On Frustration

We all know how annoying those practices are where we just can't seem to land anything, center any spin, or hold any spiral. It's frustrating to pop jumps, fall out of spins and trip in a footwork sequence but if you can't get control of your frustrations they will eventually take over your skating. I'm speaking from personal experience because I have a problem with frustration myself. It used to be much worse but I am still my own worst enemy when it comes to bad days. It's what my coach calls a vicious cycle. A few bad jumps and I begin to get annoyed. The more annoyed I get the less I focus. The less I focus the fewer good jumps. Fewer good jumps equals more frustration and so on. Over the years I've developed a few methods to dealing with my frustrations but like anxiety, there isn't a magic button you can press that makes it all go away. You have to believe in yourself, and for most people, myself included, that is the most difficult part. Here are some different methods to dealing with frustrations.

1. Take a break. Step back from your skating for a minute and breathe. Whether it's just a sip from your water bottle or whether it's sitting down for a few minutes, or deciding to sit out a session, a little rest might help you to come back feeling refreshed.

2. Stop being so hard on yourself. Much easier said than done, am I right? But in all seriousness, try to remind yourself why you skate. Your answer should be along the lines of because you love it or because you want to.

3. Do something else. If it's that tricky double axel that's got you tripped up for the day don't spend time obsessing over it. Move on to something else with a clean slate. Take a deep breath and work on something else for awhile, something you know you have mastered.

4. Fake it till you make it. If you are kicking the ice, slamming down hard on landings, smacking the ice, it will only add to your frustrations. If you pretend that you are perfectly calm it will eventually convince you that you are in fact, cool, calm and collected.

5. Bad days happen. Most of the time frustration occurs because we can't do something that is normally easy for us. Remind yourself that if it was easy at one point, it will be easy again. But getting into that vicious cycle won't help. A safe bet is to leave whatever is driving you nuts until the next day. Chances are, it will be back to being good after a good nights rest.

As I said in my On Anxiety post, I'm not a psychiatrist or a professional but I do have a lot of first hand experience dealing with these types of issues. The best I can do is give you the same advice that sometimes works for me and hope it does the same for you. The hardest part about dealing with frustration is that you have to want to not be frustrated. This seems like an obvious statement on a day where you are calm and collected but when frustration takes over, it's a much different story. Just like with nerves, the key is to believe in yourself. Don't be so hard on yourself, you're better than you think. Still, easier said than done, I know. But give it a shot, you might surprise yourself.

Best of Luck!!

Tips and Tricks

So today I thought I'd round up some helpful tips and tricks I've found out or figured out over the years and share them with you!

1. Clear nail polish. Clear nail polish is the best way to quickly fix snag in a pair of tights to keep it from running. Just dab a bit of nail polish on the snag, allow it a few minutes to dry and BAM! No worries, your tights will have no runs or holes! This is also a handy trick for competitions. You can quickly remedy a snag if you don't have time to change your tights. Great money and time saver!

2. Tape. Using either masking tape or scotch tape you can fix your frayed skate laces. I know from first hand experience how frustrating it can be when the little aglets (yes that's what they're called!) fall off of the tips of the laces leaving them frayed. If you accidentally pull out your lace it can take decades to shove it back through the daunting little hole. A quick way to fix this is to wrap some tape around the tip of the lace. It will act as the plastic piece and keep everything compacted so you can re-lace with ease. Another option, if you're a bit of a daredevil is to burn the end of your skate lace. This will melt the fibers and have the same effect as tape.

3. Nail polish remover. If you tape your skates with sk8tape or your skates are just plain dirty this trick is a life saver. Tapes can often leave a sticky residue on the skate when taken off. The first time I taped my skates they were fairly white but I wanted them to look spectacular so I put shiny white Sk8tape on them. When I took the tape off after the competition my skates looked dirtier than they did before. I was disappointed because I knew now that I would have to tape my skates before every competition and polish was no longer an option. There was a sticky black residue all over my skates which got worse after I put them in my bag. My skate sharpener passed this little tip on to me, so now I'll return the favor and pass it on to you! Just dab a little nail polish remover onto a cotton swab, as if you're going to clean your fingernails and lightly rub it over the gooey areas. It will take the residue as well as any residual chipped polish or boot rot stains right off. Even if you don't tape your skates they're probably still dirty. My skates had reddish streaks on them due to boot rot of the leather soles. Nail polish remover took that right off as well.

