MY COACH ROCKS
TEAMS IN SYNC
EXPRESS YOURSELF
FOCUS ON ARCHIVES
COMPETITORS’ CORNER
NEWS & NOTESThe Value of Stretching Beyond Your Comfort Level
by David Jacobson
ISI competitions provide recreational ice skaters with a fantastic opportunity to enjoy and benefit from discomfort.
“Enjoy and benefit from discomfort” is not a typo, and it’s not an oxymoron. Pushing beyond your comfort level, even to discomfort, is the single best way to grow as a skater and as a person. And yes, challenging yourself can of truly be fun!
Think about your start as a skater. Could you do then what you can now? Of course not. You fell down. A lot. Yet you persisted, beyond your comfort level and through the discomfort, until you reached a certain level of achievement.
Consider two concepts that are part of the Positive Coaching Alliance training we conduct in workshops for youth and high school sports coaches, parents, administrators and high school-age athletes. One concept is the “Just-Right Challenge.” The other is the “Stretch Goal.”
Just-Right Challenge
The Just-Right Challenge comes from