Sasha News

millie · Jan 28, 2006

Sasha and Nicks has taken on a new assistant coach that specializes in speed and the strenghts of her programs. They are trying to up the ante going into the Olympics with a no holds barred kind of attitude. She was supposed to make some kind of announcement over the weekend. There is some talk about it on FSU and Sasha Fans. Just taught that you would like to know.

brinababy87 · Jan 28, 2006

I really think this is a smart choice. If Sasha could get more speed into her program she could be more comparable to Irina.

Longhornliz · Jan 28, 2006

I know that speed is a good thing, so i am glad to see her making these steps. But why is speed a good thing? Having not seen competitive skating live I dont know if speed over the ice in between moves is something to value over artistry? On tv speed is very hard to measure, and its not like skaters fly over the ice in the shows ive seen live like COI and SOI.

Why is speed an added element? Someone with skating experience want to school me on this?

brinababy87 · Jan 28, 2006

Speed doesn't mean more stroking, it means more control, more push off of the strokes you have. Speed is something hard to judge from a television, but if you watched Sasha live years ago (and even recently) it's obvious that it takes her longer to get from one end of the rink to the other. It just looks like she has less command of the rink, I guess.

Enero · Jan 28, 2006

I'm glad that she's doing this too. However, can one tremendously improve their speed over a short period of time? Or would that take several months of work. Also, I wonder what goes into speed training. What kind of on or off ice techniques are used.

sk8rgrl3 · Jan 28, 2006

It is more difficult to do you elements when you have a lot of speed. Everything happens faster. When you are learning new jumps, you generally learn them going very slow or like the axel, from a stand still. Going slow helps you feel the positions that you need to hit to do the jump successfully. Gradually, you begin to add speed as you gain more confidence in the jump. When you see skaters going very fast into jumps they get more credit because it is more difficult. It is very hard to judge on television.
I went to Skate America in 97' and could not get over how slow Michelle Kwan was in comparison to Tara Lipinski. Tara skated rings around her when it came to speed.

Enero · Jan 28, 2006

Thanks for answering sk8rgrl3! Considering how added speed affects the execution of the elements I guess it'll take some time to build.

orchid · Jan 28, 2006

Oh, good! At the last minute, Sasha realizes she has to improve her skating.

This is the sign of a real champion, All bal-s out for the Olympics.

Misplaced Gymnast · Jan 28, 2006

orchid said:
Oh, good! At the last minute, Sasha realizes she has to improve her skating.

This is the sign of a real champion, All bal-s out for the Olympics.

No worse than Kwan "realizing she needs to add a 3/3," Orchid. :rofl:

brinababy87 · Jan 28, 2006

Ok, about the "oh, she only started working with her now" response.

From the sounds of the poster from SF who skates at Sasha's rink, Sasha didn't just start working with her. She was like "Oh, that's Fay. I know her. Yeah, she works with Sasha."

I do not know, but I imagine perhaps Sasha has been working with her since TEB, where people were saying Sasha looked slow compared to the other skaters.

orchid · Jan 28, 2006

Misplaced Gymnast said:
No worse than Kwan "realizing she needs to add a 3/3," Orchid.

Roll on the floor all you want, point is Sasha has only come to know what she needs to do in the past weeks. Michelle knew she "needed: the 3/3 for a decade, but won championships without.

2nd point, is with a couple of weeks before Olympics, SC is changing her skating sytle,
Good luck, miss,

LBC · Jan 28, 2006

I think Sasha has been working with this coach for quite some time and somebody at FSU decided to make it known. It isn't a big deal at all and I don't think there was going to be an announcement. Skaters use specialty coaches all the time.

orchid · Jan 28, 2006

brinababy87 said:
Ok, about the "oh, she only started working with her now" response.

From the sounds of the poster from SF who skates at Sasha's rink, Sasha didn't just start working with her. She was like "Oh, that's Fay. I know her. Yeah, she works with Sasha."

I do not know, but I imagine perhaps Sasha has been working with her since TEB, where people were saying Sasha looked slow compared to the other skaters.

To you too, SC has been slow for y e a r s. Now she figures it out, TEB must have been a mirace-revalation which at last became clear.

