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When You're One Centimeter Away · The Nadia Chapman Show

• 0:06
  Hey everyone, welcome back to the Nadia Chapman Show, the figure skaters edition.
• 0:11
  Today we're talking about when you are one centimeter away from landing the
• 0:17
  jump, from getting the score you want, from passing the test,
• 0:21
  whatever it is that you're working towards, but when you are
• 0:24
  so close to getting there, but you cannot get it quite yet.
• 0:30
  There is a very specific kind of frustration, if I can call it,
• 0:34
  in figure skating that I think every skater knows.
• 0:38
  It's not when you're miles away from something, because that's a different feeling,
• 0:43
  but it's when you are so close, one centimeter away.
• 0:47
  You're so close and the jump is there. It's almost fully rotated,
• 0:51
  let's say. Your coach sees it. You see it on the video. Your parents are probably
• 0:56
  in the bleachers saying, oh my gosh, you're so close. and somehow that makes it worse.
• 1:01
  Because when you are far away from something, you understand that you have work to do.
• 1:07
  But when you are so close, you start thinking, why isn't this happening yet?
• 1:13
  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I want to talk to you about today.
• 1:18
  Because sometimes the hardest part of learning, a new jump, a new skill,
• 1:24
  a new level, whatever it is, isn't the first 99 centimeters,
• 1:29
  all right? It's the last one.
• 1:32
  And if you know, you know, at first being so close is so exciting.
• 1:37
  You know, you land one almost clean. Oh, my God, that was it.
• 1:42
  Then you land another one. Oh, close again. And then the next day, close, close again.
• 1:49
  And then the next week, still close. And then eventually something changes.
• 1:54
  And that also applies if you're trying to make it to nationals and sectionals
• 1:59
  and, you know, trying to get the right score, whatever it is that you're working
• 2:03
  on that you are getting closer, but you're not there quite yet.
• 2:08
  And then eventually you stop being excited that you're close.
• 2:13
  You start getting maybe pissed off that you are still close.
• 2:17
  Now, every attempt that you do has this weird expectation attached to it.
• 2:23
  And this should be the one, maybe next one, maybe later tonight or maybe tomorrow.
• 2:28
  And you go into that jump or you go into this event thinking,
• 2:32
  OK, I'm going to do it. This is it. I'm going to land it. I'm going to get the perfect score.
• 2:36
  And when you don't, instead of seeing another repetition, another piece of information
• 2:41
  to learn from, another step towards learning process, you see failure.
• 2:46
  And this is where a skater can make that last little centimeter way much harder
• 2:52
  than it needs to be. Because now you're not just doing the jump or trying to
• 2:57
  qualify for the event. You're carrying frustration. You're carrying expectation.
• 3:01
  Lots of impatience.
• 3:03
  Comparations, maybe, to your teammate.
• 3:06
  You know, the memory of yesterday's attempt and the thought that you should
• 3:10
  have it by now. And then suddenly that little centimeter weighs on you.
• 3:15
  It weighs like a thousand pounds.
• 3:17
  So my goal with this podcast, if you are in this situation, is to stop searching for the secret answer.
• 3:25
  Stop searching for the secret answer. And this is another thing I see happening
• 3:31
  with skaters when they get so close to getting,
• 3:35
  whether it's the axle or double axle, or maybe a triple axle,
• 3:38
  they start kind of searching. Their mind is going crazy.
• 3:42
  Maybe I need more speed. Maybe I need to jump higher. Maybe my arms are wrong.
• 3:47
  Maybe I need a different entrance.
• 3:49
  Maybe I need a new coach or maybe I need to visualize more. Maybe,
• 3:52
  maybe, maybe. And obviously, technical corrections do matter.
• 3:57
  Of course, listen to your coach. Make the correction that you're being given.
• 4:02
  But there comes a point where you have to stop treating every missed attempt like new information.
• 4:10
  And you have to learn to let it go. Sometimes you just need to find another answer.
• 4:14
  Sometimes you need more repetitions of the answer you already have.
• 4:18
  And that's a huge difference because learning isn't always straightforward.
• 4:23
  Like, okay, I try, I correct, I fix. Sometimes it's try, try, try, try.
• 4:29
  Almost. It's almost there. Try
• 4:31
  again. Better. weird one awkward one try again almost okay that was bad.
• 4:37
  And then one day you land it. That messy middle that you've been through is
• 4:43
  not evidence that something is wrong.
• 4:45
  That is what we call skill acquisition. Because I'm going to tell you,
• 4:49
  if you are of a higher level as a figure skater, progress gets harder to see
• 4:53
  when you get better. Go back to the beginning.
