Chantastic....the return of Patrick

[barbarafan]

Per an article I read today, HE is the one that was fearful and overwhelmed with quads and scaled back

exactly....he was confident and technique was on an upward swing...what climbed into his head?

 

[VGThuy]

Oh my God. Marina isn’t even coaching any other Men’s singles students. Why would she want to sabotage him? She’s just evil? His technique and confidence was on an upward swing thanks to him moving to Canton, and now Marina had undone all of that? That doesn’t make sense. The simplest and most likely reason is that quads are hard to master, especially trying to learn new ones and get them consistent at a later age.

 

[arakwafan2006]

exactly....he was confident and technique was on an upward swing...what climbed into his head?

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/w...trick-chan-fewer-quads-skate-canada-1.4367097


He has to decide what he can live with. Going for it and possibly having an absolutely miserable last year of his career or, do what he knows he can do and have a great season. This may be the last time he competes in his own country so I can see why he would want to make a moment. In terms of the Olympics, I do hope he is able to end his competitive career proud of what he has accomplished. A medal this time would be a dream come true I’m sure.

 

[rvi5]

Previously posted.

 

[sap5]

I heard that Patrick was working with a mental coach...and I wish he'd either work more with this coach, or get a better one. If nothing else, he has a great chance at a team gold, but that won't happen if he feels like he just can't compete against the rest of the men. Focusing on others is not the way to win this game. He needs to focus on what made him commit so much of his life to skating, and find that joy once again.

 

[puglover]

We are only seeing a small postage stamp picture of where he is mentally. It is my hope that he is just being realistic and preparing his fans, his country, the media, the general public, whoever, that he is aware he does not have the technical content of some of the younger skaters. He was expected to win last time - his name will be plastered on all Canadian promotion as lead up to the games, maybe he is just trying to buy himself some breathing space. At least, I can hope!

 

[puglover]

I just watched a promo piece of his where he talks about having the "fight or flight" reaction to competing still. Yikes!! Does anybody know what the Japanese skaters get as far as mental coaching? They seem to have even more pressure with all the iPads following their every move in all of the practices and significant numbers of fans traveling all over the world to cheer them on. I wish Kevin or Nam or Eladje were more consistently medalling so Canada didn't have all it's eggs in Patrick's basket. Last time Kevin helped out a lot at the team event which spared Patrick all of the pressure and gave Kevin an Olympic silver medal.

 

[luckiest1]

Well, that's it for the practices, now onto the competition! It sounds as though Patrick has not been practicing the big jumps, hopefully that's because he feels they are secure and don't need to be practiced. I don't like not being there and being able to see all the things the camera misses. Emdee and Corianna, cheer extra loud for me!

 

[Fiero425]

SPOILERS: Watching Canadian GP and it was over in the 1st jumping pass for Chan as he had one of the worst performances I can remember! Not sure he'll even make the podium without a lot of "home-cooking" to save him!

 

[arakwafan2006]

Am I the only one wondering if he will compete the whole season? Not only was the program poor, he doesn't seem like his heart is in it. Granted he was saying he was tired and probably just nervous in general in the Kiss and Cry but It's almost like mentally, it's April or June and all of this is over. I think that scaling back your elements when you're already the skater with weak content compared to your competition sends the passive message to just relax. Not sure. I wish him the best but that was tough to watch.

 

[Seerek]

IMO, Skate Canada shouldn't put undo pressure to stick it out to Pyeongchang just because of the Team Event (where gold isn't exactly a guarantee).

 

[double runner]

Listening to everything Patrick said this week makes me believe he has mentally checked out. He's an intelligent guy and knowing you're coming into a gun fight with a proverbial knife will do nothing for your confidence. I really enjoyed his SP and his skating skills are so ahead of everybody else but he just can't put up enough points without those quads.

I often wonder how much of him remaining in competition has more to do with SC forcing his hand. He just doesn't seem like he wants to compete anymore.

 

[Fiero425]

Listening to everything Patrick said this week makes me believe he has mentally checked out. He's an intelligent guy and knowing you're coming into a gun fight with a proverbial knife will do nothing for your confidence. I really enjoyed his SP and his skating skills are so ahead of everybody else but he just can't put up enough points without those quads.

I often wonder how much of him remaining in competition has more to do with SC forcing his hand. He just doesn't seem like he wants to compete anymore.

Speaking of "checking out," I know I have in keeping up with current affairs in figure skating, but not sure it's fair to put this all on Chan! I'm no fan, but I can give him a little cover by saying he's no spring chicken! The expectations and demands of skating NOW is at a much higher level than his prime skating years! He's well past it at 26, being asked to put multiple quads in his LP's! It's just not very realistic; on par with Plushenko coming back one more time trying to push it to qualify! This reminds me of Eldridge qualifying for the '02 Olympics knowing where the sport was headed with the quad, but he still went out there; wound up barely in the top 10! I'm not saying Chan is a creaky old veteran, but people's expectations need to pull back! He's going to be lucky snatching bronze on the GP! The content just isn't there technically and his artistic stroking around the ice isn't going to make up for that!

 

[VGThuy]

I think there's more going on with Chan than him just hoping to coast to the Olys with minimal effort.

