Coaching change for Kimmie

feraina · Feb 4, 2008

I guess we saw this one coming. I think some posters even suggested Richard Callaghan as a good fit for Kimmie:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/bal-meissnerr204,0,3488564.story

What a life-changing decision! Putting college on hold too, after all that she said about enjoying college and looking forward to taking some classes in person in the spring.

But I think for now, this is definitely the right decision for her. Hopefully she can really regroup and come back strong in the six weeks before WC. Good luck, Kimmie!

dizzydi7 · Feb 4, 2008

No, this isn't surprising. I surely hope that Callaghan can help Kimmie to improve her jumps. This would be so good for the U.S. It certainly sounds like Kimmie is determined to improve. She is giving up a lot by putting college on hold and also moving to Florida. I wish her the best.

Dizzy

sillylionlove · Feb 4, 2008

Good for Kimmie. I hope this coaching change works for her. I think that it will...if not this year then next year!!

ManyCairns · Feb 4, 2008

Thank goodness!!

It appears to me, just a guess on my part, of course, that Kimmie's jump probs are technical. I don't think it was/is any kind of "toughness" or "mental" issue. Her current team hasn't seemed able to pinpoint what she needed to change about the mechanics of her jumping technique in order to land the jumps again.

Hopefully Callaghan will be able to analyze her technique, figure out what's wrong, AND teach her how to fix it!

It's a tall order right before Worlds, though. Glad she's making the change, but I hope it's not at the wrong time. True, her last two competitions were disastrous, but, prior to that, her season was going at least acceptably well.

Best of luck, Kimmie!!!

feraina · Feb 4, 2008

I think Kimmie's problems are both technical and mental. Her jumps have been really low all season, her toe-axeling worse than ever, so it's not surprising that under a certain amount of competition stress, these problems easily translate into falls and under-rotations. I think it is the technical problems that have also gotten into her head and making her less confident in competitive settings. Earlier in the season, there were also reports of her not enjoying skating as much and trying to rediscover her passion...

I think once her jump techniques improve and she brings home more competitive success, she will feel better about skating and life in general.

bekalc · Feb 4, 2008

rallycairn said:
Thank goodness!!

It appears to me, just a guess on my part, of course, that Kimmie's jump probs are technical. I don't think it was/is any kind of "toughness" or "mental" issue. Her current team hasn't seemed able to pinpoint what she needed to change about the mechanics of her jumping technique in order to land the jumps again.

Hopefully Callaghan will be able to analyze her technique, figure out what's wrong, AND teach her how to fix it!

It's a tall order right before Worlds, though. Glad she's making the change, but I hope it's not at the wrong time. True, her last two competitions were disastrous, but, prior to that, her season was going at least acceptably well.

Best of luck, Kimmie!!!

I don't think Meissner has been skating well at all this year. Sure some of the results were good, but if you look at her skating, she was hardly skating well. For example she hasn't cracked over 110 this season...

Dee4707 · Feb 4, 2008

I am glad that Kimmie made that decesion. I really felt sorry for her at the Grand Prix. Kimmie is a smart girl and she'll come back stronger.

Dee

demarinis5 · Feb 4, 2008

Great news. Changing coaches did wonders for Johnny. Keeping my fingers
crossed for Kimmie. Thanks for the link.

Tonichelle · Feb 4, 2008

praying this is what she needs...

I wanted to rush out and give her a huge hug in St. Paul after her free skate :no:

Tinymavy15 · Feb 4, 2008

WOW. Kimmie must be reading this forum! Unlike most of you, I am stunned. Yes, Johnny Wier left his coach and family after many years and it worked out well for him... and I think it coudl work for kimmie too, but a turnaorund by worlds is a little unreasonable. But really I am stunned that Kimmie would pack up and leave her family, her school... very surprising a sudden for me.

Also... very funny that Richard is leaving for Florida at the very same time as He starts working with her. I wonder if that had anything to do with her choice. Maybe she has family down there?

Also... what has Mr. Callaghan been up too. After Tara i know he coached Jenny Kirk for a few years before she moved over to Frank Carroll, but tghe past 4 years or so I have not heard anything about him. I thought he had retired.

Joesitz (RIP) · Feb 4, 2008

If it aint working, change it.

Joe

emma · Feb 4, 2008

Kimmie is an amazing competitor - and I wish her all the very best with this change, however temporary or permanent it turns out to be. I can't help wondering (puts on arm chair psychologist hat) if the busy schedule plus school plus having jumping issues plus having bad results all was just too much....here's hoping getting away from all of that 'stuff' will help her clear her head and heart and feel ready for worlds.

On the more pessimisticside of things -- if Kimmie has 'serious technique' issues and i repeat IF...then, 6 weeks is not going to change that dramatically IMHO....but a 'fresh start' might alleviate the 'mental' issues that make iffy technique worse when the nerves set it....I'm hoping that it helps her.

