Ellis Edge: for Maximum Power and Speed on the Ice.
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    • ⛸ TECHNICAL >
      • ⛸ CORNERS >
        • The Corner Lay In
        • Corners – Working the Right Hip on the Lay In
        • Bringing Right Hip Forward in Corner
        • Chest In to Corner
        • Moving Hips in the Corner
        • Moving Hips In to Push
        • Off Ice Training with Straps – Part 1 of a 2 Part Series
        • On Ice Training with Straps – Part 2 of a 2 Part Series
        • Bucket Drills
        • Partner Pull / Chair Push
        • The Corner Arm Swing
      • ⛸ POSITION >
        • Starting the Season Off Right
        • Taking Care of the Small Things
        • The 3 Keys Checklist – Find the Key in the Basics First!
        • Skating with Your Core
        • The Basic Position – The Arch
        • A Time to Get High, A Time to Get Low
        • Upper Body / Chest Position
        • Check Your Butt!
        • Butt Power
        • The Butt Tuck
        • Hip Dip
        • Bend the Ankle
      • ⛸ STARTS >
        • The Tip Over Toe Start
        • Start Technique
        • Start Position
      • ⛸ STRAIGHTAWAYS >
        • Press In to Push
        • Presscoopinchpushpinish
        • Gather the Power
        • Transferring Power from Ball of Foot to Ice – The Ankle Snap​
        • Transferring Power from Hip to Ball of Foot
        • Transferring Power Hip to Hip
        • Accelerating Your Weight In to Your Push
        • Japanese Four Eyes Technique
        • Delaying the Push – Straightaways
        • The Straightaway Shuffle
      • ⛸ TRACKS >
        • Tracks
        • Entry and Exit Width
        • Entry and Exit Trajectory
        • The Extra Crossover
        • Punching Through Centrifugal Force – Position and Alignments
        • Converting from 4 to 2 Strides on Straight
      • ⛸ ASSORTED TECHNICAL >
        • Relay Racing – Part 1 – Skater Roles and Laps
        • Relay Racing – Part 2 – The Exchange, Training Ideas
        • Skating with Your Core
        • Why Are The Koreans So Good?
        • Technical Opinions Can Be Confusing
        • The Outside Edge – Is It Overrated?
        • Diagonal Hill Steps
    • 🏃 TRAINING >
      • 🏃 PLANNING >
        • Off Season Rest and Recovery
        • Building Endurance
        • Summer Training
        • Train Fast to Skate Fast
        • Tapering
        • Time Trialing
      • 🏃 SPECIFIC >
        • Specificity in Training
        • Specific Skating Training – Is Your Plan Specific Enough?
        • Warm Ups and Warm Downs
        • Off Ice Balance, Agility, and Co-ordination Training
        • Dynamic Flexibility Training
        • Flexibility Training a Must for Speed Skaters
        • Maximize Your Results with TECHNI-CORDS
        • Improving Your Power with Jumps
        • ​Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 1 – Straightaway
        • Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 2 – Straightaway Jumps
        • Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 3 – Corners
        • Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 4 – Starts
        • Training for Starts
        • Relay Racing – Part 1 – Skater Roles and Laps
        • Relay Racing – Part 2 – The Exchange, Training Ideas
        • Bucket Drills
        • Partner Pull / Chair Push
        • Core Strength for Speed Skating
        • General Core Strength, by Brandon Aldan
      • 🏃 YOUTH >
        • Training Young Athletes 16 and Up
        • Training Young Athletes 12-15 Year Olds
        • Training Young Athletes Under 12
        • Youth Strength Training
    • 🏆 STRATEGY AND TACTICS >
      • Strategy and Tactics – Part 1 – Overview
      • Strategy and Tactics – Part 2 – Controlling the Pace and Track
      • Strategy and Tactics – Part 3 – The Moves and Counter Moves
      • Start Strategy
      • Time Trialing
      • The Slingshot Pass
      • The Outside Pass
      • The Inside Pass
      • Punching Through Centrifugal Force – Position and Alignments
      • Using Strategy and Tactics Under the New Rules
    • 🧠 PSYCHOLOGY >
      • How 5'5" Brandon Todd Learned to Dunk a Basketball
      • Strategy for Success
      • John Wooden on Success
      • What Do You Have to Brag About?
      • FOCUS!
      • IT – The Success Factor
      • To Try Is to Fail
      • It's All About Winning
      • How to Parent an Athlete: Lessons from a Swim Meet
      • Children in Athletics
      • Early Star vs Late Bloomer
      • Time Trialing
      • The Competition Plan
      • Start Technique
      • Post Season Evaluation
    • 🚑 SAFETY >
      • Concussions in Speed Skating
      • Safety! Is Your Child Truly Protected? – Part 1
      • Safety! Is Your Child Truly Protected? – Part 2
      • Dyneema Undersuits
    • 🚦 RULES >
      • Important Short Track Rule Changes for 2014-2015
      • Important Short Track Rule Changes for 2012
      • Using Strategy and Tactics under the New Rules
      • Important Short Track Rule Changes for 2010
    • 🧰 OTHER >
      • Ankle Pronation: Effects in Skating
      • Fair Play in Sports
      • Celebrating 100 Skating Tips of the Month!!
      • Sharpening Tips and Tricks
      • Cashing in on Olympimania to Promote Your Club
      • 75 Great Reasons to Train
      • Summer Games
      • Games
      • Masters Skating
      • Setting Up Blade Offset
  • Sue Ellis Bio
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Camps

What Do You Have to Brag About?

