Tarasova and control

Maybe she only feels this way with her more promising students.

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I think it's more than just promising vs. less promising. There are skaters (Russian singles Irina Nikolaeva comes to mind) who were not very promising, yet in whom TT was truly invested. OTOH, there are skaters (such as Fusar-Poli & Margaglio or Chair & Sakhnovsky), who WERE promising, whom she DOES help, but who are not so much "her" skaters.

And when "her" skaters break through to have incredible performances, you look at her, and you can't believe anyone could be that happy. Such were her reactions to Gretchuk & Platov in '98 (I think she was crying) and Yags in '02.

As an aside, I thought it was interesing that in a recent interview Yagudin was commenting on his experience as Griazev's coach at the junior GP. He says it's much more difficult than actually being on the ice!

I almost passed out after the first competition

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This is one of Alexei's quotes coaching Andrei. I just love it!!

Dee

J.O.B.

Coach T is controlling. SC is paying her, so why not pick the music, nail polish, outfit. SC is freed up to think about movement, consistency, and stretch; basically, SC focuses on skating and TT focuses on winning. TT is only working to produce the best skater. All coaches do that, so big deal.

Good discussion here ...

I remember thinking when we first found out that Sasha would be training with TT, that this was HUGE!!!
I felt TT would be just what Sasha needed ... someone with a sterner (not overly controlling) hand. I respect TT for the passion and concern she gives her pupils ... clearly she devotes herself to them. For Sasha, there has definitely been improvement ... no doubt. I felt last year was a bit disappointing ... in that Sasha clearly had the talent to medal at Worlds ... and that, at almost all her events, she was unable to skate two clean performances. I really felt badly for her at Nationals ... I think that pretty much took the stuffing out of her ... she looked devastated.

This year ... great win at Campbells ... but I'm not ready yet to say she's over the hump. She will need to perform up to her ability at Nats and Worlds. The Grand Prix is fine, but the real test will come in January. I don't think anyone would argue she is an extremely talented skater ... I just wonder sometimes if all this press/hype doesn't put extra pressure on her ... something she could do without.
I guess only time will tell.

Great thoughts everyone!

Hi Rgirl!!!

Norma

seeking expert comment...

nymkfan51 said:

Good discussion here ...

I remember thinking when we first found out that Sasha would be training with TT, that this was HUGE!!!
I felt TT would be just what Sasha needed ... someone with a sterner (not overly controlling) hand. I respect TT for the passion and concern she gives her pupils ... clearly she devotes herself to them. For Sasha, there has definitely been improvement ... no doubt.

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First, I'm ITA regarding the improvement, and I think almost all of us agreed that Tarasova and Sasha seemed like a great fit at the time; I think it will continue.

Now, I'm not a skater, just a fan, so I'm looking to see if anyone else noticed changes in Sasha's skating last year when she started with TT. Damon (my partner) and I both thought her jump landings were different- she seemed to be finishing deeper, with greater bend to her knee. We thought it might be adjusting her landings to handle a quad or just to improve control and flow out of the jump. It also seemed like that was causing some of her difficulties. We've kinda thought Tarasova was reworking her jump landings and that last year she was trying it out. Did anyone else notice that, or are we just making stuff up?

sk8fanconvert

Re: seeking expert comment...

sk8fanconvert said:

Now, I'm not a skater, just a fan, so I'm looking to see if anyone else noticed changes in Sasha's skating last year when she started with TT.
sk8fanconvert

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I did not see any notable changes in Sasha's skating last year (2002). I would suggest that she was TT's work in process during that year.

What I did see at Campbells, was a more relaxed Sasha. She was doing her thing to the most bravura music in Swan Lake and she was looking gooooooood! I think what TT accomplished was to have Sasha pace herself better. Prior to Campbell's, I saw her rushing from one element to the other. When you see the TV, I believe you will see how well paced her program is; how well she connects the elements; how the music suits her. This I credit TT with. The jump landings still have a bit of wobble to them but that is nothing so serious, because her whole demeanor has changed.

Joe

I don't think we should read too much into Sasha's performance at Campbells. She was relaxed? Why shouldn't she have been relaxed? She was last to skate and knew she only needed a clean performance. Everyone else basically bombed. I think we should hold off on our comments until the first actual skating competition.
Me....missing Sarah Hughes!!!

