Test prep

[orangesoda]

I've noticed that when I wake up in the morning and later when I do my off ice warm-up I can tell if I am focused mentally and ready physically to have a good day of skating. Either my mind is good and my body is ready to jump or I feel sluggish. I have a test coming up and I plan on doing my best to have a good/focused test day, but is there anything that I can do to help my mind and body feel extra ready/focused on the day of the test instead of feeling nervous or stiff?

Also, in past experiences, when I first take the ice for my warm-up & opening pose I have felt like I am not in total control of my timing (I rush things and toe push when stroking). What can I do to calm myself on the ice?

Thanks.

[alejeather]

I think you'd already taken a great step by recognizing how your mind and body feels when you're getting ready to skate. Sometimes you are mentally ready, and sometimes you aren't. And part of what makes a great skater is to be able to turn a time you aren't mentally ready around so that you are.

There are some generally recommended strategies, but I think it does take some practice to find what works for you. This is an area in which I think I've made some progress this year, so I'll share with you what I've found works for me.


- Prepare the night before. I get my tights and dress together, cover up clothes, a change of clothing, whatever my day is going to look like, get that stuff ready in advance. I even lay out all my hair stuff, makeup and shoes. I don't want to be hunting for anything in the morning, or feeling like I've forgotten something.
- Eat what you normally eat before skating. Your body is used to it.
- Get ready in plenty of time. I make sure I have time to warm up a little off ice, go to the bathroom, reapply lipstick and get my skates on. I like plenty of time, but not too much time. It's a balance I kind of like having someone tell me, "It's time to get your skates on now."
- Don't watch others. I wish I could watch. Some people can. It's not that I get intimidated by what they've done, I just am not as focused as I need to be if I'm watching other people skate. Some people like to listen to music. I've never tried it and probably won't.
- Visualize. I like to spend time while I'm waiting for my turn to skate, facing a wall, going through what I'm going to do. I may move my body through it a little too. I'm picturing a good routine, imagining my music, thinking about how everything feels.
- Take stock of your surroundings. When you take the ice, stroke around for a second, present, smile, you don't have to rush to your spot. Note what you're feeling, and then try to go to where you need to go mentally. I like to look around a little at anything I might be curious about, such as who the judges are, or where my friends and family are in the audience, so that I can then FORGET ABOUT IT. I don't want to be wondering about this stuff while I'm skating.
- When I take my starting position, I think about taking advantage of having the ice surface to myself and making the most of it. I don't think about people watching me as I skate, in fact I almost have a feeling of going inside of myself. I haven't quantified this before, but I think I like to skate as if I were giving my dream performance in a place where no one's watching. Like I'm skating on a frozen lake nestled in the mountains in a National Park. I want to perform wonderfully to honor my setting, but it's just me there. I can't think about what others are seeing, but that doesn't mean I don't perform it.
- Bend your knees. After a terrible exhibition I had earlier this season, I texted my friend, complaining that the ice felt hard. She texted back, "When ice is hard, bend knees more. Old Confucian proverb." It was a silly thing, but it's stuck with me. Whenever I find myself start to trip, I think about settling into my knees and before I know it, skating feels normal again.
- Take one element at a time.
- Remember to enjoy yourself.
- When you go to bow at the end, stop the way you always stop. Seriously. If you haven't practiced it, don't be fancy. You will trip. (Or at least I do.) I sometimes even trip if I have practiced.


Those are just some of the things that have worked for me. They may apply more to competing than testing, but some apply to both. Good luck on your test and make sure to let us know how it goes!

[WaltzJump413]

alejeather, what a great post! I'm taking a Freestyle 1 test (retest) in a few days, and really have a hard time with nerves (even though it's just a group lesson test).

Good luck on your test, orangesoda! What level are you testing?

[WaltzJump413]

alejeather, what a great post! I'm taking a Freestyle 1 test (retest) in a few days, and really have a hard time with nerves (even though it's just a group lesson test). Thanks for sharing your strategies.

Good luck on your test, orangesoda! What level are you testing?

[orangesoda]

Thank you both for your comments. I will be testing intermediate fs.

