Will Chitwood

Success after Competitive Skating Isn’t Just Luck

July 16, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 4 Comments

Last week, I talked about how figure skating increased self-confidence for my daughter, Chrissy. It did the same thing for my son, Will. Both Chrissy and Will say that increased self-confidence was one of the the biggest benefits of figure skating.

I focused on Chrissy’s life after competitive skating last week, so I want to focus on Will’s this week. In addition to having increased self-confidence, Will says figure skating increased his ability to work hard and be self-motivated. Although Will was naturally a hard worker, figure skating played an important role in fully developing his ability to work hard, be self-motivated, and persevere through adversity.

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.

-Thomas Jefferson

Successful athletes learn to work hard and develop self-discipline. I remember hearing that Ivy League schools often like figure skaters who have tested through senior because of their ability to work and persevere toward a goal. Out of necessity, student athletes also learn to manage busy schedules.

DJ Will. (Photo from 1clickphotography.com)

While training and competing internationally in pairs, Will used his developing time-management skills to simultaneously:

start and operate a DJ business
begin his coaching career through coaching Learn to Skate, apprenticing with high-level coaches, and teaching private lessons
take college courses part-time
participate actively in the Society of Success and Leadership in college

After retiring from competitive skating, Will attended college full-time while working as a coach and DJ. Now Will has his B.A. degree, but he still manages both his DJ business and a busy coaching schedule.

Will’s wife, Chea, is a former competitive skater as well. She uses her ability to be self-motivated to work as both a skating coach and a sports psychology consultant while completing her doctorate in sports psychology.

It isn’t unusual to hear of former competitive skaters who are successful in life. And that isn’t just luck—unless it’s the kind of luck Thomas Jefferson talks about.

Filed Under: Encouragement Tagged With: figure skaters, luck, persevere, self-confidence, self-motivated, skaters, Thomas Jefferson, Will Chitwood, work hard

How My Daughter Made the Most of Her Experience at the World Figure Skating Championships

March 31, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 4 Comments

Mark and Chrissy with Centennial Worlds caps at their birthday meal in Turin, Italy.

Last Friday, Will wrote a guest post called “How to Get the Most out of a Skating Competition.” I used Will’s points to check that my daughter, Christina (Chrissy) got the most out of competing at the World Figure Skating Championships in Turin, Italy. By following Will’s three points, I believe Chrissy truly came away with the best possible experience given the circumstances.

1. Learn from the placement.

This was Chrissy and Mark’s first time competing in ice dance at Worlds. It was a wonderful experience to be in Turin, Italy, for their first Worlds, but Chrissy and Mark’s placement was not what they had hoped for. Although not as enjoyable as a perfect outcome, this created an intense, ideal learning environment. In his article, Will said:

A disappointing result makes you look at what caused the outcome, therefore motivating you to improve the areas of weakness that hindered your result.

Sure, Chrissy and Mark could have just blamed a bad original dance draw, the lack of a British judge on the judging panel, or that that specific panel was a blend of judges who didn’t reward their strengths like international judges often did. But the most helpful approach was the one advised by Will and reflected in a quote by renowned college football coach Knute Rockne:

Build your weaknesses until they become your strengths.

Chrissy and Mark had a meeting with their coach, Jimmy Young, soon after the competition to review what went well and poorly and to make plans for next season. Chrissy and Mark’s order for the new season will be to turn their weaknesses into strengths so that they will be ready for any judging panel and will hopefully make a leap in their international placements. My husband and I also helped Chrissy brainstorm ideas for making major improvements. Instead of dwelling on placement, Chrissy is excited and motivated at the thought of adding training camps, off-ice coaches, dance classes, and a new approach to each training session.

Chrissy and Mark on the Worlds Jumbotron at the end of their Scottish OD.

2. Look at what you did well.

A mistake in the compulsory dance could have ruined the entire competition, creating doubt and more mistakes in the next event. Instead, Chrissy and Mark put the mistake behind them to skate a clean original dance and to enjoy performing in front of an audience who gave them a rousing reception.

Chrissy and Mark placed higher than some teams who were ahead of them in the compulsory dance but were not able to move up overall. Still, they could take pride in skating a strong original dance and will always have a good video for friends and family to enjoy. Chrissy and Mark also can be commended for receiving the same technical levels for their OD elements that Olympic and World champions Virtue and Moir received in their OD. In particular, Chrissy and Mark received level four for their circular step sequence, something very few teams in the world receive.