Overall, I didn't see any real changes in Sasha's performances last year. One can call last year the 'getting to know you' period for coach and skater. This year will tell the story.

BTW, I seem to recall that Sasha had her hair cut very short the season after her 1st silver at Nat's - this was the season where she ended up having to sit out due to injury.

Re: seeking expert comment...

sk8fanconvert said:

Now, I'm not a skater, just a fan, so I'm looking to see if anyone else noticed changes in Sasha's skating last year when she started with TT. Damon (my partner) and I both thought her jump landings were different- she seemed to be finishing deeper, with greater bend to her knee. We thought it might be adjusting her landings to handle a quad or just to improve control and flow out of the jump. It also seemed like that was causing some of her difficulties. We've kinda thought Tarasova was reworking her jump landings and that last year she was trying it out. Did anyone else notice that, or are we just making stuff up?

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Convert,
I noticed changes in Sasha's jumps similar to what you describe, but I can't say if they started when she changed to Tarasova. I saw Sasha skate at the "Stars, Stripes, and Skates" exhib, which took place about four to six weeks after Sasha started working with TT. I had an on-ice seat so I had a great view of the little things you can't see on TV or that are difficult to see from seats higher up. I've said this before so apologies to GSers who have heard it, but it looked to me as if Sasha was jumping with too much force "out" and not enough "up," so that she was forced to land with a deep landing knee in order to control the skid. But she could have been jumping like that with Nicks and I wouldn't have been able to see it on TV. When I saw her recently, from a third row seat, the force of her jumps looked more balanced and her landings, though still on the wobbly side, were better than last year's. But as Fossi said, Campbell's was just one competition. We'll have to see how she does over time.

But as to your question re what you and Damon saw in her landings, it's quite possible that Cohen changed her jump technique over that summer, changed it because of something TT told her, or perhaps the deeper knee bend you saw was something that had evolved gradually over time. I do know that after I saw the too much "out"/not enough "up" on her jumps live at "SS&S," I could then see it on TV.

I don't know if that helps or just adds more variance to the varying opinions I thought that overall Sasha was indeed a different skater with TT as compared to how she was with Nicks, though not necessarily technically. I thought she was less flighty, more serious, more consistent, less prone to letting her emotions overcome her technique--all this even though she still had problems with consistency, but not nearly as bad as she had previously. In the '01 GP series, she skated some programs that were complete bombs, ie, trying the quad, missing it, and then improvising the rest of the program only to increase on the disaster. By Nats, the Olympics, and Worlds in '02 I thought she was better, and for the most part I thought her '02/03 season was pretty much on the same level technically as it was at '02 Nats, Olys, Worlds. What seemed different was the awareness of discipline, the commitment to her skating, and the attempt at change. Sometimes her technique seemed solid, sometimes it was all over the place, which seemed to me to be par for the course for a skater like Sasha changing to a coach like TT.

So that's what I saw, for what it's worth
Rgirl

Could some of you be careful about posting spoilers? Some comments above pretty clearly told the results of Campbell's. Although I checked the results, I know some posters were hoping to go unspoiled.

Thanks!

Good point, Sandee. I'm as guilty as the next. One gets carried away especially when gushing.

My personal apologies to all, and in future care will be taken.

joe

We may have been seeing changes in Sasha's jumping over the past year or so because she was undergoing a growth spurt.

She was under 5' at the end of the '02 season and now she is 5'2".

Totally agree with most of the posts here about Tarasova's mothering style of coaching and Sasha's pony-tail. I notice it also that she seems to not pay enough attention to her hair to match up with the rest of her costume and make-up which is always gorgeous.

I remember Katarina Witt in her amateur heyday. She always took care of every thing from the hair down. Everything matched.

I would think Tarasova is very much in control and knows what she is doing for the skater. There are different types of coaches. Some are more disciplined than others. The main thing they are looking for is results; they do not want to waste their time nor the skaters. They also don't want a skater who is not disciplined and does not want to listen. I don't think it has hurt Sasha any to be under Tarasova's watchful eye. She is looking out for Sasha's best interests. I think Sasha's overall presentation has improved a great deal since being coached by Tarasova.

Sasha wore her hair in a bun for her Malaguena SP and I think it looked MUCH better than the ponytail she wore for the LP. I think she should stick with the bun.