Mind over Matter

Great article in the NYTimes today about adult athletics, featuring my friend and former GCS teammate, Renee!

From New York Times article "Mind Over Matter: Mastering Daunting Moves"

I found this graf particularly interesting:

Kevin Coppola, her instructor at City Ice Pavilion, in Long Island City, Queens, said there is usually an element of fear — even if it’s subconscious — with adults. “It’s easy for kids to throw themselves in the air, fall down and get back up,” he said. “When you’re older and you fall, you can’t get right back up and do it again.” Ms. Stonebraker has also injured her knee in the past, he said, which can create a mental block.

It's illustrative of something I too have come to notice as an adult skater--that there's a stark difference between adults who started their skating careers in adulthood, versus those who have come back to it after learning to skate as a child. In working with adult skaters, both as a teammate and as an instructor at Wollman Rink, I discovered that the aforementioned  are are two completely different types of skaters.

I know I take for granted things that I put into my muscle memory bank when I was 12. Because of the level of difficulty I mastered in my youth, I have little trouble learning new skills fairly quickly. And while I do fall (quite frequently, I might add), because of that muscle memory, I know how to fall without hurting myself.

The most horrendous falls I've seen are from adult skaters who started as adults. Lots of painful ear-splitting, session-halting falls on the head and knee that at times have resulted in trips to the ER. Learning how to fall--like learning a foreign language--is a lot easier and more effective when you're a kid. And I think, as coach Kevin Coppola said in the article, the fear of injuring oneself creates a mental block--that I've seen result in a lot of whining, a lot of refusing to try things, and a lot of un-fun on the ice.

Kids aren't completely fearless either though. And whether you're a child skater or an adult, the process for working through fear is the same.

To reassure her, Mr. Coppola breaks down the move, step by step, and reminds her that she’s capable. “I tell her she knows how to do it and that she has to trust herself,” he said.

And trust yourself you can. I don't want to hear any more people say to me, "oh I'd love to skate but I'm too old to learn now." Anyone can skate! You just have to GET ON THE ICE AND TRY IT.