giving skaters the
edgeWhat People Are Saying about Ice Cool Confidence:
People are telling us fabulous stories about how Ice Cool Confidence has helped them all the time – and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with them all! Here’s a selection of testimonials from parents, coaches and skaters themselves to give you an idea of the impact which Ice Cool Confidence one-to-one coaching, group workshops, products and self-study programmes have on those who choose to enhance their positivity and confidence.
Working with Elizabeth has been one of the best decisions I have made about my career so far!
Working with Elizabeth has been one of the best decisions I have made about my career so far and one I am ever thankful for. Before working with her I was an impatient and not a very mentally tough skater that used to let his inner gremlins dictate his practice and competition mindset and performance. However since working with Elizabeth, for over 6 months now, I have significantly improved not only in becoming more mentally resilient but in my whole approach to skating, practice and competitions as a whole.
I experienced the improvement first hand in the first few competition results after just our first few sessions and my 2015/16 season working with Elizabeth has been my best to date and I achieved everything I hoped for and more, including finishing 23rd at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships and winning the Junior Men’s National Title, all of which wouldn’t have been attainable if it wasn’t for Elizabeth’s help and coaching techniques that were tailored to drive and push me.
I really enjoyed it and it really helps, it’s a shame it wasn’t longer!
I did the Whole Performance Package with Ice Cool Confidence because I was having problems with handling distractions, controlling my emotions, and this was affecting my skating. Sometimes other people’s moods and actions would affect me and I couldn’t put that behind me and not get angry.
The course was straightforward to understand, and Liz was good at explaining ideas to me. She was very patient and understanding. The favourite thing I liked talking about was the subconscious mind and how it works. I found the instruction on visualising my goals very useful, as well as techniques to get rid of my anger and frustration. Now, I skate with a more positive attitude and more self-belief, and know how to stop situations affecting my skating.
I really enjoyed it and it really helps, it’s a shame it was not longer. Thank you Ice Cool Confidence!
With Liz’s help I have been able to overcome those nerves and control them to the point of where competing is now an enjoyable experience for me!
As with most people I had a pre-conception of ‘psychology’ and thought you had to have problems to be able to have help from a sports psychologist. I also already knew Liz as her daughter had skated in my old rink for many years which also made me a little hesitant to speak to her as it wasn’t a total stranger I was speaking to.
However, her help came to me on the day of a competition. My coach wasn’t able to stay for the free programme so had to leave, which from that point on I went into complete meltdown mode and that was the first experience I had of sports Psychology, when Liz came over and helped me calm down. From that day on I have worked with Liz on a continuous regular basis.
I use to get very nervous in competition to the point of not being able to control them. With Liz’s’ help I have been able to overcome those nerves and control them to the point of where competing is now an enjoyable experience for me. She teaches you lots of different techniques to help you control and know what you need to do to overcome any fears you have.
With the help of her affirmations CD I am also able to ‘take her’ to any competition with me and listen to her during the competitions which also helps me control any anxieties or nerves that I have.
Thank you so much to Ice cool confidence for helping me realise this. I have finally gotten my feeling back!
Since starting work with Ice cool confidence I have become much less frantic about what I have to do to achieve what I want in my skating. I have learnt that it doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as you never give up. I have learnt how such small changes such as always using positive language and always being optimistic can have a huge impact on your training and most of all it has helped me realise why I skate. I never told anyone my hopes and dreams because I didn’t want people to tell me that I couldn’t achieve them. I had been told that I would never get to level 8 when I was younger and it stopped me telling people what I want in my skating career.
For the first time since then, I actually said to someone when they asked if I was any good at ice skating, “Yes I am. I might not be as good as the Olympians yet, but I am a lot more advanced than most people.” It has taken a lot for me to actually face up to the fact that I CAN skate.
The next time someone says to me, “Are you going to go to the Olympics then?” My answer will be a simple one. “That is the aim. I will keep working until I can’t improve any further and then I will keep trying until I lose the love in my skating” After all I skate because I love it, and I love it because I get the feeling of flying.
As Billy Elliot once said, “I don’t want a future, I want to be a ballet dancer”. It has taken me a long time to realise that although I have ambitions for later in life, my skating is all I want to do now. I want the feeling of Electricity and I have finally realised that the way to achieve that feeling is to relax and just enjoy it.
Thank you so much to Ice cool confidence for helping me realise this. I have finally gotten my feeling back.
