Just like Chad?

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result - Albert Einstein said that. Einstein was a German-born American Physicist, and that, one of his more quotable quotes, like his theories, was right on the button.

But you've arrived at what purports to be a skating website? A faster skating one at that (because let's face it, faster is almost always better) - so what am I doing opening with a quote from Albert Einstein himself?

Chad Hedrick (you know the guy, 50-time World Inline Champion and now Olympic ice Champion as well...) showed the World the effectiveness of what - during his Junior days - had been termed his ‘terrible technique’. Within a few short years (and a lot of over-slo-mo'd videos) of his 1994 World Championship debut, the speed skating world was ‘doing the Chad.’ It was a revolution where almost nothing happened – nobody but Chad (who was doing 'his thing' already) up-ended the World rankings, and nobody seemed to learn anything that saw them become devastatingly more efficient on their skates and dominate the competition… the World just looked like Chad.

'just' like Chad?

50 world titles and 8 years later (by Belgium 2002 and Chad's last stand), few skaters had learned enough about the key ingredient to the Double Push to make any real inroads on Chad’s success. We double-pushed because Chad did, the 'best' DP'ers were said to be those that were most 'like Chad' while few were getting Chad-like results.

Were we doing something wrong?

I think so.