The Tutberidze Effect | Page 18 | Golden Skate

The Tutberidze Effect

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
More successful Tutberidze, more people shouting "Burn the witch!"

Interview with Eteri Georgiyevna: https://vk.com/eteritutberidze?z=video-97272391_456244196

"I am not strict, this is just a myth" Interview with Eteri Tutberidze after the Russian Championship

Eteri Tutberidze summed up the results of the Russian Championship 2020 specially for Channel One, in which her students Anna Shcherbakova, Alyona Kostornaya and Alexksandra Trusova became the best.

What do you need to experience a sense of joy after the competition? Is there an ultimate goal in preparing Anya, Alyona and Sasha? Why is it difficult to train your own daughter? The answers to these and other questions are in an interview with Eteri Tutberidze.
-----
Is there a full transcript available? For she must weigh and measure her every word, vocal infliction, control her facial expressions and what more, in order not having her words and opinions misconstrued on purpose.

I've also read another quote " I may punish with my words, but I never raise my hand ", so a full transcript of this interview will be most welcome.
 

Orlov

Medalist
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
A teacher of choreography in Crystal-rink(Chrystalniy) Alexey Zheleznyakov gave a very interesting interview. It's really big, so I decided to translate certain points related to the nuances of working in Chrystalniy, about Eteri, Daniil and athletes (Moris, Valieva, TShK, Medvedeva), and some interesting for me parts. For the rest I will write brief remarks indicating what was discussed in this place. Full interview in Russian here. My comments and brief remarks in square brackets only.


Q: How did you meet her [Eteri]?"
A: It just happened. I believe in fate and believe that we should have met. I flew with one team to a show in Kamchatka, where biathlon competitions were held. I had a solo part, and worked on the stage [Then follows the story of how a famous sound engineer he worked with on this show and whose son trained with Eteri introduced him to her] ...he came up to me, asked me if I had a teacher's education, and if I was ready to work with children. There was a preliminary interview. Then he told me about the offer to work with Tutberidze. I spoke to her on the phone the next day. She watched me work, and she was satisfied.

I started working literally from the first day: I began to go out on the ice, delved into the subtleties of figure skating, steps, elements. Before that, I also encountered ice choreography, but not so much. But my main task was to teach dancing children in the hall.

Q: How long ago was that?
A: If I'm not mistaken, 12 years ago. Eteri Georgievna and I have been working together for so many years.

Q: At the time, she wasn't known to anyone, was she just back from the United States?
A: At that time, she worked for about a year in the "Crystal". Already everything was settled, she got used to it. But in any case, it was only the beginning of a great coaching career, becoming Eteri as a great coach. The group then included Polina Shelepen, Adyan Pitkeev and Zhenechka Medvedeva, who was still very young.

I started with veterans of the Eteri group and went through different stages with her. A lot of people changed, the team was constantly updated, Eteri was very sensitive about it. She was constantly looking for suitable specialists to make the mechanism work like a Swiss watch. For her, each person is a gear in a large machine that she has been building for so many years. And I went with Eteri Georgievna all this way hand in hand [not literally, it's an idiom]. There were all sorts of things: we swore and hugged, there were fire, water, and copper pipes…[russian idiom, means the test by fire, water and glory, the English equivalent - "trials and tribulations"]

Q: Did you work with skaters only on the floor from the very beginning?
A: No. When we first started working with Eteri, we created choreography on ice together. She didn't have a regular choreographer - at that time, Eteri was slaving everything by herself. Our first joint program on ice was for Moris Kvitelashvili. The second is "Charlie Chaplin" for Evgenia Medvedeva.

It was fun, but when it got to a serious level, the requirements became quite different. You need to work professionally, taking into account every detail. Why should I get involved if I don't understand it? When necessary, the choreographer brings an athlete to me and asks me to polish the finished program. We work on the floor on specific elements.

Q: Now you do not do ice programs?
A: I decided that everyone should do their own thing. The team Tutberidze is a wonderful choreographer – Daniil Gleichenhaus. He's great at choreography, creative, Eteri herself comes up with cool ideas. And as a result, great programs. Why should I get into this if there are people who will do this job much better? The mechanism should work correctly and in our team Tutberidze each specialist has a specific role. You will not be able to rearrange the gears in places, otherwise there will be a failure.

I'm a pro at what I do. Since I don't know how to skate at high level, I'd rather work with skaters on the floor. I know my specifics from A to Z. But I'm still learning and trying to develop.

Q: Do you consult with Daniil Gleichenhaus?
A: Rarely. There are times when we discuss details with him, but in general Daniil Markovich is a self-sufficient specialist with his own vision. There's no reason for me to meddle with his work. If I notice something, I can come up and ask a specific moment. Or if he needs help. Some of the chords from my choreography are used in programs, though mostly for exhibition. Daniil sometimes comes to jazz lessons and watches who moves better in what style to understand which choreography is closer to the athlete.

Q: What do you think of Eteri as a person?"
A: Many people think that she is a cruel and cold person. She gives that impression of herself. When you look at her on TV, it seems that she is the snow Queen. Not a single emotion, even don't blink an eyelash. But actually behind this mask the storm of emotions boils. She's very good at holding back. A strong character hides a very vulnerable and sensitive woman. Some of her detractors will find it hard to believe, but Eteri is a living person with a real soul. As a rule, strong people are very vulnerable, they just never show it in public.

She restrains herself for the sake of her athletes. In Tutberidze they see confidence, behind her is a wall of rock. When the coach is nervous it is immediately passed to the athlete. This steadfastness comes with time, with experience. You need to be reborn from an athlete to a coach, and this is a long and difficult process.

Q: Mishin then looks from the outside as a kind uncle [in the original word "добрячок"(good man) has some disparaging connotations, so I decided to use "kind uncle"].
A: I wouldn't say "kind uncle". Alexey Nikolaevich has wisdom of life, and he perceives any situation calmly, without emotions. He has already seen so much in his life that it is difficult to both please and upset him. He takes everything philosophically. I treat him with great respect, to train high-level athletes at such a respectable age is worth a lot. I generally respect the people of that era, they were tempered by life. People of our generation grew up in more hothouse conditions.

<...>
[Alexey tells about his previous biography, how and why he decided to dance as a child. Says, about the importance of learning classical dance "it is impossible without the classics. This is the basis that gives impetus to further work." ]
<...>
[Before working with Tutberidze, he worked in ice shows. Alexey tells how as a child, in the Soviet Union watched figure skating. "In Soviet times, nothing interesting was shown on TV. And the FS competition on TV was like a holiday. We watched without looking up". If there was an opportunity Alexey would have become a skater "But at that time in our city there were no coaches or rinks. There was nowhere to go to study. If the FS had been developed then, as it is now, I probably would have become a figure skater."]

Q: Has figure skating changed much in 15 years?
A: The choreography has stepped far forward. It became fashionable to engage in jazz-modern, modern styles, children began to move better, more energetic. Choreography was taken more seriously and its role increased.. But dancing skills affect on the TES, and on the SS. Dancing develops coordination of the body, and it in turn helps to perform complex jumping elements, better rotate, skate. You feel your body better, it listens to you.

Look at FS 20 years ago: only units could do great presentation on the ice. There was no balance, there was a bias towards technic. A typical program of the 2000s: running step, entry to the element, jump, running. He waved his hand, blinked his eyes – that's all the choreography. The main thing is to make a quad. Now at high-level competitions, almost everyone has the presentation skill. We see the very complex sequences of steps, the body works, the hands, there are emotions. A whole performance on ice! And this program looks very different [from programs of 2000s]. Figure skating without choreography can not be.

<...>
[further, they say that there should be a balance between choreography, complex transitions and technic]
<...>
[They talk about famous programs. On a long distance Alexey is hooked and remembered only EX. "There are no frames, images is brighter, more creative movements. More freedom of action, creativity. I love Kurt Browning's Singing in the rain, Javi Fernandez's EX-programs". He also like Plushenko's "Sex Bomb". Tuktamysheva in Toxic "a little crossed the line. You can make a program even about a stripper, but do it carefully, skillfully, without crossing the border." "But did Plushenko get a better undressing in Sex Bomb?" "In his program, it was humor, comedy" "You can not cross the line of vulgarity. If the idea of the program is erotic, then you need to submit it competently and with taste." But Alexey praises Lisa for her courage and says that this is a mistake of the choreographer]

Q: Who were you most interested in working with?
A: As a choreographer, I enjoy working with people who move well. Because with them you can go crazy in a good way in the dance hall and do something extraordinary.

It's nice to work with the veterans of the Tutberidze group, whom I already know well. I have led them since a child, and I have reached a level with them that they are like a dream. They can dance in absolutely any style and quite well. Of course, you should not compare them with professional dancers. But for skaters, they move very well. They can do a variety of programs, perform creative EX.

I really liked working with Zhenya Medvedeva... it's a pity that she left us, but this is her choice, so it was fate. I will not discuss or condemn her decision. With Moris it is always interesting to make new combinations, to learn new styles.

All children are cool, they all have their own feature. I try to approach the work individually, for any skater can come up with an interesting program. It is important that they are danced, plastic. The basic work is done, now it's time for creativity. For a choreographer, it's just an outlet.

When children come with zero experience, training is hard. They need to invest effort, emotions, chew them basic things. As an artist, I'm not that interested. I want to engage in a creative process that is fun.

Q: Did you enjoy working with Lipnitskaya?
A: Yulia is a real prodigy. However, she has not been with us for a long time and finished her sports career. I am comfortable with those who have been training in our group for many years. But newcomers are also slowly coming up.

For example, Kamila Valieva. She has a great ballet training, I made an Adagio program for her. Only a few athletes will be able to perform this level of choreography. She would have been taken to a dance school without question, on any terms [I don't know the English equivalent of the Russian idiom "оторвали бы с руками и ногами", but insert a direct translation "would tear off with arms and legs" I did not dare :biggrin:] She was built like she was born for ballet. Kamila is very soft, light, elegant. Girl kissed by God! Who knows, if it were not for figure skating, we would have heard about her, as about the prima of the Mariinsky or Bolshoi theater. Much has been given to her by higher powers and this must be used. I like to work with her in a classic style, but if you take modern movements, it lacks points of fixation, strength, explosive power.

