- Joined
- Jan 6, 2007
Perhaps coaches, federations, fans and journalists should broaden their minds a bit and start to accept that sometimes the development of a skater, especially a female skater, should also be allowed to take some time. That people shouldn't just be aiming for that one chance and make the skaters pull off all the Triples and 3-3s right away.Yeah, she's only 16. She's got time, but sometimes I worry if getting older = understanding the magnitude of the pressure = loss of consistency.
We now have got several examples of skaters who took their time, or had to take their time - and were at the top of their game at a later age. Rochette, Arakawa, Suzuki, Phaneuf, Meier... Those are all skaters who weren't the wunderkinds (or they were and had to fight to get back) and trashed the competition at Junior Grand Prixs with 3-3s. And maybe, if coaches slow down the development a bit, concentrate more on skating skills, precise technique - there would also be less injuries and therefore the skater would be longer be able to skate at a competitive level.