What would you say to Alissa?

Hey, Golden Skaters,

(My first post; love the thoughtfulness of the contributors on this forum.)

What I started to wonder after Alissa's FS at the GP Final is, what would one say, as a coach, to her at that point? She has to be thinking, "Heck, here I am again, with my up and down seasons. Am I going to bomb again at Nationals?" It is well-established that Alissa has confidence issues. Injury or not, this result is likely to affect her psychologically. She seems to have a *very* close relationship with JD. I am not asking, "What do you think he actually says to her?" in those intimate moments after she leaves the ice, but what do you think a coach *should* say, both at that time and over the next 6-8 weeks?

Eager to hear your thoughts, Pepe Nero.

Nothing. I'd hug her and pat her back.

Welcome, Pepe Nero!

What would I say to her? I'd remind her that yesterday notwithstanding, she's still the only American to get to the Grand Prix final. Two Japanese, two Russians, and Kostner, but no Americans except for Alissa. Then I'd make her take out the medals she won in her Grand Prix events and look at them with a nice light source gleaming over them.

I hope that both her leg and her confidence heal quickly!

Welcome, Pepe Nero! We hope you post long and often.

I'd remind her how strong she is, and how she has risen from adversity before. And I'd definitely remind her that even being in the GPF is a big achievement.

Yes, she has to tell herself that she is injured and she did the best she could. Hopefully, she will be better by nats, but even if she is not, she is loved by many and of course she has her family and the rest of her life. Its all about perpective, and she will get through this. Just as Mao will get through her sorrow. Good article about AC in the current Skating magazine, along with the best pic I have ever seen of her inside (Not the cover pic)

Yes, that is a lovely pic of her.

The injury definitely affected her; hope it's not serious and that she will recover soon enough to get ready for Nationals. I would love for her to have a three-peat! Go Alissa, lovely lady!

I often wonder what coaches say. Depends on the coach I suppose. But all the above posts seem the right thing to say in this case. I suppose they also try to point out what might have gone wrong with a skate but also what went right (Hey, look at the way you hung on to those two landings. That shows mental toughness, or hey the judges obviously loved your skating in general given your short program score, that kind of thing.)

Well, I hope Alissa manages to be pain free by nationals. She is still the best American lady right now by some measures.

She is one of the top skaters in the world now together with Carolina, Mao, Akiko!

She can do it! She regroup and refocus!

Better to peak when it counts!

With someone who can be up-and-down like Alyssa, I think it helps that she can attribute her poor result to the injury. I'd tell her "you were bad because of your injury, not because you are going to be inconsistent again". So much of skating is in between the ears that if you can build your pupil's confidence they can really have better results than superior, but less consistent, skaters.

This is one thread that I hope the skater reads. It's got loads of constructive commentary and reflects the affection and respect her fans have for her.

I would say, "Good grief, girl, what was that?! OK, we've got that out of our system, now let's go get 'em at Nationals!"

Well, Mathman, no offense but I can just about guarrantee that her coaches didnt say that! I was watching Jason's body language and Alissa's eyes as he talked to her. If she wasnt injured, they might have said something like that...but an injury changes everything. I dont know J and Y hardly at all but from what others who do have said, I think she has the perfect coaches for her. I am sure they are very supportive of her and they have done wonders....from the little I have talked with her, and more importantly, her mother, I think she has a heart of gold, and that's worth much more than a chest of gold medals.....I am sayin' a little prayer tonight that she heals in time for nats....
Chris who doesnt heal quickly anymore

brightphoton said:

Nothing. I'd hug her and pat her back.

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As I remember, when Rachael skated injured at Worlds, she got raked over the coals pretty good.
Not many wanted to give her a hug and a pat on the back. She got slapped with a fine and a repremand.

PolymerBob said:

As I remember, when Rachael skated injured at Worlds, she got raked over the coals pretty good.
Not many wanted to give her a hug and a pat on the back. She got slapped with a fine and a repremand.

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That's because Rachael hid the injury from USFS. Alissa clearly did not. She was under a doctor's care.

Rachel/Alissa not the same situation

gold12345 said:

That's because Rachael hid the injury from USFS. Alissa clearly did not. She was under a doctor's care.

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and by hiding the injury and participating in a diminished state at Worlds Rachel undoubtedly directly caused the US to have only 2 spots for this years worlds - by participating injured at the GP Final , Alissa only hurt herself. I also wonder if she didnt withdraw because of Mao having to leave - it would have been awful tohave had only 4 ladies in the event?

Alissa was raked over the coals when she placed 12th at World's.

