Patrick Chan sees Japan blunders as wake-up call

[Eyre]

Okay, okay, I know this is gonna come off sounding wrong, but really, Patrick? You were surprised that Takahashi and Plushenko looked ready for a competition? What did you think, that they'd turn up half-baked?

It just sounds like a really odd thing to say.

Why? In the last year's JO, Patrick won with three falls simply because Takahashi and Kozuka were even worse. Patrick has reason to think that they could be like that again this year. When he saw how they skated at the practices, they were not like what he thought they would. Of course it'd be a surprise to him, especially he doesn't have anyone plan for him. It's something that probably Kathy Johnson has never pointed out to him since Patrick seems taking the charge and Kathy just goes along with him.

I think it's good to have Patrick feel this way. It will give him the push he needs for the battles this season.

[yaya124]

Why? In the last year's JO, Patrick won with three falls simply because Takahashi and Kozuka were even worse. Patrick has reason to think that they could be like that again this year. When he saw how they skated at the practices, they were not like what he thought they would. Of course it'd be a surprise to him, especially he doesn't have anyone plan for him. It's something that probably Kathy Johnson has never pointed out to him since Patrick seems taking the charge and Kathy just goes along with him.

I think it's good to have Patrick feel this way. It will give him the push he needs for the battles this season.

IMO, he should just say he had a bad day. That is enough to explain. If he really thought he could win the JO again with 3 falls (which I think is not the case), I feel sorry for the audience (that would mean everybody skates terribly).

Everybody has their bad day, just move on and train harder. That's it!

[Japanfan]

Patrick has never been one to self-censor and I find that refreshing. I think he struggles with motivation generally, he's made comments along the lines of 'it's just figure skating, if I don't win, the world won't end'. He didn't skate great at Worlds and still won. While I'm generally not in the Chanflation camp, I think losing might actually be very good for Patrick. Let's see if he steps up his game at Skate Canada.,

[spikydurian]

IMO, he should just say he had a bad day. That is enough to explain. If he really thought he could win the JO again with 3 falls (which I think is not the case), I feel sorry for the audience (that would mean everybody skates terribly).

Everybody has their bad day, just move on and train harder. That's it!

Why jump to conclusions since we didn't know the queries posed to Patrick?
Patrick didn't say that he could win by 3 falls and as far as I can remember, he has never said that. Unfortunately, words were often put into his mouth by some people or intentionally misinterpreted.

[yaya124]

Why jump to conclusions since we didn't know the queries posed to Patrick?
Patrick didn't say that he could win by 3 falls and as far as I can remember, he has never said that. Unfortunately, words were often put into his mouth by some people or intentionally misinterpreted.

SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH. I did not jump to any conclusion.

What I meant is that I DO NOT think Chen was thinking even with 3 falls he could still win.

[Vagabond]

If the Japan Open was a wakeup call, Yuzuru Hanyu's SP at Skate America must have been a hurricane warning.

[Proustable]

If the Japan Open was a wakeup call, Yuzuru Hanyu's SP at Skate America must have been a hurricane warning.

And Hanyu's free program was a reminder that athletes are human and that they all err.

[Vagabond]

Hey, I said hurricane warning.

In figure skating, hurricane season is usually in February and March.

[algonquin]

:

Hey, I said hurricane warning.

In figure skating, hurricane season is usually in February and March.

[PeterG]

And Hanyu's free program was a reminder that athletes are human and that they all err.

Yes. How said for Hanyu that his season peak was the SA short program. And that his season is all downhill from here....

[l'etoile]

Patrick has never been one to self-censor and I find that refreshing. I think he struggles with motivation generally, he's made comments along the lines of 'it's just figure skating, if I don't win, the world won't end'. He didn't skate great at Worlds and still won. While I'm generally not in the Chanflation camp, I think losing might actually be very good for Patrick. Let's see if he steps up his game at Skate Canada.,

ITA.

