Psychology of Ice Skating
Ice skating like all sports and endeavors is best learned with a positive attitude. A positive attitude is more important than “Talent”, perseverance and interest are also more important than “Talent”. It is very easy to look around and think “everyone is so much better that I am”.
Skating skills as all good things, take time to learn. Once you get going you will be surprised at how quickly you will learn. In skating. learning comes in waves, don’t be disappointed when your learning once again slows, this is the cycle of all of life and learning. It is important to never put yourself down. This only leads to depression and a feeling of helplessness. The ice has its own set of rules that you must grow to understand and to feel. When you feel stuck, go back to the most basic edges that you know; keep going back until you find something that you feel comfortable doing and that you enjoy. Keep doing that edge or exercise. Try it on the other foot and/or in the other direction. This repetition of something you know will lead to more than you imagine. It will help to get your physical confidence back and to bring you back to a positive attitude. If that doesn’t work get off the ice and have a drink or a snack, read a book for a little while or talk to a friend. Don’t beat yourself down. Think of your skating self as separate from you. Be kind and encouraging to that skating student. Always remember skating as all sports or arts is about your pleasure; your enjoyment of the act; your enjoyment in learning and participating in a group.
The groove, both good and bad ones, paths, roads, rails.
Once you form a habit it will stick with you, so if you are serious about becoming a good skater be very careful in choosing your habits. Only enter a jump with a good attitude if you can’t do this, skip the jump, spin etc. Once a groove is formed you will always tend to fall into it. This is also true of good grooves/habits. It may seem very difficult at first to have discipline, to show up, work hard and be considerate of other people, but with practice it will become natural.
Jump technique… visualize, pre determine/get psyched
For those of you working on challenging jumps… the axel, any double jumps or flying spins… this is a very successful technique. First visualize yourself, as if in a time lapse photograph, doing the jump from entrance edge to landing edge then enter the jump repeatedly saying to yourself “I can do this!” Even if you don’t land the jump at first, you will be a lot closer if you work this way.
Conditioning, stretching and dance training can all greatly improve your success on the ice. Imagine how difficult it would be to learn to skate before you can walk. That is similar to doing skating without conditioning. Your muscles need to be strong and flexible in order to maintain balance while flying through the air. It is much easier to train the body on land than on the ice. For one, it is warm. Two, your feet are not bound into an ice skate, getting
blisters and getting cold etc. Three, it takes away the complexity of 3 dimensional movements and allows you to concentrate on one set of muscles and functions at a time. Dancing is also invaluable in that it teaches you arm movements and patterns that have little to do with what is happening with the feet, dancing also teaches rhythm and body memory that are also more easily learned off the ice. Making ice is much more costly than making a dance/exercise room. Too many hours in the cold and bound into skates can also harm the body, so it makes sense to learn what you can without skates on. As a beginning skater this is important but can wait as many beginners are not ready to give a full commitment. If you are diligent about the off ice exercises you will progress more quickly and find more enjoyment in your easy success. You will also find that you will be better at any sport or dance that you attempt after practicing the Pilates, Yoga and Dance exercises that are taught at this school.
Secret Habits of Successful Performing Artists
1) If you feel tired and drained after practicing try taking a shower. It may be that your exercise has caused toxins to be released from your body, through perspiration. It is best to wash this away quickly as leaving them on the skin allows them to be reabsorbed and can cause headaches and a general feeling of tiredness.
2) Keep your legs and feet warm especially during your on-ice warm up period.
3) Eat healthy foods. (This is a very complex topic that requires a lot of research and is different for different people. Make sure that if you are hungry that you have a snack before skating. Listen to your body’s needs.
4) If you arrive late or don’t have time for a full warm up do several handstands or develop some other quick set of exercises that get you warmed up quickly.