Q: Did you hear about Valieva before she joined Eteri's group?
A: I was teaching at "Moskvich" with Igor Lyutikov, and at one of the training sessions I noticed Kamila. I noticed the girl from the first movements. I have a trained eye as a choreographer, I can immediately see the talent of a child. Kamila was noteworthy from an early age. I wasn't working with her then, but I was watching her. It was clear that the girl had a great future. She was lucky [by nature]. But it is not enough to have talent, you still need character [perseverance, courage, patience, mettle - "character"] In sports, the most important thing is hard work.

Q: Did Eteri Georgievna ask you for a certain review of Kamila when she came to the "Crystal" for a trial training session?
A: Eteri is so experienced that she doesn't need reviews from other people. She sees everything, both technic and choreography - it's not super-difficult for a professional. And Tutberidze does not need to ask the opinion of the team, she understands when she meets a talent. Eteri has an eagle eye, she finds such unique people!

Q: Kamila is now jumping quads. So she's the best example of a balance of technic and grace?
A: Possible. But Kamila moves well in the classical way, she has perfectly plastic movements. You can make a lyrical jazz-modern for her. With something more dynamic, aggressive, she can’t cope. Then jumps will fall down, there will not be enough functional preparation, athleticism as at Sashka Trusova. Therefore, do not jump above your head. You need to understand what style is closer to the skater, do not break it and go against nature. It is better to develop what is and gradually try something new.

Q: Kostornaya closer to the type of Valieva?
A: I think so. But Alyona can also perform dynamic movements, show powerful choreography. Kostornaya is a versatile figure skater, but yes - there are many similarities between them.

Q: It happened that it was difficult for you to explain to the skater the need to work with choreography?
A: I have often encountered this and still do. Even some coaches do not understand why you need to improved dancing skills, give their athletes jazz-modern - "just enough classical dance!". This is a misconception, because any athlete needs coordination. Very often you have to argue with children and their parents, who from the first training sessions instilled a fixation on jumping. They have absorbed it all and the need for dance training is very difficult to explain to them. I give arguments, say them that better coordination will improve the technic.

Q: Do you have to explain to Sasha Trusova the need to work on choreography?
A: I didn't have any problems with Sashka. When she still skated at the former trainer, I noticed how her natural athleticism does not allow to rotate and slide as well as more plastic children. But she didn't have to explain the need for dance training. On the contrary, Sasha's mother herself brought her to individual training. There is an understanding of the problem and a desire to solve it. And we see the result, Sasha is now much more danceable, more plastic.

Q: So given Sasha’s technical advantage, how to motivate her to work with components?
A: You'd have to be a fool not to know how many points she gets on her quads. Both parents and coaches understand that. That's why she focuses on TES. The choreography should be, but according to the content. It is impossible to go on a quadruple jump, before doing hardest steps and show unreal movements. There will be no physical strength left on the quad. And Sasha has four or five quads in her program! Here need a balance.

And remember that she is still young. When she becomes more adult, there will be a better understanding of her image, meaningful movements and the Trusova's programs will look different. It takes time for a person to mature to complex programs. Sasha understands his weaknesses and works on them, moving forward. When she was small, she was too muscular, a little wooden. Now you can see the plastic movements, every year she’s only getting better.

Q: However, Gleichenhaus noted that work on the jumping Trusova ready for hours. But it’s very difficult to get her to repeat stepsequence or spin…
A: So this is human psychology. We want to do what we do best. In children, this is even more pronounced. A person does not want to work on something that does not come out the first time. You need to force yourself to overcome. This is the task of the coach and choreographer, to direct their athlete. "If you don't want to, we'll make you. If you can't, we'll teach you" [It's catch phrase of the Stalin's era :biggrin:, all Westerner who were taught that Stalin=Satan, now fainted in unison :laugh:]. Sasha understands that she needs to work on the plastic of movements, but it is very difficult to force herself. Do not blame her for this, because almost any person will behave like this.

<...>
["Russian style" in figure skating is the quality of work on choreography, European athletes often have problems with choreography, because we have a full-time dance choreographer in every major sports school, and they don't have one. "In Europe, you will not see this, there are no choreographers in groups and athletes have to go to training camps abroad, so that the child develops. I say this not because I want to look like a patriot, but because I see the situation both here and abroad"]

Q: This season, Medvedeva has an interesting situation: a SP from Ilya Averbukh, an FP from She-Lynn Bourn. Two different styles of one athlete.
A: I think her team did a good job in this case. Most importantly, they no longer began to create incomprehensible experiments on Zhenya [:biggrin:]. Both short and free – it's the lyrics, that for Zhenya always was the best. Before leaving Eteri, she almost always skate in that style. And then, as soon as she left, they tried to make her a playful jazz program. And the program did not work. Then Misha Ge made her an elegant lyric and oh, miracle! - Zhenya began to "skate out" [slang] the program. So obviously, you don't need to break a working system. Perhaps jazz-programm was good, but it did not suit Zhenya.

Q: On the other hand, if the skater will constantly skate in the same style, where is the development? Sometimes it's worth getting out of your comfort zone.
A: It is necessary to develop a skater so that it is universal. But again, this development must be gradual and not to the detriment of the result. Tried and did not work - we leave for next year. We tried again – now it's good. May be make the program in a new format. When the athlete is danced, functionally well prepared, there are no problems with the technique and you can experiment. But when a person is not ready - it looks like an attempt to jump above the head.

Q: Talk about "Mature women's skating" - this is just about the development of choreographic abilities of the athlete?
A: The difference in choreography in children and adults is in complexity. With small children, I start with the basics. As they grow older, you can give them more vivid movements, complex images that they begin to understand. But there are images that can only be adequately conveyed in a mentally mature age. It kills me when I see seven-year-old girls in Argentine tango or Carmen. When they take adult themes that need to be performed at a conscious age. Otherwise it looks stupid.

Q: Evgenia Medvedeva said in an interview that the idea to perform under the "Memoirs of a geisha" she had for several years. Only morally is ready she to it has become only now. It turns out that she just did not force things and waited for the right moment?
A: I remember, by the way, these conversations. Couple of seasons ago Zhenya considered the option to perform under the "Memoirs of a geisha". Then this was refused, because both Zhenya and the coaches decided that she was not ready yet. And rightly so. And now she is a mature girl, understands and feels that she shows on the ice. It will not work well to perform "Memoirs of a geisha" at teenage age, when there is still no understanding of all the tragedy of this story. Now she is ready and therefore the program looks so gorgeous.

<...>
[about increasing the age limit for ladies, Alexey is against it, progress cannot be stopped]

Q: Anya Shcherbakova has a difficult image for her age this season - to the music from the film "Perfumer". So, is she mentally ready to reveal such topics now?
A: Anya is not so small, I think she watched the film and read the book and understood everything. Children now quickly grasp everything. Here the line is not crossed, when the image does not correspond to age. Shcherbakova turned out to be an excellent program and she perfectly conveys the idea of this program on ice. Perhaps at twenty she would have skate this program even better. All comes with experience.

Q: Sometimes skaters go to improve choreography to strange choreographers. Is this a good solution?
A: Why not? I support such decisions, but they must be agreed with the head coach. It happens that an athlete goes to another choreographer to make program, but this choreographer, although very awesome, with a world name, but does not know the nature or specifics of the skater's body. And he can make a program that will break from the first element. The choreographer must work under the supervision of the head coach, otherwise the experiments will end badly in the end. I've seen it a lot.

A coach who has been leading an athlete for many years knows exactly what his student is capable of. What his stamina, style, functionality. By the way, that’s why the athlete’s results worsen at the beginning after the change of coach. Because a new specialist needs to learn about new skater from scratch.

<...>
[about the choreography of She-Lynn Bourne for Tuktamysheva, that changed the music in it. "As a choreographer, I don't understand this decision. She-Lynn puts movements under specific musical accents. Therefore, it is impossible to just take and shift its achievements to other music, there is no sense", but it's good that they brought the music back finally]

<...>
[about his own sports and dance studio]

Q: You said that modern dance classes can replace classical General Physical Training [GPT]. Is it really possible to completely abandon the fitness room?
A: I was misunderstood. In an interview with "Moscow figure skater" a little changed my words and people from the world of sports began to interpret my thoughts literally. I am not suggesting in any way that we depart from the GPT. In my opinion, any athlete should watch their body and engage in GPT, especially skater. The physical activity in figure skating is very serious and it is necessary to prepare for them, to develop endurance.

I spoke then that many trainers sin too athletic GPT, not adapted for the figure skater. They pump their athletes, make them weightlifters-judoists. You get flying stools. Where will grace come from if you make a jock? Skater is associated with art, ballet. And when an athlete is pumped with a pile of muscles, no choreographer will do anything for him and no grace will be there. GPT should be turned into SPT - a special physical training designed for skaters. Many coaches invite track and field athletes to practice GPT. And such a coach begins to give exercises accepted in track and field athletics. Most of the GPT needs to be adapted to a specific sport.

Q: In the Eteri group do not refuse GPT?
A: It does not have exhausting, heavy athletic GPT, athletes are given exercises in the specifics of figure skating. Eteri had a sad experience when she invited a track and field athlete for GPT who began to load children with physical activity. As a result, not only "technic was gone", but also increased injuries. Back and knees hurt because it was against the rules. Therefore, Eteri Georgievna adapted the General physical training to the specifics of our sport. There are jump ropes, elastic bands, weights on the legs, balls. And it should be so in any sport, in Russia this is a massive problem - the easiest way to call a track and field athlete and continuously do basic exercises from the last century. But the sport is moving forward.

Can you imagine in artistic gymnastics training in athletics? There are little graceful girls, they can not withstand such loads. Why are such exercises accepted in figure skating then? Look at the Eteri girls, they're like ballerinas. Why would they work with kettlebell? And some skaters coaches so pumped that their muscle mass is already breaking the technique, not to mention the plasticity and choreography. With heavy muscle mass, quads are out of the question.

