The Cutting Edge
Personal Bests
Handicap Races


Setting  Personal Bests

Short track speed skating pits skaters against each other in races ranging from 111 m to 3000 m, depending on the age and skill of the skaters.  The objective is to be the first across the finish line û to beat the other skaters.  We all want to be winners. 

So why do our coaches talk about setting personal bests?  Why do they care more that you try your hardest, go faster, have better technique or place higher than you did the time before, rather than that you cross the finish line first?

The answer is both simple and complex.  If we are continually improving, we may eventually become one of the fastest skaters around.  To improve, we have to do better than we did the last time û we have to do our best.  If we set ourselves goals to work towards, we know what we need to do and we get a great sense of satisfaction from achieving them.  The key to improving is to be willing to try new things to improve our technique and to try our hardest at all times.  By focussing on our own personal best, and not another skater, we can all be winners and enjoy racing and competing.  Meeting our goals is rewarding and we want to continue to skate.

There are many different types of goals we can set as personal bests.  The simplest is time: we can record it and tell if we went faster than last time.  However, ice conditions can vary, the stage of training can affect our speed, and a very difficult tactical race may require our best effort to win, but not be a personal best time.  Doing cross-overs on every corner, even if you go slower, can be an important personal best for a young skater.  Finishing higher up in a division at a meet than you were seeded can be a personal best.  Short track skating requires speed, strength, and good tactics.  We can set personal bests in many ways.

By striving for personal bests, we have goals that we can pursue and we can be rewarded when we meet them.  Eventually, we may be competing as provincial, regional, or national champions.  Robert Tremblay, one of Canada's national speed skating coaches, tells how the selection of skaters to train in Quebec's elite program is not based on simply selecting the fastest skaters at a young age: he prefers instead to select the skaters who put in the most effort both in training and racing, and who strive to always improve.  Focus on technique is especially important.  These are the skaters that can train to be champions. 


Handicap Races
Nearly every month over the course of the year, we run Handicap Races during regular practices.  The winner is not the fastest skater, but the skater who takes the most time off their previous best time.  Winners are declared for each month.  In addition, points are awarded for placings each month and at the end of the year, the skaters with the most points receive a trophy.  Thus, the skaters who consistently improve over the course of the year are the winners.  The distances skated depend on the level of the skaters.