• 4:55
  How different was it? All right.
• 4:59
  And I'm sure that there was a point through that process that somebody,
• 5:03
  you know, your parents or your coach or your teammates were like,
• 5:06
  oh my god, that is so close.
• 5:09
  Now, look at how many centimeters you have traveled through.
• 5:14
  But there's a weird thing about progress and about process.
• 5:17
  The better you get, the smaller the improvements become. At the beginning,
• 5:22
  progress is quite obvious.
• 5:25
  And later, progress might look kind of tiny. Nobody hands you a medal because
• 5:30
  your takeoff timing improved by 2%.
• 5:34
  But those tiny little improvements or building the skill.
• 5:38
  Okay, and if you know me, you know me. I have quick coaching questions to get
• 5:43
  you past that last centimeter that you're stuck at.
• 5:47
  All right, grab a pen and a paper if you want, or if you're driving or walking,
• 5:51
  just take a second, maybe pause the podcast and try to answer with honesty always.
• 5:57
  What is actually getting better?
• 6:00
  Even if you haven't land the jump yet or got the score that you desire,
• 6:06
  what is one thing that is actually getting better?
• 6:10
  What does your coach see that maybe you're not giving yourself credit for?
• 6:15
  When you get really, really close, what do you tend to do? Do you tighten up?
• 6:20
  Do you rush? Do you hesitate? Do you overthink?
• 6:23
  Or maybe you're trying too hard.
• 6:26
  What are you afraid another missed attempt could mean about you?
• 6:30
  And is this actually true? That's a great question.
• 6:34
  If you knew you were going to get this jump or, you know, qualify for this event
• 6:41
  eventually, how would you practice it today?
• 6:44
  What does the skater who gets past this little centimeters do after a fall or after a fell?
• 6:53
  What are you willing to keep doing even before you have proof it's working?
• 6:58
  On your very next attempt, what can you control?
• 7:03
  And then I'm going to leave you with this. Stop asking, like,
• 7:06
  when am I going to do this? When am I going to land this?
• 7:09
  And start asking, who do I need to be for this next attempt?
• 7:14
  Who do I need to be for this next level? Who do I need to be for qualifying for this event?
• 7:21
  All right. And maybe that last little centimeter is not so much technical.
• 7:26
  Maybe the last centimeter, it's just trust.
• 7:31
  Maybe that's what it is. All right.
• 7:33
  Don't panic in the last centimeter, that last little centimeter that you're stuck in.
• 7:39
  And this might be the biggest message of the entire podcast.
• 7:43
  Don't get so impatient, so frustrated with the final centimeter that you start
• 7:48
  missing up the other 99 centimeters that you've built on, that you've worked on.
• 7:55
  Don't decide your technique is broken because you're having a bad day.
• 7:59
  Don't change 80 things because you didn't land the jump this week. All right.
• 8:04
  Don't start telling yourself all the negative thoughts like,
• 8:07
  I can't do this. I always mess this up.
• 8:09
  Everyone else is getting it faster than me. Maybe I'm just not good enough.
• 8:13
  No, no, no, no, no, no. All right. You are learning and learning is rarely linear
• 8:19
  because sometimes a breakthrough that you're waiting for and you're working
• 8:22
  towards happen after a great practice.
• 8:25
  And sometimes it happens after three terrible practices.
• 8:29
  And sometimes attempt number one on one looks almost exactly like the attempt
• 8:35
  number 100, except your timing clicks, your body kind of figures out,
• 8:40
  your brain stop interfering with everything you're doing.
• 8:42
  And then suddenly, oh my God, you're standing up on your feet and you just did it.
• 8:48
  And this is the writer downer for today. If lending it wasn't my job today, what would my job be?
• 8:55
  And choose that, whatever it is, one cue, one intention or one job,
• 9:00
  and then give yourself permission to practice. Because you don't know which
• 9:04
  attempt will be the breakthrough.
• 9:06
  Your job is just to keep creating the condition for it. So if you're one centimeter
• 9:11
  away right now, remember this, don't destroy the other 99 centimeters trying to force the last one.
• 9:17
  How do you know I'm French-Canadian? Because I'm talking about centimeters.
• 9:22
  I'm not talking about inches. Oh boy, you know, you already travel so far to get that close.
• 9:29
  So stay patient, stay coachable and keep collecting evidence.
• 9:34
  Keep doing the hard work and let the final centimeter come from repetition, not from panic.
• 9:41
  All right, you've got this. Thank you so much for tuning in.
• 9:46
  This is the Nadia Tatman show and I'll catch you in the next episode.