4. Coca Cola. If your blades get rusty because you haven't skated in a while or you left your skates in your bag Coke is great way to remove the rust in a pinch. One of the girls on my synchro team had this problem before one of our competition official practices. I hadn't heard of this remedy until her mom bought a bottle of Coca Cola from the vending machine, poured some on a paper towel and wiped down her blades. It took the rust right off! Just make sure to douse blades with water afterwards to get any remaining Coke off. To keep skate blades from rusting it's best to take them out of the soakers after practice and let them sit in the open air. Additionally, make sure to dry the skates as well as possible and never leave them in the plastic guards. If Coca Cola can get rust off of metal, what is it doing to the inside of your body anyways?

The Ballet Days

It seems like I've been doing a lot of "lecturing" lately so I figured I'd share some more personal stories this week.

I started taking classical ballet in seventh grade when my coach suggested that it might benefit my skating. You see before I took ballet I was probably the least graceful child ever. She used to tell me that my hands, when they were supposed to be delicate, looked like they were clutching grapefruits. My knobby elbows bent into sharp corners instead of into the round, soft shapes that they should have taken on.

My ballet training were made up of some extremely memorable moments, both good and bad. I only took class twice a week, Monday and Friday. I took one class on Mondays, but Fridays I was at the studio for three and a half, sometimes four, hours straight. In addition to ballet I also took jazz, choreography/partnering, and eventually an advanced ballet class. It was difficult and very sweaty but I managed. I left the house on Friday mornings at 5am for an early morning skate and didn't return home on until 9:30 after my partnering class had ended. Somehow though, I loved how exhausting it was. I felt productive and strong.

My ballet instructor, or Madame as we were told to call her, was a woman in her eighties but she had a youthfulness about her. She would sometimes dance with us, move with us, and she taught for hours and hours a week. She was tough and very strict, but those were the reasons I respected her so much. At least initially.

Into my second and third years of ballet training I began to notice some unhealthy things happening at the studio. She used to always encourage me to come to more classes, "it will make your skating better", "your ankles will be stronger", "you'll be a better skater" , "you need to be at Wednesday and Thursday classes" she would say almost every week. My response became almost scripted. I would tell her, very politely and carefully, that if I attended any more classes than I already was that I wouldn't have the resources, time and money, to continue to skate. Granted, I would have probably been worlds better if I had gone to class every day. Heck! My progress after the first year was incredible. I went from no turn out to quite a bit. I went from no grace to quite graceful. I went from sickled feet to pleasantly pointed toes. At this rate, I probably could have done great things with ballet but it wasn't my focus. My reason for taking classes was to strengthen my skating. To make me a better figure skater. And I constantly had to remind myself of that.

But that aspect wasn't what made me uncomfortable. It was that I always wondered if she wanted me to take more classes because it would benefit my dancing or if it was because it would put more money in her pocket.

In general, i'm a competitive person...which makes things difficult when it comes to competing because even though I want to be the best with every bone in my body, I also get incredibly nervous. But when it came to Ballet there were no nerves, I was competitive as usual. I wanted to be the best in the class, or at least one of the best. And I was on my way there if I hadn't quit. But Madame picked favorites, big time. She loved the new students, the young students. She gave them lots of corrections, talked them up in front of the class, praised them for their hard work. I was that student my first year and part of my second year. Once a student had been there for a few months, maybe a year, however, it was as if they had become invisible. I began to notice this by my third year. She was no longer correcting me and I know it was definitely not because there was nothing to correct. She rarely commented on anything having to do with my dancing, nor did she even look at me sometimes. She was pre occupied with the "triple threats" in her class. The "potential Broadway girls", and she seemed to forget about everyone else.