I think that is a good point about taking your time before you get to your starting positon. Last time I took a test I felt personally rushed, like I had to get to my spot quickly. Nobody was forcing me to go, but I felt like I had to get there asap. I feel kind of selfish if I take a quick lap around the ice before my starting pose. How it works at my rink is that you go and introduce yourself to the judges and then you go to your starting position. It feels weird for me to go introduce myself and then take a lap, but I suppose I need to not worry about it and just do it because if I am rushed when I am in my starting position then it will be hard to regain my calmness later on.

Also, I have heard the thing about being down in your knees...perhaps I need to work on that in my practice sessions. Sometimes though, it is hard to control your basic movements (feet, legs, knees) when you are feeling "personally rushed." So, if I find a way to calm my energy and be in the zone/centered in my thoughts then it will be easier to control how my limbs work.

[WaltzJump413]

Wow, Intermediate--that's so cool!

Also, I have heard the thing about being down in your knees...perhaps I need to work on that in my practice sessions. Sometimes though, it is hard to control your basic movements (feet, legs, knees) when you are feeling "personally rushed." So, if I find a way to calm my energy and be in the zone/centered in my thoughts then it will be easier to control how my limbs work.

I can relate to that feeling of not being able to control the basics on a test... It's so much about the mental aspect, isn't it?

[fsk8r]

I read a good book dealing with nerves a while ago. The thing which really helped me was the bit which said you're not really nervous, you're excited. It's true. The situations where I get nervous are tests and competitions but I'm actually really excited by what could happen.
That's really helped me.
The other thing I've noticed about me is that adrenaline doesn't help my skating. I need to be calm, so you'll often find me running around the building and jumping around manically before putting my boots on as I try to burn off the adrenaline. I know some skaters don't suffer from adrenaline like that and they find it helps them skate better, but knowing that it doesn't help me makes sure I spend a lot of time trying to rid myself of nerves and calming myself down.

[orangesoda]

Thanks for the tips. I need to find a way to be productive with my adrenaline, instead of it controlling my performance.

[Loops]

I hear you.  This year I only competed in synchro, and in terms of the pre-comp nerves, it was rough.  You have to stay with the team, it's all hair and makeup in the 3-4 hours leading up to the comp , and you get such a short warm-up pre-competition.  I always am fine until the second I step on the ice, at which point my knees turn to jello.

For our end-of-season gala I was able to go run.  I took two laps around the rink and let myself bounce off the walls for a while.  It was great; got that adrenaline under control.  If I could do that pre-comp for synchro I'd be in great shape. 

Hopefully this coming year I'll get to compete solo.  In addition to my lap-taking/wall bouncing needs, I plan to copy the olympic skaters and use my alloted time to get to my starting point, doing whatever warm-up I need do in the process.  Hopefully that will help.  I don't know how it would apply to a testing situation, but I always treated those like competitions, so with coach blessings, I'd do the same.  Visualising doesn't work for me so much- I tend to visualise my self crashing and burning.  Need to work on that  ......  But I've been trying to learn to meditate, so I'll also try meditative music, or trying to actually meditate might also help (once the adrenaline has been vanquished).

Fsk8r- do you remember the book title?

This is a good thread!  Thanks Orangesoda for starting it.  I definitely appreciate what others are sharing on this.

[icedancer]

I read a good book dealing with nerves a while ago. The thing which really helped me was the bit which said you're not really nervous, you're excited. It's true. The situations where I get nervous are tests and competitions but I'm actually really excited by what could happen.
That's really helped me.

My husband, who is a trainer - loves this concept.  He calls it "flipping the frame" - taking your nerves and turning it into excitement - this has helped me in a LOT of situations.

Good job!

[fsk8r]

The book is called "The Inner Champion" by Choeleen Loundagin.
It's very good for descriptions about how to visualise before competition and how to determine whether you need to control the adrenaline or whether you actually need to get psyched up.
It's biggest thing is about doing all this WELL in advance of competition/test as there's no point starting visualisation just before the big event as then you are prone to imaging yourself falling and all other bad things.

I struggle with visulisation unless I've got a long flight to practice on. After a long flight I can actually improve my speed across the ice from all the visualisation, but for synchro I've been known to get completely lost and only work out where I am because there's another couple of girls on the team who all do hand movements while visualising (we skate the program with our hands!). And while I've done it a couple of times just before competition, I don't tend to do it often enough to benefit. I do mentally place the elements around the rink with a hand wave (which I think my coach finds a bit weird but it helps me map things out so I don't get lost).