Now on the gossipy want to know side of things....do we think this was already in the works? do we think nationals was just that bad for her that Kimmie intiated the change....do we think Pam was like - Kimmie you need a change now or never...??? inquiring minds would love to know!!!

iluvtodd · Feb 4, 2008

Tinymavy15 said:
Also... what has Mr. Callaghan been up too. After Tara i know he coached Jenny Kirk for a few years before she moved over to Frank Carroll, but the past 4 years or so I have not heard anything about him. I thought he had retired.

Richard Callaghan has been coaching Leslie Hawker and Fedor Andreev, both of Canada. I wonder if they will move down to Florida to continue working with him.

I wish Kimmie all the best with her coaching change. I just mailed her a card on Friday to give her encouragement, and I mailed it to the UDEL skating rink. I hope she'll get it (through forwarding the mail).

Tonichelle · Feb 4, 2008

Pam seemed pretty attentive at nationals... and I doubt Kimmie made the decision lightly, and I wouldn't be surprised if they'd talked it out well in advance

champs · Feb 4, 2008

Just as anyone else on this forum, I also hope everything will go well for Kimmie with this change.

There are two things that came to my mind after reading this topic:

1. Will Hawker and other students (if any) he coaches also go down to Florida?

2. I wish Czisny could join Kimmie to fix her jumping techniques. Must be tough to handle both college life/work and skating training in the U.S.

feraina · Feb 4, 2008

emma said:
do we think this was already in the works? do we think nationals was just that bad for her that Kimmie intiated the change....do we think Pam was like - Kimmie you need a change now or never...??? inquiring minds would love to know!!!

Well, I think she and her family must have been thinking about it since before National's -- it would seem like a very big and dramatic move so soon after National's, if it just came about due to her 7th-place finish. Johnny kept mum about his move until it actually happened, but later he revealed that he had been thinking about it for a long time. On the other hand, several weeks before National's, Kimmie was still talking enthusiastically about taking classes on campus instead of online in the spring. So she can't have seriously thought about moving/changing coach too long before National's...

I thought it was a bad sign that a week before National's, Kimmie & Pam were still trying to "pin down" which 3-3 she was going to use at National's. If she were doing that in the summer, or even early during the GP season, that would've been understandable, given her history of downgrades on the 3Lz-3T. But being so close to National's, she ought to have concentrated on practicing just the combo she needed, instead of diluting her efforts on multiple projects. I thought that was bad strategizing on the coach's part.

Well, I'd been saying for a while now that Kimmie should change coaches, and I'm happy to see that she's decided to take the step. The sooner the better -- I think she's a real fighter and she has good technical fundamentals, as well as constantly improving skating/presentation skills, so she can _definitely_ aspire to better results than 7th at National's and 6th at GPF!

flying camel · Feb 4, 2008

She should have done this last year. She and Alissa both. I don't know what he can do in 6 weeks. She doesn't really have to put college on hold. They have schools there. Plus she could continue her on - line studies with Univ. of Delaware if she wants. I am happy she recognized the problem and is trying to fix it.

Yellow Cat · Feb 4, 2008

Tonichelle said:
Pam seemed pretty attentive at nationals... and I doubt Kimmie made the decision lightly, and I wouldn't be surprised if they'd talked it out well in advance

If this is true, this, too, could have contributed to Kimmie's less-than-stellar nationals...

Tonichelle · Feb 4, 2008

flying camel said:
She should have done this last year. She and Alissa both. I don't know what he can do in 6 weeks. She doesn't really have to put college on hold. They have schools there. Plus she could continue her on - line studies with Univ. of Delaware if she wants. I am happy she recognized the problem and is trying to fix it.

maybe she's feeling she wants to focus more on skating... and that school can wait? maybe the two together were too stressful for her.

emma · Feb 4, 2008

feraina said:
:

I thought it was a bad sign that a week before National's, Kimmie & Pam were still trying to "pin down" which 3-3 she was going to use at National's. If she were doing that in the summer, or even early during the GP season, that would've been understandable, given her history of downgrades on the 3Lz-3T. But being so close to National's, she ought to have concentrated on practicing just the combo she needed, instead of diluting her efforts on multiple projects. I thought that was bad strategizing on the coach's part.

I was troubled by this news too....but optimistic because the few pratice reports circulating suggested that a) Kimmie had suffered a sprain during the Fall, b) it was better, and c) she was hitting it all in practice.....

It will be interesting to see how the next weeks and months pan out for her....I do most sincerely hope she feels proud of her efforts and comfortable with all the changes!!!!

Coaching change for Kimmie

feraina

dizzydi7

sillylionlove

ManyCairns

feraina

bekalc

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win

Joesitz (RIP)

emma

iluvtodd

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

champs

feraina

flying camel

Yellow Cat

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll

emma

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