Everyone is now talking about the terrible puberty, but a good coach prepares his athlete for it in advance. If the girl was pumped, then after growing up, the muscle mass becomes more two or three times. And the girl turns into a square, unable to move normally on the ice. Sometimes children come to our Studio who have just been pumped by their coaches. They are very difficult to work with, a huge amount of time is spent to dance them.

Q: Classes in a dance Studio – this is the SPT for a skater?
A: As one of the options. We have both muscle load and functional capacity. Sometimes I have an hour without a break dancing. The girls themselves ask to arrange "a weight loss procedure" - I turn on non-stop music, and they work hard. Muscles work so hard! But dance does not negate the work of other exercises. You need a combination of strength and plastic.

<...>
[that dancing is a great fitness for ordinary people]

Q: The champion of Europe, now the coach Alexander Smirnov said that the big problem of modern sports is a generation of "sugar people" who are not physically ready for loads. Do you agree with him?
A: Completely. No steak with blood. I don’t want to see in the boy a sour omelet or rice pie. When we were little, we could fight behind the school, run around behind the garages, courting a girls... in short, we lived a full life. Now everyone is buried in their gadgets and do not even leave the house. There is no character. And in sports, a wuss has nothing to do. Sport is about overcoming yourself.

Look at Yuzuru Hanyu. From the outside it seems that he is a fragile boy, but inside he is a real samurai. He is ready to go out on the ice with an injury, train to exhaustion. As a result, he became a two-time Olympic champion. Many Russian man single skater are limp after a small bruise. And this refinement is a mass problem of children of the XXI century. A boy must be brought up in Spartan conditions to become a man. And if you just kiss him and make a tragedy for every sneeze, then instead of a boy you will have a girl. On the contrary with girls we are treated with all severity, and with boys to babysit! But the result is a typical spineless mess.
 

McBibus

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Interview with Eteri Georgiyevna: https://vk.com/eteritutberidze?z=video-97272391_456244196
I've also read another quote " I may punish with my words, but I never raise my hand ", so a full transcript of this interview will be most welcome.

She's too smart fo that and hitting the girls will dimish or even compromize her authority over them because:
1 - She seems very charismatic
2 - she seems so deeply under the skin of the girls that just a disapproval expression could be a flesh wound. The girls also seems to feed of her approval.
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
A teacher of choreography in Crystal-rink(Chrystalniy) Alexey Zheleznyakov gave a very interesting interview. It's really big, so I decided to translate certain points related to the nuances of working in Chrystalniy, about Eteri, Daniil and athletes (Moris, Valieva, TShK, Medvedeva), and some interesting for me parts. For the rest I will write brief remarks indicating what was discussed in this place. Full interview in Russian here. My comments and brief remarks in square brackets only.

Thanks for pointing out this awesome read.

Zheleznyakov is one of those authoritative persons with a qualified opinion, though some of those are a bit stereotype that comes with his trade ...
... and as a free agent, owner of a successful dance studio, he can freely speak his mind.
 

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
She's too smart fo that and hitting the girls will dimish or even compromize her authority over them because:
1 - She seems very charismatic
2 - she seems so deeply under the skin of the girls that just a disapproval expression could be a flesh wound. The girls also seems to feed of her approval.

Exactly! I can't imagine Eteri striking a student. Like you said one glare and that's a flash wound.
 

McBibus

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
A teacher of choreography in Crystal-rink(Chrystalniy) Alexey Zheleznyakov gave a very interesting interview. It's really big, so I decided to translate certain points related to the nuances of working in Chrystalniy, about Eteri, Daniil and athletes (Moris, Valieva, TShK, Medvedeva), and some interesting for me parts. For the rest I will write brief remarks indicating what was discussed in this place. Full interview in Russian here. My comments and brief remarks in square brackets only.

Thanks a lot
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Tutberidze's Aces Arms Race

The trio of Trusova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaya (to the Russian people TShchK, the foreign name is “Three Aces”), as expected, made a rustle when entering the senior stage. But the dominance that they created probably corresponds only to the most daring forecasts. If we take the top 10 results of this season, these figure skaters will take the first 9 places:

1. Kostornaya - 247.59 (Final Grand Prix);

2. Trusova - 241.02 (Canadian Grand Prix);

3. Shcherbakova - 240.92 (Grand Prix Final);

4. Kostornaya - 240.00 (Japanese Grand Prix);

5. Trusova - 238.69 (Nepel Memorial);

6. Kostornaya - 236 (Grand Prix of France);

7. Kostornaya - 234.84 (Finland Trophy);

8. Trusova - 234.47 (Grand Prix of Russia);

9. Trusova - 233.18 (Grand Prix Final);

10. Kihira - 231.84 (Japanese Grand Prix).

It should be noted that the Trio does not have fixed first, second and third numbers, but there are the first three that are fighting on equal terms for victory. So, taking personal encounters, counting from the beginning of the year before last, when everyone had grown to international starts, ended like this: Trusova-Kostornaya - 6: 3; Shcherbakova-Kostornaya - 2: 4; Shcherbakova-Trusova - 4: 5. Out of the six meetings, where the trinity was in full force, each had two victories.

But the main surprise for me personally was the complexity of the technical content performed by these skaters, and what stability they have been demonstrating since the beginning of this season.

Once upon a time, for my convenience, I came up with some classification of skaters, according to their class. Skaters of the "old generation" - those who do not jump anything harder than 3T-3T. You can draw a parallel, for example, with airships, if we talk about aircraft.

“New Generation” - they confidently collect the sets closest to the most expensive ones without ultra-si elements (3A and quads), they own 3-3 with the older triples. They can be compared with warplanes from WWII. Against such on airships do not survive.

Well, the “newest generation” is those who are able to do the same things as the “new”, but at the same time practice 1-2 ultra-si elements in two programs. Yes, something may not work out, but if the ultra-si are inserted instead of cheap elements, such as 2A or 2T at all (if there is a rhythm cascade), then such skaters will either be noticeably higher, or at least not lower than the “new” ones by points. They are like modern jet fighters capable of overcoming the supersonic barrier and equipped with a large number of missile weapons. In my opinion, this very stage is a logical continuation of the development of figure skating in the present time, and such figure skaters as Elisabet Tursynbayeva, who took the World Championships silver with a quadruple jump, Yelizaveta Tuktamysheva of the previous season’s model, who went for two triple Axels in two programs, Korean Yu Young of the present, who is trying to do about the same. Here, at first, I took the TShchK.

But right now this is an incorrect comparison.

TShchK outgrew this level, and to fight against them to the “newest generation” is the same as speaking out at the SU-57 against fantastic starships like the Millennium Falcon. Today’s TShchK is a “generation from the future" ahead of their time and surpassing the vast majority of figure skaters by more than one "generation". They are characterized by the performance of a large number of ultra-si with high stability. As I wrote earlier, TShchK is the natural result, the peak of the development of a single woman, the foundation of which was laid before the Sochi Olympics. I am sure that competition made an important contribution to their growth, when each, looking at the other two, not only saw that further growth was needed, but also that it was real. Thus, TShchK added a lot compared to the previous season, and out of curiousity the question arose how far they could go.

At the Open Test Skates, Anna Shcherbakova fell from her 4L, but in words afterwards she warmly assured that this was an accident, and her Lutz was stable. Not everyone believed her. “There are many different quads in Trusova’s arsenal, and in Shcherbakova’s only this Lutz, and this even only once. they said. Anna went to the "beshka", received indecently low marks for her set, then inserted a second 4L, which went without much hype; grabbed some unclear edges in China, and the most impressionable talked about the "drain". As if they want to unhook the letter "Щ". Trusova and Kostornaya came to the fore, and Shcherbakova seemed to be in their shadow. However, this was only an illusion, because Anya landed 4L's 9 out of 9, and by the Grand PrixFinals she decided to insert a new ultra-si element - 4F. She fell, but already in National Championships everything was much better. It was this step that brought Shcherbakova to the lead.

Let's look at the results of the Grand Prix Finals. For her clean short Anya received good marks - 78.27. In her free, Anya scored a huge 162.65, despite two very expensive mistakes. Under rotation on the solo Lutz deprived her of about 6 points, for a cleanly quad Flip you could score about 14, not 4.5. Plus small losses on 3L-3R. Thus, the ideal free skating routine by Anne would give approximately 179 points, and the total amount would become equal to 257.

Further progress is associated primarily with the triple Axel.

What interferes:

1. Triksel - edge jump, and not from the toepick, the technique needed is a completely different one, and for girls with Anya's specifics, with jumps where twisting plays a greater role instead of twisting - such a jump is very uncomfortable. The experience in quads does not help.

2. The triksel will need to be thoroughly run trhough, and before FS Anya devotes her time to the Lutz and Flips, it is very difficult to run through the triksel. And warm-up is very important. In training, when the skater has long been on the ice, there are more chances to collect a good skating run than when she goes to the competition after a pause outside the ice. 6 minutes is not enough for 3 different ultra-si. Trusova mentioned the severity of this problem last season.

3. Four ultra-si in PP are physically difficult, although Anya copes with three successfully.

But it is exactly this 3A that will strengthen Shcherbakova the most, as it will allow her to throw out its cheapest elements - 2A's. With one replacement, we conditionally count +6 . Therefore, the "Shcherbot's Dream" set is estimated at 257 + 12 = 269 points. How to deal with this at all ?! You just have to master the 3A, and you can safely go to 3A in the SP, without changing the free. This will circumvent the above problems 2 and 3. The sum will be 257 + 6 = 263 points.

If Anya fails from her 3A, then she can insert 4T into the FP.

What prevents:

1. Run through of 3 different ultra-si. Although, if Anya is already jumping 4L, even in demonstration, without a warm-up, then, probably, this is real. Although so far, Japan-Open is the only case where a single woman managed to land 3 different ultra-si in one program.

2. Stamina restrictions. Three quads seem to be enough, but 4?

What's the plus

1. Anna herself knows the jump, she started from it, she doesn’t forget it, it is clearly simpler than 4L and 4F and also toepick jumps.

The problem is that by inserting 4T into the free program, you have to remove, it seems, 3F. Therefore, the increase will be small, a score of four. And the task of cleanly skating through will be complicated greatly. Nevertheless, 257 + 4 = 261 points - this is also a lot.