I have become a much more positive skater!
I decided to begin the Whole Performance Package with Elizabeth because I had a lack of confidence and I always felt too self-conscious when training at my ice rink or doing a competition.
I found it quite hard to talk to Elizabeth on the first session as she was new to me. However as the sessions went on I found it much easier telling her my thoughts and feelings.
The result of the course is that I am able to have a much more relaxed experience when it comes to competitions. My general skating has improved because I am more determined when it comes to challenging myself.
I have become a much more positive skater when it comes to tackling those obstacles. It’s just a shame I won’t be speaking to Elizabeth again. Thank you so much for all you have done.
What could make the “Peak Performance” coaching even better? Having more!
Last week after the first session I felt a lot more confident and realised I’d improved. It helped me just thinking about what I’d learned. The most interesting part of the “Peak Performance” coaching was visualising and realising how the mind can trick the body and the body can trick the mind.
I learned about visualisation, negative thoughts and what they do. Very interesting about the subconscious and how it doesn’t do negatives – very useful in life – and learning about looking up to stop crying.
What do I think could make the “Peak Performance” coaching even better? Having more!
I know this course (Peak Performance Package) has helped because one, I feel much more confident whilst skating and two, I managed to place 2nd at Telford Open. The best part was learning all of the different techniques and then putting them into practice.
Would I recommend this coaching to your friends? Yes and no. Yes because it was really good and has helped me so much but no because I like having the edge it gives you. Thank you again Elizabeth you have helped me sooooooo much – I hope I can work with you again!”
If you’re thinking of working with Elizabeth I think you should because it’s really helpful!
I really enjoyed working with Elizabeth and she’s been a lot of help like when I get to just talk about how I’m feeling and then she gives me some good ways how to stop feeling that way. It’s been really fun.
The work in between sessions – some of it was fun and some made me think a lot – in a good way. If you’re thinking of working with Elizabeth I think you should because it’s really helpful.
I am so happy at the improvements I have made!
I am so happy at the improvements I have made. I have changed the way I think and I have finally jumped and landed double axel.
It has helped me think about jumps in a different way!
Most nights I listen to ‘positive affirmations’ and ‘mind over body’ and since I started I have landed the axel. It is so useful as you can use it at almost any time.
It has helped me think about jumps in a different way.
I feel more confident in myself and know how to deal with any frustrations.
I really don’t remember much from before this “course”, but I feel like my consistency in skating has improved a lot. I feel more confident in myself and know how to deal with any frustrations.
Thank you very much for all your help!
My skating has improved, and honestly I could not love it more. My coaches have noticed a difference too. My whole attitude to my skating is calmer and more measured, and I can honestly say that my personal roller coaster has gone!
I approached Elizabeth after feeling that my skating was going nowhere and being fed up of riding a huge roller coaster of emotions and pretty much losing all my jumps the week before a competition. I was losing sleep playing parts of my program over and over in my mind and in spite of the knowledge that I needed to be positive, I just did not know how to go about this. I had read about Ice Cool Confidence, but felt that I just could not justify spending what I felt was a huge sum of money on something that I ought to know anyway, and that might not even work for me. They offered a free Skype session to session just to chat, and I just felt that perhaps this might be worthwhile and signed up. After all, I was spending a considerable amount in terms and of time and effort, not to mention expense on my skating and I reasoned with myself that I owed it to myself to give it just this one extra push, and that without ever trying it out, I would never know.
After just one session I started to feel different – not positive and beaming as you would expect, but just a bit calmer, as if my world has slowed slightly and I was able to think more clearly. I began to notice things, mostly the good things and with the help of the recordings began to sleep so much better.
My skating has improved, and honestly I could not love it more. My coaches have noticed a difference too. My whole attitude to my skating in calmer and more measured, and I can honestly say that my personal roller coaster has gone! I even managed to see the positives from a pretty awful injury which kept me off the ice for a while. NPL is not some kind of magic formula, I still have to work at the exercises and remind myself from time to time, but each week that passes I find myself falling into a more positive mindset more and more naturally. For me, this has been a worthwhile part of my training, has awakened an interest the role of positivity on other things, and has become a skill that I have been able to transfer to other aspects of my life too.
Elizabeth helped me with techniques to overcome the fear and turn the negative thoughts into positive thoughts. She also helped me set specific goals to help chart my progress. And the more progress I made, the more I enjoyed skating again and the more my confidence grew. Consequently the more I had to change my goals as I was surpassing even the biggest of them very quickly.
