Skate Left. Get Better.

Turn weakness into strength

Focusing on technique - progress begins when we work on our weaknesses.

Every skill starts with struggle, and sometimes it takes going against the grain to find your breakthrough. Take my time on the ice for example…

Early Struggles on the Ice

Hockey was a thing when I was growing up in Michigan. We would skate next to the railroad tracks in the ditch that froze over next to my house. I was lucky enough to have parents who hustled to get me on the little league team. The youngest kids played in the Mites league, with Pee Wee level next, then Squirts, then Bantam, and so on.

I was really bad. Even after the other kids started getting the hang of skating without constantly falling, I still operated out of control. Matters were made worse by the fact ice time was limited and very hard to get. Practice hours were early morning to leave ice time for public skating and hockey games. The younger you were, the earlier the ice time. For Mites, 5am was typical. The rink was far away and it took time to suit up, so getting up at 3:30 am was the drill. Besides being terrible, I couldn’t get through practice at that hour without getting sick and dizzy. The thick, homemade honey-based drink my dad gave me in a squeeze bottle seemed to help.

Finding My Breakthrough

Practice was stupid hard as we did endless (seemed like it) wind sprints, start-stop drills, and skating in different-sized circles. For me, the breakthrough came skating counterclockwise (right) around the circles between the blue line and net. I could build up considerable speed, leaning low and hard while crossing over my leg with each stride. The sight and sound of ice shavings flying off my skate blades gave me confidence. And it was fun. So I did it a lot, often on my own. It became my signature move.

Skating Left: A Lesson in Growth

The coaches noticed, which was just what I wanted - until things backfired. They were on to my “good in one dimension” trick and forced me to skate circles left. Even when everyone else was skating right. It was humiliating. I could barely do it. Leg crossovers didn’t work, with slow and clumsy being the result. I was not happy about being forced to work on my weakness rather than showing off strength.

And then I got better at skating left. Actually, I got better all the way around. After many years of “skate left” effort, yours truly became a top scorer in the league. Working on weakness rather than showing off strength made me better.

What’s Your Weakness (Or Opportunity)?

Where can you start skating left to get better?

Warm regards,
Craig

Craig A. Williamson
Regarding Things That Matter - Newsletter
www.regardingthingsthatmatter.com

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