Insert instead of 4T a 4P or 4C - much more difficult, but the effect is almost the same. Inserting 4T into the FP and 3A into the SP is tempting, but working on training four different of ultra-si is still the task. Although, if she could, it would be 257 + 10 = 267 points. Almost like a "dream."

At the Open Test Skates, in addition to the new programs, Trusova demonstrated three clean quads, Shcherbakova - the quadruple Lutz, and Kostornaya did not show anything. They again tried to unfasten the letter “K”, but Alena showed a 3A from a difficult approach (!), Inserted two of them into her free program at once (!), Inserted a third into her SP at the second start (!) And landed them all in 5 tournaments (!) . The first clean attempts at 3A appeared in the spring of 2018, before the break. The mood before the new season was very serious, but there were problems with growth and coordination, the trixel could not to obtained, it could not be restored during the season, and then there was a problem with skates, a new season, and only in September 2020, after a year and a half, she managed to make this breakthrough.

And now Alyona Kostornaya with 3A is a perfect skater. And there is only one way to get around it - prohibitive complexity. Anya has two 4L and one 4F - this is the most expensive combination of 3 ultra-si. Alena has three 3A - the cheapest. However, Alyona is stronger in components. But Anya rotates better, and due to Lutz-Ritt cascade throws out 2A, 2T and 3F. And Alyona - 2A, 2A and 3L. Nevertheless, at the Championship of Russia the impression was made that Alyona and Anya were on equal terms. As if Alyona were prevented by short exits from her 2A and 3F-3T. Although realistically, to win there, everyone needed up to a single +5 on these elements, so anyway, there might not be enough spare room. And this with Anya's 4F step-out. So for such skating runs, the alignment in placements is logical.

At the international level, the difference may be larger. For evaluation, we again take the Grand Prix Final. Alyona lost a step sequence level and about a point in GOE on the first 3A, which turned out to be somewhat inaccurate, and it had to be corrected a little. So her clean skating runs give 250 points. Anya’s great advantage is that in order to win it back, you need a serious mistake from Anna and a perfect skating run from Alyona.

To just catch up with the ideal Shcherbakova now, Kostornaya now needs a 4S.

What prevents

1. Warm up. Alyona warms up, jumps a couple of cascades with a Flip, 3L, and devotes all the remaining time to her 3A. In the end, she makes one combat attempt at the triple Axel. At the moment, there is a feeling that she will not have time to prepare for a 4S and 3A. But, on the other hand, she jumps the 3A only for five months! And we remember how Kihira 3A added to her over two years, how Trusova added with her quads, how the 4L drastically changed the situation for Shcherbakova in a year. So there is a chance that Alyona, whose 3A went like in a fairy tale, will become so good over time that mistakes will be very rare during training, and she will have less need to warm it up.

What's the plus

1. 4S is an edge jump, like 3A. If Lisa was able to jump 4T at 23, and Maya Khromykh was also successful with her 4S, then why can't Alyona? There is every chance.

2. In terms of endurance, Alyona after two 3A looks very, I would say, fresh. No problems should arise.

If Alyona mastered the 4S, then insert it instead of 2A in the free program and get approximately 250 + 8 = 258. And the most interesting thing is that after this it will be easier for Alyona to take the next steps.

Repeat 4S.

It will lead to the replacement of the 3F with a 4S, and that's another four points plus. 258 + 4 = 262. This will approximately balance Alyona with Anya, who added a 4T or one 3A. With command over the 4S, such a move begs you to do this - nothing changes during the warm-up, there are no obstacles except the physical endurance for four ultra-s.

But in order to catch up with "Shcherbabot’s Dream" in terms of coolness, one needs to insert another quad, preferably the dearest.

4L - no, despite the fact that it is also an edge jump - Alyona did not jump in her 3-2-2 never jumped 2L. 4L - also unlikely. Needs the 4F.

What interferes.

1. Warm up, although it turns out three different elements of ultra-si, what else can be allowed.

2. Stamina. 5 ultra-si, one in the second part - very hard.

3. Well, and yet the new ultra-si will be a toepick jump, it is unclear how it will go.

What the plus.

1. The experience of the first quad still helps. Tuktamysheva said this in a recent interview.

She will have to throw out the 3R, and Alyona's “dream” will look like this: 4F, ​​4S-2T, 4S, 3A-Eu-3S, 3A, 3F-3T, 3L; and will be evaluated at the same 269 points as Anna's. Well, she can also use 4T instead of 4F - yes, a couple of points cheaper, but still the layout is excellent. At the same time, both Anya and Alyona will need constant work with only three different ultra-si. However, in Alyona’s programs, six such elements are needed in total, and Anya needs five.

For Aleksandra Trusova, the season began well. She reached the goal she had been working on for so long - she stabilized 3 quads in her free program: a Lutz and two Toeloops. At Japan-Open, it turned out she was able to land 4 quads. It seemed like this was a triumph, for there are world records in total and in FP. Will the season be hers?

But soon everything changed dramatically.

Alyona mastered the triple axels, Anna inserted the second 4L and another 4F, and Sasha did not pull up her components to her technique (although many expected) - she loses here. And in non-jumping elements she does not trump. Of course, Trusova knew about the plans of her rivals and tried to react. But the edge 4S, with which she had struggled for a long time, did not go well. Toepick 4F went better, but this is not enough. Throwing different elements: 3A, 4S, 4F ... and a constant redrawing of the content. Behind all this, there was a sure frame of 4L and two 4T, and even the Lutz-Ritt began to degrade. Trusova very suddenly lost the margin of complexity she had, and, therefore, the right to make a mistake. What used to be suitable for records and unique achievements, now she just needs to not fly out of the fight. For example, take the Canadian Grand Prix protocol.

Without loss of levels and a drop in 4S, yshe can count on the amount of about 109 for elements, 176 for a FP with 4 quads. Well, there’s another 76 for the SP. Only 252 points. If instead of a 4S - 4F, then 254. With a Flip, Sasha bypasses Alyona, but against Anya this may not be enough. At the same time, Sasha already has three different ultra-si in her FP and only 1 single time she managed to land them all. And what about the same set without Lutz-Ritt? Then the situation is even more complicated. At the same time, Sasha’s 4S is going badly, she doesn’t own the 4Lo, and this is also an edge jump, but her 3A started to turn out. She can’t insert it into the free program - she cannot warm up 4 different ultra-si, especially since 3A will take a lot of time by itself, as it is the most complex and unstable one. And you must not forget about physical endurance. After 4 quads, Sasha is getting tired, and threatened by GOE and levels on the last elements.

The only available complication option for Sasha now is the 3A in SP.

So she can get around the difficulties of endurance and warming-up. It is only necessary to jump it and then compete the free program with 4 quads.

What prevents

1. Only one problem - edge jumping is more difficult for Sasha, and a triple Axel can be even more uncomfortable than 4S, and it takes a lot of time and effort to cope with it. And at the same time, we must not forget about three more different ultra-si at each training session, and the Lutz-Ritt is challenging at best.

But if the idea materialises, then this is +6 points, total - 260. This is better than current Anya's and Alena's if she will have her 4S. But if they can become more complicated, then Sasha will need extra effort.

4S and even 4Lo will not add that much. 5 quads and a 2A in the program - this is not serious. The fifth quad only gets inserted instead of a 3L and the effect will be minimal. But there will be a need to train this fifth element of ultra-si. Therefore, she must strive to replace the 2A with a 3A in the FP, and even preferably a 4Lo instead of a 4T. Then she can expect to reach 268 and keep up even with the most powerful sets of Anya and Alyona.

But for this she needs to jump almost the same content as Nathan Chen in the free program. At each training session, work on 4 different elements of ultra-si, while 6 minutes before the actual free program, she needs to somehow manage to prepare for everything.

To summarise:
link to small table: https://sun9-53.userapi.com/c857436/v857436429/15589a/O5ie2n00TbE.jpg

Of course, in this table there are a lot of assumptions:

1. Estimates are approximate, and the difference between them is small. They can all grow, although, most likely, the growth will be uniform, and the ratio will be maintained. But there may be fluctuations.

2. There is a spread in GOE, which is the greater, the more complicated the program. Depends on how the judges will appreciate.

3. We are talking about ideal skating runs, although, even in the absence of gross errors, you can drop a little somewhere in the details.

Thus, we can conclude that the sharp struggle between TShchK will continue on an equal footing - hardly anyone will be able to create a significant gap. They only need health and successfully pass the growing up phases. And it seems that now Anya has an advantage, but really, even she cannot afford one serious mistake. Concrete skating runs will decide everything, which is ideal from the point of view of competitive struggles and the unpredictability of the result.

And yet, it would be important for each one to take one more step forward in order to achieve a certain optimum, after which the following complications will no longer have such a great effect, but will require a very high complexity. The complete exclusion of cheap elements will further complicate the task for those skaters who want to catch up with the Trio, including even the newer younger geeks who are used to multi-turn jumps from the age of 12. And for those who now do not have any ultra-si at all, even one such element, even in the case of its stability and maximum repetitions, will not help them to come close. Yes, and even two may not be enough.

Also, new rules may change the situation. ISU 2020 Congress will raise the issue of quadruple jumps in the short. But the chance that they will be allowed is small. Now it is beneficial only to one country, which is already a leader. Moreover, such a rule is likely to lead to an increase in the coefficient for the components - everything is just like the guys have. But here we find ourselves in a situation where the level of single women in the world is so different that the same rules cease to be equally effective for everyone. With a coefficient of 0.8, the technique for quad jumpers will become 1.5 times more important for the final result than the components. There will be a skew. But if you make the coefficient = 1, then the same bias, but in the opposite direction, will be very likely for skaters without ultra-si. Perhaps such a solution is to allow a quadruple, but only one, in a cascade, like a junior trixel. And leave the coefficient for the components the same. Then a strong skew between the first and second assessment can only be for those who own both triksels and quadruples.