If the Japan Open was a wakeup call, Yuzuru Hanyu's SP at Skate America must have been a hurricane warning.

I bet and I hope he comes back strong at SC this time.

[Sylvia]

"Chan puts Japan Open behind him, regains focus": http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[Japanfan]

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

In addition, Chan takes a few lessons a week with Eddie Shipstad to help tweak the technical side of his skating.

When asked if not having a full-time jumping coach was a detriment, Chan replied, "I've been doing triples since I was 13," noting that a few lessons a week were enough to keep his jumps in check.

Okay, so he does have a technical coach on his team, though I've never heard of Shipstad. We'll have to see if a few hours a week is enough. Having done triples since he was 13 didn't help him in Japan and he only gained consistency on the triple axel last season.

[kwanfan1818]

I can't remember what the video was about, but I remember seeing Shipstad working with a skater using the jump harness.

There are a lot of great coaches that are members of coaching teams, and because they're usually not listed in the bios or at the boards, we don't know who they are. They and early coaches: it's almost a miracle that Colson is still mentioned regularly with regard to Chan, and I was happy to read in the recent Zhulin interview that he corrected Grebenkina and said that Ilinykh and Katsapolov were developed in Lobacheva's group by her and Averbukh. I wish the same were true of the genius coach who taught Berezhnaia her stroking technique.

[Iceman]

Bio of Eddie Shipstad:

http://figureskating.about.com/od/sk...ieshipstad.htm

[Sylvia]

I posted this in an earlier Chan Uber thread (when it was noticed that Shipstad's name was listed with Kathy Johnson's in Chan's updated Skate Canada national team profile):

Eddie Shipstad was interviewed, along with Christy Krall and Kathy Johnson, in the 20-minute Canadian news feature that aired before 2012 Worlds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKBUMs9kkk8

ETA link to another Skate Canada preview article: Patrick Chan is not panicking

Chan himself does not seem concerned with all the changes.

“Every coach I have been with has been just right for every moment of my career,” he said. “I needed them in a different way. Don [Laws] was a great transition, and he taught me a lot of good things … Christy did a lot of great work with the quad, but after that, something was missing.”

[Sugar]

Patrick Chan surrounded by new team of choreographers, coaches ahead of Sochi
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/patrick-cha...4121--oly.html
"She has very much the same personality as I do. She is very laid back," Chan said of Johnson. "Maybe sometimes even too laid back where I don't have anybody to push me. But I'm at that point in my career where I've learned to push myself."
............
While Johnson's background is dance, she's worked with skaters for more than a decade. She focuses on proper use of the body's core, not just to strengthen the artistic side of performances, but also for the technical elements such as jumps and spins.

"I do things differently. If I did the same thing as most of the other skating coaches, people wouldn't call me in to work with them," said Johnson, whose daughter was a skater.

With Johnson, Chan has been able to take on more responsibility for his training after a program under Krall that was tightly scheduled. The new approach, Johnson said, has been a natural progression for the Canadian skating star.

"He's maturing and finding himself, it's always moving into that adulthood, and there has to be that moment where you ... scoot, scoot, scoot, a bit of a kick out of the nest," she said, motioning with her hands as if she was pushing a bird. "I think Patrick really did need to take a step back and reassess what he wanted and where he was going."

[Eyre]

Thanks for the links and the quotes!

And Patrick really listened to Johnson, didn't he?

[Iceman]

If Johnson is the first of his coaches to emphasize the importance of the core, I would be shocked. Sorry, but there seems to be a false note in the explanations from both Johnson and Chan.


A bio of Johnson has probably already been posted, but since this is under discussion now refreshing it doesn't seem out of line. Interesting to me is her close association and admiration (for Tom Dickson) and Colorado Springs World Arena.

http://figureskating.about.com/od/da...thyjohnson.htm

[Iceman]

Any guesses as to why or comments on Chan's choosing to do a 3t/3t in the short program at Skate Canada ?