My ongoing internet connection problem acted up again yesterday and I had no access till just before the Ladies event, causing me to miss the Pairs entirely. Then of course the GS was so slow after the Ladies' that I stayed away. However, my heart has been with y'all and I wondered all day how everybody was doing. All I know about Patrick's difficulty with the ice is from this thread though I read a few posts criticizing his complaint.
There are a few things I observe and feel about Patrick for a while that I have not shared here. Come to think of it, they are about his sensitivities. Patrick has always appeared a happy jock, sport loving, athletic, with a friendly sunny personality, and not quite articulate enough for his celebrity status and necessary PR. He is not a man who expresses himself very well with words, often causing misunderstanding and easy negative spinning.
Yet Patrick Chan on ice is the most articulate, expressive, and sensitive person there is. His taste in music and his performances are sophisticated, refined, and meticulous. Sensitive to every note and nuance of the music, he expresses himself and interprets the music elegantly, artfully, and subtly, inviting viewers to peek into his inner being and find treasures again and again. His sublime performances are especially appreciated by the connaisseurs of skating, music, and arts. All these he does with his unmatched skating skills, the foundation of his technical prowess as well as exquisite artistry.
As a skater Patrick is like the most sensitive and finely tuned musical instrument or a race car. Like most elite athletes, he is highly aware of his body and sensitive to all the precise points it tells him. His body and its extension, the skates, are the tools of his trade and he takes good care of them. However, there are environmental conditions affecting his performances which he does not have full control of. By practicing before a competition, he learns about and adapts himself to these conditions, the most important of which is, of course, the ice he skates on and feels with every little movement. Any unexpected condition at the actual competition can distract or even totally throw him off, such as an overhead camera coming in too close, or the ice in bad or different conditions than what he has practised on. Unfortunately, this situation has occurred more often than he (and we) like this season. It is indeed better to know about inconsistent ice and try to rectify it than to encounter seriously bad ice when it's his turn.
Another observation is about his coaching and training choices. He had the full attention of his first coach Mr. Colson who recognized and appreciated his talents and knew how to nurture them, starting with basics and building a strong foundation for his entire skating career. The crusty old man and the kid developed a special bond that has been so cherished by Patrick till this day. He went to Krall as a jump and Dartfish specialist and she became his main coach with a team of specialized trainers. This worked well for a while but I think Krall's approach was too regimental and rigid for him at the end, with his every minute being micro-managed, literally. His decision to train with Johnson has been criticized and ridiculed and made an easy scapegoat whenever he had a less than ideal performance. They kept the coach-student relationship throughout his 18 month sabbatical from competition and when he returned, the relationship continues and they seem closer than ever, even though his romantic relationship with her daughter has ended. They both talk about how she is totally sensitive to and in tune with all the nuanced conditions about him, physically and mentally. He is her only full time student and she seems devoted to him, caring about every aspect of his training and his life.
As he grew up and matured, Patrick got to know himself better and better. He knows what he wants and needs. He sets his goals and stays on his path to achieve them. I think he realizes that he does well under a devoted and caring coach who knows and understands him well, with whom he can communicate freely and trustingly. So he is steadfastly staying with his unconventional coach and she has guided him to be the artist he wanted to be. She helps to keep him grounded and keep to a holistic patient plan. He is already very disciplined and with her he gets the special attention and guidance he needs.
I hope Patrick stays true to himself, skates for himself, and keeps expressing himself through his skating.
in any case, anyone who has the opportunity to work with him will have quite a lot to work with.... 
