multiple weaknesses. I appreciate the skaters who have eliminated the weak areas of their

skating by working harder to improve them. As a skater and coach myself, I know it can be

easy to want to perform the areas or items that we know we do well, and avoid those that give

us trouble, but it’s a truly good skater who commits themselves to constant improvement. I

have felt at times hindered having only focused on freestyle and pairs in my early skating

career, and as a result I begin my skaters in all three disciplines because I know now the

importance of a well rounded foundation; without one a skater is not achieving at their full

Does that make them a great skater? In my opinion, no. A great skater dedicates themselves

to the sport and to constant improvement. It might take someone years of hard work and

practice to accomplish a goal, but you will see it in their skating, in their appreciation for

the sport, the hard work follows you not just to the goal but it follows a skater through

life. A great skater is dedicated to every aspect of their skating and makes the necessary

Artistic for nothing! There should be in a great skater, a sense of performance and artistic

training. If this is a weakness see Well Rounded above, and work on it. A skater with

technical skills is just a skater to me, they are not utilizing the one detail that separates

the sport from our hockey, speed and derby siblings. Artistry does not only refer to

freestyle or dance but there is a certain degree of art that should be apparent even in

figures. Artistic expression of the skater and coach/choreographer is a huge factor in

to do, if taken literally, but what a great skater does is practice until it is perfect and

then continues to practice it more. This is what builds a skater’s consistency. The whole

objective in our competitive sport is to compete your best and a great skater relies less on

luck, because they have performed their best hundreds of times at practice before they even

get to competition. Notice I didn’t say they try their best, they DO their best over and over

again in preparation for competition. There is nothing that can make a skater feel more

secure about a nerve-wracking situation (competitions) than knowing that they can complete

their task to their standards, more times than not. A great skater uses dedication and

devastating to watch the best skater in an event not even approach their potential because

they were eaten up by their nerves. Not enough skaters and coaches prepare for this sometimes

career-ending issue. Performing your skills in front of judges, competitors, coaches and

spectators is a stressful situation, and I encourage skaters to embrace those feelings of

anxiousness, nervousness, sometimes nausea, but I do not encourage them to dwell on it and

allow it to consume their thoughts and jeopardize their performance. Getting nervous is

normal, but a great skater has learned to push those feelings aside and keep their task at the