How should coaches approach individual differences?
There are always individual differences – some because of the way people are built, what they’re comfortable with, how they learn, what works best for them. I’ve seen players who skate fast but do not skate the way I would teach them to skate (if I were teaching them). However, if it works for them why try to change it? I always say (this is slang), “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Also, there is no substitute for talent! For example, people used to say that Gretzky could have been better if his posture was better. However, I never saw anyone catch him when he wanted to turn on the jets! Had I taught him from the time he was a child, I would have worked on posture but at his level I wouldn’t have tried to change his style because it worked for him.
