A 2018 US National Collegiate Junior Men’s champion and 3-time Senior Bulgarian National Figure Skating champion, Manol has represented Bulgaria internationally from 2009 to 2014 and competed in both the European Figure Skating Championships and World Figure Skating Championships. More details about his competitive career can be found on his Wikipedia and ISU pages.
After his competitive career, Manol spent two years skating for Royal Caribbean on both their Voyager and Oasis class ships while sailing on both sides of the Atlantic. His travels not only exposed him to the world but to many various types of skating styles. He has earned a degree in Kinesiology; Movement Science at the University of Illinois in Chicago and earned his Doctor of Chiropractic at the National University of Health Sciences while actively teaching around the Chicagoland Area.
Coaching
Manol’s coaching is holistic in that it uses various tools in conjunction with one another:
Jump Technique
In order to master each new level of jump (single-double-triple-quad), its technique must be fully understood by the skater and refined with proper coach feedback. Various exercises are used to get a feel for proper form which is then applied to the element.
Pole Harness
A jump harness helps bridge the gap for a skater when a jump is a fraction of a rotation from completion. It helps minimize injuries, instills confidence in the skater, and gives the coach tactile feedback of a jump’s trajectory to further guide proper feedback.
Slow-Motion Video
Having the ability to present a correction in a visual manner in real-time provides a skater with a different perspective on the material and leads to a deeper understanding of technique.
Reminder: a good off-ice warm-up is recommended before getting on the ice in the interest of injury prevention.