I first contacted Elizabeth because I had been learning to skate for a while but had become ‘stuck’ and was making little progress. I had a significant barrier to my learning which was due to a very overpowering fear of falling on the ice. I was beginning to get so frustrated that I was contemplating giving up skating altogether. So I asked Elizabeth for some help to overcome this barrier.
Elizabeth helped me with techniques to overcome the fear and turn the negative thoughts into positive thoughts. She also helped me set specific goals to help chart my progress. And the more progress I made, the more I enjoyed skating again and the more my confidence grew. Consequently the more I had to change my goals as I was surpassing even the biggest of them very quickly.
My coach noticed my new positive attitude towards trying new things which was having a huge impact on my skating progress. Other people started to notice a difference in my skating too and were telling me how much I had improved in such a short space of time.
I’m now much more confident on the ice and don’t worry so much about falling which allows me to concentrate on learning the skills and having fun. And I’m now working on my very first skating programme!
I’d definitely recommend working with Elizabeth to any skater wishing to progress and reach their potential.
I see a lot more engagement and drive with her skating… greater passion in her beliefs and total self-confidence… I would highly recommend these sessions to any parent/child who is working hard to balance the demands of modern life with an activity they love.
Elé really enjoyed working with Elizabeth on a 121 basis, without mum or dad looking over her shoulder. It seemed to spur on her independence and desire to take responsibility for herself and her actions, as well as the outcomes. Whilst it’s not always obvious how Elé feels or what she is thinking, I see a lot more engagement and drive with her skating and, indeed, other areas of her life. She was already self-assured, however what I see now is greater passion in her beliefs and total self confidence in her decisions and actions.A significant milestone has been understanding and breaking down the blockage around landing the double axel, a jump that she was successfully landing a year earlier, but “lost”. It is now becoming more consistent and it’s very clear there is a lot less “thinking about it” and “circling”! She talks openly, when asked, about using the techniques she’s learned and how valuable they are. The learning, coupled, with her experience in Canada, which, in hindsight, both seem to have been timed quite well, has shown us a more passionate and determined Elé, with a greater degree of certainty around action and responsibility, both at school and skating.
I truly believe the time spent with Elizabeth not only helped Elé with skating, but also with school and other areas of her life. Helping her to assess and understand the balance of life as well as the impact on those around her. In addition, she has enjoyed some tremendous celebration in the achievement and progress since completing the sessions! I would highly recommend these sessions to any parent/child who is working hard to balance the demands of modern life with an activity they love.
Testimonials
Elizabeth has created a very user friendly and highly engaging sports psychology package, which has benefited my child’s performance not just in skating, but also in other sports and school! A little and often of “Ice Cool Confidence” is just as important as daily stretching and conditioning.
My skating daughter, who is 10 years old (skating age 9 years), started working with the “Ice Cool Confidence” package in February 2016. I thought she may be too young, but Elizabeth assured me that with patience and her commitment, it would be beneficial.
My daughter began on the workbook and audio CD’s after watching the introductory DVD straight away. She now does a little each day. We have invested in the diary and pre comp visualisations. All of the purchases have been fabulous and worth every penny. I have witnessed my daughter’s confidence and love for skating grow even more over the past few months. Her mental mindfulness within skating, is becoming more resolute as she learns to turn every negative into a positive. Examples of this have been recent. In one of her competitions, she fell doing a double flip at the start of her programme, but she got up, kept calm and carried on without the fall affecting the rest of her performance. She acquired her best technical and performance score! At her latest competition, her warm up was a disaster, but she went through her affirmations in her head, shook away those doubting mental gremlins and managed to obtain her latest PB! She also knows that she needs to work on controlling those pre-competition butterflies. She understands that this will come with more visualisation practice. Her overall skating has matured, as well as her mental preparation. Due to her hard work ethic, fabulous skating coaches at the NIC and regular sport psychology practice, her marks are steadily improving, with PB’s each time she competes! She has also moved up a skating group!
I have recommended Elizabeth’s “Ice Cool Confidence” to her coach and other skating parents. Elizabeth has created a very user friendly and highly engaging sports psychology package, which has benefited my child’s performance not just in skating, but also in other sports and school! It teaches the powerful techniques of relaxation, focus and self-belief. Elizabeth’s follow-up emails contain updates, and thought provoking anecdotes, which keep my daughter and myself motivated.
