Does the perception of being beatable make you beatable?

[skatingpj]

In general, does the way a skater skates to a medal make a difference in their rep moving forward towards bigger competitions?

I want to hear ur thoughts for the CBC broadcast and if you are OK with being quoted - please out an OK at the end of your response. If you want to just be in on the conversation and want it to end here - that's great too! Thanks for all your support Cheers, Pj

[essence_of_soy]

In general, does the way a skater skates to a medal make a difference in their rep moving forward towards bigger competitions?

I want to hear ur thoughts for the CBC broadcast and if you are OK with being quoted - please out an OK at the end of your response. If you want to just be in on the conversation and want it to end here - that's great too! Thanks for all your support Cheers, Pj

In an ideal world, doing your best would be relyling on your technique, building consistency through repetition, and blocking out any distractions during competition such as what rivals are doing.

However, there seems to be a consensus about getting results now which puts anyone with potential under greater pressure. Even champions like Kurt Browning admitted that winning does not lead to more winning like there's a secret only he knew. In fact, it was a lot harder to stay in the zone once he had won, trying to repeat that sense of calm.

Whether an athlete skates tactically, defensively or other now when they are climbing the ladder, could be a good resource for how they perform in the future when bigger victories are on the line.

[yfbg722]

That's an interesting question. While I don't know the answer, I do have some thoughts about it.

I have always wondered if judges take more notice of skaters who have been winning and thus their "reps" would indeed help them in future competitions. Do they earn higher marks because they are considered more successful? Conversely, if a skater is perceived as being beatable, does their performance perhaps earn less marks? I would think this is why so many skaters strive to be in the last group for their freeskate. That group is considered to be better.

We often talk about the power of positive thinking. Winning should, you would assume, boost self-confidence. Self-confidence is an important tool for any athlete. From that perspective, winning should beget more winning. On the other hand, if you believe you are beatable, you may very well be beatable.

ok

[DreamSkates]

Could be not the reps of the skaters, but the judges' perception of them - likely would feel more positively and might give them a little more in the way of points, here and there, which could make a difference. But, everyone is beatable. Well almost everyone...(you can fill in the blank here)...

[Japanfan]

When the judges perceive a skater to be beatable, it makes a difference as to whether a skater is beatable. We've many examples of skaters winning with mistakes when the judges do not see them as beatable - though of course that could be because such skaters are simply better than the rest of the mistake and have a two or three mistake advantage.