One day, she sat us all down for a lecture. She did this occasionally and we rejoiced that class had ended a few minutes early and we could sit. Usually she told stories of how hard she had to work in her day, how she has grown soft over the years and we should be thankful. Some comments were mildly frustrating to hear but this day, this day was different. She went around the room commenting on each person. On their dancing and on their personal being. When she got to me she looked at me a minute and I could feel my heart beat in my chest. "Now" and she said my name "I don't know if you are too socially, emotionally, or intellectually immature or all three...." she continued but the blood rushed through my cheeks so hard and so fast I thought my face might light on fire. I gnawed on my lower lip, clenched my jaw and tried to look as calm as possible.

What I really wanted to do was a cross between cry and scream. At 14 she was probably right, I was probably a little immature as most 14 year olds are but she had no right to call me out on it in front of the entire class. I did my best. I worked hard. She had even treated me the previous year as if I was her prized possession and now she was tossing me out onto the curb like a sac of used goods. For a girl that already struggled with self-confidence issues this was my tipping point.

I sat quietly in the car on the ride home, I never said a word. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth the cry would escape. My mom was concerned at my silence and she knew that something had gone awry. I didn't open up until later in the summer before registration for the next year began. I told her what had happened and that I didn't want to go back.

I miss ballet sometimes and I'm far from being bitter about my experiences with Madame. She taught me a lot about myself and what I am capable of. I learned how to be graceful, how to be balletic and delicate. I learned how to be mentally and physically strong. They were very important, those three years I spent with Madame and I wouldn't take any of them back.

I was glad that I could finally acknowledge that her teaching style was unhealthy and it had nothing to do with her being strict. It was the personal attacks that bothered me the most, and the favoritism. If ballet was my life long passion I might have stuck with it, but the reason I started taking it was to better my figure skating. For a girl with self-confidence issues already, this definitely wasn't helping.

It's ironic because I made my decision for what I felt, and still feel, were mature reasons. Staying in an unhealthy situation would have been immature, at least from my perspective. And it took a lot of guts to give up something I loved for what was right for me. It's been three years now without ballet and I'm thinking of starting again in colleg
e. Something light duty, easier going, just to revive my passion for movement and expression. Madame kindled a passion for ballet in me, and I'm thankful for that, and I cannot wait to rekindle that passion.

Best of Luck!! (and lots of love to all of my readers!)

On Popping

I've struggled with popping jumps since as long as I can remember. The worst bout of it I had was a few years back with my double lutz. I spent probably close to three months where I would not rotate a single one. I would pop and pop and pop continuously until I thought my coach was going to personally kick me up into the air with her skate...toe-pick first. If you haven't had a problem with popping the sensation is something like banging your head into a brick wall repeatedly. It didn't matter that I wanted to try the jump or that I really did think I was going to do it "this time". I could not, would not rotate. Up, pop. Up pop. Up pop. And thats how it went for about 3 months until finally my coach, frustrated and out of ideas threw me a Hail Mary.

She reached into her skate bag at the beginning of my lesson one day and pulled out a journal. The cover had Barbie dolls or something girly on it and it was spiral bound. She flipped open to the first page. On it were drawn three columns headed by a line for the date. One column was labeled land, the second was fall and the last column was for recording pops. There were six rows, one for each jump and I was to make a tally mark in the correct column after every jump I did. If I fell on a double sal I marked it down. If I popped a double loop I marked it down. If I landed a double toe I marked it down. It was tedious and slightly time consuming since I had to keep my pen and paper at the ready during every practice. At the end of the day I was to count up the percent of each jump attempt that I ended up popping.

Her point in having me do this was to make me see just how pressing my problem was. If I had to write it down, it would be much more visible. For instance I found that I popped something like 45% of my double loops and 97% of my Lutzs. For me, this was enough to shock me into changing my ways. Every time I circled around the rink it counted, and at first I was embarrassed to show my coach the notebook after a few days of keeping track.

In a weird way having to write it down made me realize how much time I wasted on bailing out. Instead of just wanting to land the blasted jump I started to want to make a check in the "land" column. This changed my focus from "stop popping" to "start landing". I believe that this technique worked for two reasons. The first is that it addressed my issue and shocked me into seeing how big of a problem it actually was. Secondly, the notebook made me want to "land" jumps instead of "stop popping" jumps. It changed the wording.

