick w/ it.. that's how you get better. At least it worked for me.

la

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I always decide exactly what I'm going to work on on my way to the rink, if not before. At this point, I pretty much have a weekly schedule of when I work on which elements. Since I don't have the oomph to do axels or doubles early in the morning, Monday is my MIF morning, Wednesday is my spin morning, and Thursday is my program run-through morning (with single jumps only). Friday evening is double jump night, and Saturday is my 2-hour session where I start with jumps, warm up my program elements and do program run-throughs, then do some moves-in-the-field. Would it make sense for you to come up with a similar practice schedule?

Sounds like you've hit a plateau. Make a list of what you HAVE to work on. Now, think about you'd LIKE to work on. That's your real list -- mix it up and put them in order of priority. For every nasty little back sit spin you practice, reward yourself with an attitude glide for example.

Write or print out your list and put it in your skate bag. If you want to read it over, make a copy. That way, you can't forget it unless you leave the skates behind. (I email myself the list, so if I do manage to forget it, I can go online and print another one.)

What music is playing when you skate? Without the constant playing of people's program music, the freestyle sessions get really boring. Put on a short tape of music: 2-3 songs at most. Be prepared: you'll get complaints from the skaters who are just learning their new program music, but almost everyone else should be okay with it if you keep it short. Consider it practice for interpretive events!

It also helps to go skating with friends just to have fun. We used to have "camel-off's" to see who could hold the spin longest, or jump highest, or just watch and comment. Positive critiques all in good fun. (Uh, your camel's hump, well, it's flat! Arch your back more! :-) )

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This happens to me some times. I just will either not feel like focusing or not able to focus. Try doing your harder jumps first, and then if those arent working, do some easier ones, and do something fun in between if you start feeling overwhelmed.

give yourself a "pat on the back" when you land something nicely.

Sometimes I'll pretend that I'm the most beatiful skater on the ice, and do one of my best moves for the " audience".

Bringing a friend is a great idea, try not to get too down on yourself, although I know how hard it is not to, sometimes.

Hope you have better luck!!!

~kittie

Do you skate at the same time as any friends? If so, why don't you spend time playing with them - challenging one another to do things you find difficult, whether that's controlled 3-turns round the hockey goal or triple axels! The fun is critiquing each other, finding ways to help each other do the skill better, and you end up practising all sorts of things.

One friend and I ended up doing laps of Field and Dance Moves, far more energetic than we would otherwise have been, just to be doing them together and seeing who could do them best. It was great fun, and a terrific workout, as well as a good practice.

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Thanks everyone for the many helpful ways to overcome this ailment. I am beginning to feel much better already.

NYC, I agree that there is definitely a plateau going on. I am 30-something and just started skating a little over a year and 1/2 ago. I can skate any FS 1 (ISI) element adequately. While my abilities are not at a back sit spin yet,(even nasty little ones are things I dream of) I am attempting to even lift my free foot with the same passion in hopes to advance to a scratch spin. Bringing favorite music is a good idea too.

There are a couple of times where I can skate along with friends. Being an adult skater, it can be a little difficult to coordinate work and skate shedules together. One time, one of my skating buddies and I had a shoot-the-duck practice to see how low we could go. In the end we both realized that falling on the ice wasn't so scary after all.

I spoke to my coach about how scattered and unfocused I was. She suggested some homework for me to do.

I am to write down 3 summer goals. (yes, only 3 so I won't get overwhelmed)

I am writing down the days and sessions I plan on attending during the summer (freestyle and public)

I am also writing down classes I am taking on ice (group lessons,skating camps) and any off ice work (like dance or pilates etc...)

She recommended a binder that I bring to lessons. Inside, it has goals, off ice warm up and stretching, on ice warm up and stroking exercises, practice lists and cool down.

From these, we can come up with a choreographed practice (both on and off ice) to provide focus and structure.

Our rink is also holding a summer skate camp at the end of June. This may be just the antedote needed to cure this "disorder"

Sk8pdx,
I went through a period once similiar to what you described...what I realized was happening was that I was not only bored, but I had lost the joy for skating. I ending up feeling unmotivated because everything felt like too much "work", and it didn't feel fun anymore. I didn't want to do it because I was having trouble with various elements, so that also made it unmotivating.

What helped me was to just forget about trying to accomplish everything exactly or perfectly, to just start enjoying skating again. I still had a basic routine of going through spins, my program, jumps, etc., but I just let myself enjoy the feeling of skating again, and that's when things started to become fun again, AND I started to get my elements working again.

Thanks Bella,
This is exactly the unhappy skating place where I was going. With so much emphasis on competitions where one is under scruitiny to be as perfect as possible with elements being juged and even trying to master MIF for test sessions and the pressure to pass and advance forward, it is very easy to forget that I am skating because it is fun.

Also thank you for the reminder that skating is fun. I will hold onto that thought for a while this summer.