Nathan Chen | Page 131 | Golden Skate

Nathan Chen

sheetz said:
Nathan finally updates his Instagram with a message to his fans
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfZ-yv1gi29/?hl=en&taken-by=nathanwchen

His brother Tony has some rare pics of the entire family
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfZi8l0ndvQ/?hl=en&taken-by=runtxc

Article/Video: Figure skating's final frontier: Is the quintuple jump possible?

ETA: Video: Olympic Figure Skaters in Lakewood
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Thanks sheetz :thumbsup:

I found many photos and videos of Nathan on instagram, his videos with Soohorang seem so cute to me, and see all those people standing there applauding after his long program ... I hope with all my heart that his family can comfort him (as they did after of the 2017 World Cups), at the end of his program his look is nostalgic and melancholy, a medal doesn't always say who is the best, and as Mrs Hetty wisely said: "Tomorrow is another day"

I love that Nathan changes suits, as paying tribute to skaters who shined in past seasons :love:

If the ISU changes the rules probably Nathan's Olympic record can never be exceeded :yes2:

I think Nathan is the kind of skater that requires more than one trainer (sorry Raf) a single person will adjust the reins too much and end up limiting his abilities

Really, Nathan is a hero :clap:
 
Miss Ice said:
Oh, exciting, he actually will hear back from colleges soon! Wouldn't it be kind of difficult to compete full time and pursue college full-time though? Since I assume he'd get into some top schools with challenging programs...
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It makes me sad :') Let's be honest, it's not difficult, it's impossible. He has to either quit skating completely or downgrade his skills (due to the lack of practice).
 
he can not do full course load, maybe 1 at most 2 courses per semester. It would serve as a nice contrast and balance to a skating only life.
I think Shibsibs are doing that and lots of other elite skaters are doing online classes which is much more convenient. Pre-med is really tough.
 
I think he's going about it in the right way. A lot of elite athletes do school and train at the same time. I'm sure he may try out a full course load - and that would be a lot - but if he's going to try it out, the first year of a new quad is a good time to do it. I don't see him being able to sustain a full course-load though. He may find it good to have a bit of a distraction away from skating, he seems to crave finding things to occupy his mind. I'm happy to hear he appears to be going full-speed toward 2022 though. :)
 
jackattack said:
I agree. I would also just like to point out that Raf was the one who told Nathan to do what he felt best and let Nathan take control. So it wasn't really Nathan not going to Raf to ask him about it especially since Raf was the one who said Nathan could do whatever he felt most comfortable doing. And in this case that was 6 quads because he needed that confidence and needed to just put it all out. And I think just like any teenager, you get the most support from your parents and family and so I think after his disappointing short skate he naturally went to his mom and they had a discussion as any upset teenager would with their mom. And he pitched the idea of doing six quads which she fully supported. I do think Nathan's mom is very involved but I don't think she's too involved to the point that we need to be concerned that they're not trusting Raf and his coaching techniques.
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This is exactly why Nathan needs a new coach.
I have discussed this whole thing with my psychologist friend quite a few times. And he believes that Nathan has been given too much freedom but not enough discipline.

Constantly changing his jump layout could be his idea, or Raf's idea. Maybe it is both.
Either way, this is not the discipline required to be successful.
This is what I mean being given too much freedom.

Maybe you can argue that Raf has so much trust in Nathan, and he told Nathan to take control himself.
But we are talking about a skater with great potential, but has not skated cleanly all season long. (LP at US Nationals came closest to be clean except the 1A)
Now, we are talking about even more freedom here.

I can see a coach letting a seasoned skater with multiple world titles take control, to a certain degree. But Nathan is not there yet.
After the team event, Nathan took control of his practice for a couple of days. He said he had figured out what went wrong.
Then, a repeat of SP as in team event. Do you think he figured it out as he claimed?
Letting a younger skater taking control can be costly.

To be all honest, I don't really like the way Raf trains his skaters. I look at Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon. Both are very senior skaters, but they don't have the best basic skating skills or high quality jumps.
Nathan needs to improve in these areas now.
And additionally, Raf would give him so much freedom. That is just not going to work.

I wish I could be a cheerleader, but I truly see a ton of things go wrong.

At one point, Michelle Kwan wanted to take control of her own skating. That is when she fired Frank Carrol.
At the time, she was a 4-time world champ. And we know what happens at the 2002 Olympics when she took control.

My friend has been encouraging me to write a letter to Nathan and his family about all my thoughts.
He said it would be helpful. But I am not sure, judging from the reaction from this board...
 
cchen24 said:
This is exactly why Nathan needs a new coach.
I have discussed this whole thing with my psychologist friend quite a few times. And he believes that Nathan has been given too much freedom but not enough discipline.

Constantly changing his jump layout could be his idea, or Raf's idea. Maybe it is both.
Either way, this is not the discipline required to be successful.
This is what I mean being given too much freedom.

Maybe you can argue that Raf has so much trust in Nathan, and he told Nathan to take control himself.
But we are talking about a skater with great potential, but has not skated cleanly all season long. (LP at US Nationals came closest to be clean except the 1A)
Now, we are talking about even more freedom here.

I can see a coach letting a seasoned skater with multiple world titles take control, to a certain degree. But Nathan is not there yet.
After the team event, Nathan took control of his practice for a couple of days. He said he had figured out what went wrong.
Then, a repeat of SP as in team event. Do you think he figured it out as he claimed?
Letting a younger skater taking control can be costly.

To be all honest, I don't really like the way Raf trains his skaters. I look at Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon. Both are very senior skaters, but they don't have the best basic skating skills or high quality jumps.
Nathan needs to improve in these areas now.
And additionally, Raf would give him so much freedom. That is just not going to work.