Ogre Mage · Jan 29, 2006

When a skater performs with speed, the entire performance just looks better although as others have said, it is much more noticeable live than on TV. Under the old 6.0 system, raw speed was generally factored under the technical mark, while "variation of speed" was measured under the presentation mark. Under CoP, I think speed is primarily measured under Skating Skills, though I could see how it might factor in under P/E as well. I assume it would also impact GOE on elements.

Joesitz (RIP) · Jan 29, 2006

sk8rgrl3 said:
It is more difficult to do you elements when you have a lot of speed. Everything happens faster. When you are learning new jumps, you generally learn them going very slow or like the axel, from a stand still. Going slow helps you feel the positions that you need to hit to do the jump successfully. Gradually, you begin to add speed as you gain more confidence in the jump. When you see skaters going very fast into jumps they get more credit because it is more difficult. It is very hard to judge on television.
I went to Skate America in 97' and could not get over how slow Michelle Kwan was in comparison to Tara Lipinski. Tara skated rings around her when it came to speed.

I disagree. Jumps are easier the faster you enter into them. Of course, your speed must be controlled and the jump should be executed in a textbook manner.

I agree. Spins can be a problem with speed. Again, it's controlled speed that works for the skater.

As for Sasha, I never find her really slow in her programs. Sometimes, I find her hesitant.

I think Irina's speed is overrated. I've seen faster skaters:

Carolina in the first half of her programs.

Alissa and I wish she would slow down and carefully do her jumps like Irina does before she jumps

Yuka, the fastest lady skater in the world and you would never know it because she covers the ice brilliantly.

As for Tara, well, bubble gum speed doesn't get to me. JMO

Joe

soogar · Jan 29, 2006

Why doesn't Sasha do this stuff at the BEGINNING of the season, or better yet, a few years ago.

soogar · Jan 29, 2006

Ogre Mage said:
When a skater performs with speed, the entire performance just looks better although as others have said, it is much more noticeable live than on TV. Under the old 6.0 system, raw speed was generally factored under the technical mark, while "variation of speed" was measured under the presentation mark. Under CoP, I think speed is primarily measured under Skating Skills, though I could see how it might factor in under P/E as well. I assume it would also impact GOE on elements.

Like Carolina at Euros. Irina and Elena looked like clunky woodchoppers compared to the flow Caro has in and out of her elements and over the ice. Caro was covering every inch of that rink. Plus Caro is smooth as silk.

soogar · Jan 29, 2006

Joesitz said:
I disagree. Jumps are easier the faster you enter into them.

No they are not. Look at Carolina to see how speed can adversely affect jumps. It is really difficult to do the prejump preparation (ie 3 turn before toe lopp) at high speed and maintain control over the jump. That's why slower skaters like Irina and Michelle have better consistency over their jumps than Carolina who tends to lose a lot of control over her jumps. Irina and Michelle stop everything as they set up for their jumps. Carolina doesn't and as a result, she is very hit or miss. I also notice that Klimkin's jumps have gotten more consistent as he is setting them up more carefully than he has done in the past.

millie · Jan 29, 2006

soogar said:
Why doesn't Sasha do this stuff at the BEGINNING of the season, or better yet, a few years ago.

Figure skating is like any other sport. Ice hockey, tennis, snow boarding, you just don't go out there immediately and become the best. To become the best at your sport you have to work at it, learn from your mistakes, listen to people who you think that can help you and try to improve or better what you have done in the past. You just don't go out on the ice and say I can do that and do it, you have to train and practice. Probably a few years ago she was learning other things, over the summer doing ballet, strenght training and building up her stamina. You can't do everything at once, you have to gradually build in to it. The sign of a true champion is that you never think you are the best, that there is always room for improvement. If you don't try to improve, someones gonna get ya.

millie · Jan 29, 2006

soogar said:
Like Carolina at Euros. Irina and Elena looked like clunky woodchoppers compared to the flow Caro has in and out of her elements and over the ice. Caro was covering every inch of that rink. Plus Caro is smooth as silk.

Smooth as silk is okay if you a talking about making a dress, but it ain't going to win the gold medal in skating, unless it's for the silk skating dress.

Sasha News

millie

brinababy87

Longhornliz

brinababy87

Enero

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Enero

orchid

Misplaced Gymnast

brinababy87

orchid

LBC

orchid

Ogre Mage

Joesitz (RIP)

soogar

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millie

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