{"id":7981,"date":"2017-01-27T15:13:04","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T15:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/?p=7981"},"modified":"2025-06-10T03:31:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T07:31:45","slug":"coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/","title":{"rendered":"Coping With Your Inner Critic in Skating"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7994 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/inner-critic.jpg\" alt=\"Self-Critical Skaters\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/inner-critic.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/inner-critic-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_You_a_Self-Critical_Figure_Skater\"><\/span>Are You a Self-Critical Figure Skater?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Article Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #0769bf;color:#0769bf\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #0769bf;color:#0769bf\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/#Are_You_a_Self-Critical_Figure_Skater\" >Are You a Self-Critical Figure Skater?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/#7_Warning_Signs_that_You_are_Your_Own_Worst_Enemy\" >7 Warning Signs that You are Your Own Worst Enemy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/#Why_be_so_self-critical\" >Why be so self-critical?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/#A_Strategy_For_Overcoming_Your_Inner_Critic\" >A Strategy For Overcoming Your Inner Critic<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/#Related_Sports_Psychology_Articles\" >Related Sports Psychology Articles<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/#Discover_Mental_Strategies_For_Peak_Performance\" >Discover Mental Strategies For Peak Performance!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p>In figure skating, your <strong>rival<\/strong> and your biggest <strong>adversary<\/strong> present two separate challenges&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your rival may be a skater you have grown up with or someone who beat you the previous year&#8230; Or a skater with a higher rank. Your biggest adversary is not another person, it&#8217;s YOU!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An adversary is often referred to as an enemy who continuously and relentlessly opposes you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of a time when you were your own worst enemy&#8230; Did you verbally berate yourself after a fall? Did you <strong>mentally<\/strong> give up before you even started your program? Did you allow yourself to be intimidated by other skaters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ashley Wagner is an accomplished U.S. figure skater who won a silver medal at the 2016 World Championships and has three U.S. National titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite all her accomplishments, Wagner still battles that <strong>internal adversary<\/strong> at times. Wagner took a two-month sabbatical after her last Grand Prix event in China. Wagner under-rotated jumps and battled doubts en route to finishing outside the top five for the first time in her 25 Grand Prix starts dating to 2007. Wagner has admitted that she can sabotage her performance by being too hard on herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heading into her 10th senior U.S. Championships, Wagner was seeking to rebound and squelch that inner critic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WAGNER:<\/strong> <em>&#8220;The door is wide open for everyone [at the 2017 U.S. Championships]. I think that there is no obvious or clear front-runner&#8230; I\u2019m competing against myself, because I\u2019m usually my own worst enemy at nationals. If I think about everybody else, that\u2019s not going to help me.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wagner\u2019s goal was to quiet her inner critic at the U.S. Championships. By staying <strong>positive,<\/strong> Wagner was able to perform strong in the free skate program, taking second place and putting herself in position to make the U.S. World Championship team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Warning_Signs_that_You_are_Your_Own_Worst_Enemy\"><\/span>7 Warning Signs that You are Your Own Worst Enemy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You have difficulty giving yourself credit for your <strong>successes.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You disqualify your strengths.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You create super high expectations of yourself and wonder why you always fail.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You compare yourself and your accomplishments to other skaters.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You are overly critical of most things you do.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You over-analyze your performance and beat yourself up over every past mistake or missed opportunity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You fear you will fall or make mistakes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_be_so_self-critical\"><\/span>Why be so self-critical?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You are already facing strong competition and tough challenges, there is no need to make it harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides, your thoughts about yourself are usually distorted. You are too close to yourself to see things as they truly are and just because you think a thought doesn\u2019t make it fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can just as easily grab a hold of thoughts that support your skills, talents and accomplishments. You can choose to be your biggest fan rather than your worst enemy&#8230; IT\u2019S A CHOICE!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Strategy_For_Overcoming_Your_Inner_Critic\"><\/span>A Strategy For Overcoming Your Inner Critic<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>First, you need to fact-check your thoughts. Ask other people for their feedback regarding your skills and performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ask yourself,<em> &#8220;Is there a chance that I&#8217;m too hard on myself?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If so, make a conscious choice to replace the inner critic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Start with one <strong>positive self-statement,<\/strong> <em>&#8220;I have trained hard and am primed for <strong>success.