Skimming through a recent PSA Magazine article got me thinking about what my own coaching philosophy is...and wondering what our other coaches' approaches to coaching is.

Why do you coach?

What kind of coach do you want to be?

What do you hope to instill in your skaters?

My coaching philosophy is rooted in what Jim Thompson, author of the book The Double-Goal Coach, believes: that "a coach is someone who draws extraordinary performance from ordinary people, someone who over time helps ordinary people become extraordinary." I believe I can help shape ordinary people into extraordinary people--rather than skaters--by fostering a desire to learn and a love for figure skating, a desire for my skaters to achieve their personal best, and by teaching life lessons that can be applied both on and off the ice.

I think of a coaching philosophy as being a composite of the answer to two questions--why am I coaching? and what do I want students to take away from my coaching?

I love to skate and I want others to discover that love in themselves, and to enjoy skating as much as I do, no matter what type of skater or what level skater they are; and to develop that love of the sport into a lifelong ability to maintain fitness.

Or something like that.

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You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky