Head games...

I know it seems as though all I'm writing about is the mental side of things... well, that's on purpose! 99% of the game is mental, friends! (My computer still won't let me use the "Enter" key correctly). Just a quick note about my own little head games. I tend to get very caught up in the oh-so-seductive "what if" cycle that is seemingly life-sucking and never ending. While trying to put myself in a nationals setting yesterday--trying to recreate the anxiety, the waiting, the nervous ticks, the discomforts--I found that many of my hang-ups lie in the "what if... ?" game. What if I skate clean? What if I don't skate well? What if I get a medal? What if I skate right after Evan, or Johnny? What if they don't land their jumps? What if I don't land my axel/lutz/flip... fall on spin... lose my focus... get too nervous... don't have good practices... get sick... trip going down stairs... blah blah blah. SHUT IT ALL OUT!! I have been at a reasonable loss as to how to do that--how do you control thoughts going in and out of your head if they're simply a reaction to where you are, what you're doing, etc.? The answer is to actively say to yourself in your head whatever you'd like to be thinking. When it gets even tougher to shut them out and focus on what you want say them out loud. When that is still difficult, raise your voice. Keep going until you are only focused on what you want and what you want to be thinking. I made the decision yesterday that as soon as I start any kind of "what if... ?" game, I would actively turn it into an, "I do... " game. Instead of "what if I don't do a good program?" it will be [something like] "I do all my jumps"/"I do clean programs"/"I do triple axel"/"I do everything I plan"/"I do great spins" ... I do... I do... I do... and so on. Continuously reminding yourself of the POSITIVE things that YOU have control over; I will continuously remind myself of my strengths. The "What if...?" thoughts are hoopla, instead, "I DO...!!!"