Adult Nationals Weekly Series #6: Paul Wylie’s Presentation

Paul with National Champion Dawn Feest

The U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championship Week was full of amazing skating performances, S.T.A.R.S.
Off-Ice Testing, a Dick Button book signing, and award ceremonies crowning
National Champions.
A highlight of the weekend
was a presentation by American figure skater and 1992 Olympic silver medalist
Paul Wylie.
Paul used to train at the
Tony Kent Arena in South Dennis under Olympic and World Skating coaches Evy and
Mary Scotvold and has also worked with the famous Dr. Igor Burdenko, developer
of the Burdenko Method.  Paul made a
quick visit to the Hyannis Youth and Community Center in Hyannis, MA
for just enough time to speak about functional training, different training
approaches, and fitness as a lifelong journey.
“The Burdenko Method is a
natural part of what I do.  I incorporate
his exercises into my warm up routine backstage before I go on the ice,” said
Paul.  Burdenko exercises are dynamic and
very sport-specific. 
“Working the
whole body in different directions and at different speeds are principles of
the Burdenko Method that translate exceptionally well for figure skaters who
work slowly and gracefully and move into fast dynamic movements while changing
directions,” said Joe Carroll PT DPT, owner of Cape Cod Rehab Physical Therapy
and Master Burdenko Method Instructor.
When Paul first began
skating, training was about trial and error and driven by urgency.  Paul admitted to overtraining and little to
no recovery time. 
His quote of the day was,
“Stress without recovery is the enemy!” 
Training “in the olden
days” was like cramming for a test.  If
there was a competition coming up, skaters went through their routines time
after time, jump after jumps.  They knew
they had to incorporate weight lifting and ballet but no one knew how much or
how often.  He was on rollercoaster
battling body weight and body image.  Too
much weight lifting would bulk up a skater and too much ballet would also harm
skating aesthetics.  It was about trial and
error and seeing what didn’t work.
Now training figure
skaters has taken a more integrated approach driven by goals and personal
plans.  Everything is sport-specific and
individualized.  Skaters work with a team
of professionals working toward a common goal. 
A plan is developed for the season, off-season, career, and a plan for
WHEN they get injured – because it’s going to happen at some point!
Paul credited Dr.
Burdenko’s 6 Essential Qualities of Life and Sport:
  • Balance
  • Coordination
  • Flexibility
  • Endurance
  • Speed/Quickness
  • Strength
“Build on the basics to
become extraordinary from the ground up,” said Paul.
A lot of figure skating
and sport is mental.  Motivation requires
3 things: competence, autonomy (“it’s my choice”), and relatedness.  There are certain questions you need to ask
yourself every time you walk into the gym or ice rink.
“What can I accomplish today?”
“What excuses do I make on a daily basis?”
“Who do I admire? 
What qualities do I admire about them?”
“How can I continuously improve?”
Paul’s talk was very
motivational and encouraging.  If you
ever have a chance to hear him speak, you won’t want to miss it.
Final thoughts from Paul:
Ballet was the Russian Secret Weapon.

Blog post by Jen Skiba.

Adult Nationals Weekly Series #5: Meet Carolyn


Week 2 we met Briana Lackenby, Cape Cod Rehab Physical Therapist and Yarmouth Ice Club coach.  Weeks 3 and 4 we featured two of our local
skaters: Dawn Feest and Becky Hamlin.  This
week, we will be learning about the other side of figure skating as we meet
Carolyn, co-chair for the 2014 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships and
United States Figure Skating (USFS) Judge.

About Carolyn

Carolyn Pierce has been a
judge for United States Figure Skating for nearly 35 years.  She is the Vice President of the Yarmouth Ice
Club and the Co-Chair at this month’s Adult Nationals alongside Donna Wunder,
President of the Yarmouth Ice Club.
Carolyn has been around
the sport of figure skating for almost her whole life.  She started skating at the old Kennedy Ice
Rink in Hyannis.  The facility was built when Carolyn was a
freshman in high school and she has been hooked ever since it was built.  At the time, there were no coaches on the
Cape so Carolyn had to travel to Boston
for lessons.  Carolyn noted, “My skating
was forgettable but that’s when I fell in love.”
Carolyn’s career as a
figure skater ended when she attended college in Florida but her involvement in the sport
continued.  “Our family was absorbed in
skating,” said Carolyn.  She became a
judge for USFA after watching her daughter, a nationally ranked figure skater.  Carolyn’s niece was an 11-time National
Competitor, competing in both singles and pairs and went on to become a World
and Olympic Judge and National Chair for Technical Skating for USFS.