There is also a certain threat that they will propose to limit or reduce the reward of quadruples in the free program. This is unlikely, because this reduction in value has happened recently, and it’s inconvenient to enter different values for men's and women's competitions. The position of supporters of increasing the age limit looks much more dangerous. I already wrote in detail about why I am sharply negative about this idea. I believe that this will hit the juniors, reduce the level of competition in the seniors, and the audience will also lose. Thus, in the Congress there will be a clash of completely different interests with an unpredictable result. I hope that we won’t lose outright and there will be at least a compromise. So, the problems of short careers of current single skaters can be solved by the introduction of artistic and technical programs, as well as a rating system for selecting for the World Championships. It is only necessary not to pat the shoulder, but to approach each issue rationally.
-----
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/singlelady/2701025.html
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
For the first time in the history of world figure skating pupils of one coach won in one competition six medals of various accessions.

“The first half of the season is over. Walking will overpower the road. " This is how Eteri Tutberidze signed a photo of her team on a page on some social network.

Laconicism in the manifestation of emotions? There is such a thing - even after a win-win series of victories of her students, each time raising the hall, coach Eteri Tutberidze allows herself to do it. But stinginess in words is all the same brevity, which, as you know, is the sister of talent. So is Tutberidze, who on the ice and on the side, behaves according to achievements.

If there had not been any previous years behind her that shocked figure skating by Yuliya Lipnitskaya and Yevgeniya Medvedeva, and then Alina Zagitova, who burst into it, only in the current first half of the season could the coach bow to the floor. She turned on her “counter” of victories and it recorded multiple unconditional “Golds”.

However, the present does not exist without the past (and Eteri Georgiyevna has sixteen years of hard work behind her), and the future does not exist without both. And one who is fearless, filling a competitive backpack with invaluable experience, abruptly opens the door to a new one.

Under the leadership of Tutberidze, Alina Zagitova collected all the titles of figure skating: victory at the Russian Championship, gold of the Grand Prix Final, European Championship, World Championship, Olympic Games. Alina, as noted by ISU, “steals the hearts” of fans.

And the current debutantes of the senior ice: Sasha Trusova, Alyona Kostornaya, Anya Shcherbakova? What are they doing with us, these champion girls of hers, what are they doing with today's figure skating ?! Bursting with emotions, making you think about the limitless possibilities of both the body and character. There were no such skaters yet. Now they have arrived - Tutberidze made a revolution with them.

How? We can only guess, but she herself knows for sure, the coaching staff and the athletes:
“I try to teach my athletes from the moment they turn 13 years old, that you can’t say:“ I don’t want to come to training today. ” Look at the map, look at the size of Russia. If you go out to compete in international competitions, where “Russia” will be written on your back, then you will say: “not today?”. ... My dear, you, as you went to your medal, only in this way you will advance further. Why should you suddenly take a week off? Why do you suddenly need to call a separate choreographer? Why can’t you practice in the hall together with everyone else? Because you have a medal? As soon as you leave the podium, it's over, you're nobody. You have to prove the opposite at the next start. Until you prove the opposite, you are nobody again. You have past medals, but those will not help you in the future. ”

One cosmic quadruple in the program for the girls has long been no limit for her. Because this eternally elusive limit is not frozen in place. It rushes forwards all the time.

Eteri Tutberidze, together with her pupils, does not rewrite the history of figure skating, but shows how and what the future can be. Breaking into the future, she opened up a limitless array for creativity.

Special trainer. Destroyer of stereotypes. Experiencing the excitement of stepping into the future of figure skating already in the present.

Insatiable. And instilling a sense of gluttony.
-----
From: https://www.fsrussia.ru/files/mfk_magazine/wfk_20_2019.pdf
 

McBibus

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
4F, ​​4S-2T, 4S, 3A-Eu-3S, 3A, 3F-3T, 3L

Dream od nightmare?
The problem i see putting all this extrademanding jumps in 4 minutes, plus 3 mandatory spins is there really time for some skating?
This elements requires long preparation and some recovering before attenting the next.
To allow it the sequence of the elements will be substantially standard, with one program just similar to the other with different music and different jump names.

We all know it's always a trade and I want quads, but I also want to see freedom and creativity.
My love for this sport is the research for that eluding equilibrium bewteen techique/athletism vs art/expression

Maybe expand it to 4:30 like men?
Maybe removing a jump pass (single)?

Or maybe I'm just worrying about nothing.
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Dream od nightmare?
The problem i see putting all this extrademanding jumps in 4 minutes, plus 4 mandatory spins is there really time for some skating?
This elements requires long preparation and some recovering before attenting the next.
To allow it the sequence of the elements will be substantially standard, with one program just similar to the other with different music and different jump names.

We all know it's always a trade and I want quads, but I also want to see freedom and creativity.
My love for this sport is the research for that eluding equilibrium bewteen techique/athletism vs art/expression

Maybe expand it to 4:30 like men?
Maybe removing a jump pass (single)?

Or maybe I'm just worrying about nothing.

If the skaters can have a proper right of way in their warm ups, there shouldn't be a problem as they have trained this scenario.

If the skater gets interrupted in her path, wether by accident or on purpose (!), one or more elements cannot be properly warmed up. I think, the Khustalniy skaters have trained this scenario too, and prioritise their warm up content trying to make sure their most precarious element(s) get a chance.
 

jenaj

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Country
United-States
Exactly. Anna is like a Bolshoi ballerina on skates! and I've never seen a beefy ballerina; ) Anna as you pointed out is naturally very slender like a ballerina.

Eating disorders are known to be fairly common among ballet dancers.
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Creative, Merciless and Cosmic. What is common and different in and between Trusova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaya

Next week, the European Figure Skating Championships will be held in Graz, Austria. Russia will be represented by 18 athletes - three men, three girls, and three pairs and dance duets. In the women's competitions, the national team consists entirely of pupils of Tutberidze, who arrived from the juniorlevel last year - Anna Shcherbakova, Alyona Kostornaya and Aleksandra Trusova. It is possible this is the composition of the national team for the next few major tournaments. TShchK now do not spare either themselves or their rivals.

The fact that three talented skaters were born at the same time to the nearest year is an incredible coincidence. Despite the fact that they are engaged in the same group, go to press conferences and Japanese shows together and look after the pets - they are still very different. And by what is presented to the viewer inside the rink, and by the nature, interests, place of study and much more.
"SE" tells in more detail about the heroines of Russian figure skating, who will play Game of Podium Places in the European Championships late January.


Shcherbakova: intelligence personified

Anna stood in the shadow of her two peers for a long time: Trusova was singled out because of the abundance of quads, Kostornaya - because of quality inspired skating. However, Shcherbakova managed to play on the balance sheet - she has a quadruple Lutz, which she performs excellently, achieving the absolute record in points for one element among women - 15.94 at the Russian Championships 2019 and 2020. And there is progressive skating, a performance in two very different parts with a change of dress between them.
Yes, and Anna herself answers the questions, perhaps the most detailed among the whole trinity. Anna has good English, which not all Russian athletes can brag of (Yevgeniya Medvyedeva does not count).

Anna turned out to be at the rink by accident - her sister was being trained in figure skating. And her career in the group of Eteri Tutberidze was difficult: Yuliya, the mother of the athlete admitted in an interview with TASS that at some point she offered her daughter to quit. Skater's parents are far from figure skating by specialties: father is a physicist, mother is a geologist.
But Anna overcame herself, became the first performer of the quad Lutz in competitions, won two Russian championships back to back and now strives to make "Shch" the main letter in the trio.

Kostornaya: different and ambitious

Alyona is the most mature of the trio. Both in skating, and in positioning yourself. Witnesses even claim that Alyona is sitting separately in the locker room. However, this does not have to mean something bad. Alyona herself said in due time to the FFKR press service:
“ I am not an easy person. ” <> First, I will see how a person behaves, what she does, and only then I will begin to talk with her. It's just that not everyone understands this. They think I'm arrogant. But this is actually not the case.

Even if you admit that Alyona is a difficult person, she conveys the image of an angel very organically. Although at a recent show in Italy she appeared already as a vampire. Which she really likes.
Kostornaya is not shy about showing her ambitions. She even took her second place in the Championship of Russia rather painfully. Being talkative after a victorious and record breaking short program, after her free program Alyona closed herself up. Following the rapidly learned triple Axel, the Muscovite plans to master a quadruple jump.

Probably, Alyona wants to arrive in time before the age of 21, for which she outlined leaving ... to study medicine. The girl seems to see the future and understands how current women's skating works. And she is going to study for becoming a neurosurgeon. Well, the nerves of this 16-year-old skater can only be envied. We hope that she will wield a scalpel (if necessary) no worse than the sharp edges of her blades.

Trusova: athlete down to the marrow

Aleksandra is the most technically gifted of all Tutberidze’s pupils, and figure skaters in history. If she masters the quadruple Rittberger, then among all skaters of both sexes. But what really impresses is her simplicity and excitement. Another would have tried long ago to lower the bar, to throw a couple of quads out of the program - it is obvious that because of them points are lost. But Sasha stubbornly jumps to the maximum of what she can, and perceives failure with a smile and even greater courage. Five? I would like to jump, but am not allowed. Compete with men? Yes, Easy! The main thing is that there should be "movement".

The only exception to this sporting mood was the Championship of Russia, when after the free program, Trusova's face was accompanied by emotions associated with overstrain. But she probably needs to know how many jumps to insert into her program. The main thing is that she does not change herself.

“ I rarely cry. Only when something doesn’t work out for me and I don’t know how to fix it. After the competition, it happens when it was not possible to do everything I am able of. And I don’t think it’s a shame to cry, ”
said Aleksandra several years ago, at the beginning of her path full of records.

Aleksandra goes to the European Championship. It is unlikely that anything could prevent her from going to the World Championships. But this season, she still has no victory in a major tournament - only at the stages of the Grand Prix over Yevgeniya Medvyedeva, who according to Svetlana, the mother of the figure skater, was chosen by her daughter as her example. So - now it's Trusova's turn.

So is she in school. As “SE” has learned from Aleksandra's teacher, she studies for “fives” and “fours” and is engaged in courage. Unlike Anna and Alyona, Sasha attends the Sambo-70 lessons outside the rink. But teachers of non-sport related subjects are sad that the athlete will not have a golden childhood.

As for her future outside of figure skating, Aleksandra was always distinguished by her love for animals. She herself did not rule out that she would want to realise herself in activities related to our smaller companions.

What will happen at the European Championship?

