Uhm, .....
I read the ISU interview this afternoon and have been chewing it over in my mind. Not sure folks will be okay if I try to work this through with you here, but I really don't want to bring this up on the edge.
Perhaps, I wasn't in the flow of info about Patrick and Kathy's way of working, but for me there was something new, and in my experience very unexpected in what Patrick is reported to have said...
After the split with Kathy I trained for myself for two weeks. I spoke to Mike Slipchuk (high performance director) at Skate Canada and they all recommended that I skate on my own, because I had never had the chance to have a session to train by myself. I was always on a lesson with Kathy, every day. That gave me time to experiment and to teach almost myself and just have time to relax and not feel someone watching me all the time.
Not having a session to train on his own seems at first to me like a misreport. Especially, as he didn't seem to be working with a team of coaches, or specialty coaches for jumps, spins etc. as he seems to now be doing at Arctic Edge.
I had to read that several times, and really questioned myself if I was misunderstanding. But not having a session on his own -- when a skater at his level has multiple on ice training sessions a day, which are usually interspersed with various off-ice training modalities --- is something I'm trying to picture in my mind. It sounds to me that he is saying that Kathy was always with him, at every session.
To put this in the context that is familiar to me, independent work is one of the things that parents are warned is characteristic of the sport. While the very lowest levels of figure skaters need to be supervised most of the time, either through group or private lessons, they are expected to start to learn to work independently at what Skate Canada calls the "learn to train" phase. Entry into this stage is targeted at as young as 7 years for girls and 8 for boys.
They may start with only 15 minutes on their own out of a 45-60 minute session a couple of time a week, and their coach is usually keeping a responsible eye out while working with other skaters. But they are working on their own for some of the time from the beginning. And very quickly as they progress, the ratio reverses and they are on their own practicing the dances, skills, and freeskate elements on their own, as well as their program, for the larger part of each session. And if their coach is away, and an alternate lesson can't be arranged, they are expected to do the full session on their own as long as there is a coach on the ice to manage safety. Senior skaters may regularly have some sessions within their week where they work on their own.
So, I would have expected someone at Patrick's level to be spending a significant part of his day on his own. . . And if I am understanding this interview correctly, I can appreciate Mike Slipchuk's guidance, and how Marina, Oleg, and Johnny together could provide the needed coaching support, while being comfortable with the greater independence that Patrick has said was needed.
I read the ISU interview this afternoon and have been chewing it over in my mind. Not sure folks will be okay if I try to work this through with you here, but I really don't want to bring this up on the edge.
Perhaps, I wasn't in the flow of info about Patrick and Kathy's way of working, but for me there was something new, and in my experience very unexpected in what Patrick is reported to have said...
After the split with Kathy I trained for myself for two weeks. I spoke to Mike Slipchuk (high performance director) at Skate Canada and they all recommended that I skate on my own, because I had never had the chance to have a session to train by myself. I was always on a lesson with Kathy, every day. That gave me time to experiment and to teach almost myself and just have time to relax and not feel someone watching me all the time.
Not having a session to train on his own seems at first to me like a misreport. Especially, as he didn't seem to be working with a team of coaches, or specialty coaches for jumps, spins etc. as he seems to now be doing at Arctic Edge.
I had to read that several times, and really questioned myself if I was misunderstanding. But not having a session on his own -- when a skater at his level has multiple on ice training sessions a day, which are usually interspersed with various off-ice training modalities --- is something I'm trying to picture in my mind. It sounds to me that he is saying that Kathy was always with him, at every session.
To put this in the context that is familiar to me, independent work is one of the things that parents are warned is characteristic of the sport. While the very lowest levels of figure skaters need to be supervised most of the time, either through group or private lessons, they are expected to start to learn to work independently at what Skate Canada calls the "learn to train" phase. Entry into this stage is targeted at as young as 7 years for girls and 8 for boys.
They may start with only 15 minutes on their own out of a 45-60 minute session a couple of time a week, and their coach is usually keeping a responsible eye out while working with other skaters. But they are working on their own for some of the time from the beginning. And very quickly as they progress, the ratio reverses and they are on their own practicing the dances, skills, and freeskate elements on their own, as well as their program, for the larger part of each session. And if their coach is away, and an alternate lesson can't be arranged, they are expected to do the full session on their own as long as there is a coach on the ice to manage safety. Senior skaters may regularly have some sessions within their week where they work on their own.
So, I would have expected someone at Patrick's level to be spending a significant part of his day on his own. . . And if I am understanding this interview correctly, I can appreciate Mike Slipchuk's guidance, and how Marina, Oleg, and Johnny together could provide the needed coaching support, while being comfortable with the greater independence that Patrick has said was needed.
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