We have all been there, you practice
everyday to perfect the smallest of details in a routine and in the blink of an
eye a stunt can fall, a tumbling pass can land on your knees, or a move can be
slightly off beat. After you step off the mat its easy to start blaming
yourself for things that went wrong but its important to change your negative
thoughts and look for a positive in your performance.
As a competitive athlete you need to
understand that failure is a normal and regular process, especially in the
sport of cheerleading. The skills that you perform are difficult without a
doubt, and with difficulty comes the real possibility of failure. But if you
never take a risk you will never improve. Failure is a great form of feedback
to help an athlete understand what they need to work on for future
performances.
After a poor performance it is OK to be
upset, that is natural. However what you do next can determine whether your
future performances will be the same or better. Take the time to evaluate
everything that you did on the mat, both the negatives and the positives (yes,
I said positives. I strongly believe that there is always at least one positive
in every performance but it is your job to find it). After you self evaluate it
is time to put together a plan for how you will work towards improving the
negatives.
Answer the following questions when
putting together your action plan:
1. What skill do I need to improve on?
2. What are the steps I need to take to
improve this skill?
3. What will I do every week to work
towards improving this skill?
Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder
and Director of Mental Fitness. She holds a masters degree in Sport
Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal
Trainer. With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has
coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently,
Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program.
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