Around the three skaters, now there is some negative added by Japanese media. Yahoo News noted not the most hospitable, in their opinion, behaviour at the Russian Championships, Kostornaya and Trusova, who “payed no interest to the press conference”.
Well, probably, it is optimistic to expect talkativeness from those who lost the struggle for victory. Although even after the short program, the girls laughed, discussing how they would sound the template for any interview to journalists “satisfied with my skating run, but there is something to work on.” But to say it was evil laughter or good, I can't presume. The final press conference began about an hour after the end of the competition, and the girls, as far as I know, really were not eager to appear in front of the cameras.
Of course, press conferences are part of the work of a public person, and quarreling with the Japanese is generally an unnecessary and unprofitable business. But to make a tragedy out of what happened is also wrong. We hope that in Graz the Japanese, if they get there, and the Russians, and in general all of our performances in and outside of the rink will be satisfactory.

(c) Дмитрий Кузнецов
-----
From: https://www.sport-express.ru/figure...-v-zhizni-pochemu-ne-lyubyat-yaponcy-1633270/
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
"Madness of the brave ..." the why about Trusova's 5 quads and triksel

Greetings to all figure skating fans who have looked at my blog. The topic of today's discussion is the content announced by TShchK for the European Championship. In particular, we, figure skating enthusiasts and TShchK fans, are interested in the program of Sasha Trusova, because Anya and Alyona, as it was clear from the beginning, stabilised their programs, and their task is to skate that content out to the maximum.

But with Aleksandra, the story is much more interesting. Trusova goes her own way, and her path is to maximise the complexity of programs in order to exclude the possibility of competition. In business, avoiding direct competition is called the “blue ocean strategy,” and this is exactly what Sasha describes in figure skating. Many fans have already scolded Sasha for trying to “grasp the immensity”, call her venture crazy, roll a barrel on Team Tutberidze, which supposedly put experiments on the child, which is already completely, in my opinion, passed, because the only thing that Sasha’s coaches are always trying to do is to reason a little; only complete inadequacies can seriously think that the idea of ​​putting a triksel and 5 quads can come from Team Tutberidze.

In order to understand the motives and logic of Sasha’s strategy, let's look at her competitors. Sasha's main competitor is Anya, her maximum possible base value with 3 quads is 121.86 points. Alyona is seriously inferior in base value, her current maximum is 107.80 points. Yes, she, too, can have the same score with a clean skating rung, but Russian Nationals and Grand Prix Finals, and, therefore, Shcherbakova should be taken as a guideline. Sasha knows that she loses the second mark to both friends (and this is objective) and she also needs to compensate for about 1-2 points in the short and another 3-4 points in the free relative to Anna, for a total of 4-6 points. At the moment, the difference in the second rating is about 5 points in favor of Anna according to the results of the GPF (103.68 versus 98.73), moreover, Anna's scores are growing quite quickly in the season, but Sasha's are not. Of course, they can also grow, but this should not be laid down, and we will take into account the current trend in the calculations, and it is stagnantly downward.

So, in order to compete on equal terms with Anya, Sasha’s base must be more than 128 points, subject to clean skating runs and maximum levels of non-jumping elements.

The main issues that arise from Sasha's latest Sasha skating runs:

1. Why does she need a raw triksel? Are 4 quads not enough against Anna and Alyona?

2. Why 5 quads in the free program? We put the triksel in the SP, 4 quads in the FP - and this is a guarantee of victory.

3. As a consequence of 1 and 2 - why triksel and 5 quads? This is suicide.

Let's look at the main layout options for SP and FP, which Sasha can vary, and compare the bases of these programs.
links to tables with layouts and values: https://i.trbna.com/preset/wysiwyg/0/fb/111b83bb711ea94c3c00fb2d7bd36.jpeg and https://i.trbna.com/preset/wysiwyg/1/97/ed3c43bb711ea9cf0c00fb2d7bd36.jpeg

And we will bring all the options into one table to look at the final result:
links to summarised table: https://i.trbna.com/preset/wysiwyg/2/28/888a23bb711ea8b58d434acbf66fd.jpeg

So, we see that the first option just with 4 quads does not suit Sasha right away, the difference in the second assessment outweighs the handicap in the base and leaves Sasha an outsider. Of the two following options, Sasha would have suited the second one, with trixel in the SP - it’s easier to warm up quads and easier to skate out on physical effort in the FP (to be honest, I can hardly imagine how Aleksandra can jump two quads in the second part, and even Lutz-Toeloop with the last chord and save strength on the steps sequences, rotations and not ruin her presentation). So, option 2 is suitable, but it is a parity option - Sasha has no obvious advantage over Anya “do your own and win”, because here a lot will depend on a variety of factors - how much Anya will add in the second assessment, who will jump their quads more cleanly and get higher GOE's. Yes, we keep in mind that 5 quads versus 3 give an advantage in GOE, but we mean that Anyo has two superior quads, one of them in a cascade, and higher grades for non-jumping elements. In addition, Alyona recently clearly demonstrated how 13.5 points in base value difference are almost recouped, and here we are talking about 2-3.

Therefore, the only option that leaves Sasha in a comfortable situation and allows her not to depend on the skating runs of her competitors is to jump 5 quads and a triksel. This gives an advantage of almost 11 points in the database, 5-6 points with a discount on the second rating and even leaves the opportunity to make a little mistake somewhere.

In addition, Sasha has a rich experience of confrontation with Anya:

- at the Junior World Championhsips, the girls competed with bases 111.12 and 102.42 (8.7 points advantage for Sasha), and only a poor landing on Anya's quadruple ensured Sasha's victory;

- at the 2019 Russian Championship the difference was 6.42 in favour of Sasha (111.12 versus 104.77) and Trusova lost by hundredths of a point;

- at the Grand Prix Finals, the difference in the base was already in Anya's favoor (with her “pop” on the quad, but nonetheless), Sasha lost almost 8 points.

As you can see, Sasha never went out on the ice against her friends, not having a solid supply base value of the declared content.

After analysing the numbers, I come to the following conclusion: Trusova does not declare such content because she is stupid, reckless or not interested in winning. Not at all! Sasha clearly understands her own trump cards and the strengths of her competitors. I remind you that when she was asked in an interview " what will you what do you do when the others will jump quads? ", she answered with no hesitation:" I will jump five. "5 quads and triksel at the European Championships are not the whim of a jumping girl, but a conscious and mathematically sound choice of a person who wants to win in that way, by which she always won in juniors - creating a base handicap.
-----
From: https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/badmotherfucker/2703032.html
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Kvitelashvili: “ Jumping by the girls from Tutberidze's group motivate. I want to strive for such a level ”

Georgian figure skater Morisi Kvitelashvili praised his short program performance at the European Figure Skating Championships in Graz, Austria.

Kvitelashvili took fourth place, having received 82.77 points for his program. He lost to the Russians Arthur Danielyan (84.63) and Dmitry Aliyev (88.45), as well as the Czech Michal Brezina (89.77).

“Not quite happy with my skating run. I was well prepared, didn't worry, enjoyed myself. It’s a pity not everything worked out.

Are my main rivals here? I try to do my job, the judges will decide everything. It does not affect which of the coaches is with me. There is no one who is better with someone, worse with someone.

Jumping by the girls from my group motivate, they raise the bar for figure skating to the highest level. I want to strive for this level. Why is everybody jumping with Eteri Georgiyevna? We have to work, that’s all ”, Sport24 correspondent Konstantin Lesik quotes Kvitelashvili.
-----
https://sport24.ru/news/other/2020-...iruyut-khochetsya-stremitsya-k-takomu-urovnyu
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Sergey Rozanov: “ Khrustalniy” is a conveyor? We put a part of our soul into every athlete! ”

The coach from the group of Eteri Tutberidze, Sergey Rozanov, shared his attitude to the fact that Khrustalniy rink, at which the Tutberidze Team works, is called a "conveyor".

The main tournament of the upcoming week in figure skating is the Russian Championship among juniors in Saransk. The SE correspondent spoke with Sergey Rozanov, a coach of the Tutberidze Team, about the secret of Khrustalniy’s success at the conclusion of the Moscow Championship

-- Sergey, first of all, let me ask about you, because Google doesn't know. Do you work in the group of Eteri Tutberidze mainly with juniors, figure skaters under the age of 15?

- I work with all the athletes in our group, but in practice, I work more with those who are younger.

-- Do you consider yourself a coach rather, or a choreographer?

- I am engaged in coaching and staging programs. Initially, I did not work with programs, but Eteri Georgiyevna said that a trainer should be universal - be able to stage a program, work on sliding skills, and practice jumping technique. That teaches me how to do it all right. (smiles)

-- The group of Tutberidze is famous for quadruples, do you as a director think that choreography stands in the shade of technique? And because it has become stereotyped, and because the greater emphasis in figure skating is now on jumping.

- Figure skating is primarily a sport, choreography, in my opinion, is secondary. For good reason, it is the second mark in the table. But for convincing victories, of course, both scores must be high.

-- In the group of juniors, Valiyeva, Akat'yeva and Zhilina are now jumping quads. Is this information up to date, are others learning quads?

- Adeliya Petrosyan has already tried a quadruple Toeloop, there were tried-and-tested attempts, and so far without proper exits. I believe that she will master it in the near future.

-- At senior level, it is almost impossible to compete with Khrustalniy in women's single skating, but among juniors you go nose to nose with CSKA. Does it spur you on?

- If we talk about the Championship of Moscow, there were some mistakes made in the short program and elements. We are rivals, and competition is one of the engines of progress. So we need to work more.

-- Sometimes they say about Khrustalniy, it is like a conveyor, a factory. In a sense, this characteristic denigrates you - is it still a factory for the production of champions?

- Probably, however these words still do not sound very beautiful. We invest a part of ourselves, our soul, in each of our athletes, and these words “factory” and “conveyor” - they refer to inanimate objects.

-- How do you explain the success of the Tutberidze group?

- Love for our work, our charges and, of course, discipline. Love alone is not enough. Discipline gives you the ability to say "I'm tired, but I will do it", to fulfill the plan that you set for yourself or the coach. So you're able to, as they say, "squeeze" out a quadruple. And for all this, you need to be on time for your warming-up, never hesitate after a workout, and so on. So - labour, labour and labour again.