Physical Therapy & Barnstable Fitness

The ties between the
Yarmouth Ice Club and Cape Cod Rehab continue with Carolyn.  She has been a patient of Cape Cod Rehab, a
member of the Barnstable
Fitness Center
and was even a judge for Cape Cod Rehab’s physical therapist Briana when she
was a kid.
A retired Barnstable High
School Accounting and Law teacher, Carolyn now faces strenuous hours on her
feet during competition weeks followed by long flights and long hours of sitting
in the cold ice rink when she’s judging all over the country.  Over the years she’s had her fair share of
injuries and surgeries.  She had both
knees replaced, has two bad hips, two bad shoulders that can’t be fixed, along
with severe osteoarthris.
Carolyn spends a few
months at a time in physical therapy with Briana before meeting with Eric
Chandler, Barnstable Fitness Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist for
personal training.  Eric sets Carolyn up with
an independent exercise program based on The Burdenko Method in the pool. 
She truly believes that “the pool is saving my life!”

Yarmouth Ice Club Hosting a Major Event

Carolyn and Donna will
co-chair Adult Nationals this month at the HYCC in Hyannis, MA.  Carolyn has been the chair or co-chair at
every single Yarmouth Ice Club event and has judged 5 Adult National
Competitions.
Adult Nationals is one of
four National Championships held in the United States.  The others include U.S. Championships (which
was held in Boston
to decide the 2012 Sochi Olympic Team), U.S. Collegiate Championships (which
the Yarmouth Ice Club hosted in 2012), and U.S. Synchronized Skating
Championships.
To host a major
competition, the Yarmouth Ice Club submitted a bid to USFS 18 months ago.  To submit a bid, the rink, hotels, and all
the details had to be under contract and in place if they were chosen.  Carolyn and Donna have met at least 2 times
per week for the last 18 months and more recently every day to plan and discuss
the details of the event.  In 2012, they
ran not one but three major figure skating competitions.  “Yeah, we’re crazy!” said Carolyn.
Since interviewing
Carolyn, the Yarmouth Ice Club has announced they will be the host of the 2015
Theatre on Ice.

Adult Nationals

Carolyn says that adult
figure skaters are amazing.  They are competing
because they want to be there.  “It’s
crazy and fun but also very intense.  You
will see former competitive skaters performing double axels and triples and
then there are lower levels where adults show their love for skating.”  She said these skaters will surprise a lot of
people and added, “Everyone is cheering and the camaraderie between the skaters
is incredible.”
Blog post by Jen Skiba.

Adult Nationals Weekly Series #4: Meet Becky & Renee



About Becky


Rebecca Hamlin is a
Yarmouth Ice Club figure skater and coach, born and raised in Brewster, MA.  The oldest of 4 kids, Becky started out in
gymnastics and ballet before her cousin introduced her to figure skating.  After one session of Learn to Skate, Becky
fell in love and was in private lessons at 9 years old.
Becky found her passion in
figure skating and competed for almost 8 years. 
Her career ended abruptly when she had to choose between figure skating
and college.

About Renee

When Becky began private
lessons, she was coached by Renee Roos. 
A former figure skater, Renee came from a big skating family as her
sister Nicole moved away at age 14 to train with Olympic and World Skating coaches
Evy and Mary Scotvold.
Renee began coaching in
1990 and has been involved with the Yarmouth Ice Club since 1992.  This was around the time she met Briana Lackenby, who was finishing up her career as an amateur and
eventually started coaching.
Becky with her coach of 18 years.