3. Find something to celebrate.

Tom, Chrissy, Deb, and Terry on a tour of Turin, Italy.

Just being at the World Championships is something to celebrate. Our whole family finds celebration an important part of the competition experience. Although we can’t attend every international competition, my husband and I both attended the 2010 Worlds to celebrate the specialness of Chrissy participating in her first World Championships. Chrissy’s husband, Tom, also attended Worlds.

The celebration started the first day of practice, which happened to be Chrissy and Mark’s shared birthday. At Chrissy and Mark’s first practice, the ISU played the “Happy Birthday” song and gave Chrissy and Mark Centennial Worlds caps. We then had a mini birthday celebration with Mark, Chrissy, Jimmy, and Tom.

It was easy to find things to celebrate during the week. Chrissy enjoyed checking out Via Roma, the shopping district; we all enjoyed the authentic Italian food (which was as good as I had imagined); and we admired the architecture throughout the week in the beautiful city of Turin. On Saturday, we took a bus tour of the city to gain an overall, historical understanding of Turin.

There were also many skating events to experience, as well as the after-party Saturday night, which Chrissy and Tom attended. On their last day in Italy, Chrissy and Tom found time to visit Turin’s world-famous Egyptian Museum.

So even though the outcome wasn’t what Chrissy and Mark wanted, Worlds was an amazing experience and a dynamic vehicle for growth. As a result of the new focus Chrissy has gained, she will grow as a person and athlete and savor lifelong memories from her first Worlds experience.

Filed Under: Competition Help Tagged With: Chrissy and Mark, Christina Chitwood, skating competition, Turin, Will Chitwood, World Figure Skating Championships

How to Get the Most out of a Skating Competition

March 26, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 1 Comment

Guest Post by Will Chitwood. San Diego skating coach Will Chitwood writes about an important topic for both skaters and parents in this guest post called “How to Get the Most out of a Skating Competition.”

Competitions are great opportunities to develop skating abilities and gain experience. Having a goal such as a competition to work toward helps strengthen your focus and motivates you to master the elements at your level. Following are my 3 top tips for getting the most out of a skating competition.

Will Chitwood and Aaryn Smith with Coaches Dalilah Sappenfield and Tom Zakrajsek at the 2005 Baltic Cup JGP in Gdansk, Poland.

1. Learn from the placement.

I never look at the purpose of a competition as placement but as an opportunity to learn from the positives or negatives of the experience. Good placement can reinforce the hard work you put in to get to the competition. While good placement is a nice reward and motivator, you learn more from the poor placements than the high placements. A disappointing result makes you look at what caused the outcome, therefore motivating you to improve the areas of weakness that hindered your result. When Aaryn Smith and I competed internationally in pairs, our coaches Dalilah Sappenfield and Tom Zakrajsek always went over the points lost or earned in each program and evaluated how we could earn more points at the next competition.

2. Look at what you did well.

Many times, skaters will exit the ice upset with themselves because they made a mistake or two. This has a negative effect on the whole competition experience because it focuses your mind on only the mistakes. This focus creates self-doubt for your next event and causes you to feel frustrated and negative. A better way to look at the program is to acknowledge if you made a mistake, but then focus on the good elements. This positive reinforcement on what you did right gives you more confidence and puts your mind in a positive place. With a productive attitude, you then can look at how to avoid making the same mistakes at the next competition.

Will and Christina Chitwood at Dave and Buster's in Denver, Colorado, after the 2001 Southwestern Regionals.

3. Find something to celebrate.

Every competition is a challenge, and I believe that if you show a good attitude, no matter what the outcome, you should find a way to celebrate. This may be a small treat or reward at the end of the event or eating out afterward. Sometimes for bigger events it’s nice to celebrate with a larger reward like spending another day seeing the sights of the area. Whatever you do, try to find some way to celebrate because this will help you positively remember the competition and will keep you from just focusing on the placement.

Will Chitwood in Oslo, Norway, during a tour of Scandinavia with Deb Chitwood after the 2004 Junior Grand Prix Final.

Remember, no matter how poorly or well a competition goes, there always is something you can learn from the experience. Keep in mind that having a challenging goal like a competition to work toward helps you grow as a person and athlete.

Will and Chea Chitwood write a blog at chitwoodskating.com with figure-skating information and inspiration. You can follow Will and Chea on Twitter @ChitwoodSkating.