I wish I could be a cheerleader, but I truly see a ton of things go wrong.

At one point, Michelle Kwan wanted to take control of her own skating. That is when she fired Frank Carrol.
At the time, she was a 4-time world champ. And we know what happens at the 2002 Olympics when she took control.

My friend has been encouraging me to write a letter to Nathan and his family about all my thoughts.
He said it would be helpful. But I am not sure, judging from the reaction from this board...
Click to expand...

Save your stamp. They’re is no way in the world he will listen to an letter from a stranger. It’s very presumptuous that think you can have any influence over him And his decisions.

If are going to be a figure skating fan, remember this cardinal rule. You are an observer. You can critique and advise on these forums, but you are nobody. You are not a friend, family memeber, legendary skater, member of the sporting press. And because of that your letter will be received poorly, if at all. It will likely hit the dumpster without even being read. If it is read, he won’t listen at all. None of us can even dream to think that Nathan would take advice from us. He has a full team of coaches, access to Olympians, and the USFS and experts. Who are we compared to them?

Listen, Nathan wasn’t great here and we all know it. But we have to accept that none of us have control over anything that he does. He’s been trained to filter out the haters and view criticism with skepticism.

All we can do is cheer and pray.
 
a few thoughts:

constantly change lay-out depends on how Nathan feels everyday indicate that They(Raf and team) did not or can not figure out a technically efficient way to really improve Nathan's jump quality and consistency. Really solid, confident and consistent jump technique is dependable！

I do think Nathan's jump needs to polish quality a bit, Yuzuru won mostly reply on his jump quality.

Although Nathan did a historical long, but over-all no medal for Nathan is indeed a failure everything considered. Lessons need to be learned and things need to be changed from that.

as for 2022 OG, I don't know if people on this thread are aware of this, but one Chinese judge outrageously inflated Boyang's PCS to 94 yet deflated his competition Javi or Shoma only 88 or 86 respective (not mention GOE manipulation), and I believe this judge is under investigation now.

I cannot help but think about similar situation in 2022 OG in China, it will only get worse, the only solution for Nathan now, is to establish and secure his international reputation so that at 2022OG, judges/politics even if wanna manipulate scores but cannot do too much. This means solid outings from Nathan next 4 years leading to OG, which is difficult and needs a good game plan.

all in all, I think one thing Nathan said in recent interviews are true, he needs to remember why he is doing figure skating this sport, because he loves it,
so that the over-all goal should be aimed at really improve all aspects of his figure skating (results will follow), Thus this should be used as a guide line in terms his choices about coaching/choreo etc.

EDIT: also the Chinese judge gave Boyang's FS higher score than Nathan's FS, just another perspective
 
@cchen24 I think you could give it a try, Why not, if your letter goes straightly into garbage bin, so be it, no harm, if not, you may provide some thing that could be completely irrelevant or perhaps a little insight, won't hurt either.

@frida80 I have a feeling that Fans' critics and suggestions on forums like this one are monitored, ofc, Nathan himself won't read this forum at all, but these opinions will always find a way to reach his team. Whether these will change anything or not is another issue.

As we know here, concerns about his lay-out change also been critiques by Sandra and TSL recap, similar opinions as our fan discussion here.
 
frida80 said:
Save your stamp. They’re is no way in the world he will listen to an letter from a stranger. It’s very presumptuous that think you can have any influence over him And his decisions.

If are going to be a figure skating fan, remember this cardinal rule. You are an observer. You can critique and advise on these forums, but you are nobody. You are not a friend, family memeber, legendary skater, member of the sporting press. And because of that your letter will be received poorly, if at all. It will likely hit the dumpster without even being read. If it is read, he won’t listen at all. None of us can even dream to think that Nathan would take advice from us. He has a full team of coaches, access to Olympians, and the USFS and experts. Who are we compared to them?

Listen, Nathan wasn’t great here and we all know it. But we have to accept that none of us have control over anything that he does. He’s been trained to filter out the haters and view criticism with skepticism.

All we can do is cheer and pray.
Click to expand...

Maybe you are absolutely correct. I will never be able to make any suggestion to him with any success.

I guess I am one of the very few who could think objectively after a stellar LP: all the issues identified after the disastrous SP will not go away without addressing them.
I guess that I am also one of the very few to point out that putting a 4Z or 4F after half point of his SP/LP really prevents him from delivering a clean program.
(still waiting for a clean SP from him this season.)

He does not need to listen to me. But this record speaks for itself.
I sometimes wonder if his team does not care about delivering a clean SP, or simply does not analyze his performance (ability) with an objective eye.

Thank you for reminding me that I am a nobody. I know I am. I always know. Really, no need to remind me on that.

He has a whole team, experts. How about Sandra Bezic's criticism? Is she famous enough to make a point or two?

If I wrote a letter to him, it would be his choice to read it or not. If he finds merits in it, he can think through everything and decides what change might be helpful.
If it goes directly to the dumpster, it is his loss not mine.
But then, it is also my choice to possibly waste my time to write a useless letter.

I will cheer him on when I can. But if the same pattern/mistake continues, which I believe it will, I will just move on to someone else. Not the end of the world.
Thank you for your kind reminder that I am a nobody. very kind of you!
 
@cchen24 oh please don't go, Nathan BOI need fans, as many as possible :)
For me, he is my sentimental fav. I wish he can reach his full potential in figure skating, if not(hope not), I will still support him till the end... :biggrin:
 
Just so you know, Vincent will seek for fan critics/advise regularly, also it is known that Sui/Han(actually most Team China skaters) actively take fan advise. but whether they do anything about it is totally depends on them. but they do view fan opinions
 
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