&#8221;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask yourself:<\/strong> How often do I criticize myself when skating? Being more aware if the first step to changing this behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/free-audio-figure-skating\/\"><strong>Get all my secrets to a confident and focused performance with The Confident Figure Skater<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-979ef383-5bc7-43ee-b8f9-249663ca1a6c\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_Sports_Psychology_Articles\"><\/span>Related Sports Psychology Articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul id=\"block-05642731-8752-4dbf-9c18-5cc4d276e821\" class=\"wp-block-list has-normal-font-size\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-refocus-after-making-mistakes\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/avoid-comparisons-to-feel-more-confident-in-figure-skating\/\"><strong>Avoid Comparisons to Feel More Confident in Figure Skating<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/refocus-quickly-when-distracted\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/figure-skating-improvement-plan-to-avoid-frustration\/\"><strong>Figure Skating Improvement Plan to Avoid Frustration<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/how-to-prevent-mental-mistakes-during-competition\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/figure-skating-practice-preparation-and-confidence\/\"><strong>Figure Skating Practice, Preparation, and Confidence<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\" id=\"block-5726d13f-f715-4ca4-8813-2f8a9ebd8bc3\">*Subscribe to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/sports-psychology-podcast-by-peaksports-com\/id152566009\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on iTunes<br>*Subscribe to <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0ynyaalKxbnNmsoeL8gF5X?si=8224669de9b3435b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Sports Psychology Podcast<\/strong><\/a> on Spotify<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\" id=\"block-281f5afb-980b-4c71-9aa0-11d606b5f7c9\"><strong>Download a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/mental-toughness-report-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">free sports psychology report<\/a>&nbsp;to improve your mental game!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\" id=\"block-94138e75-d591-4645-bb1d-212cf57a8841\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sport-psychology-training-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Learn more about our one-on-one mental game coaching.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Discover_Mental_Strategies_For_Peak_Performance\"><\/span>Discover Mental Strategies For Peak Performance!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/confident-figure-skater-small.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3855\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>You (or your athlete) might be the most skilled figure skater and train harder or longer than anyone else, but if you can\u2019t take your practice performance to competition, you simply will not reach your true potential in figure skating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn the top 8 mental game lessons to improve focus, composure, and confidence!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-confident-figure-skater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Confident Figure Skater: Mental Game Strategies For Peak Performance<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discover proven mental game secrets to unstoppable confidence in practice and competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Figure Skaters<\/strong>: Get the mental edge by learning how to take control of your confidence, mentally prepare for competition, and perform with composure under pressure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Coaches<\/strong>: Boost your figure skater\u2019s confidence using simple, proven mental strategies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Parents<\/strong>: Help boost your athlete\u2019s performance. Don\u2019t let their mind hold them back any longer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mental Coaches<\/strong>: Learn a proven system for helping your athletes boost mental toughness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/the-confident-figure-skater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Confident Figure Skater: Mental Game Strategies For Peak Performance<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are You a Self-Critical Figure Skater? In figure skating, your rival and your biggest adversary present two separate challenges&#8230; Your rival may be a skater you have grown up with or someone who beat you the previous year&#8230; Or a skater with a higher rank. Your biggest adversary is not another person, it&#8217;s YOU! An adversary is often &#8230; <a title=\"Coping With Your Inner Critic in Skating\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Coping With Your Inner Critic in Skating\">Sport Psychology Article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[655,1065],"class_list":["post-7981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-psychology-tips","tag-figure-skating-mental-toughness","tag-self-critical-athletes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.5.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In figure skating, your rival and your biggest adversary present two separate challenges. What are the warning signs that you are your own worst enemy?\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patrick Cohn\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"figure skating mental toughness,figure skating psychology,psychology for figure skaters,mental game in figure skating,self-critical athletes\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sports-psychology-blog\/coping-with-your-inner-critic-in-skating\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 4.9.5.2\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports Psychology Articles | Sport Psychology Articles for Athletes, Coaches, and Sports Parents\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Self-Critical Figure Skaters | Sports Psychology Articles\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In figure skating, your rival and your biggest adversary present two separate challenges. 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