Building Resiliency and Preparing for the Unexpected

Last week I had the opportunity to attend my first Canada Games. This event is like a mini-Olympics for Canadian athletes. In figure skating, the top two Pre-Novice skaters in each discipline and from each province get selected to attend. The event happens only every 4 years. Canada Games brings so many unique experiences and opportunities that a young athlete would normally never have. 

Unique Challenges/Opportunities

Some of the unique challenges/opportunities the athletes faced were:

• Performing to a sold out crowd of cheering fans

• Representing their province and being part of a team

• Longer than normal days at the rink 

• Not having their parents present

• Sharing rooms and eating in meal halls

• Making friends with previous competitors

• Working as a team

Preparing for the Unexpected

You cannot possibly train for every situation you may have to face in competition. What you can do is work on building resiliency. Four ways you can build resiliency are:

1. regularly pushing outside your comfort zone in practice, 

2. creating a pre-competition plan you can trust, 

3. learning to trust your training, 

4. developing mindfulness strategies to feel your feelings.

Mental training

I teach these strategies to my athletes through the mental training programs I offer. Mind-Body Performance is the private program, Performance Pods is the group program and I also teach masterclass and seminar style classes to clubs. Mental training is the best way you can prepare yourself for the unexpected. 

Message me to find out more about mental training classes for you/your athletes.

Use this worksheet to identify the KEY CHARACTERISTICS of your confident self so you can CHOOSE to use them going into your next competition.

Get the worksheet –> https://rebekah-dixon.mykajabi.com/pl/141210