Well, I only have very limited experience of competitions (only done 3 baby ones) but totally agree with Mrs Redboots. I say - if at first you can't skate - fake it! Or put it another way - if you're going to mess it up, mess it up with a bit of pizazz and you might just get away with it.

My first competition was a spin spiral jump, and apart from a great spiral, the rest of it varied from mediocre to just plain lousy, I was so nervous I was shking, but I kept telling myself 'who cares, it's only a bit of fun', and maintained a silly grin throughout. To crown it all, I toe picked myself at the end, which resulted in a spectacular skid across the ice on my front. I just thought 'Sod it' - kicked my leg up in the air...and got a standing ovation (not to mention my coach in stitches with laughing). The result? I won - even though I felt the other skaters were better than me.

In my second competition, a novice foxtrot, again my skating wasn't great, but in the warm up I came onto the ice as if I owned the place, and kept smiling throughout the performace - I didn't win, but got placed.


S xxx

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

I really believe in smiling. Because even if you skate terrible, if you are smiling people think, "Well bless her heart, she's having a good time" but if you skate bad and you look miserable, then everybody just feels embarrassed to be watching.

J

PRETEND!!! I absolutely agree with the other posters who say it's acting. I have yet to do my first skating competition but did numerous others as a kid/young adult (gymnastics, Alpine skiing [okay, exuding confidence doesn't *really* matter there], violin, etc). Deep breaths and pretty much acting it out worked okay for me. I get to test this out at my first comp a week from Saturday.

This thread is giving me some good tips. LilJen, are you competing at Mids? It'll be my first one - Pre-Bronze - ...not too nervous yet, but that could be a different story come the 17th!

Actually, what got you placed in that competition wasn't so much the smiling (although that, too), but the fact that you kept your head up, and looked where you were supposed to be looking, not down at the ice as all too many of your competition did. The smiling certainly didn't hurt, though, nor did your air of confidence as you took to the ice!

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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!

If you are having a tough time at competitions with nerve, then try getting "crowd time" some other way-ice shows, public speaking courses, acting classes, etc.

Believe me, they all help! And, nothing beats experience! The more you do, the better you get (it may not get easier, but you develop ways of dealing with it).

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

Well as someone who has a lot of experience with public speaking and even singing in public--I have to say - skating is totally different. I can get up and talk or sing in front of a crowd...no problem - skate for people, that's a different story. So I'm not sure that really transfers well

j

I did trial judging and following an evaluator around this season. Two things stuck with me:

Judges watch warm ups, if you pop an element, give it the big finish and above all, don't kick the ice in disgust.

which is point two. Smile and look like you're enjoying yourself. Practice smiling, glue it on if you have to.

About trial judging, picking the top three or four was easy for the most part. The rest, I wasn't even close.

I have yet to compete in skating, but from a gymnastics perspective, the judges love confidence. I found even when i did a great routine, if I looked like I was going to pass out from nerves, my scores were low. If you keep your head up, have great posture, and reflect you are confident in what a great performance you are about to give/did give, the judges will take note.

Also, I found visualizing my routine before each event a huge help. Also have a few key phrases to remind yourself while you compete - for instance, "head up" "smile", "breathe", etc - we used to choreograph these "phrases" into our routines such as stop and smile here, deep breath here - it helps. It is very easy to forget to breathe when you are nervous! haha

Put yourself in the place of the judges and imagine you are watching a skater who is screwing up and getting more and more nervous as her program goes on. How do you feel? Good? No, you feel uncomfortable. You are squirming in your seat. So if you want a positive response from the judges, do whatever it takes to make them feel comfortable! A big smile as you get up from a fall, or a grin and bow with a flourish after your worst program ever is going to give you every advantage! But if you use your body language ot post a big price tag on yourself that says "$0.29" then guess what? You've just told them that's all you're worth and they'll take your word for it. That's not just true in skating; it's true in life! On Saturday I smiled after a weak landing on an easy jump and I considered that a milestone for me, since I had never done that before. I hope to get to the point where I remember to smile after *every* mess up from now on, LOL!

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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'm exactly the same. I've given presentations and they didn't bother me in the slightest. I've done several singing auditions and been on stage several times a large theatre in front of hundreds of people - didn't bother me in the slightest, in fact I really enjoyed the experiences!

Standing out there on freezing cold ice in a little dress in front of judges and an audience? Having to perform skating elements when you can barely stop shaking? A whole different ballgame...though I have to say I was distincly less nervous (in fact, barely nervous at all) by the third comp than at the first one, so I guess there's hope....

S xxx

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

Actually someone that knows you was talking to me at Slough the other day mentioned your dance comp and said you should have won as she felt you were the best skater, so you're definitely doing something right!

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If you want the best seat in the house, you'll have to move the cat!

I find it does - if I use the same breathing/centring down techniques before I skate that I do before I take a service or preach, it does seem to help me make the nerves work for me, rather than against.

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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!

That might be why nerves would be so difficult for me to deal with - I never get nervous before preaching or doing a service..never did, so being so nervous was a new experience for me ...in the beginning I remember panicking over the fact that my legs were shaking..."My legs are shaking, how can I skate" and then I would make myself even more anxious about being anxious!

I have a different coach now, and she spends time with me a half hour before the competition, going through my warm up and stretching and walking through my program with me (if she can) I found that helps a lot - my old coach had so many kids competing, you were lucky if she could show up in time for your ice warm up.

Not sure how well my daughter will be in calming me down. Last time I tested she snapped at me "Would you stop pacing - you are driving me crazy"

j

SKATE FASTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

It's not so much butterflies, when I'm preaching (it can be, when I skate), but there are definitely nerves there... so I need to centre down and breathe into it, and find the technique transfers. Not actually sure where I first started using it - in the rink or in the vestry! But it works.

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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!

Yep, same here! I used to be on the speech team in high school and even though I was nervous, the adrenaline just helped me think faster. My knees could have been knocking behind the podium but you don't need your knees to talk, LOL! Skating is such a physical performance and requires such finesse that the shaky knees will just do you in! I use technique cue words as I skate to walk me through each element and keep me focused, and before stepping out on the ice, I do deep, slow breathing to short-circuit the fight-or-flight response. It really helps.

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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

Um, I think it might be called "Midwestern Invitational"? Or "Spring Fling"? All I know is that it's basic skills, baby, which is ME until I pass my pre-bronze moves & FS (hopefully in May, but that 1-footed spin is giving me problems!). I'm not sure I can consider it a "real" comp because (1) totally signed up at the last minute and had no intentions of competing until maybe next year and (2) the moves include fwd XOs, T-stops, inside mohawks, and backwards glides and that's IT. No jumps, no spins, no 3-turns, practically nothing. Of course, now that I've said that I'll probably fall on something reeeeeeally stupid, like curtseying!

mtskater-
Liljen appears to be competing somewhere else, not MN

I want to thank the OP for bringing up this topic, & all of you for your replies. It has been very helpful to read through the thread. I'm testing on Sunday, & now I'm approaching it with a whole different attitude, and I'm really focusing on the presentation. In practice today I smiled a lot & had a lot more fun! I've decided the skating will be what it will be, and for the rest I'm going to fake it!!

So thank you all--you have given me courage.