Allison Arnold

I have my New Year's resolution! And it came by accident from reading the November 2008 issue of SKATING magazine. In it, there was a great article entitled The Five Rings of Mental Toughness -- Creating an unshakeable mind. The author was Dr. Alison Arnold (see right), who is the mental toughness coach for U.S. Figure Skating. Let me repeat that -- mental toughness coach for U.S. Figure Skating. Are you surprised? Or not that surprised? With today's elite skaters surrounded by coaches, trainers, choreographers, agents, family, critics, and I'm leaving out tons of others, of course, a mental toughness coach is necessary, even required, to succeed in the sport.