Weekend lessons

A few months ago, someone made the observation that there were NINE coaches conducting lessons at the same time. This was on a Saturday morning, where most of the part-time coaches (like yours truly!) come in to coach.

With the two new coaches, it is likely that there can be more then TEN of us vying for space! And this is during public session, when lessons are conducted in one-third of the rink, which is not even a full-sized rink!

This afternoon, we had, all in the lesson area,
  a lady working on the flying camel
  my student working on the loop
  another student trying the double toe, and
  yet another student working on the sit spin
- all within a few feet of each other.

At some point, we had gotten into some kind of time-sharing rhythm where the skaters manage to do their elements one after another, with sufficient time in between for explanations. It was kinda cool!

On a more serious note, under such a system, is it any wonder that skaters may have the elements, but lack the skating skills and presentation that ought to go along with it? I recall how shocked I was when I first returned from the US to find skaters landing doubles but having what I thought was weak basic skating. Now I understand why!