Having witnessed a tentative performer slowly develop into a more assertive one, I believe that a little and often of “Ice Cool Confidence” is just as important as daily stretching and conditioning. Be patient, encouraging and allow your child to go at his/her own pace. It is and will always be work in progress with ups and downs, as we are all human! We follow Elizabeth’s guidelines and are enjoying the journey.
Thank you, Elizabeth. May Emma and I wish you the very best.
I have already seen a change in how she handles setbacks whilst training!
I enrolled my daughter on a Whole Performance Package with Ice Cool Confidence because I believe that her mind requires as much attention to its well being as the rest of her body, and teaching the skills to control her emotions, so that she can constructively channel them, is as important as the technical skills she needs for her skating.
I have already seen a change in how she handles setbacks whilst training; calming herself after failing to complete an element and thereby allowing the next attempt to be made in a calm, measured manner which is much more likely to succeed, whereas before, each attempt was laden with frustration built by each successive, and increasingly unavoidable failure.
Compaing the consistency with which she trains and performs now, compared to before she took the course, a period of little more than a month, clearly shows the benefit of the increased mental resilience that she has gained.
Rhiannon in general is happier because she feels more in control of the things that make her worry as she clearly feels she has mechanisms in place to help her…. Thank you so much for helping Rhiannon take control of her gremlins.
I just wanted to thank you for the work you have been doing with Rhiannon over the past 3 months.
Rhiannon has learned how to take control of the times she feels overwhelmed much more successfully than she was able to previously. There are still times when she starts to become overwhelmed but she has learned steps to stop the feeling becoming all encompassing.
I must also thank you for your comments to her about considering what is most important to her regarding skating, academics and flying. I have been trying to ask her to consider taking an extra year for her A levels as she does not need to rush and that she was spreading herself too thin. I am so pleased to say that after discussing this with you she has agreed to delay the sitting or her A levels to 2018 instead of 2017. This has allowed us to sit down and plan a much more sensible use of her time allowing chill out, do nothing times. Rhiannon is also looking into her other activities, cadets, charity work and guides and whilst not stopping any she has agreed to step back a little and do some activities alternate weeks and so create herself some more free time.
Rhiannon in general is happier because she feels more in control of the things that make her worry as she clearly feels she has mechanisms in place to help her. It’s funny how so many of the things you have discussed with her she has told me and then said that she has talked to me about the same things.
Sometimes it just needs a different person to say a similar thing in a different way to make all the difference!
Thank you so much for helping Rhiannon take control of her gremlins.
I was amazed how well my daughter took to Elizabeth and her methods!
My daughter has just finished the Whole Performance Package as she had realised that her nerves and inability to relax were having a detrimental effect of her performances. Despite a little research and reading about Elizabeth’s work on her website I was quite unsure what to expect.
I was amazed how well my daughter took to Elizabeth and her methods. My daughter felt comfortable to try and apply these new techniques almost immediately.
Both myself and her coach were amazed with the effect the coaching was having. Instead of a very nervous and anxious young girl, I saw a relaxed and determined skater excited to perform at competitions.
Elizabeth provided additional support throughout the programme and even made sure my daughter feels supported once the programme had finished. We couldn’t thank Elizabeth enough.
This Ice Cool Confidence is fabulous! Laura is loving it…. It’s amazing the difference I have seen since the weekend!
This Ice Cool Confidence is fabulous. Laura is loving it. She plans her quiet moments and takes her iPad with her and listens to it on the way to the ice rink each morning.
Laura has just turned 13 and is Level 2 (Level 3 field moves) and a couple weeks ago she lost her Lutz loop, to some people this may not seem much but it affected Laura. After this each time she skated her programme if she didn’t do her Lutz loop she would stop half way in her programme (her face tripping her up) and then start all over again. Trying to get her to continue with her programme was proving really hard work. It’s amazing the difference I have seen since the weekend.
Tonight her coach rang to say she was really pleased with Laura’s positive attitude and confidence during her lesson this morning. Her Lutz loop was great, she has a new step sequence, but towards the end of the sequence she messed up a little bit but she carried on with a positive attitude and finished her programme. She even landed on one foot practicing her axel (but her other leg wasn’t fully extended). She was beaming.
She is playing the part of Cinderella in “Into the Woods” this year’s Panto on Ice at Billingham this December, who knows with the help of Ice Cool Confidence she will be more positive and believe in herself and might have her axel by then!!
