One of my coaches recently was talking about PSA and accreditation through them, etc, etc. and the subject of coaches who were excellent but who have never skated came up. She mentioned John Nicks as one who had never skated. I finally looked him up on the internet tonight and found out she had made a mistake when saying he had never skated, because he HAD and it was in the 50's with his sister.

So, it makes me wonder, are there any high level coaches who have truly never skated themselves, and if so, who, and if so HOW could they become such high level coaches?

I don't know of any high-level coaches who have NEVER skated, but I knew a coach once who had only passed about the 1st figure test and yet had lots of successful students, including bringing a student to Nationals (does this count?). I think the coach basically understood the body mechanics of skating and could impart this knowledge to their students.

I'm thinking that maybe Gus Lussi was never a skater but understood the physics of skating very well. Anyone?

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I think you're right. According to Wikipedia, "Lussi himself was not a competitive skater but a ski jumper who applied the theories of that sport to figure skating." (No reference is listed for that specific fact in the Wikipedia article.)

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I think he did skate, I recall a bronze statue of himself performing a spiral. It's in one of his videos.

John Nicks was certainly a very well-known pairs skater in his day.

Here in the UK, at any rate, you can't actually be a coach without being, yourself, a skater - although nowadays you don't have to be an elite skater to train as a coach. As I think I have said before, teaching skating, here, is done by professionals or not at all (although untrained skaters may occasionally help out with group lessons, under supervision).

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I think you would have to be not only good, but only coach high level skaters who know what you are talking about without having it demonstrated. I need demonstrations.

j

Yeah, i need to definitely be shown.

But some of the high level coaches are definitely older and probably do not skate much, and for me, personally, i could not imagine not seeing the actual move or jump in order to execute it.

Most high level coaches who are older aren't taking students who are complete beginners---partly for that reason. They're taking skaters who already have their singles if not doubles, have a few moves tests under their belts, know all their edges/turns/etc. And who are aware enough of their body & positions that you can pretty much give them verbal corrections & they can do it.

World Pairs Champion in 1953.

In some cases, the older coaches (of all levels) use their other students as demonstrators. I know I've been practicing and had my coach tell me to go demonstrate something for one of the youngers, or told to do a certain move and have the younger follow me (usually that's in order to get them up to speed or make sure the edges are deep enough). I've seen it done at the Junior and Senior level, as well in some of the larger rinks, but by that time usually they do have enough control of their bodies to be able to use a verbal correction.

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So, in conclusion, i don't think there really are any high level coaches who haven't skated. They must all have at least some in their lives. Right?

IMHO, I cannot imagine someone who has *never* skated being able to coach... its like trying to teach swimming when you can't swim!

However, this thread has made me wonder, are there high level coaches who never attained a high skating level themselves? Say, for example, never landed the Axel, or never reached the Silver dances.
(or was this question supposed to be started in a new thread?!)

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I would imagine that many high (and low) level coaches are coaching jumps far beyond what they did themselves, just because of the evolution of the sport. I think a coach needs to have a solid personal knowledge of how skating works, but can teach advanced skills they never did themselves if they understand the body mechanics, etc. behind those skills. It's also a matter of being able to "see" what a skater is doing/not doing and being able to communicate what needs to change. Even a high level skater who can do all the advanced skills may not have the analytical or teaching skills necessary for coaching them.