For my second blog this month, I want to dive into the way figure skating is measured and its impact and crossover into daily life. As a species, we are extremely connected to, and reliant on, numbers. Everything is measured and that is how we define almost everything that we do in our lives. How much money we have, what things are worth, what size our bodies are, how many likes we get on a social media post, how many friends we have, etc.. Without numbers, the life that we know wouldn’t exist. However, it’s also a system that can cause obsessing and over self judgement. We are so prone to feeling inadequate because we are constantly comparing ourselves to our best results in life, or other people’s best numbers, or what others have and we don’t. It is a double edge sword.

Let’s take figure skating for instance. A very unique sport in that it straddles the line of sport and art. We compete to win. We are judged by a panel, who isn’t always fair or unbiased (they’re human – how objective can one truly be?). We are judged by fans, popularity, how many turns we can do in the air, the multitude of them and how many different variations. We count how many rotations we do on the ice in our spins, how long our carry lifts are, how much time we are allotted for a program. Everything is measured and within those jails of confinement, we are supposed to create art while being aware of and, in some cases, calculating all of the data as we go! It’s madness! But also thrilling. For knowledgeable skating fans, it’s one of the things that makes skating so special, and probably one of the reasons that it may never have the massive global following that some of the major professional sports do…it’s too niche. It’s complicated. It’s hard to understand. It’s also a bunch of people dancing around to music, wearing costumes and trying to please a panel of technical specialists and judges. No wonder it isn’t for everybody. But if you can get past that, skating is one of the hardest sports out there. We compete very few times a year and yet it takes months and months for a program to hit it’s full stride. New skill acquisition is a ridiculous time commitment and largely risky — both for safety and reliability. You have all the time in the world to overthink what’s coming at you and then when it’s finally your turn to compete, it’s over in the blink of an eye. You have to be so present and so aware of who you are and what makes you tick under pressure. And there is no shortage of immense pressure. Knowing that at any time your blade can catch an edge or a split second of loss of focus can cause a costly mistake. That can make anyone go crazy with anticipation. But for us sickos who thrive in that, it’s an adrenaline rush liken to skydiving. And like skydiving, the greatest performances lie in your ability to let go and enter into a controlled freefall.

Much like creating art, your best creations come out of your willingness to surrender to the moment, have faith in yourself, and let go of your need for control of the outcome. You pair that with smart, hard training, proper preparation and mental discipline and you have A CHANCE at creating a special moment. An out of body experience. In sport psychology it’s called peak flow. For some skaters, their experience is described like: “what happened? It was like I was a passenger.” It’s ironic that the way into the best version of yourself in this crazy sport where you
marry the left and right brain, calculation and creativity, is to take all of that hard work, dedication, pain and sacrifice and let it all go. You have to surrender to the moment and just be. When you can be okay with that, your seas can calm and you will be able to hear your inner voice, your true self, the little kid that first fell in love with skating, before all the pressures and the outcomes and the rewards that consume us day in and day out. When you can hear that voice, you will more free to skate for you. I’m not saying that it’s a guarantee that this will always lead to a perfect skate because there are far too many variables that are out of your control but I am willing to bet that you will give yourself your best chance of success. Most importantly though, you will enjoy it more! When I look back on my long career, the moments that stand out most in my skating career are the ones where I skated free and full of joy and coincidentally (or not), they were my best results too.

As we draw closer to the Junior and Senior World Championships, I encourage every skater who has the privilege to represent their country on this stage to do their homework, know their plans, make sure that they are prepared for everything and have calculated every way to maximize their outcome…BUT…savour each moment! Find the freedom in your skating that comes with the courage to embrace vulnerability and the chaos of competition. Find your eye in the storm and live every moment as it comes. Trust your training and your planning and skate for you. But most importantly, have fun!