She has rediscovered her enjoyment of skating and is achieving a lot more in her jumps!
My daughter’s sessions with Elizabeth have helped her greatly in regaining her focus and composure when things go wrong; challenges in practice sessions no longer affect her like they used to.
As a result, having been through a difficult period, she has rediscovered her enjoyment of skating and is achieving a lot more in her jumps. She is more confident and willing to move out of her comfort zone, both in her skating and other areas of her life.
You have made my life as a skater’s mum less stressful and I can enjoy watching her skate seeing her smile again!
My daughter has been doing the self-study programme for the past 4 weeks now and I’m delighted and so is she with the results so far!! (As well as the coach when I finally let her in on the secret) Truly amazing, a huge thank you, you have made my life as a skater’s Mum less stressful, and I can enjoy watching her skate seeing her smile again. Xx
She is landing her double Salchow now fantastically with such ease!
I signed up to Ice Cool Confidence for my daughter, Alana just over 3 weeks ago and after using the tools provided and doubles check sheet I am so happy to say she is landing her double Salchow now fantastically with such ease. Thank you so much.
This tool is informative and helps structure her practice to great effect and success
It was as though Liz gave her a magic wand… Liz is a thoroughly knowledgeable and skilled professional who caters for her clients’ individual needs. We highly recommend her.
Liz worked with our daughter, following an injury and some skating setbacks. Her confidence was very low and our main aim was that she should be proud of her achievements and hopefully fall back in love with skating. It was as though Liz gave her a magic wand but she had to know how to use it. Liz tailored the sessions to our daughter, responding sensitively to issues raised each time they met. Our daughter gained lifelong skills not just for skating. Liz is a thoroughly knowledgeable and skilled professional who caters for her clients’ individual needs. We highly recommend her.
Sallie had marked improvement in the 2 competitions soon after the coaching!
There was a marked improvement in the two competitions Sallie did soon after the coaching.
In her first she only fell once at the end of the routine which I think gave her more confidence for the next competition which she skated clean.
We have seen a huge improvement in our family life since meeting you and learning about NLP.
I used the techniques with my daughter and her performance exceeded her expectations!
What you are doing is fantastic and applies to my elite players in football. Awareness is the key and you are doing a great job of that. I just wish there were more championing the cause as it is very important to realise elite performance is a very complex area.
I used some of the techniques yesterday with my daughter and her performance levels exceeded her expectations.
She set herself realistic targets and achieved them and ended up in 1st place but her goal or target wasn’t to win. Her goal was to perform her routine with confidence and elegance. She even managed a setback of a fall in her routine and continued to be confident.
It is easy to say to a child be confident but to dig down to the specifics of how to be and put the psychological steps in to achieve it is a different matter. Mindset is achievable as it can be learnt and taught so I urge any skaters or elite level performers in any sport to have a look at Elizabeth’s website and have a look at how resourceful it is and you will reap the rewards for yourself as a parent and for your child.
Many thanks
Evie has had a brilliant couple of weeks since listening to your CD!
Evie has had a brilliant couple of weeks since starting listening to your CD. Since then she has been landing her axel, building its consistency and also landing it in combination with single toe and single loop.
She also achieved a PB on Monday, finishing 4th out of 28 on Level 2 Ladies and was really happy with her performance.
She had been listening to the CD in the car on the way to Lee Valley. She has made it part of her bedtime routine every night and is finding it very helpful.
It only took you 10 minutes but what you’ve instilled in her is still being used today!
You did an amazing job with my daughter when she panicked just before her competition a year ago. It only took you 10 minutes but what you’ve instilled in her is still being used today. Thanks.
She looked confident, relaxed and like she really wanted to be competing!
Just wanted to let you know Miesha had a fab skate today at Basingstoke opens, coming fourth and getting a great score. She looked confident, relaxed and like she really wanted to be competing.
Her practice attitude has been improving and she is starting to push herself more and maintain her focus for longer too.
Thanks for all the hard work you have put in.
Not only effective, but fun too!
Couldn’t agree more! Alana, and some of my other pupils, have not only found the ‘Cracking Doubles’ sheet effective, they’ve had fun whilst using it! Thank u!
Whatever you’re doing with Evie, it’s working! Carry on!
I think you’ve saved our relationship!
I think you’ve saved our relationship – I just didn’t know what more I could do to get her to jump it!