Frank Carroll is one of the most revered and respected figure skating coaches in the world. He is also one of the most successful coaches of all time based on the competitive success of his skaters and the longevity of his coaching career.
As a skater Mr. Carroll won three medals at the national level before turning pro and skating in the Ice Follies for a short time. He then transitioned from skating to coaching in 1964. He currently holds a PSA Master Rating and a Level 10 PSA Ranking, the highest coaching ranking attainable. Mr. Carroll was selected as the PSA Coach of the Year in 1997, 2000 and 2001, and was the Olympic Coach of the Year in 1997. He was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1996 and inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2007. He has also been recognized by the PSA as the Paul McGrath Choreographer of the year in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2010.
Mr. Carroll has coached many talented skaters but is probably most well known for coaching 3 different World Champions: Linda Fratianne, Michelle Kwan, and 2010 Olympic Champion Evan Lysacek. His most recent coaching success is the 2013 World Silver Medalist Denis Ten and American ladies Champion Gracie Gold. Some of his other well-known skaters include Nicole Bobek, Christopher Bowman, Tiffany Chin, and Timothy Goebel.
A native of Massachusetts, he has called California home for many years. Check out the interview Frank did with iCoachSkating.com founder Trevor Laak and enjoy the videos below.
Most recent videos at the top…
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What Makes a Champion? Part 2 (Frank Carroll)
In a presentation to skaters and coaches at a local seminar a number of years ago, World and Olympic coach Frank Carroll addresses the question, “How do you make a champion?” In the first part of this presentation, Frank focused on trying to define what and who a champion is, and notes that it takes […] Continue reading →
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What Makes a Champion? (Frank Carroll)
In a presentation to skaters and coaches as a local seminar a number of years ago, World and Olympic coach Frank Carroll addresses the question, “How do you make a champion?” Frank begins by noting that it’s important to first answer the question “Who is a champion?” He says, “To me, a champion is someone […] Continue reading →
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Some Thoughts on the Loop Jump (Frank Carroll)
Olympic coach Frank Carroll shares some thoughts and ideas about the loop jump. The loop is a challenging jump since it requires creating rotational energy from a strong back outside edge. Additionally, jumping off one leg with almost no assistance from the other leg makes it difficult to get height. Thus skaters often make errors […] Continue reading →
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Preventing Change of Edge on Lutz Jump (Frank Carroll)
Legendary Olympic figure skating coach Frank Carroll offers his thoughts and opinions on the lutz jump, particularly the problem with change of edge. As Frank explains, a very common reason for the edge change is unwanted hip movement. He offers typical reasons for this hip movement including raising the free leg (tapping) leg too high […] Continue reading →
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Important Jump Principle – Air Position, Hips (Frank Carroll)
In this short video, legendary Olympic figure skating coach Frank Carroll discusses one very important aspect of jump air position. In the video, Frank explains how important it is to keep the free hip up while rotating in the air. This aligns the skater more fully over the landing side. See the demonstration at 1:20. […] Continue reading →
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Jump Principles – Speed and Pre-Rotation (Frank Carroll)
Olympic Coach Frank Carroll talks about the realities of jumps in figure skating, and how this knowledge pertains to coaching methods of double and triple jumps. Frank starts by discussing the difference between speed over, or on the ice and speed off the ice or into the air. Although speed across the ice is important […] Continue reading →
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Double Axel Insights (Frank Carroll)
Olympic Coach Frank Carroll talks about the double axel. The double axel is the key jump separating the rest of the doubles and the triple jumps. It is a major hurdle for most skaters, and especially for young female skaters. In this figure skating video, Frank begins by talking about why some skaters can’t do […] Continue reading →
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Figure Skating Tip: Where To Skate On The Blade (Frank Carroll)
Olympic Coach Frank Carroll offers insights about proper blade usage. As Frank explains, skaters often don’t think much about what part of their blade they should be skating on. So he offers an easy to remember “speedboat analogy” that will help both skaters and coaches alike. (This presentation is similar in many ways to the […] Continue reading →
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Figure Skating Jump Air Position – Backspin Errors (Frank Carroll)
Olympic Coach Frank Carroll continues his previous discussion about jump air position with a description of the backspin and common air position or backspin errors. Even though Frank is talking about the backspin in this video, he’s really discussing it in terms of jumping and the tight rotational air position for double, triple, and quad […] Continue reading →
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Figure Skating Jumps – Arms and Air Position (Frank Carroll)
Olympic Coach Frank Carroll discusses some important details regarding figure skating jumping. Air position is especially important in triple jumps and quads jumps. In the video below, Frank answers the age-old question of which arm should come in first. Many coaches teach crossing the arms, and it’s a very common discussion point in skating regarding […] Continue reading →
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Some Basics of Jumping – Waltz Jump Example (Frank Carroll)
Olympic Coach Frank Carroll discusses the basics of jumping, including the way he approaches jumps as a way to progress to higher level jumping. In this presentation, he uses the waltz jump as a way to explain some of his ideas on jumping. He breaks jumps down into 4 parts: setup (or being “on balance”), […] Continue reading →
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Olympic Coach Frank Carroll Interview – Full Interview (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! […] Continue reading →