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Kristen Piché
- Sep 3, 2018
Perform at Your Best By Choice Rather Than By Chance
Popular sport psychology states 4 characteristics of a successful athlete: Physical ability Physical training Mental training Drive/desire A foundation of quality physical training is an obvious requirement for skaters who are seriously pursuing an elite level. What is not so apparent is the plateau that can appear in physical training or performance due to a deficit in mental fitness. What you think affects how you feel and perform. Sport psychologist Gary Mack and co-author
Kristen Piché
- Oct 6, 2017
Create More Best Moments
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk Knowing some of the behaviours and actions that brought you to your best moments will allow you to create more situations for yourself to repeat and bring new and even bigger peaks in your skating. The zigzag line below represents the peaks (best moments) and valleys (low moments) in your past skating experiences. Draw your own zigzag line on a piece of paper with between 3-6 peaking points at the top. Write down the moments where you felt at yo
Kristen Piché
- Sep 11, 2017
Skating in Spotlights
All photos by Chris Robart If you’ve ever been in Toronto near the end of summer, you’ve likely heard of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE); also known as The Ex, Canada’s largest annual fair. There are tons of attractions, including a dog show, rides, games, and deep-fried everything. The ice show is one of the main events with 6,000 seats full—often an hour before the 30-minute show even begins. This year I entered the professional figure skating world with my first con
Kristen Piché
- Jul 11, 2017
Energy Deficiency and Performance in Female Athletes
*I wrote this article for Figure Skater Fitness Magazine, published: July 2016, Vol. 2 issue 3. An athlete’s optimal performance is achieved with a great amount of energy output. This means that nutrient intake is a key factor in an athlete’s energy availability (EA). Low EA can compromise sport performance as well as the overall health of athletes and is a growing concern in competitive sports, particularly for female athletes. The International Olympic Committee published a
Kristen Piché
- Jun 4, 2017
Balancing Act: Navigating The Off-Season Trajectory
Spring training is coming to an end and summer training is just around the corner, meaning you’ll be adding more load to your off-ice conditioning and developing new elements during your on-ice practice. Summer training can be gruelling. So, it’s a great time of year to talk about the concept of balance—between heavy training and recovery, and ensuring that you’re giving enough time to the things that matter most to you, both on and off the ice. Physically, balance is the bod
Kristen Piché
- Apr 3, 2017
Essential Oils for Performance Enhancement
The 2016-17 competitive skating season has come to its end with the completion of the World Figure Skating Championships in Finland. As always, I was dazzled by numerous incredible performances! These world-class athletes go to great lengths preparing for the biggest competition of the year. Every choice they make, from the foods they eat during the day to the amount of sleep they get at night is carefully evaluated in order maintain the healthiest possible mind and body, all
Kristen Piché
- Jan 22, 2017
How To Handle Competition Jitters
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk *I wrote this article for Figure Skater Fitness Magazine, published: January 2016 issue. Everyone experiences the jitters—nervousness before competing. Even the champions have them when they are about to compete. Tara Lipinski once said that the night before her long program at the 1998 Olympics she almost decided not to compete. She was so nervous, upset and anxious that she actually thought about pulling out of the competition. It’s a Good thi
Kristen Piché
- Dec 5, 2016
Inside Figure Skater Fitness
As a member of the figure skating community you’re probably already, in some way, familiar with Figure Skater Fitness (FSF) Magazine. It’s the best resource for the various dynamics that make up what’s known as the “complete package” in a figure skater. Sections in the magazine include education on fitness, nutrition, injury prevention, mental training, and glamour specifically for figure skaters. I can’t tell you how much I wish I had access to this kind of information when
Kristen Piché
- Oct 3, 2016
World-Renowned Choreographer, David Wilson: Magic On Ice
David Wilson, choreographer for Jeffrey Buttle, Patrick Chan, Javier Fernández, Yuzuru Hanyu, Kim Yuna, and Joannie Rochette, to name a few, delivered a seminar for the coaches and skaters at East York Skating Club in Toronto last week. As a new coach to EYSC, I had the pleasure of attending this event and witnessing some of the amazing work that David does for skaters, and I have to tell you, he’s as brilliant and genuine in person as his choreography portrays. He doesn’t di
Kristen Piché
- Sep 5, 2016
Summer Endings: Olympia Sports Camp
As the summer comes to a close I could not feel more grateful for the experiences I had over the past couple of months. I took on some new endeavours and found myself in places I didn’t expect. Some of these undertakings include coaching hockey players with the Power Skating Academy, teaching off-ice yoga at GTSA, and working with Flexafit—leading Figure Skater Bootcamp classes as well as marketing and writing for Figure Skater Fitness Magazine. All of these things have helpe