By Susan Ellis, June 2011
Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment. 
~ Thomas Carlyle

Download printer-friendly format (pdf)
A typical conversation with one of the athletes I coach often starts with “Hey kid, what do you have to brag about today?” Often the brag list is quite long and detailed. This detailed bragging list has been a very important part of the athlete’s growth, not only as an athlete, but as a person. It has allowed him to express and internalize all the good things that happen in his daily life and to gain confidence by expressing it.
 
Too often we go through the motions of living, training, working, studying, etc. every day without really taking the time to reflect on what we are accomplishing. To know where you are going it helps to take time to reflect where you are coming from, and to recognize all the little baby steps along the way toward reaching your goals.
 
Strangely, we are schooled by society that bragging is an unacceptable behavior. It is often looked on as conceited and rude. However, in the words of Walt Whitman – “If you done it – it ain’t bragging!” There is a difference in quietly sharing about an accomplishment to a friend, from boasting to the world you have done something or will do something you did not do or are simply not capable of, or bragging about an accomplishment in front of someone you just defeated, or bragging just to put someone else down.
 
I encourage athletes to tell me about their accomplishments, big and small, as a way to boost their confidence and to get them to recognize they are doing the little things on a daily basis to help them towards their ultimate goal. And I encourage athletes to brag to themselves too – to pat themselves on the back for every little step they achieve, whether it’s finishing an interval with their very best effort, putting in the study hours to get a good mark, or any little thing that was a goal for the day. It is about promoting self-confidence and taking pride in your accomplishments.
 
If you listen to successful athletes being interviewed they will most often talk about the process that went in to achieving their goals – the daily training, the small improvements on the details they have been working on, the target of accomplishing a goal in a certain area. They will not talk so much about the win itself as about what they put in to their achievement and the pride they took in working hard on the goals they set.
 
Swim coach Jim Steen holds the NCAA record for longest consecutive national championship streaks in both men's and women's NCAA history in any sport. He coached Kenyon College to 31 consecutive men's and 17 consecutive women's national team championships, and a total of 50 national team titles in all, as well as coaching 300 swimmers to individual All-American honors, all over a 36 year career that is still going on. In this interview Coach Steen talks about having his athletes focus on the process to being successful rather the winning.
 
Clara Hughes’ journal gives some insight into her confidence and success as an athlete. The journal chronicles many events in her life that influence and impact her, both in sport and outside sport. I believe the journal is one way for Clara to take the time from being so successful in her hectic world to reflect on why she is, and on the things that matter most to her in life. It allows her to clarify who she is, who she wants to be, and how she gets there. (Note: There are so many great entries in this journal it is hard to pick a favourite but try to read at least a few of them.)
 
So, go ahead skaters, brag a little to yourself, your coaches, and your best friends. Be careful not to be too cocky or overly boastful, or that will come back to bite you in your tucked butt, but don’t be afraid to pat yourself on the back and do it on a daily basis. If you can’t find one thing to brag about each day, then you need to reconsider your goals or re-commit to them and get the job done. Start your own brag journal and write out all of your daily accomplishments as well as your hopes, dreams, and goals. The more you write, the more sense of accomplishment you will feel and you will find yourself developing a growing incentive to find even more things to brag about.
 
So, what do I have to brag about today? Well, I just finished my 99th tip of the month. I think it’s a good one and it’s one that has helped me to feel a sense of accomplishment, not only that I finished it today, but also knowing it will help an athlete to better understand how to make themselves successful. There, how’s that for bragging!
 