-- Does Eteri Georgiyevna have a weekend off?

- Very rarely. Most likely, this is due to the events and activities that she has in addition to the fact that she is on ice every day. She definitely has less days off than other coaches or athletes.

-- Which of your group is going to the Russian Championship? Everyone who was in Moskvich now? (The conversation took place before the announcement of the lists of participants. - "SE")

- Sof'ya Akatieva, Adeliya Petrosyan, Vsyovolod Knyazev. Well, there will be the older girls, Kamila Valiyeva, Dar'ya Usachyova, Maya Khromykh.

-- How to deal with injuries? Recently, Alyona Kanysheva had to switch to ice dance. Is there anything you can do about this happening? Or will it happen anyway when quadruples and complex elements are at stake?

- This is sport, no one is safe from injury, unfortunately. I do not know a single athlete who would not have any injury.

-- Have you ever heard of the abbreviation VUK?

- No, to be honest.

-- Valiyeva, Usachyova, Khromykh. By analogy with 'TShchK' ...

- Listen, I only found out what 'TShchK' is only three weeks ago. (laughs) In truth, I’m not very interested, I don’t follow this kind of news and abbreviations.

-- How do you look for a balance between school and children's activities? Conflicts with schools, parents do not arise?

- No, they don't, if you want, you can combine all of this.

-- Is Alina Zagitova training now and in what mode?

- Yes, she is training, in addition to doing other business. She is currently performing at the Art on Ice ice show in Switzerland. She has a busy schedule.

-- The last photo on your Instagram is with Viktoriya Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov. In this regard, I can not help but ask - how do you like their victory at the European Championship? Was there a shock?

- I am very happy for the guys. I would not say that I had a shock. There was a hunch that this was about to happen. I know how their team, led by Aleksander Zhulin, works and how Vika and Nikita give themselves to their work, how they like figure skating, don’t give up when it’s hard, they don’t change their minds. And they are on their way to the planned goal. Before they left, I wished them victory and I am glad that they managed to gain it.

-- Have you heard about the discontent of the French and the words of Roman Agenauer about the instructions to the judges not to put a lot of dozens of components?

- I don’t read news on figure skating. I like to be in the process of training, it's a thrill. I follow the performances of our girls, and then I let their performances sink in evenings, after training.

-- Allow me tell you the news. After the falls of Kostornaya, Shcherbakova and Trusova in the free program at the European Championships, talk began that the girls could not withstand the loads, it was said, they had a recession.

- I didn’t see anything like that. And I’ll say even more: we just haven't yet reached our the peak for the European Championship. Ahead is the main start of the season - the World Championships. We will work and prepare.

(c) Дмитрий Кузнецов
----
From: https://www.sport-express.ru/figure...-i-pochemu-travmiruyutsya-figuristki-1638139/
 

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
“ The smallest muscle gain instantly reflects in the jumping technique. ” Big interview with the physical exercise trainer from the group of Nina Moser.

An exhaustive figure skating guide by Vitaliy Moskalenko.

Vitaliy Moskalenko, a former track and field athlete and participant in the 2004 Olympics, has been working as a trainer in OFP, physical fitness training, in the group of Nina Moser for the past eight years. He was invited on purpose to the help Tat'yana Volosozhar - Maksim Trankov in 2012, and two years later the athletes became two-time Olympic Champions.

Other famous students of Moskalenko: Kseniya Stolbova - Fyodor Klimov, Vera Bazarova - Yuriy Larionov, Yevgeniya Tarasova - Vladimir Morozov, Natal'ya Zabiyako - Aleksander Enbert.


From this interview you will learn:

- Is it possible to be a top skater without doing general physical training
- How to create the illusion of ease gliding
- What will happen to the quadruple jumps in the women's singles if you raise the minimum age
- Why Russian male singles lose to Americans and Japanese
- How athletes' motivation is changing ahead of the Olympics
- Why athletes are silent about their injuries, and coaches do not believe them
- Is it possible to reduce the number of injuries
- What competitive advantage does knowledge of psychology give, and why is it used so little in Russia

“ I always tell my athletes - Training is lasting the whole day long, it doesn't end when you leave the ice or get home from the rink ”

-- Vitaliy, to begin with, let's clarify what general physical training gives to the skaters. The popular opinion is endurance, the ability not to "die" by the end of your skating run. Right?

- If you go deeper, there is a special training, not even physical, but functional. The main work is still carried out on ice - at certain times, athletes repeatedly skate out their program one after the other. There is a short break between runs, and then they again go to the program. That is, they haven't had time to relax, how to do it again. Thus, special endurance is gained.

-- What, then, is the meaning of OFP?

- To gain intermuscular coordination. When there are many movements, when the whole body is working, our body must control all the muscles. Only in this way the beauty and ease of skating is achieved. And OFP gives strength. If you look at the pair skaters, the same Tat'yana Volosozhar, each muscle is visible - on her back, on her legs, on her hands. Everything is drawn. She is like a string.

There is a culture of movement - a flat back, beautiful handwork. Someone is slouching, used to skate while looking at the ice, and in competitions you need to look at the judges and spectators. When the head is tilted down, the body also stretches down, and this is already ugly.

Look at gymnasts. They walk with a straight back up to 80 years old, already being grandmothers, like girls, is a habit. It is necessary to force the brain to follow the culture of movement in any exercise. Then you will stop noticing it, and everything will look one level higher. The one who listens and accepts this often becomes the best athlete.

-- Is it possible to be a top skater and not engage in the gym?

- In pair skating this is impossible, I say this from my responsibly. When foreigners come to me without any OFP, it can be seen from the results, and how they look on ice. At first it is very difficult for them, they simply are not adapted to such loads. My athletes are already used to it - after the ice off to the OFP, in addition to this choreography, there can be additional jump training on the ice. And if we are at the training camp, they do it all day.

If you take the OFP in the context of singles skaters, there is some ambiguity. I’ll just state my opinion. Most likely, many do not do physical fitness at this age, as the coach is afraid the'll break something. Girls are small, they are only developing, and it is better not to interfere with this development. A large number of hormones enter the bloodstream, the body grows, and the result grows every day. Someone is talented by nature, she is able to jump easily, including quadruples. And then you can not intervene, but only help a little.

And when someone, for reasons of a different path of development and constitution of their body, can't jump, and then you need to deal with it.

I now work a lot with singles, usually everyone comes for jumping class. This race for quadruples ... If the girls do not jump even triple, they cry, worry ...

-- Because without triples they can finish their careers?

- Yes, because their peers already jump quads, and someone without a triple ....

However, they are not necessarily weak physically. Much depends on who the children started to train with. If the trainer did not put the jump technique, did not explain how to work with her legs, to push off, - naturally, the child does not push off. Although there are children who do not even need to be educated, they push themselves correctly. There are a lot of nuances here, therefore, it cannot be said that everyone absolutely needs OFP or not. The talent of a trainer is to find the key to every child.

-- Is this possible in the general conditions of a large group in a sports school?

- When there is a large flow and there is plenty to choose from, of course, the coach won't think: “I will work on this, and the athlete will jump.” If here and now there is more good material - they will take it. Competition is created in the group, everyone is looking at each other. Stars are born in this competition. Maybe there is no need to give them a lot of physical fitness burden at this age. They do it by themselves.

At the same time, you can mark out a child today, and in 2-3 years it will overtake the one who previously showed better results.

It happens differently. Let's say a girl at the age of 15 jumps quadruples. And after 2-3 years, when the period of puberty begins, she will stop jumping - she will grow, temporarily lose coordination of movements.

A lot depends on how you distribute the loads. If the slightest muscle gain occurs, it instantly affects the technique of jumping and other elements. It takes time to get used to.

-- An example begs it. Aleksandra Trusova during the season has grown significantly and visually added in muscle mass. Could this affect the fact that she ceased to land quadruples steadily?

- Yes, she is growing. And I often came across this. Is so happened with the pair of Fyodorov - Miroshkin. While Lina was small, everything worked out for her. And when she began to grow and it became necessary to do serious elements, she was already inadequate due to physical conditions. Lina was required to jump, but at that moment she could not push off properly, so there were no jumps. The couple broke up, because all efforts did not lead to a result.

As a trainer, I have my vision and train of thoughts. I can say, I was born in sports, I've been here all my life. I see who works, and as a coach with an experienced eye, I understand what a person is capable of. Someone forces events in order to get the result earlier. Now many are striving for this - to have time to win. Not that it’s bad, just then you stop paying attention to important things, you do not give your child time to mature.

-- Raising the age limit would affect the situation?

- If you raise the age, over time, the girls who jump quadruples at 15 years old, will jump them at 18 years old. The body will adapt to the different weight, height, center of gravity. In order for the jumps to return, you may need to spend a year on them. But there is no time - as soon as you stopped jumping, you've lost your spot.

“ Many coaches think that when you train jumping every day, quadruples will appear by themselves ”

-- Are boys and girls training differently?

- Up to 12 years, girls develop faster than boys. It sometimes even gets ridiculous: girls sometimes carry 5 kg, which is hard for boys. However, after the first puberty, boys begin to catch up and get ahead. Training is different, a lot really depends on physiology.

-- Is there a difference in load between juniors and seniors?

- Work with seniors is more accurate. Responsible series one by one, and most importantly - trying not to harm. When I have been working with them for a long time, I already know how much time they need to recover from a particular load. I always try to find out what they have been doing on the ice so that I could adjust my load “in the dry hall”. To prevent messing up, for example when they've jumped, come to me, and I'll give them jumps again. It often happens that I have this job planned, and they come tired from the ice. Then I change the training plan and spend it facilitated so that tomorrow the athletes can go out in the best condition.

With the young you work in a different way. They recover faster. And even if tired, young people come to me, and I will give them the load according to the plan, they will digest it, get enough sleep at night and come back fresh in the morning.

But the main thing is the quality of the load. You can give little, but it will bring more benefits. Juniors generally perform their exercises anyway.

-- Should there be a balance between exercises for different muscle groups?

- If you give jumps today, tomorrow you shouldn’t even approach them at all - otherwise the body simply will not have time to absorb what has been learned.