Popping, no shock here, is all psychological. It's all in the head. My coach told me to come up with a keyword to repeat to myself before I took off for every jump, such as "Up". There is one little catch to this technique however and it is that the keyword must be positive. It cannot be something like "Don't pop" or "Don't fall" or "Don't Stop Believing" (yes that is a Journey reference). When you say "Don't pop" what your brain actually hears is "pop", so it does what it's told. By making the statement affirmative such as "land" it is much more effective. I still say "land" in my head before I take off and it works almost 100% of the time. I stand by my belief that skating is 70% mental and 30% physical.

In fact, this technique is actually advocated in parenting classes. When you reprimand your child you are supposed to tell them something along the lines of "Next time keep the cat on the floor" rather than "Don't pick up the cat by it's tail". Affirmative is better!

An image from Duhigg's novel showing the habit loop
in regards to Alcoholism and how AA meetings can
help break the addiction. 

The major issue with popping is that it becomes a habit and habits, my fellow nail biters know, are very hard to break. I'm currently reading a nonfiction novel titled The Power of Habit. It's written by Charles Duhigg and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a summer read. In it, Duhigg discusses the nature of habit loops which you can read more into if you so choose.

Here is my personal 4 step method to handling popping:
1. Keep a journal. Record all of your pops, lands and falls.
2. Figure out the ratio of pops to landed/fallen on jumps. The number might be large enough to widen your eyes and send a shiver down your spine. If so, the shock factor step has been completed.
3. Pick an affirmative keyword to repeat to yourself right before you take off on every jump. "Land" is a simple and effective one.
4. Continue this process until you change your habit from popping, to landing! It takes about a month for a habit to be
completely changed so be patient.

Best of Luck!!

Envy vs. Jealousy

There is this big green monster that we are taught about in elementary school and that big green monster if you remember, is named Envy. Envy is a powerful, yet not evil, emotion. However, it's twin, Jealousy has a bad side that possesses many people. There is a big difference between envy and jealousy, that difference being that jealousy includes hatred. You can be envious of your friends new car and you can be jealous of your friends new car. Envy only implies that you want the car. Jealousy implies that you want the car and you hate your friend for having it.

As I'm sure many of you already know, both envy and jealousy run rampant in the skating world and it is one of the leading causes of, you guessed it, the notoriously insane rink drama. You would be lying if you said that never in your whole life have you ever experience either one, or both. It's human nature. We all have a tendency to get a little envious of our neighbors swimming pool, their new car, a child with an ice cream cone, or that other skaters triple flip. Envy isn't necessarily a bad thing. It only implies that we want something as well. Sometimes, envy can power us towards our goals and motivate us. It's jealousy, the evil twin, that causes trouble.

I spent probably most of my competitive years in juvenile through junior being both chronically envious and jealous of other skaters. It consumed me somedays, especially the bad ones. There were days where I would sit in the lobby lacing up my skates and stare at another skaters clothes, hair or skates and wish that I could have that too. I was jealous of other skaters for having big training facilities and schools of skating friends, for being stick thin and
for being able to sit in the kiss and cry at nationals or go to proms with fellow male skaters.

I don't know why I let it get to me so much. I always felt as if I had drawn the short stick. If I had just lived somewhere else, had more money and more ice time that I could have been more successful. It was especially painful the year I competed in Intermediate at my regionals. I didn't even make final rounds when another girl from my rink made junior nationals. She got flowers at the rink, send off parties, competitor parties at nationals and recognition back at home. All I got were big black mascara stains on my pillow at home.

I felt like a failure. I wept about my skate for days and wallowed in my self-pity. It was awful. In hindsight I wish future me could travel back into the past and give 13 year old me a big ol' slap in the face. I was consumed by jealousy after that. I wish I had a better rink. I wish I had more money. I wish I could skate more. I wish I was a better skater. I wish I made Junior Nationals. 

Just recently, I've made some emotional breakthroughs. It's been a long time since I felt that amount of jealousy towards another skater. Envy yes, jealousy not so much. It's difficult, but I am working on it. Going back to my "the grass isn't always greener on the other side" metaphor, it's useless to spend time wallowing about what others have when there's time to be spent bettering ourselves. Even those skaters struggle with their own demons, even they probably have someone they are jealous or envious of. My dad always used to tell me that while we are envious of the Millionaires of the world,  the Millionaires are wishing they were the Billionaires.