One thing our coach made us do before our last synchro competition, before we started off ice we had a game of frisbee instead of the normal jog around the carpark. Other than the fact that he had to climb onto the roof of the changing rooms to get the frisbee back (our throwing needs some practice) we had a complete laugh and it helped burn off the nervous energy. The other one we've all started doing is having a dance while standing at the boards waiting to get on. So we generally like the team before to have a nice upbeat music! These all help us to burn off the nerves, although since being around this group of ladies, I don't get so nervous as the coach is very good at putting us all at ease.

[orangesoda]

Thanks for posting! I enjoy reading all the replies; they are very helpful.

I agree that it is good to take your time, like they would at the Olympics, and take a lap around the ice and not go to your start position until you are ready... I have mentally worked out how to do this, but I still need to work up the confidence to know that "this is my time. If I need to take a lap it is ok." Because I am kind of worried about wasting time, but I know that this is not a waste of time, and I just have to go out there and center myself.

I am also doing what I can to prepare for things that I can't control... I can't control if someone scratches and my time gets moved up. I can't control if people want to talk to me during my "quiet/focus/warm-up" time... I can't control a lot of things... I can plan, but not control, so I hope to be very calm yet focused/ready/excited so that I can kind of just roll with what happens.

[Doubletoe]

There are 3 things that have helped me get through test and competition nerves:

1.  I come up with cue words for each element that remind me of the correct technique while also giving me the correct timing (for example, on my camel spin from a RFI 3-turn setup, my cue words are, "Looong-2-3, Back-square-and-look, plant, bend and draw the circle").  I use these cue words every time I practice that element, both in and out of my program.  I have every cue word for every element in my program saved in a Word document and I update them as I perfect them.  Then when I test or compete the program, I print it out and study it before the test/competition.  My only goal is to say every cue word to myself for every element in the program.  Not only does that help me take one element at a time and not rushing things, but it also gives my mind something very specific to focus on at all times so there's no room for thoughts like, "Oh, no, it's that tough judge" or "What if I miss this jump?"

2.  While lying in bed the night before my test or competition, I close my eyes and visualize taking the ice, feeling confident and calm, and skating my entire program, one element at a time.  I can re-wind and re-do any element and I can do them in slow motion to make sure I'm getting the technique correct.  I imagine feeling really good at the end of a clean program.

3.  While getting ready to take the ice for a test or competition, I breathe in slowly and out slowly for several minutes, seeing how many seconds I can make each inhale and each exhale last.  Deep, slow breathing actually short-circuits the fight-or-flight response in your brain so you don't get the jitters.

[orangesoda]

Sounds good, thanks.

[Twizzler]

There have been some great ideas for mental test prep in these posts. But, rather than use these just for test day, decide which techniques make sense for you and put them to use in your practices leading up to the test. For each practice do the same prep, your mind will get used to this and on the day of the test you'll be ready to perform the way you have been practicing. I heard a speaker at PSA conference a few years ago talk about this, not just for skating but for any type of athlete, and it really makes sense.

good luck with your test! to the original poster and to everyone who plans to test this summer.

[orangesoda]

Thanks all for your tips. Unfortunately, I did not pass. I did had a great skate though. I was very focused and in control for my test. However, I had some under-rotations so I have to improve that before my next try. But, the good news is that mentally, I felt great and very focused.

[WaltzJump413]

Thanks all for your tips. Unfortunately, I did not pass. I did had a great skate though. I was very focused and in control for my test. However, I had some under-rotations so I have to improve that before my next try. But, the good news is that mentally, I felt great and very focused.

orangesoda, I love your attitude about your test! There's definitely always a bright side.

I didn't pass mine either, but I'm glad you started this thread--a lot of great advice for future tests.

Best wishes!

[Doubletoe]

So proud of you, Orangesoda!!  It's good that the judges told you specifically why you didn't pass and that it was something technical that you and your coach can work on.

[Loops]

Good attitude OrangeSoda.  Passing tests is of course, always very nice, but in those times when we don't pass we can often learn a lot more, and if we take the opportunity, really improve our skating.  Congratulations for getting onto the ice to begin with, AND for meeting your mental goals!