Let's be honest here. Alissa's performance at the Grand Prix final was embarrassing and awful, but nothing was at stake, except maybe Alissa's pride. Rachael's 2011 and Alissa's 2009 world performances resulted in 2 spots for the next year's World's, which affects other skaters. Rightly so, the reaction was much less sympathetic.

brightphoton said:

Alissa was raked over the coals when she placed 12th at World's.

Let's be honest here. Alissa's performance at the Grand Prix final was embarrassing and awful, but nothing was at stake, except maybe Alissa's pride. Rachael's 2011 and Alissa's 2009 world performances resulted in 2 spots for the next year's World's, which affects other skaters. Rightly so, the reaction was much less sympathetic.

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^^THIS:thumbsup:

i understand that unlike flatt's moscow worlds skate, AC's GPF performance didn't affect any other skater's ability to enter future competitions. that is a significant difference.

IMO AC's skate wasn't embarrassing and awful. in fact it showed her pride and determination, how fiercely she fought for some of those jump landings. it showed how far she's come that she could eek out those landings even when in pain and not at her physical best.

and i honestly don't think anybody has to say *anything* to her. she's clearly a strong person who's come back from much lower points than this. this performance was affected by injury.

no disrespect to the OP, who i think means well, but i think it's a bit unfair to her for anyone outside the situation to presume that she needs comforting, like she was profoundly shaken by this one bad skate, or thinks all the progress she's made with her jump consistency has gone away because of one skating-while-injured performance. i would have thought that her fans would have more faith in her own words--that she's a new skater now-- the 12th place finisher at worlds is long gone.

i have at times questioned the holding up of her spins and spirals as the ultimate standard. i still wonder about the non-calls of her underrotated jumps, still dislike her stiffness and narrow range, but i don't question her strength as a competitor or the improvement in her jump technique. and i wonder if well-meaning folks who rush to send her comforting words are all the while re-enforcing the notion that she's somehow terribly fragile, when she's in fact incredibly resilient.

I'd hug her and shrug. This is vintage Alissa. Let her do what she wants comp wise. I will eat my laptop if she ever wins a world championship. That is why she is still around. People tell her she has every quality and they see what she does is practice. It must be very nervewracking. I could nevr have done that as I suffered from no confidence, (not in skating) when i had "it all." So please don't think I have no sympathy for all of them. I have tons. but maybe a WC bronze if Asada, Suzuki, Leonova, Tut and of course Carolina all skate very badly. Well, at least three have to bomb. Injury maybe? Then why not announce what she pulled or strained and what to expect? She has lovely elements but i still get knots when she competes. It is not fun. I Ashley has two clean performances I will be disgusted if they don't give her silver or gold. This girl is a competitor. I don't get why some people feel she is mediocre, not world class?

Rachael -amazing gutsy Rachael is done on the intl scene. I hate to say this because she is someone worthy of admiration, but at her best, The intl judges gave her a 7th place, when the experts rinkside were surprised and clearly felt 5th and so did I. Great skating. She belonged up there with Asada, Kim, Rochette and a lights out surprise from Mirai in Vancouver. She will never be back in that Oly shape while being a Stanford student, commuting. USA judges like her and may hold her up but they should not. I know she is a true competitor, but I think she has reached her peak. She should not quit school or miss out on all the college experience because she has no big future even as a show skater. The judges know she is not a lifer and they actually factor that in. She is a USA Champion. She could skate 7 perfect triples and Carolina as one favorite would get gold at Worlds with 4 triples because they love her speed, her lines, etc. Rachael will figure out by the season's end that she can't stalk world tites in this shape. Maybe it is enough for her just to be at nationals and skate part time, but I don't think she wants to skate and get lower placements. She seems too proud for that. I also would be fair and guess the judges do not like Rachael's body type, which seems to affect her appeal to them. Everyone seems to say she is slow, her jumps seem heavy, and that she does not look athletic. It is wrong but looks and body type affect your marks. She is heavier now, for a petite girl, she cannot afford weight gain.

I dislike these judgements on women but skaters like Mao get lauded for being tiny fairies and tall skinny girls like Alissa are beautiful to the eye. Alissa can probabaly skate badly at Nationals as well as Mirai and make the world team. I want to see Ashley rewarded if she skates well. If Mirai bombs, maybe Agnes will skate well. Whoever goes to Worlds this year, I just hope Ashley is one.

I don't know what to expect of the 3 top US ladies champions. Every year that goes by makes it clearer how rare a competitor we had in MK.

I am a bit fed up but then it's probably me. No more patience with anyone. Bah Humbug!