I Have a competition coming up on February 3. Besides practicing my routine, is there anything else i should start doing now, on or off the ice, to get better prepared?

What helps me overcome these emotions during the day of competition is a daily dose of heavy visualization. While I understand it is hard to put in the time for this, it will only take 15 to 20 minutes a day. Try to pick a time where you will not be distracted. Please do not do this while driving. I made that mistake a couple of times.

Imagine the day of the competition, the process you will take before you skate: I think of how I will slowly focus and pace myself throughout the day. I try not to exert any unnecessary energy. I do not chat with anybody else. I try not to over-do my off ice warm-up routine. I think of what I will do for warm-up and then listen to my competition music. You can listen to inspirational songs that you like before your skate. It does help. I listen to R & B, Pop, and Olympic Hymns. I only listen and visualize my program at least once. If I try to listen to it more than once I know there will be stupid doubts that creep in my head and that would only make it worse for me) Then finally think of how you will approach your opening position and think on how you can overcome the feelings of anxiety. It is normal for you to feel jello-legs, anxious, nervous, and terrified during visualizations. Remember this is an ongoing exercise. So when the day arrives where you compete, this will feel like a routine. Good Luck and let us know how it turns out.

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In addition to what TimDavid says, also practice performing. Practice your entrance onto the ice, when you are finished with your routine, practice your presentation to the audience. Borrow some people to be pretend "judges" and practice "competing". Remember to choreograph your smile too.

Get your coach to teach you how to warm up for competition on the ice. And learn an off-ice warm-up routine, too, as you'll need it. Any warm up from an exercise DVD is fine, or make up your own.

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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Good advice, I did it once and went straight through a red light, fortunately, it was early and not a lot of traffic on the road, but it sure scared me enough never to do it again.

And when you practice your program, do it all the way through, even if you mess up an element or two, rather than just stopping if something doesn't go well. This will train you to keep going in competition, even if things don't go quite as planned during your program.

If you typically skate in gloves and a heavy jacket, you might want to run your program sometimes with no gloves and possibly with no jacket, just to get used to the feeling. If you've never worn your competition outfit before, you may want to practice in it a few times--sometimes it will feel different when you're skating than when you're just trying it on, and wearing it in practice will get you used to how it moves during your elements so that you won't be surprised.

The week of your competition, try to get good sleep and stay hydrated.

I also find it helpful to identify a few goals for each competitition, such as "skate with more speed" or "put xx element in my program" or "stay off my toe picks."

And most of all, have fun!!!!!!

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