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SkaterSense

Beyond the Blade toolkit

Mental Health

All feelings are OK. Simple tools help you feel calm, ready and supported.

Download the Toolkit (opens in a new tab)

Know your feelings

  • Name how you feel before and after skating. Feelings come and go.
  • Your body gives clues: a fast heartbeat can mean nervous, tight fists can mean frustrated.

Calm your body

  • Smell the flower, blow out the candle. Squeeze and let go. Picture a calm place. Take a break.
  • Practice when you feel calm, so the tools are ready.

Use music

  • Make two playlists: one slow song for calming down, one fast song for getting ready.
  • Play the calm song while you stretch or lace up, and breathe with the beat. Let the skater pick the songs.

Use helpful words

  • Swap “Don't fall” for “Soft knees. Look up.” and “I can't do it” for “I'm learning.”
  • After a fall: stop, take a slow breath, try again.

Follow a skate day routine

  • Pack your bag, arrive early, warm up, breathe, say your cue word, skate and have fun.
  • Before a test or show, visit the rink and practice in your costume.

Rest and get support

  • Sleep, eat well, move, spend time with friends and do something fun away from the rink.
  • Name a coach, family member and friend you can talk to.

Signs of stress can look like changes in sleep, eating or behavior. If you notice a change, talk with a doctor.

Research on adaptive skaters' mental health is still limited, so these tips come from sport psychology, Special Olympics and music therapy research. This toolkit is for learning, not mental health care.

Read the full resource

Research specifically examining the mental wellbeing of adaptive figure skaters is limited. Much of the available evidence comes from broader research on athletes, adaptive athletes, disability, or physical activity. SkaterSense therefore distinguishes between directly supported findings and recommendations adapted from related populations.

Toolkit topics

Mental health

  • Tips for getting over a mental block
  • Understanding skating-related fears
    • Fear of falling
    • Fear of embarrassment
  • Tips for dealing with failure
  • How does confidence work
  • Signs of burnout and tips
  • How to balance school and skating (if you are a student) or work/other responsibilities and skating (if you are an adult)
  • Social media
  • How to cope with injury

Performance and stress

  • Visualization: the science behind this, what it does to your brain, and how does it actually make you feel less nervous and more calm
  • Understanding what is happening in your body when you feel fatigue, out of breath, etc
    • Quick exercises you can do to combat this
  • How does adrenaline and cortisol work: the science behind this
  • Why do you feel dizzy when you spin
  • How to overcome pressure
  • Competition anxiety
  • Tips for managing nerves
  • How does balance work and ways to improve balance

Key information

Strategies from the research

  • Reframing; restructuring; positive self-talk; moderating expectations; thinking more productively; trust monitoring; attentional control; dual task training; coaching-led intervention.
  • Use of mental images to relax; employing other relaxation techniques; quiet eye training.
  • Adapting to pressure; performing under pressure; facilitative anxiety interpretation; countering negative self-talk.
  • Preparation; quiet eye training; pre-shot routines; controlling the controllables; mental/physical pre-performance routines; performing under pressure.
  • Emphasis on healthy lifestyle; nutrition; proper care of body; self-regulation; energy management. Expanding identity beyond athlete.
  • Mitigating negative traits and dispositions with cognitive approaches designed to counter perfectionism, lack of confidence, high self-consciousness, etc.

The inverse, mind-to-body strategies such as autogenic training, meditation, and mindfulness, focuses on the use of imagery that induces physical relaxation.

Source: Research review, PubMed Central (opens in a new tab)

Self-talk

Specifically, negative self-talk stimulates negative emotions, adverse outcomes, and self-defeating strategies, and when combined with negative instructions (“don’t miss”), the resulting anxiety can lead to choking. Conversely, a facilitative interpretation of anxiety, also often impacted by self-talk, can be associated with better performance outcomes. To counter negative self-talk, cognitive restructuring (the process of identifying and challenging maladaptive thoughts with positive self-talk) can help alleviate the anxiety and negative affect and reliably leads to lower likelihood of choking.

Source: Research review, PubMed Central (opens in a new tab)

Coping

Some such problem-focused coping mechanisms (e.g., planning, seeking social support for instrumental reasons) may be effective; however, others, including some emotion-focused strategies (e.g., wishful thinking, self-blame, venting of emotions), may be counterproductive or maladaptive. Ultimately, performers need to develop individualized strategies that boost confidence in their ability, develop effective self-evaluation skills for correcting mistakes, and emphasize self-care, as strong performance requires mental, emotional, and physical vitality.

Source: Research review, PubMed Central (opens in a new tab)

Controlling the controllables

Situational strategies involve “controlling the controllables,” such as becoming accustomed to the performance setting, developing presentation skills, adopting skills that maximize performance when performing with others, and being organized. As performers must demonstrate their skills in many unfamiliar settings, a key part of preparation includes familiarity with the performance setting (e.g., lights, stage set-up, props, and audience) so they are unperturbed by spontaneous situations and unexpected distractions. To best address this, performers typically practice their entire performance multiple times as part of a standard rehearsal schedule, culminating in several “dress rehearsals” designed to emulate the actual performance. Furthermore, planning out practice/rehearsal time and establishing pre-performance routines (PPR) minimizes pre-performance anxiety, as such general performance management skills help performers stay centered, calm, and controlled during situational stressors.

Source: Research review, PubMed Central (opens in a new tab)

Music and movement

  • Music therapy is music — listening, singing, moving, playing — led by a qualified music therapist who tailors it to the person. A review of clinical trials found music therapy lowered anxiety.
  • Listening to music is the simpler version a skater can use alone. Reviews of athletes report better mood and lower perceived stress.
  • Studies that pair music with movement, with people who have disabilities or extra support needs, report gains in balance, confidence, inclusion and enjoyment.

Ways to use music on a skate day

  • Build two playlists with the skater: a slow song for calming down and a fast song for getting ready.
  • Play the calm song while stretching or lacing up, and breathe with the beat.
  • Use a song with a steady beat to count drills, so the rhythm carries the movement.
  • Let the skater choose the music — choosing is part of what makes it calming.

Source: Music therapy for anxiety: systematic review with multilevel meta-analyses, EClinicalMedicine (opens in a new tab)

Helpful resources

Research used for this page