Kristen Piché
- Aug 1, 2016
Skating, School, Family & Fun - Set Goals In Various Areas For The Biggest Impact
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk Do you set goals in various areas of your life, such as skating, school, family and fun? Maybe you’ve only been setting objectives for skating while allowing other areas of your life to work themselves out. First, I want to point out that if you’re setting goals in any area, you are on a path leading to success. Those who set goals in any way prove to lead happier, more successful lives than those who do not set goals. However, if you want your
Kristen Piché
- Jul 4, 2016
The Effect Of Creating A Vision Board
A vision or dream board is a visual representation of your goals. The idea is based on attracting the things you want into reality. This is the same principal as visualization—something that top athletes practice all the time, especially leading up to competition. According to Psychology Today when you visualize yourself performing an element, such as a jump, you are activating similar brain patterns as when you are actually doing that jump. Visualization has proven to be a v
Kristen Piché
- May 3, 2016
The Gremlin Of Comparison
Have you ever fallen down the comparison hole? …Say you’re browsing on Instagram and see an unbelievably cool picture of your friend’s room with a view of the mountains that she wakes up to on her vacation while you’re stuck inside of your bedroom at home, without much of a view, studying. Or someone you know announces that they just got the latest Edea Piano skates after they just got a pair of Ice Fly’s only a couple months ago and you still have a while before you’re getti
Kristen Piché
- Mar 7, 2016
Your “Why?” - An Important Step In Goal Setting
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk Why do you want to achieve the things that you want to achieve? This might sound like a redundant question yet without it your goals can become misguided. I often notice skaters setting big, audacious targets without really taking the time to think about why they want to attain them. Sometimes this can lead to setting the wrong goals (i.e. something that others want or want for you), or it can block the essential motivation required to fuel your
Kristen Piché
- Feb 1, 2016
You Don't Have To Suffer To Succeed
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk Achieving your goals means all consuming, tireless work, suffering, and delaying gratification in order to get what you want, right? Not entirely. Yes, fulfilling your ambitions requires you to work you butt off. But you can actually have a good time working your butt off! Or at the very least, willingly take on the various challenges that you will face along the way because your objectives and intentions truly light you up and make you feel ali
Kristen Piché
- Oct 23, 2015
Dealing With Roadblocks: Interview With Cassandra Bilsborough
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk For better or worse, no matter how much you dream, plan, and set goals, sometimes things just don’t go the way you want them to. Sometimes we are forced out of our plans - out of an entire competitive season, for example, due to unforeseen circumstances, like an injury, or skates that just aren't working for you. When this happens we can either keep fighting and stressing over it or we can accept the situation for what it is. And although it can
Kristen Piché
- Oct 4, 2015
Exploring Classic Basics With: The Collective
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk When was the last time you practiced a classic cross roll, focusing on the depth of your edges? What about the last time you held an edge while being mindful of the toe placement of your free foot going into a simple a bracket? How about a mazurka? Last week I had the pleasure of attending a coaching seminar hosted by Christopher Nolan, Vesna Markovich, and Mark Hird, also known as The Collective, whose goal is to preserve the classic basics in
Kristen Piché
- Sep 11, 2015
Healthy Skin & Skating
Photo Credit: Stephan Potopnyk Competitive figure skaters spend long hours in the cold, dry air on a daily basis, which can take a toll on the health of their skin. Recently I had a conversation with a friend and former skater, Meagan Sudicky, about some of the damaging effects that we’ve experienced from either being at the rink for long periods of time or from the use of heavy makeup for performances and competitions. One of the many things that makes figure skating unique
Kristen Piché
- Aug 9, 2015
The Truth About Goals
When we talk about goals we often focus on the goal itself, the end result that we’re looking for. We talk about doing great things, contribution, change, and achievement. But really the destination is only a part of what it means to go after a goal. Furthermore, the destination is never really the end. There’s the process of reaching a goal and then there’s the evolution of that goal. It’s a progression of intertwining events and obstacles. And if your goals are big enough,
Kristen Piché
- May 29, 2015
On Ice: Back To Basics
This weekend coaches from around the world have come together in Winnipeg to develop different aspects of their coaching practices at the National Coaches Conference. While reading about this conference, one feature in particular caught my attention - two workshops with a heavy focus on basic skating skills. One is titled “Quality Basics: Essential Foundation” and the other “Taking Foundational Skills To The Next Level”. Both are being led by the one and only, Tracy Wilson. I
