Competition, training, confusion -- oh my!

[Landing~Lutzes]

Hello fellow iceaholics,
My name is Emily and while I've only been skating around a year and a half, I can't get enough!! I'm making my dream of competing come true--I'm competing in a couple weeks for the first time in no test young ladies (so glad I will be competing against girls my age and not little twirlingtoddlerterrors!)
I love being on the ice, and I love training! I strive for perfection and I try to skate daily for at least an hour...even on weekends (that's six to seven days a week people!) But I've reached a point of confusion and I'm looking for answers.
I worry I may be overtraining...as much as I work on my program and elements, nothing seems to be improving much (from what I can notice.) In fact, I've actually lost some skills! I had my camel sit spin and my lutz loop jump and have completely lost those.
As competition day is getting closer, I'm worried I won't have everything perfect. And yes, I'm going off the rails on a perfection train. I am a bit disappointed I haven't conquered my program yet and worried im going to embarrass myself.
With two weeks left, what is my best option to nail my program? Could I be training too much (is that possible)? Should I take a few days off? I have a fear that if I take a break, I just won't be ready.
And some side notes -- yes I have a coach I see two times a week for half an hour. And I have all the choreography for my program down, it's just a matter of building stamina and making it look "easy" (my coach says I look pissed off at my program, ha!)
I look forward to receiving advice from all of you. Thanks for your time!

[davincisop]

I have found (as well as others here) that if you take a break for a few days, you come back refreshed and things start to click again. Skating 6-7 days a week is somewhat overkill. Your body needs a break.

Try holding the positions off ice and doing the jumps off ice to gain your confidence back. Sometimes it helps to kick in the muscle memory.


Also, welcome to skating forums!

[AgnesNitt]

twirlingtoddlerterrors!)

We have a new post rank!

[davincisop]

We have a new post rank!

I SECOND THAT!

[sarahspins]

I SECOND THAT!

And I third it!  Best invented word ever

I have to say that as an adult I don't skate as well when I am at the ice every day as I do when I skate every other day, max.  My body (and I'm only 31) just can't keep up with it, and even if I may feel "fine" I know that my skating suffers for it.  If I do skate back to back days, I'll usually only work on moves the second day.. I really can't jump or do a lot of spins two days in a row or I REALLY feel it on the third day and then I feel like I'm at a deficit when I get back on the ice after - even if I wait a few days.

That said... before I switched blades a few months ago I had the experience of gradually having a lot of difficultly with EVERYTHING... spins, jumps, MITF, you name it, it just wasn't working as well for me and I was getting frustrated with some pretty simple things... I had lost enough of the rocker on my blades (over about 6 years on the ice in a span of 15 years) that they were more than ready to be replaced.  New blades were a little sketchy feeling at first, but after about a week everything was back and better than ever.  I don't know how old your blades are, and right before a competition isn't the time to think about switching, but it may be something to think about after.

[JSM]

And I third it!  Best invented word ever

I have to say that as an adult I don't skate as well when I am at the ice every day as I do when I skate every other day, max.  My body (and I'm only 31) just can't keep up with it, and even if I may feel "fine" I know that my skating suffers for it.  If I do skate back to back days, I'll usually only work on moves the second day.. I really can't jump or do a lot of spins two days in a row or I REALLY feel it on the third day and then I feel like I'm at a deficit when I get back on the ice after - even if I wait a few days.

Oh yes.  I'm 30 and I don't jump two days in a row... if I do, my knees HUUURT.  They need recovery time!  I'll work on footwork, moves, spins (but not too many flying spins or sit spins - and NO flying sits!) instead. 

I also have to have one rest day a week - and that rest day I don't do anything.  No jogging, no sprinting, no stretching, no yoga, no skating.  It makes a big difference, otherwise I burn out and lack energy in all areas of life.  I wish I could be like those people who can work out for hours a day, every day, but I need that rest day to function!

[Doubletoe]

I think the best thing to do right now has to do with your head, not your body.  If you think you need to be perfect for competition, you can put too much pressure on yourself, look unhappy while you skate, get nervous and mess up. 

Instead, look at each competition as a snapshot of where you are in the process and give yourself specific goals for each competition.  The goals must have nothing to do with placement, and they must be things you have control over.  For example, your goal can be to land a specific jump, to smile in your program, to complete every element (even if not perfectly), or my favorite, to say every single technique cue word for every element in my head from the beginning to end of my program.  If I do that, it keeps me focused in the moment and helps me actually complete every element.

Then, if you do what you set out to do, you should consider it a successful competition.  The goal is improvement, not perfection (because that doesn't exist).  As I like to say, "Perfectionism is a flaw!"