Christina Chitwood and Mark Hanretty performing the Finnstep at the 2009 European Championships (Photo by Liz Chastney)
With regionals having recently ended, competitions for our students coming up the next two weekends, sectionals and nationals coming up, and the international competition season continuing, I want to provide some tips for any competitor, any level. Some of these may seem basic, but even the top competitors in the world sometimes forget to do them.
1. SMILE! 
Unless your coach has asked you to use a different expression to portray your program, you should be smiling!
Most people think of figure skating as both sport and art. Peggy Fleming has a short video on expressing yourself through figure skating:
Finding inspiration as a performer is sometimes key to giving that moving performance yourself, whether you’re a figure skater, gymnast, dancer, actor, singer, or any other type of performer.
Fitness training is an important activity to include in your child/teenager’s life….