One more to go for the magic 100!
  • Home
  • Skating Tips
    • ⛸ TECHNICAL >
      • ⛸ CORNERS >
        • The Corner Lay In
        • Corners – Working the Right Hip on the Lay In
        • Bringing Right Hip Forward in Corner
        • Chest In to Corner
        • Moving Hips in the Corner
        • Moving Hips In to Push
        • Off Ice Training with Straps – Part 1 of a 2 Part Series
        • On Ice Training with Straps – Part 2 of a 2 Part Series
        • Bucket Drills
        • Partner Pull / Chair Push
        • The Corner Arm Swing
      • ⛸ POSITION >
        • Starting the Season Off Right
        • Taking Care of the Small Things
        • The 3 Keys Checklist – Find the Key in the Basics First!
        • Skating with Your Core
        • The Basic Position – The Arch
        • A Time to Get High, A Time to Get Low
        • Upper Body / Chest Position
        • Check Your Butt!
        • Butt Power
        • The Butt Tuck
        • Hip Dip
        • Bend the Ankle
      • ⛸ STARTS >
        • The Tip Over Toe Start
        • Start Technique
        • Start Position
      • ⛸ STRAIGHTAWAYS >
        • Press In to Push
        • Presscoopinchpushpinish
        • Gather the Power
        • Transferring Power from Ball of Foot to Ice – The Ankle Snap​
        • Transferring Power from Hip to Ball of Foot
        • Transferring Power Hip to Hip
        • Accelerating Your Weight In to Your Push
        • Japanese Four Eyes Technique
        • Delaying the Push – Straightaways
        • The Straightaway Shuffle
      • ⛸ TRACKS >
        • Tracks
        • Entry and Exit Width
        • Entry and Exit Trajectory
        • The Extra Crossover
        • Punching Through Centrifugal Force – Position and Alignments
        • Converting from 4 to 2 Strides on Straight
      • ⛸ ASSORTED TECHNICAL >
        • Relay Racing – Part 1 – Skater Roles and Laps
        • Relay Racing – Part 2 – The Exchange, Training Ideas
        • Skating with Your Core
        • Why Are The Koreans So Good?
        • Technical Opinions Can Be Confusing
        • The Outside Edge – Is It Overrated?
        • Diagonal Hill Steps
    • 🏃 TRAINING >
      • 🏃 PLANNING >
        • Off Season Rest and Recovery
        • Building Endurance
        • Summer Training
        • Train Fast to Skate Fast
        • Tapering
        • Time Trialing
      • 🏃 SPECIFIC >
        • Specificity in Training
        • Specific Skating Training – Is Your Plan Specific Enough?
        • Warm Ups and Warm Downs
        • Off Ice Balance, Agility, and Co-ordination Training
        • Dynamic Flexibility Training
        • Flexibility Training a Must for Speed Skaters
        • Maximize Your Results with TECHNI-CORDS
        • Improving Your Power with Jumps
        • ​Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 1 – Straightaway
        • Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 2 – Straightaway Jumps
        • Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 3 – Corners
        • Specific Strength, Power, Endurance – Part 4 – Starts
        • Training for Starts
        • Relay Racing – Part 1 – Skater Roles and Laps
        • Relay Racing – Part 2 – The Exchange, Training Ideas
        • Bucket Drills
        • Partner Pull / Chair Push
        • Core Strength for Speed Skating
        • General Core Strength, by Brandon Aldan
      • 🏃 YOUTH >
        • Training Young Athletes 16 and Up
        • Training Young Athletes 12-15 Year Olds
        • Training Young Athletes Under 12
        • Youth Strength Training
    • 🏆 STRATEGY AND TACTICS >
      • Strategy and Tactics – Part 1 – Overview
      • Strategy and Tactics – Part 2 – Controlling the Pace and Track
      • Strategy and Tactics – Part 3 – The Moves and Counter Moves
      • Start Strategy
      • Time Trialing
      • The Slingshot Pass
      • The Outside Pass
      • The Inside Pass
      • Punching Through Centrifugal Force – Position and Alignments
      • Using Strategy and Tactics Under the New Rules
    • 🧠 PSYCHOLOGY >
      • How 5'5" Brandon Todd Learned to Dunk a Basketball
      • Strategy for Success
      • John Wooden on Success
      • What Do You Have to Brag About?
      • FOCUS!
      • IT – The Success Factor
      • To Try Is to Fail
      • It's All About Winning
      • How to Parent an Athlete: Lessons from a Swim Meet
      • Children in Athletics
      • Early Star vs Late Bloomer
      • Time Trialing
      • The Competition Plan
      • Start Technique
      • Post Season Evaluation
    • 🚑 SAFETY >
      • Concussions in Speed Skating
      • Safety! Is Your Child Truly Protected? – Part 1
      • Safety! Is Your Child Truly Protected? – Part 2
      • Dyneema Undersuits
    • 🚦 RULES >
      • Important Short Track Rule Changes for 2014-2015
      • Important Short Track Rule Changes for 2012
      • Using Strategy and Tactics under the New Rules
      • Important Short Track Rule Changes for 2010
    • 🧰 OTHER >
      • Ankle Pronation: Effects in Skating
      • Fair Play in Sports
      • Celebrating 100 Skating Tips of the Month!!
      • Sharpening Tips and Tricks
      • Cashing in on Olympimania to Promote Your Club
      • 75 Great Reasons to Train
      • Summer Games
      • Games
      • Masters Skating
      • Setting Up Blade Offset
  • Sue Ellis Bio
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Camps
Copyright © 2002 – Ellis Edge
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