iCoachSkating.com - Frank Carroll Interview

Frank Carroll Interview - Excerpts

Excerpts From
iCoachSkating.com Interview
With Frank Carroll

iCoachSkating.com webmaster Trevor Laak interviewed legendary figure skating coach Frank Carroll on September 15, 2007. The audio quality for this interview is not very good because Frank was on his cell phone driving from LA to Palm Springs.

The content is outstanding and will be interesting to all coaches.

Turn up your speakers and enjoy!

This text will be replaced by the flash music player.

Here are the questions and track numbers...

Question: Do you find that skaters today have the body awareness and control they did in the days of figures? With figures gone, what exercises or methods do you use for body awareness and control?

Answer: Track 1

Question: How do you condition your skaters? Do you use double run-throughs? And how do you ramp up or ramp down the training going into major competitions?

Answer: Track 2

Question: Many coaches have key phrases that they say to their students that reminds the student to do something or inspires the student. Do you have some of those key phrases?

Answer: Track 3 (coming soon...)

Last Updated: May 29, 2008 at 10:57 PM
-- Current Rating: 3.54 of 5

» [- Jun 12, 2008 at 3:03 PM -] LORNA BROWN says: I AGREE WITH THE COMMENTS FROM FRANK CARROLL,MADE ABOUT LACK OF BODY AWARENESS AND THAT 'MOVES IN THE FIELD' DON'T DO THE SAME JOB BUT I HAVE EXERCISES WHICH I USE THROUGH MY KNOWLEDGE OF BALLET AND CONTEMPORARY DANCE (NOT ON ICE) IN COMBINATION WITH SOME AWSOME EDGE AND JUMP EXERCISES USED BY THE RUSSIANS FOR MANY YEARS AND THROUGH THIS METHOD AM ABLE TO SAY THAT WE DON'T NEED FIGURES. I UNDERSTAND THEY WERE INCREDIBLY USEFUL IN CONTROLLING EDGES AND TURNS, AND HELPING TO PRODUCE THE ABILITY TO SUSTAIN EDGES AND POSITIIONS, BUT THEY WERE ALSO DONE WITH A DIFFERENT ENERGY WITH THE HEAD DOWN A LOT OF THE TIME. IF YOU WANT TO CHAT WITH ME ABOUT THESE EXERCISES, I WILL BE HAPPY TO DO THIS....

» [- Jun 12, 2008 at 4:54 PM -] Kristen says: I am glad to hear that some elite coaches such as Frank Carroll still believe in figures. I agree that they help with body awareness.

» [- Jun 13, 2008 at 4:04 AM -] Martin says: good interview but the sound quality was somehow deficient...not perfect.Trevor's voice was better and Frank's voice seemed far away

» [- Jun 14, 2008 at 7:40 AM -] Rachel says: Nice to hear such a great coach answer questions much in the same way I would, and many other coaches would! Hearing Frank's responses makes me really feel that I am on the right page with my skaters! Thanks for sharing all of this great information with us Trevor!

» [- Jun 14, 2008 at 5:02 PM -] Grace Johnson says: I Love Frank. I attended a PSA seminar last year where he was a keynote speaker along with David Kirby and Loved learning from both of them. I agree with him that skaters today do not have the body control as they did when we had figures. I also do as Frank does and use the BOfigure eight for axel. I think we have a greater problem than we realize.The generation of coaches who never did figures have less in depth understanding of edge quality and control.What will they produce? I entered our sport as figures were leaving and wished now we still had them. I am so grateful I had a coach who was stong in teaching figures. She had me pass the first few figure tests and continue until they stopped figures.Every new turn we had from what was then the new moves in the field she taught me to do with figures first. Frank is an inspiration and I can't wait to hear track 3.

» [- Jun 18, 2008 at 8:54 AM -] alohaskater says: I think training your program evey time you skate is very important...from beging to end.

» [- Jun 29, 2008 at 6:41 AM -] Lindy Kwasowski says: This information is very helpful and useful. Thank you for such the interview with such an inspiring skating coach.

» [- Mar 2, 2009 at 10:54 AM -] Gaye Ohanian says: as a former student of Frank, I never get tired of hearing what he has to say! He keeps it simple and gets the job done. I so agree with him on the importance of figures and I try to incorporate them into my lessons as well. Thanks for the info.

» [- Apr 30, 2009 at 7:38 PM -] Dawn says: Thanks for sharing. I look forward to future presentations.

» [- May 22, 2009 at 10:09 AM -] Amber says: I agree with comment #1 as well. My sister and I have found the russian excersises to be very useful on and off the ice.

» [- Jun 10, 2009 at 12:09 AM -] Brigitte Laskowski says: Although I'm old enough to have done school figures if I would have skated as a child and/or teen, I never started to skate until I was 38 years old, I am glad that school figures are not required for tests these days. But it would be good to still teach parts of them because it would make us stronger skaters. One thing I have noticed that messes with balance is that some of our skating boots are not made with the same quality as they use to be made. How is it that you can pay $600 just for a pair of boots and then find out that they are severly twisted and have the inner soles (not footbeds that can be removed but the part that is attached to the boot's sole) sewn in on to the wrong feet. I flat feet and this has made skating for me a real challenge. I've had to file the inside sole down opposite of my arches and add stuff to the sides which are supposed to be my arches plus put shims between the boots soles and blades just to almost get decent outside edges. This is another reason why skaters these days have balance troubles. Boot manufactorers these days just don't do consistant quality work any more.

» [- Oct 2, 2009 at 7:31 AM -] Carlesa says: I have always loved figures...

» [- Jan 2, 2010 at 7:25 PM -] dawn says: glad to hear others agree that figure positions are so important....it's a shame they were put to rest. thanks for sharing.

» [- Jan 4, 2010 at 6:47 AM -] Loismarie Van Ormer says: Loismarie Van Ormer: I agree with everything that was said. I have many adults that I teach, and we are doing a patch/Moves class for an hour once a week, and I find it is helping so much with their balance. I am only doing the first two figure tests, and as to the moves, our students definitely need help on mohawks, edges using arms, etc. I also have my students do their programs straight through, and if they fall they get up and continue. Stroking after-wards is a great idea. When you do a program twice through, it is like telling your students, well, if it wasn't very good the first time, it will be better a second time through. It does not teach anything. Thank you so much for this video.

» [- Jan 8, 2010 at 10:01 PM -] Nat says: Its great to hear Frank's perspective on double run-throughs. I may adjust my training method. We need to bring back some form of figures!

» [- Feb 6, 2010 at 5:22 AM -] venkataraju says: I agree with everything that what he said.