The Relationship between
Becky, Renee, and Briana

Renee coached Becky
throughout her career.  When Becky pulled
away from the sport, she was not ready to quit. 
She attended New England
College but never lost
touch with her coach.  In September 2012,
Becky still missed being out there on the ice. 
She thought about it for about a year and decided to make her comeback.
When Becky returned, the
Yarmouth Ice Club was in need of coaches. 
She spent the summer as a mentor and started taking on her own
students.  Reconnecting with the rink
felt right and Becky knew it was meant to be. 
She missed competing and knew she had unfinished business.
The relationship between a
coach and student is special.  Renee
began coaching Becky again as an adult and Becky also linked up with Briana for
help with choreography.  Becky looks at
Renee and Briana as a coach, mentor, and a friend.  According to Becky, Renee is “tough when she
needs to be and always there for me” while Briana is like a big sister to
her.  “I am inspired by Bree’s strength
every day.  She has helped me
tremendously and really built up my confidence over the last couple of months.”
“When you take on a new
student, you are not just a coach.  You
become much more involved in a student’s life,” says Renee.  The relationship is built around trust.
Trust is also a big part
of why Briana fits right into the team. 
According to Renee, “Bree is a miracle worker.”  Anytime Renee or her students faces a
setback, Renee always sends her students to see Briana for physical
therapy.  She is a huge referrer of Cape
Cod Rehab, especially because of the pool.

Becky: Then vs. Now

Becky is the only student
Renee has ever coached as both a kid and an adult.  As an adult figure skater, Renee had to
really slow Becky down.  She had to face
reality that she was no longer 8 years old and it’s a completely different
ballgame as an adult.
“As a kid, it’s all about
jumping.  We tried to take what she did
as a kid and make it even better now,” said Renee.  Becky began to think about the process and understand
what her coach was telling her.  The
former “gym rat,” Becky used to be in the gym 7 days a week and on the ice for
2 hours per day.  As an adult, she
training 3-4 days per week on the ice and has been leaning the importance of
recovery.
Becky’s
mindset as an adult has also changed. 
She is skating for the sheer joy and self-satisfaction.  Her training mindset is “You just gotta do
it.  You need to be here.”  Becky quit her other job to focus on her own
students.  When she competed in middle
school and high school, she gave up a lot and her mom sacrificed a lot for
her.  “These kids are counting on
me.  My mom used to do it for me and I just
want to give these kids the opportunity to be the best that they can be.”
Renee added, “Becky uses
figure skating as therapy to escape.  She
leaves everything at the door and she comes on the ice to do what she loves.”  Becky agreed. 
She can’t imagine her life without it.

Adult Nationals

At Adult Nationals, Becky
will be competing with her first competition as an adult and her first program
in 10 years.  She will be skating in the
Intermediate Novice Master’s Free Skate. 
Her music: Romeo and Juliet.
“Becky struggled a
lot.  She never had closure.  This competition is about coming back to
finish what she started.  It didn’t work
as a kid and she’s back to make it work in her 20s,” said Briana.
With two weeks to go until
competition, Becky is feeling confident and excited.  “I still have it in me.  I’m ready.”

Blog post by Jen Skiba.

Adult Nationals Weekly Series #3: Meet Dawn

About Dawn


Dawn Feest is a Yarmouth
Ice Club member from Harwich, Massachusetts who began skating when she was just
8 years old and never looked back.  She skated
competitively for many years and joined the Ice Capades after college.  Touring and performing in ice shows were fun
and a lot less pressure but a part of Dawn missed competing.  She skated with the Ice Capades and other producers until 2002 and then took some time away from the sport.  On Dawn’s
40th birthday, she ran into her childhood coach and she was introduced to adult
figure skating.  Her return to
competition began at Sectionals in 2012 and now at age 44, Dawn will be
competing in her first Adult National Championships this April.

One of Dawn’s regrets as a
figure skater was that she stopped competing. 
After touring with the Ice Capades, she viewed figure skating as a
personal challenge.  She got back to
training and everything including the jumps came back fairly quickly. 

Dawn’s Injury

Dawn was skating a lot:
jumping all the time, performing doubles, and she found she was landing very hard.  Over time she developed
sciatica and started seeing a chiropractor
but this was not fixing the problem and actually making it worse.
From the sidelines, Briana Lackenby, Cape Cod Rehab physical therapist & Yarmouth Ice Club coach,
would watch Dawn on the ice and noticed her stiff landings.  Dawn was introduced to Briana who not only
treated her injury but also switched up her whole style of skating adding
longevity to her career.

