Recovering from Mistakes in Competition

This week I want to talk about competition mistakes because eventually every skater ends up falling or tripping in a competition program. The best skaters will recover immediately, and they’ll usually forget about the mistake quickly.

I’ve found the best way to forget about the mistake is by transferring your focus to the next element in the program. If you dwell on the mistake, that is when you tend to lose focus and possibly make many more mistakes.

You can develop mistake recovery by practicing like a competition. When you make a mistake in practice, you should resume your program with the same expression and energy as before the fall.

Here’s an example of 2010 Olympic silver medalists and 2011 World champions Charlie White and Meryl Davis at a recent ISU Grand Prix competition in Russia. You see Charlie take a significant stumble early in the program, but he quickly resumes composure, getting right back in sync with Meryl. This causes the audience to forget about the mistake and keeps any negative marks by the judges minimal.

 

 

December 5, 2011

Inspiration from the 2011 Ice Dance World Champions, Meryl Davis and Charlie White

Meryl Davis and Charlie White performing their free dance at the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships. (Photo by Liz Chastney)

Meryl Davis and Charlie White performing their free dance at the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships. (Photo by Liz Chastney)

What a Worlds for U.S. ice dancing this year! Meryl Davis and Charlie White were the first U.S. ice dance team ever to win the World Figure Skating Championships! And the young Shibutanis placed third! Meryl and Charlie gained their victory over the Olympic and World champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

Read the entire article

May 5, 2011

Inspiration from the 2011 U.S. Ice Dance Medalists

Mai and Alex Shibutani performing their free dance at the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy. (Photo by Liz Chastney

Mai and Alex Shibutani performing their free dance at the 2010 Nebelhorn Trophy. (Photo by Liz Chastney

Watching ice dancers perform can be a great inspiration for skaters, parents, and people in any walk of life. I’m going to discuss how the top three ice-dance teams at the U.S. Championships can inspire us!

First, we have the 2010 Olympic and World Silver Medalists and three-time U.S. Champions, Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Meryl and Charlie are a team that can inspire us through their work ethic and through the years they’ve stayed together as a team. They are still a young team (24 and 23), but they have been together for many, many years (since 1997). This, along with their work ethic, has developed two excellent skaters into the wonderful team they are now!

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February 17, 2011

Inspiration from the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Ice Dance Champions, Meryl Davis and Charlie White

I’ve known this ice-dance team for many years, and we were members of Team USA together at a number of international competitions.  Both nice people, they definitely deserve this second title.  They have great footwork, intricate lifts, and amazing twizzles!

Watch this video of Meryl and Charlie’s awesome free dance from the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.  And don’t forget to watch Meryl and Charlie at the Olympics!  They compete in the compulsory dance on Friday, February 19, in the original dance on Sunday, February 21, and in the free dance on Monday, February 22.

February 18, 2010