Best of Luck!!

Who Would We Be?

Yesterday I received a scholarship application in the mail from my Synchronized Skating team. They are awarding $500 to one of four graduating seniors and one of the requirements is an essay. The essay prompt reads " Write an essay about the impact that figure skating has had on your life". When I first read the prompt I did a little fist pump, this was going to be oh so simple. But as I sat down this morning with a cup of tea and the intent of pumping out my 500 word essay, I began to realize that this was going to be harder than I thought.

See heres the problem, its hard to say which areas of my life have been impacted by skating because skating has been my whole life. Where do I draw the line, I would literally not be the same human being I am today if I had not taken Learn to Skate classes. It has been such an integral part of my life since age 5 that it is impossible to separate "non-skating me" from "skating me". Every dimension of my life has been shaped by skating, how do I put that into 500 words?

Should I start with the emotional and mental aspects? That seems the most obvious. Skating has taught me determination, perseverance, self-control, confidence, dedication, blah blah blah, those are things preached about in every sport. Socially I have been impacted. Since I opted to not play a school sport in a high school of jocks and jockettes, I didn't have as many friends as I probably could have. My family has been impacted financially as well. We spend so much money on skating every year it's hard to imagine what we would be able to do if I quit. Heck! I would be able to purchase designer shoes instead of skates and we could take fancy vacations. That said, I wouldn't trade skating for the world...even a closet filled with Manolos, Louboutins, and Jimmy Choos.

Cognitively I have been affected by skating. If I had more time to study my grades might be much higher, I might be going to an Ivy League University in the fall. But it has also taught me how to work hard and plan out my time. I am a time management pro due to my busy schedule, even if it means waking up extra early to finish a World History essay before heading to school. Physically my feet are covered in old lady like bumps and my hands are shaped by callouses.

To be honest, it seems irrelevant to imagine this parallel universe where I never skated and compare it to the universe in which I do. It is as if I am trying to imagine a life in which I only had one leg, or for a parent with a Downs Syndrome child to imagine what it would be like if the child wasn't affected. Skating will not cease to be my life either. As I age I will hopefully grow a group of students to coach and in turn make an impact on their lives. I will explore the world through Disney on Ice and experience performing on a bigger stage. My extra income from coaching might one day permit me to compensate for those lost vacations and designer shoes. Or maybe not. Predicting the future is just about as useful as looking into the past, or into a parallel universe for that matter.

I guess by asking me what impact skating has had on my life, they are asking me who I am. And to be honest, at age 17, I really don't know. But I hope to find out someday.

Best of Luck!!

Smart Shopping Saturday's #3

Today is the second Saturday of July and that means it's time for another Smart Shopping Saturday's! Below is a review of some products you should know about and some you should avoid. Enjoy!

Apparel

Just like most skaters prefer one skate manufacturer over another or one brand of dress over another, many prefer one brand of tights. Mondor is my go to brand. I find that Mondor tights have a medium to thick waistband on the top that smooths everything out. I tend to pull my tights up high, just slightly over my belly button to give the "spanx" effect. This way you can ensure that nothing is getting smushed out over the top. Mondors fit very comfortably, don't slide down, and are very durable. I wear the footless version because I skate barefoot with Bunga pads but they carry over the boot, and footed tights as well. I don't usually purchase the knit type mainly because I find that they would be too bulky to be worn under skating pants. However, for younger skaters wearing dresses for practice or competition, knit tights are a must have. From a distance they don't appear to be bulky or knit but they keep the skater much warmer than regular tights.

http://www.mondor.com/en/see-our-products.php?search=tights&x=0&y=0

Hair
Hair nets, and not the kind that your elementary school lunch ladies wore, are the essential finishing touch to any bun. Hairnets come in various shades to match any color hair and are superb at holding down the fly aways and securing a bun. I wear Bunheads brand hairnets that I purchase through Discount Dance Supply but if you're lucky you might be able to buy them at a local cosmetics or pharmacy store. For just a few dollars, a hair net will give the polished look you're searching for and you might be able to get away with using half as much hairspray! Also, if you are not a bun making master and have yet to perfect the perfect bun, a hair net is a good way to correct any mistakes. It smooths out any bumps and gives a bun shape to any  mess of hair. When I first started taking ballet I used to just pile up all my hair, plop a hair net over the top, pin it down and it looked just as good as anybody else.

