22 years old
I was 40 years old and taking a clinic with a well respected clinician (at a cost of around $300 dollars an hour, I might add). The clinician asked me to do something that I didn't think I was ready for but because he was a so-called master, I just did it... and almost got hurt. Thank goodness, I didn't.
Now, is that my fault? Or the fault of the clinician?
Teaching manuals (and I've read plenty of them since that time) say that the coach has to be rilly rilly careful in this. The student, regardless of their age, is in awe of the instructor - especially a big name, expensive instructor.
Frank Caroll, by his own admission, has said that if he asked Linda Fratianne to jump off a building, she'd do it. That's how much she put her life in his hands.
It would take a whole lot of guts for a student to say "no" to the teacher... for the student to say "I know better" to the likes of Tatianna or Richard or Frank would take a lot of nerve.
Sasha said "I know better" to TT and, well, their relationship pretty much fell apart after that. Besides that, it appears that Sasha really didn't know better and that, perhaps, she shouldn't have done that cheesefest.
Knowing that there is a risk that saying "I know better" might cause a rift in the relationship, and believing that the teacher really does know better (that's, after all, why they are the teacher and get paid the big buck) and having a rather hefty investment in being taught... many, many students won't say "no".
Now, the person who was teaching me that day had never seen me before. He made a split second decision based on what he knew of me and my abilities from the first 30 minutes of our lesson plus the biographical information I'd submitted when I applied to be in the clinic. So, it really was my responsibility to say "I don't think I'm up to that"... but I didn't have the spunk.
Many, many other adults have since told me that they, also, don't have the spunk to say "no" to these big name coaches. BTW, in the student gets hurt and a lawsuit results, the courts will rule in favor of the student. The feeling is that basically, it is the instructor's responsibility not to "over face" their student. That's why instructors in my industry (equestrian) carry instructors insurance.
Could Tim have under estimated the extent of his problems? Could he maybe have thought that things were better than they were and not told his coach? Sure, that's a distinct possibility.
But was his coach keeping track of completed jumps in practice? Was his coach looking at the man's face and seeing the pain that we all saw clearly on the television? And, if he was aware of the problem, how did it drag on for a full year without being resolved?
If Tim couldn't, wouldn't say "Gee, this isn't working" to his coach and his coach wasn't astute enough to realize that the problems were this serious, then they need to dissolve their relationship. You might believe that it's not Frank's fault and that Timmy bears full responsibility, but I disagree. The coach bears a strong burden of responsibility.
Linny