Physical Therapy &
The Burdenko Method

For Dawn, it was all about
meeting the right people at the right time.  She began physical therapy at Cape Cod Rehab’s Hyannis location and
with a combination of The Burdenko Method‘s land and water therapy and finding what works
best for Dawn, she was able to get back on the ice pain free.  During rehab, which also meant about 6 weeks
off the ice, Dawn was frustrated she could not just and train the way she wanted to.  Briana and Dawn found that the Burdenko Method combined with overhauling her jumping style was the only way to treat
Dawn’s sciatica.  The pool worked wonders
although Dawn fought it all the way!
Once Dawn was back on the
ice, the focus shifted to quality over quantity.  She switched coaches and started working with
Briana for both technical and choreography. 
They worked on a lot of stretching and preventative exercises as well as
the quality of Dawn’s skating technique. 
She changed her whole approach to skating with softer landings on jumps,
new choreography by Briana, and less hours on the ice (only about 2 hours per
week) and hasn’t run into any problems or setbacks since.
While off the ice, Dawn
works a very busy full time job, enjoys spending time with her sister and niece (which included her and her sister running a half marathon in Thailand!) and coaches Learn to Skate for adults.  She credits Briana for extending the
longevity of her skating career and is looking forward to getting on the ice to
compete at Adult Nationals.

Adult Nationals

To qualify for Adult
Nationals, Dawn competed last weekend at 2014 Eastern Adult Sectional
Qualifying Event in New Jersey where she took home two bronze medals and an 8th
place finish in the free skate.  She will
be performing 3 programs at Nationals: 2 showcase which focuses on audience
appeal, costume, and dramatic theatrical performance and 1 technical free
skate.  Her music ranges from Baliwood’s
“Oh la la” to an emotional performance to Christina Perri’s Human and music from Fame.
Adult figure
skating is very unique.  Adults are
skating for themselves.  Whether they had
regrets and unfinished business or just love the sport.  Dawn has a passion and enjoys setting goals
and seeing improvement both in practice and from competition to
competition.  “It’s you vs. you out there
and no one can take that away.”
Dawn plans to keep skating
for a long time joking, “The day I retire is the day I can’t get up from that
slide!”


Stay tuned for next week’s
post featuring Rebecca Hamlin & her coach Renee Roos…
Blog post by Jen Skiba.

Adult Nationals Weekly Series #2: Meet Briana

About Briana


You may know Briana
Lackenby PT DPT as a Physical Therapist and Assistant Clinical Director at Cape
Cod Rehab.  You also may know Briana as a
figure skating coach for the Yarmouth Ice Club. 
Or you may even know Briana as a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI)
Golf Fitness Instructor.  She also holds
certifications as a Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist, Certified
Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and a Certified Burdenko Method Instructor
(Levels 1-6).  Briana does it all and she
wouldn’t have it any other way!

Briana began figure
skating when she was 8 years old and worked her way up to earn Senior Gold
Level Status.  She began coaching in 1996
as a freshman in college.  During
Briana’s time as a physical therapy student at Boston University,
she completed one of her clinical rotations at Cape Cod Rehab.  Soon after graduation, Briana was hired by
Joe and Kathy Carroll, owners of Cape Cod Rehab and has been working for them
ever since.  When not in the clinic, you
can find her on the ice at the Tony Kent Ice Arena where she puts in about
12-15 hours per week coaching skaters of all ages and abilities.

Cape Cod Rehab and the Yarmouth Ice Club

The relationship between
Cape Cod Rehab and the Yarmouth Ice Club is very unique.  Briana has a long history of working with
skaters both on and off the ice in injury prevention and rehab.  She became the go-to person when any Yarmouth
Ice Club figure skater was struggling or suffered an injury.  Skaters, coaches, and parents all trust Briana’s judgment and opinions when biomechanically something isn’t
right.  Her knowledge of the jumps and
personal experiences with the physical and mental demands of the sport add that extra element to her already extensive physical therapy training and
education.

