Say It Ain't So!

So I had this coach, "Buddy." And Buddy was really generous with his time.

Sometimes he would meet me early, before practice, to skate. Sometimes stay after to talk about skating.

I know that he would charge other people for private lessons, but he never charged me. I wouldn't have been able to pay him anyways.

I always considered this a very professional, coach-student relationship. And far as I could tell, he did too.

In fact, that was one of the things I always liked about Buddy. He would teach me things, but never creep on me.

What does this have to do w/anything? IDK, but it's great!

Which would have been an immediate deal breaker, since I've been with Matt since 2002 and have had a zero creep tolerance since that time.

Anywho, people don't seem to believe me when I tell them, but I'm very SLOW learner.

Like, you would think I had a mental disability if you saw how long it takes to teach me the simplest concepts.

I know why that it is now, I'm too obsessive/perfectionistic. I try to break things down to their simplist form and do each part as perfectly as I can.

Which all sounds very romantic and special; but the fact is, I can be a very difficult student to teach. I just look kind of dumb the whole time...

But Buddy took the time, and I was really grateful. He taught me to power slide, which you may have seen me coaching on youtube. It only took me a few months to learn.

So I'll always be grateful to him for that.

But the thing I couldn't see at the time, was that my potential was actually to be a better skater than Buddy. I didn't see it, and he certainly didn't share that with me, either.

My feeling is, a good teacher wants to see and help their students reach their potential. Even if that means getting surpassed.

Or better yet, recognizing a need to evolve/come up with new material, to prevent being surpassed.

 

And the other thing I didn't see, for a while, was that while he was always professional with me; there were other skaters he was creepin' on. Or with, as the case may be.

I'll never forget the night I found this out... 

It was awful. But I know you love a good horror story, so I'll tell you all about it next time.

Here's my parting gift!

And don't forget these creepy guys!