I have a big competition coming up in the near future, so today my coach taped me doing my program. I sadly learned that the vision in my head (a graceful skater) does not quite match up to the reality of my skating (stiff and awkward). The amazing thing was that during the program I saw that I reverted to all my old bad habits that have been corrected during the hours of practice I have been putting in! Mood: Frustrated!

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http://www.swizzlesandtwizzles.blogspot.com

I sympathize! I think everyone feels that way when they first see their own skating. I'm sure you look better than you think you do. On the first video I saw of myself, I couldn't get past how stiff I looked and the weird way my arms drifted around. After making new videos, those things faded and I could see the actual skating. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was. Plus, I learned to pay attention to my arms and bend my knees more

Besides the coach taped it so you could work on it before the competition. And rememeber you didn't get any worse in your actual skating, just your perception changed.

Ugh, I know exactly how you feel. I could not believe the difference between what I feel and what I saw on tape. Dorky arms and legs, jumps you could barely slide a credit card under.

Still, seeing it helps you fix it better than any amount of verbal corrections.

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It's all about the dress!

Better to see it before the competition than after you get the expensive professional tape. If they're professionals, why don't all the skaters look AWESOME and PERFECT? sigh

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That is what video is for...reminding you what you should be working on when you practice.

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Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

What I want to know is who on earth they are taping - that fat, bent-over old woman isn't me, surely? I'm sure I still look like I did in my 20s.... don't I?

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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!

Seeing yourself on tape the first time is hard. But I LOVE taping myself skating- and the reason why- is because even though none of them ever look good to me, when I go watch the OLD one, I think WOW! I have gotten so much better! So it does have that benefit.

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

I hear you my friend. But the tape is your friend. Really, I agree with a lot of the others who posted...seeing yourself is the best teacher. And I agree with Skittl when you look back on the old ones!! Wow, it's great to see how much improvement there is.

liz on ice.. lol I love the line 'and jumps you can barely slide a credit card under' Love it and my feelings exactly when I see my jumps on film. Bleah.

I agree with what others have said. Video is a good tool to figure out what is going right and wrong. I don't regularly tape myself, but I had one of the dads at the rink tape my axel on day...boy, let me tell you, it was worse than I thought, and I knew that it was bad!

.....here is the video if you are interested...it's in slo-mo (My bad, cheated axel...)

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Skating Dreams

"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

Oh yes I know what you mean !

It's so frustrating but so helpful at the same time. I saw a video of my scratch spin the other day and while it was actually a good spin, I'd thought my free leg had such a higher bent knee than it did! It looked so lame to me on the video but felt good on the ice.

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

You to? Don't know where these "substitutes" come from and disappear to so fast - darmn, I never even saw that person come on the ice!

The only thing I told my coach is "No video within a month of competition!" I need to hang on to my dillusion if I am going to get out there in front of all those people, cameras, and judges. Show me how bad it was AFTER it's over!

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

I'm telling you people: there's an alternate dimension that opens up on the ice. It allows unskilled people to think they're doing great things and video professionals to film the bizarro-skater version of you when you do well. j/k lol

We're lucky to be able to have videos taken of our skating. We can snap a sit spin from our cameraphones now. I remember when the guys recording competitions came with a vanful of equipment.

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I got my video from Halloween Classic yesterday and I've been really depressed ever since. I even briefly contemplated giving up competing for a few minutes yesterday. Everything looks so bad and so different from what's in my head. Even worse, I see what my body looks like- I am never wearing another dress again where I can't wear a massively supportive bra. I looked like someone had shoved 2 grapefruits down my dress right before I skated!! Uggghhhhh...

I sympathize Stacy - I'm very top-heavy and it's frustrating. Ah well, three breastfed kids later, what can you do?

I once had a male coach tell me to buy a support bra for competitions. I was embarrassed, but he was right.

The best way to watch videos of yourself is while you're doing something else. It's far less painful that way. Eventually, you get over the disappointment and think of it as a learning experience. (And a reminder that I still have 75 lbs to go...)

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Postscript: I battled the nerves and did the competition. The shock of the video prompted me to practice my program like crazy, and it paid off -- although very nervous, I managed to get through it without looking like I was quaking in my boots and skated all my elements with some semblance of grace. Now I can't wait for the next competition!

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http://www.swizzlesandtwizzles.blogspot.com

CONGRATULATIONS... on both your performance and your determination ahead of time to make your performance the best you could!

Strangely, the alternate dimension seems to extend to people by the boardings as well, determined from the fact that people can think they're videotaping professionals and then upon review, not 1 frame of the film can be in-focus. This also has the tendency to happen to the 1 well-landed jump, flawless performance, etc.