The Burdenko Method

Another tie between figure
skating and physical therapy is The Burdenko Method.  The Burdenko Method is a unique, innovative
system for rehabilitation, conditioning and injury prevention developed and
refined by Igor N. Burdenko PhD over a period of 40 years.
Dr. Burdenko has a long
history of working with figure skaters. 
He rehabbed Nancy Kerrigan after the infamous Tonya Harding
incident.  With a combination of land and
water, Dr. Burdenko helped Nancy
to get back on the ice and earn a silver medal at the 1994 Olympics.  His list of figure skaters includes Paul
Wylie, Oksana Baiul, and Yarmouth Ice Club coach and Olympian Konstantin
Kostin. 
Briana’s interest in the
Burdenko Method started as a skater watching Nancy Kerrigan and Paul Wylie
train at the Tony Kent Arena.  They were
both coached by Olympic and World Skating coaches Evy and Mary Scotvold whose
training camp was located at the Tony Kent Arena in South Dennis, MA.  When Briana was hired by Cape Cod Rehab, her
interest in Burdenko was spurred on by Joe who was already using the method in
his clinics.  Joe introduced Briana to
Dr. Burdenko and she became Part I and Part II certified.  Joe continued his training to earn the
credentials as one of the very few Master Burdenko Method Instructors in the
world.
“Working the
whole body in different directions and at different speeds are principles of
the Burdenko Method that translate exceptionally well for figure skaters who
work slowly and gracefully and move into fast dynamic movements while changing
directions,” said Joe.
The
Burdenko Method is very dynamic and sport specific.  It became really big with figure skaters in both rehabbing and conditioning especially after it was proven successful for
so many skaters including Olympic level competitors.  Briana found that it was more fun for the
younger skaters as it was different exercises than everyone was used to and
combined both land and water training.
Joe
added, “Rehab of the injured skater in the pool allows them to simulate
movements they do on the ice without the impact and keeps a level of
conditioning while their training is impacted.  Mentally the athlete is
engaged with the dynamic nature of the workouts and choreographing the
exercises keeps them connected to their training on ice.  The Burdenko Method
allows for a progressive transition from the water to the land and then back
onto the ice.”

Coaching Dawn &
Becky

Yarmouth Ice Club skaters
Dawn Feest and Becky Hamlin will both be competing in Adult Nationals in
April.  Briana coaches all aspects of
Dawn’s skating from technical to choreography and she is also working on
choreographing Becky’s performances.
To Briana, the best part
about coaching is the creativity.  Every
skater has their own style and Briana helps to bring out their strengths on
ice.  She does everything from coming up
with the concept to editing the music, developing the program, and designing
the costumes.

Briana’s Role at
Nationals

Adult Nationals will be a
special event for Briana.  She will play
the role of skating coach to Dawn and Becky, Medical Director for the entire
competition, and if we’re lucky we may even see an appearance on ice during the
opening ceremony.
When asked if she’d ever
compete again, Briana hesitated but said she would consider it.  It’s a huge time commitment and there are not
enough hours in the day!
Stay tuned for next week’s
post featuring Dawn Feest…

Blog post by Jen Skiba.

Adult Nationals Weekly Series #1: Introduction



Cape Cod Rehab has been
announced as the Official Sports Medicine Provider at the 2014 U.S. Adult
Figure Skating Championships.  The
competition hosted by the Yarmouth Ice Club will take place April 8-12 at the
Hyannis Youth and Community Center.

What is Adult Figure
Skating?

Competitive adult figure skating
is relatively new to the skating world. 
It has really blossomed over the past decade and this year marks the
20th anniversary of the competition. 
(The U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Boston this year to determine the Sochi
Olympic Team was celebrating 100 years!)
To be eligible to compete
as an adult, skaters must be over the age of 21 and current members of U.S.
Figure Skating.  Some skaters will
qualify for the Championships at one of three sectional qualifying competitions
whereas some events do not require a skater to qualify via sectionals.

Yarmouth Ice Club & Cape Cod Rehab

The relationship between
the Yarmouth Ice Club and Cape Cod Rehab is very unique.  Physical Therapist and Coach Briana Lackenby
appears to be the glue that holds everything together.  Briana’s knowledge of both figure skating and
sport specific injuries created a very trusting relationship both on and off
the ice.  As the ice club grew and began
hosting events, Cape Cod Rehab’s physical therapists and athletic trainers
stepped in as the medical providers at these events.  Most recent competitions include the Eastern
Sectional Figure Skating Championships in 2012 and the Nations Cup and U.S.
National Theater on Ice in 2011.  This is
the first year that Adult Nationals will be held on Cape
Cod and a few of our local skaters will be competing.

U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships

For some figure skaters,
Adult Nationals is about picking up where they left off.  For others it’s about the personal challenge
and setting goals.  One thing they can
all agree on is that it’s their love for the sport that keeps them coming back!
For the next few weeks,
the Mashpee Fitness blog will highlight some of the local figure skaters,
coaches, and officials leading up to competition weekend.  We will share with you their passion for the
sport and the obstacles they have faced along the way.
Stay tuned for next week’s
post featuring Briana Lackenby!
Blog post by Jen Skiba.