http://www.discountdance.com/dancewear/style_BH420.htmlpid=864&Shop=Style&SID=501373783

Accessories 

The accessory for today is something I have loved for a very long time. I refer to it as "The Roll". The Roll is a long foam roller used for getting into deep muscle tightness. It's technical name is something like Self-myofascial release, or SMR and it is painful and glorious all at the same time.There are various positions you can contort yourself into on the roller to get a deep stretch everywhere from your calves to your upper back. With a roller you can get into areas that you wouldn't be able to loosen up with a traditional stretch. For me, I found that my IT band, the muscle along the outside of the leg from hip to knee, was very tight. It was beginning to cause me some mild knee pain but once I started rolling it out the pain subsided. You can buy one of these foam rollers anywhere from Target to professional gym stores in various levels of densities. The denser the roller is the deeper of a stretch you will get.
HERE are some SMR foam roller stretches and HERE is a link to Target's website where you can purchase various foam rollers.

Best of Luck!!

On Body Image Issues

Alissa Czisny

I've been putting off writing this post because I'm not entirely sure I'm qualified to write about weight issues. I'm still dealing with body image issues myself. As a figure skater, we feel a lot of pressure to be that size two or less, stick legged athlete. I most certainly am not. For one, I am a size 6 and I have muscular legs which I occasionally whine about. I have hips, I am a girl after all, and I'm 5'6 which I complained about for the longest time. I have fully come to terms with my height now that I have stopped growing. I have also realized that not all competitive figure skaters are the size of an olympic gymnast. In fact, skaters with long legs like Alissa Czisny are sometimes much more beautiful to watch.  Just make sure that those "gazelle" legs, as one of my coaches refers to them, are not bent.


So as a 5'6", muscular skater with hips and boobs and thighs I sometimes feel like I have the wrong body for the sport. Between my freshman year of high school, which I entered at age 13, and my senior year of high school which I left at age 17, my body has changed dramatically. I went from one of those little stick figures to an actual human being. This is a transition I still haven't come to terms with. I feel betrayed by my body and by myself. Sometimes I think if I didn't eat as much through high school that I would still be a size 2.

Junior Ladies Champion Polina Edmunds

Skating is different from other sports in that you are being judged and everything is subjective. In hockey you either score a goal or you don't. In football you either make a touch down or you don't. In running you either cross the finish line or you don't. Sometimes the staff has to look really really close, but the placements are still objective. In a subjective sport like figure skating or gymnastics, every little detail about your appearance seems to count. Is your dress to small? Is your dress ugly? Does it go with the music? Is your hair a mess? Does your makeup make you look like the Joker? Are your skates white? And finally...what about your weight? Are you fat? Skinny? I always felt that if only I had a more glamorous dress, if only I could drop a few pounds, that  I too could stand on the top of the podium.

The truth is, none of those things will make a dramatic difference. The physical appearance aspect might separate placements 2 from 3 or 1 from 2 but it will never take a skater at the bottom of the results sheet and shoot them up to the top or vice versa. The only thing that should really matter in skating isn't the politics or occasionally wacky judging, it's how you skate that counts. If you feel that you are at a disadvantage for whatever the reason, the solution is to work harder. You will feel better if you had to earn the medal around your neck.

There are some skaters, like Caroline Zhang who have undergone this transition at around the same time as I have. Many of you might remember this very young national medalist from 2008 when she began to appear everywhere. Suddenly she fell of the national stage but she has made a comeback! Low and behold, she no longer looks like a 12 year old girl. Why is it that this normal, natural transition is so shunned in figure skating?

That said, I still look in the mirror every day and wish that I had my 13 year old body back. My point in making this post was not to sit here and whine about my own issues. It was to point out, to myself and to you, that if you want something, you have to work to get it. If that something is out of your reach, you have to work harder in other areas to compensate for it. When I was younger and Oprah was on television she would often have overweight individuals on the show where they would cry about their weight. I used watch them sob and say, as thought they could hear, "Tears don't burn calories!" In hindsight, I realize how insensitive my comment was. But yet at the same time, nothing is stopping you, or me, or them from greatness besides ourselves. It's time to stop standing in our own way and to get out there and fight for what we want out of life. Don't let the myths about skating tell you that you are not good enough.