I have a girl who jumps every day. I told her parents - well, this is wrong. For her mind, it takes at least 48 hours for the body to respond to the load. And they demand from her - work out according to the plan, everyone jumps, except you. Many trainers think that if you give jumps every day, children will start jumping quads by themselves. But this is untrue. Jumping 2 times a week is better than a daily repeat.

Our coaches are often illiterate, poorly educated. And then the athletes have to retrain the technique of jumping, skating. Maybe someone will take offense at me, but it's true.

Not everyone even knows about physiology. They give children up to 12 years old some crazy exercises, although they need to work only with their own weight in order to strengthen their ligaments.

-- How can the problems of inadequacy in children's trainers be fixed?

- At least they should wish to develop themselves. I do not consider myself an ideal, but I try to go to all the continuing education courses I'm called to attend.

-- In training, usually there is a lot of routine work. How to motivate athletes to perform this qualitatively?

- It is necessary to create conditions for them to be interested. I often went to Sirius (an educational center in Sochi. - “Match TV”), worked with children. If, for example, you put two in a pair and give the exercise in a playful way, then each individually will do it by 50 percent. And in a pair - 100 percent. Because there is competition, no one wants to show that he is weaker. Such a tricky move.

They like to work with objects - elastic bands, body bars, fitness balls. When you choose such a training, everyone works with pleasure. But there is also a necessary tedious job - static exercises. When without movement you strain certain muscle groups. Even adults do not like statics. You have to go through this, even if it’s boring.

Today, the sun is out, the mood is good, the athlete came to the gym and did everything. Tomorrow there will be clouds, a depressed state, hunting after sleep, but here it is necessary to work. Every day I choose a tactic depending on their condition and our goals. Sometimes you need to break yourself and work out to the maximum, even if you have no strength. Sometimes it’s different.

-- Are there problems with discipline in training?

- In Russia, yes. We have sports on state support, and athletes do not always take this responsibly. If someone came to me to be lazy - I do not hold back 'Leave, go sit in the corridor'.

In America, the skater knows that parents pay money for their lessons, or they even pays for themselves, and his motivation is higher. They literally look into your mouth. They work with full dedication. They are very respectful of specialists. For our young athletes, it seems that specialists hold no authority. Every time I have to deal with education.

Why, for example, our male singles loose to the Americans or the Japanese. See how they work in terms of motivation and bestowal. I always tell my athletes - the training lasts all day, it does not end with the exit from the gym or from the ice. And it's not about jumping or crouching all day. You just need to be aware of everything you do. To analyze what and how you have been doing, to understand what needs to be worked on further. Take books on psychology or motivation, read, develop. If you do not develop, another one develops, and he will ultimately beat you.

The older the skaters become, the more awareness comes to them, why all this is necessary. First, they skite as they are, and think nothing else is needed. And then they learn the difference between their form before OFP and after OFP. And then they come vy themselves, they say - we need this, let's go. This is a balm for the soul of a coach.

“ It is possible to pump your body to do five throws in training, but like a race car drive you need to keep a cool head so you can reach the finish line ”

-- How do the training plan and the competition schedule compare?

- During the preparatory period for the season, muscle mass always grows. We give the athletes loads, as if we are investing money in the bank in order to receive dividends. Then, during the season, the muscle mass goes away, the athlete comes to his competitive weight and shows the result that was sought from him.

A week before the start, we usually stop training in the gym, because the athlete begins to recover from the load and come to peak form. The difficulty is that this start is not the only one of the season, there are many of them. There is this main thing - you need to be in better shape for the next. All the rest is a wave-like approach to these peaks.

-- Is it realistic to take a new athlete and quickly improve his physical characteristics?

- It takes time for every new pair. Unfortunately, I had a negative experience. The dancers who have now won the European Championship (Sinitsina - Katsalapov. - “Match TV”). I was sent to Sochi to work with them. I’m telling them: I don’t know you, I don’t feel it yet, so let's start slowly, and then we'll see. As a result, on the second or third day, the partner aggravates an old injury. He's had surgery on one shoulder, we didn’t touch that one, we worked with him on the other shoulder, and it turns out to be the same problem. But I didn’t know that. In this regard, it is dangerous to take on new athletes.

The camp session, in general, went the wrong way. They completed it somehow and then we did not meet again. Although I warned everyone from the very beginning.

Athletes should tell the coach everything, especially the new ones. Were there injuries? Tell me right away. I have been in sports for so many years that I know how to recover from injuries. If I understand that something hurts, I build the training so that the problem is solved and even strengthen the weak spot.

-- Maybe they just got used to being silent about their injuries? To avoid problems, everyone prefers to appear healthy.

- Used to. Sometimes they will come to the coach complaining of pain, and he will send them back - go to work. When this happens once or twice, the situation worsens and leads to a real injury. The coach begins to lament: “Well, where were your eyes, why did you remain silent!” But the coach should have understood. There are freeloaders - those who abuse your confidence.

-- In an ideal world of sports, should health be an area of ​​common responsibility?

- Yes. A trainer is a person who should not heal an injury, but prevent it. See a few steps ahead. It’s better to rest for a day or two if something really hurts, and then continue to work. But many people think: why skip, every day counts, endure. But it is better to skip two days than 3 weeks.

If athletes after each training session regularly took 10-15 minutes to stretch themselves, run and cools down, their injuries would decrease by 70-80%. But this advice passes them right by their ears, I have to remind them.

They also told us this in athletics. And then one day you decide to try, for a while you observe this rule and notice that there really are no injuries. There were, but now - not anymore. At this moment, the most important thing is not to relax. If there is no injury, then you are doing something right, continue that way.

-- As you approach the Olympics, is the nature of your work somehow changing?

- When the Olympic Games are ahead, it was always very easy and interesting for me to work. There was no need to persuade and force anyone. Whatever task I set for them, they all performed flawlessly. At one time it was possible to work individually with a couple, the other it was to work together, and such trainings are like a competition: who will do better, more, further.

People do not know what happens to athletes when they prepare for big starts. For example, Tanya Volosozhar before the Olympics was injured, twisted her leg. That happened 2 weeks before the Games on a throw. She came to me for training, and we worked on her feet. At the training camp in Krasnodar, they still thought whether she could even jump or not. Tanya as a person is very courageous, she'll pass any test. How many injuries ... and cuts, and bruises, and what just was not. This injury was also healed, the foot was taped, and she performed impeccably. There was not even a hint that something was hurting her.

-- You speak with such warmth about Volosozhar - Trankov. They will probably remain a special pair for you forever?

- This were my first pair, plus I worked with them for 4 years - the longest. Good warm relationship. When we meet, we communicate with pleasure.

-- Many team skaters spend every weekend in the sauna. What does this give them?

- The bathhouse is one of the restorative techniques, along with massage and leisurely swimming. Lactic acid leaves the muscles with sweat, and blood flows through the capillaries more easily. Plus it switches off your thoughts. Rest in general should be active. If you rest lying on the bed - you will not recover, but you will get tired even more.

-- Is it possible to quickly get in shape after a rest?

- The first week after the rest you need to work only in the gym, so that the general fitness coach will correctly prepare the ligaments. Then you can already release athletes on the ice and start doing throws and jumps.

A common mistake of many trainers is to immediately give a big load. After 2 days, everyone comes rewound - shoulder, elbow, knee, back. Because the ligaments after relaxation are relaxed and not ready, and at the same time they suffer first: the muscle tenses, it begins to twitch on the attachment of the ligaments. The efforts are great, but the structure is still weak. At this point, inflammation occurs.

I just see it more than once in figure skating. Watch handball, basketball. They are all taped togehter, not only because they are tall and heavy, but because they do not pay attention to the preparatory work.

-- It seemed to me that you pay a lot of attention to the psychological component of preparation. Am I correct?

- Psychology and physiology are closely related. You can’t go far in sports alone. Someone, for example, before the start, is pinched so much that his face is pale, his lips are blue. The man is afraid, the capillaries are contracted, the permeability in the muscles is lower, less oxygen is delivered to the cells. The result is usually disastrous. We also need to work on this. Success is half dependent on the psychological state.

I ask: what are you most afraid of when you go to the start? “I'm afraid to jump.” Why do you even think about it? You must be certain to jump. If you approach with this promise, you'll jump. And if you’re afraid, you most certainly won't jump.

Only those who work both on physics and psychology become Olympic champions. I compare this to Formula 1. The car may be the best, but if the drivers is uneducated, he will not be the first to arrive. So here it is: you can pump up you body, do five throws in training, but when you, in the driving seat, are weak in your head, you will not bring your car to the first place.

Another secret, so to speak, is the psychological work with an opponent. An example from athletics, when you come to the sector, having done your preparatory work, it will mentally affect your rivals. I often tell this to my students, they listen with big eyes and open mouth - can this really be done? Can. By acting on another, you suppress his will. Even if your opponent is stronger than you, he will begin to doubt himself when he sees your confidence. He will think - wow, this is a tough one.

In the West, this practice is very common. We are a rarity, as this is not accepted at system level, because many coaches themselves do not know this. With an understanding of psychology, the results would be higher. And without any doping.

DOSSIER “MATCH TV”

Vitaliy Moskalenko was born on July 31, 1974 in Ashgabat
From the age of 6 he began to engage in athletics at Ter-Avanesov with Yevgeniy Mikhailovich
Disciplines: triple jump, long jump. International Master of Sports
In 1997 he moved to Moscow with his coach, in 1999, for the first time became Champion of Russia
In 2003, he qualified for the World Championships, in 2004 - for the Olympic Games
In 2006, he completed his career by starting to work as a track and field coach. Several people under his leadership received the title of Master of Sports
In 2012, Vitaly was invited to work with figure skaters Tat'yana Volosozhar - Maksim Trankov
The main goal of the joint work was the Olympics in Sochi, where Volosozhar - Trankov eventually became two-time Olympic champions
From 2012 to the present, Vitaliy Moskalenko has been working as a general physical training trainer in the Nina Moser group
-----
From: https://matchtv.ru/figure-skating/m...shoje_intervju_trenera_po_OFP_iz_gruppy_Mozer
 
Top