 

[MRani]

Speaking of "checking out," I know I have in keeping up with current affairs in figure skating, but not sure it's fair to put this all on Chan! I'm no fan, but I can give him a little cover by saying he's no spring chicken! The expectations and demands of skating NOW is at a much higher level than his prime skating years! He's well past it at 26, being asked to put multiple quads in his LP's! It's just not very realistic; on par with Plushenko coming back one more time trying to push it to qualify! This reminds me of Eldridge qualifying for the '02 Olympics knowing where the sport was headed with the quad, but he still went out there; wound up barely in the top 10! I'm not saying Chan is a creaky old veteran, but people's expectations need to pull back! He's going to be lucky snatching bronze on the GP! The content just isn't there technically and his artistic stroking around the ice isn't going to make up for that!

Did every sentence in this post really need to be ended with an exclamation mark?

Anyway! Let’s wait till the rest of the season! Before writing him off as washed up, uninterested, and incapable of competing with the best!

 

[FSfan107]

I feel horrible for Patrick. I hope he can find his groove and regroup (also hoping there is no injury). It was still a beautiful program to watch even with all of the jumping error.

 

[Vash01]

I have not watched SC and haven't read most of the threads. I just looked up the results and was shocked to see Chan off the podium. What happened to him in the LP? I hope this is just an aberration and he can get back on track.

 

[Jeanne7]

Patrick just doesn't seem to be able to master his nerves in competitions and hasn't for some time. Many athletes see sports psychologists as part of their training but I once heard him say in an interview it wasn't for him. Too bad - he could really benefit from it.

 

[luckiest1]

I'm really hoping for some first-hand impressions from Emdee and Corianna. I've felt that something was really "off" the whole week, just in the practice threads saying he wasn't practicing his jumps, and in the press he's given....even the fluff piece they're playing of him on the paddle board. I hope he's OK and wants to continue until the Olympics, but if he doesn't I hope he isn't doing it because Skate Canada has asked him to. As much as we need him, it's not worth his mental health.

ETA Jeanne7, I believe he has been seeing a sports psychologist this past year.

 

[luckiest1]

Here's an article with some interview comments from Patrick after the free skate last night. National Post Article
I also saw a tweet that said he mentioned that he might possibly withdraw from NHK, but I don't know how credible it is. I'd like to hear the TSN interview for myself.

 

[honey]

To me, it looks like there is something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. Be it injury or something else, I don't know. It's just strange how he looked pretty good at the small local event he did in September to then withdrawing from Nebelhorn, then the pre Skate Canada quotes where he talked about easing up the difficulty and finally to the performance yesterday.

If either his body or his heart has given out, I hope he does the right thing for himself. As much as I'd love to see him skating beautifully at the olympics, if he can't, then he can't and he shouldn't force himself to do it.

And for what it's worth, I still loved his program even with all the errors.

 

[Rafter]

Chan's LP performance was almost embarrassing. I feel sorry for him, the sport has passed him by technically and I wonder if he's questioning why he returned to competition.

I'm not sure if there's anything going on behind the scenes or not but it wouldn't surprise me if Skate Canada is pressuring him to continue for purposes of trying to win a medal in the team event in Korea.

 

[arakwafan2006]

Maybe he’s sick and tired of this shit but is too far down the path to turn back lol. I know the feeling... just sayin

 

[Emdee]

I'm really hoping for some first-hand impressions from Emdee and Corianna. I've felt that something was really "off" the whole week, just in the practice threads saying he wasn't practicing his jumps, and in the press he's given....even the fluff piece they're playing of him on the paddle board. I hope he's OK and wants to continue until the Olympics, but if he doesn't I hope he isn't doing it because Skate Canada has asked him to. As much as we need him, it's not worth his mental health.

ETA Jeanne7, I believe he has been seeing a sports psychologist this past year.

Will give you my thoughts when I get home.

 

[Judy]

He is lacking confidence.

 

[barbarafan]

Well, that's it for the practices, now onto the competition! It sounds as though Patrick has not been practicing the big jumps, hopefully that's because he feels they are secure and don't need to be practiced. I don't like not being there and being able to see all the things the camera misses. Emdee and Corianna, cheer extra loud for me!

On his BIO it says he only trains 17 hrs a week...This is an olympic year...He needs to make a decision about weather he wants to skate in the olympics or retire before. Right now it looks like he has no interest.

 

[screech]

Didn't he just get new boots?

 

[arakwafan2006]

Didn't he just get new boots?

Patrick... is that you?

 

[Winnipeg]

I saw him before the LP <on tv) and he was massaging his rear with a big ball. Maybe he is in pain.

His program was not good. He needs to figure out root cause and fix it or move on. I hope he fixes "it" . I wonder if his coaching choices have had negative long lasting effects.

 

[cheremary]

And for what it's worth, I still loved his program even with all the errors.

I did too. When I initially saw the score, I really thought it would look something like Pogorilaya's skate, but it wasn't that at all. It was still a beautiful program that created a moment, at least for me. Competition-level jumps, no, but if this had to happen, better that it did now than later in the season.

Lightening the mood in here a bit, someone already made a gif of the moment he got bopped in the head by that plushy in the kiss and cry.
https://twitter.com/magicaleggrolls/status/924443834225975296