Sorry if that was too preachy for you!  Saturday's post will be a Product Review so stick around!

Best of Luck and lots of love to my new readers!!

Is The Grass Greener on the Other Side?

My whole skating career with the exception of three or four years when I was younger, I have been an individual member of US Figure Skating. I would say that there weren't any clubs in the area but actually, the exact opposite is true. Within a 40 minute range there are about six clubs. Because there are so many, none of them are very strong. There are three synchro teams, each with barely enough for an open juvenile team. If we put all of the clubs, all of the synchro teams together, we could have one very strong, very popular club. But no one seems to want to work together, after all, it is the skating world. So instead we scrape by with our six clubs, each of which are always on the verge of sliding under. In addition to this there are also three rinks that do not have a club. No club means cheaper ice time, but it also means less ice time in some cases. I  spend most of my time at the rink closest to where I live but I often have to drive to several other rinks in order to get all of my skating in.

To be honest, I really wish my "home rink" had a club present and I wish it was a massive, extremely popular club with exciting skaters and famous coaches. I hope for something like Broadmoore, SC of Boston, All Year FSC, or SC of New York. But we can all dream. I could join one of these clubs, the one closest to me, just to have the name announced at competitions but it wouldn't be the same. 

What I long for is the closeness of the skaters at the rink. At my rink, the coaches are very territorial. It's as if there is an unspoken rule that you are only allowed to talk to other skaters taught by your coach. This creates a drama vortex. It seems that the coaches hate one another so much that it more often than not, ends up only hurting the skaters.

I know that at this point there is no changing the way that the rinks and coaches in my area operate. But I hope to one day, after college and traveling, come back to my hometown and start coaching. When I do I will make it my goal to create a warm environment for not only my skaters, but others too. I want to bring in an independent coach to teach off-ice classes and begin to make my home rink like those rinks I have envied my whole life.

When I was younger my parents would always tell me "The grass isn't always greener on the other side". This meant that sometimes we think someone has it better, but come to find out, they actually have it the same or perhaps worse. As I'm getting older I'm beginning to realize that sometimes in fact, the grass is actually greener on the other side. But rather than wallow and mope about how much you hate the grass on your side, you can do your best to water and feed  what your given and sometimes, just sometimes, the grass on your side will get green up. Don't give up on what you're given. Make the best of what you have because all the moping and the whining and the pouting won't change a thing. What will change something is hard work and dedication. In the end, when you put in effort to change something for the better, the feeling of satisfaction you get when you succeed will be worth your while. In the words of Drake, "Started from the bottom now we here". Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Best of Luck!!

10 Competition Essentials You Might Not Think About

Similar to my previous "10 Things That Should Be in Your Bag" post, today I am going to give you a list of 10 essentials to have with you at every competition.

1. Extra hair ties and bobby pins
Who knows when that hair tie currently holding your bun in place might snap? Or if those bobby pins might fall out? Always have these little extras on hand so you'll have one less thing to stress out about.

2. Back up dress
My mother always used to tell me to pack this one in case of an emergency of any kind. If you are enjoying a cup of hot tea in the cafe when an excited Juvenile girl knocks by you to see the newly posted results and you spill your tea all down the front of your dress you have a back up! If you suddenly lose mass quantities of rhinestones, you have a backup. If a hole tears in the mesh or you put an enormous gouge in the lycra, don't worry because you have a backup! Again, one less thing you might have to stress about.

3. Back up tights
The same thing goes for tights as does the dress. If you spill something or make a last minute hole you won't have to worry about going out on the ice looking sloppy. Having an extra pair of tights on hand is an absolute MUST! If you really don't want to bring an extra pair of tights at least pack a bottle of clear nail polish. If you apply the polish to a hole it will stop it from running.

4. Copy of your music for your coach
If your music skips or doesn't play your coach should have a backup or even your practice copy right on hand so the problem can quickly be solved.

5. Extra Laces
Break a lace last minute? Replace it quickly before you get on the ice. Please! No Tonya Harding drama here!

Watch the video if you haven't seen it already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI7qBAfWYP4

6. Skate repair kit
Your repair kit should consist of a screw-driver, your extra laces, and perhaps small bottle of polish for touch ups. This way, if anything goes wrong you can deal with it quickly and calmly. If your blade is squeaking or clicking you can give each screw a quick tighten. If your coach makes a face at your dirty skates you can dab on some quick-drying polish to the spots she hates most. I don't recommend polishing your skates in the 11th hour however, nor have I seen many skaters do it. Nevertheless, it's probably a good idea to keep some polish around, just in case.

7. Tampons (if you're a girl!)
Imagine your worst nightmare. Mine was getting my "monthly friend" right before I got on the ice for a performance. Oh wait...that wasn't a nightmare, that actually happened. I was warming up for a show and bam! Mother Nature strikes again! I didn't have any tampons or pads on me and I was completely unprepared. The whole thing could have easily been avoided had I just put some tampons in my dress bag.

8. Water bottle
I have a tendency to get very nervous before I skate in a competition which usually leads me to stop salivating all together. A 4 minute program is pretty hard to get through when your mouth is screaming for water. Take a drink during your warm-up and right before they announce your name. It will make your life a lot easier and your mouth a lot happier.

9. Print out of the schedule/groups
When you are walking around before hand, it's nice to be able to glance down at your own schedule and figure out where they are. This way, you can determine how much time you have and if they are running early or late. Some, not all, competitions will provide you with a schedule once you arrive but incase they don't, print out your own.

10. Headphones
Listening to music, especially rap, really puts me in the zone for competitions. It cancels out the background noise, the other skaters talking about their clean run-through or their triple triple combinations and lets you focus on yourself. I use actual headphones Michael Phelps style, not just the earbuds, because I found they stay on my head while I jump around and warm up. They also cancel out all noise around me so I can stay focused on the job I came to do.

I hope that helped and that next time you compete you consider packing some of those items!
Best of Luck!!

Olympitosis

Olympitosis. Have you heard of it? Probably not, seeing as I just made up the name for this chronic and slightly contagious syndrome. But I'm sure you would recognize the symptoms. Symptoms include crazed parents, yelling parents, six year old children landing multiple types of double jumps, skating for five hours or longer by force, unbelievable flexibility, skaters are always the youngest in their level, any many more. If you or your child are experiencing any of these symptoms contact your psychiatrist immediately.

Olympitosis is the belief that ones child will go to the Olympics. These parents seem to be blind to the fact that out of the thousands of figure skaters in the nation only 2-3 every four years will actually make the cut. No matter how hard you push your child, no matter how long you make them stay on the ice, or how young they are, the odds are not in your favor.

Olympitosis is often accompanied by living vicariously through the child. This means that the parent, who probably was not as successful in their day as he or she desired to be, is trying to fulfill their own dreams and compensate for their own regrets through their child.

Arguably one of the saddest symptoms of Olympitosis that appears in the child is burn out. Once the skater reaches age 12 or 13 they will no longer want to participate in the sport they have been forced to love. It's not to say that this occurs in every athlete, but it will occur in many. The chances of a child of Olymptoptic parents experiencing burn out are much higher than the chances of that child going to the Olympics. Yes they might make it to sectionals or even nationals but if the passion isn't there they will no longer want to continue to skate.

Olympitosis seems to sweep the nation every four years with the occurrence of the Olympic games. When a parent of a young child sees the athletes on television basking in the glory of their feats they, out of love or vicarious-living, want the same success for their own child. They often underestimate how difficult it is and how unique athletes must be to make it to that level. Olympic success is something born out of passion, not out of force.

I suppose I wrote this post to give a name to something people commonly know about and experience, especially at the rink. Most of these people exercise clouded judgement and will not listen to anyone who disagrees with them. The best thing you can do as a coach if you suspect that the parents of your student might have Olympitosis, is to limit lesson time and not take advantage. Many coaches often see this as a time to cash in on desires of vulnerable parents, even if it hurts the child. Please, coaches, try to exercise judgement and keep these parents at bay.

Happy Fourth of July and Best of Luck!!!