Sasha Leaves Tarasova For Robin Wagner

the reason Robin saw her skater win the Olympic gold was because Sasha flubbed, and Sarah is a very focused person/skater

Sasha... can not compete WELL all the time without a competitor's focus...

I agree... I see some coach hopping in her near future!

or maybe this means that robin doesn't feel inclined to wait around till sarah decided to make a comeback. it's all about doing what she loves to do... and sasha obviously has the talent to become an OGM.. that could mean another one in the bag for her if she ever can get sasha to mentally focus and land those jumps. those edges just won't hold right now... is it poor tech. or lack of strength? we'll see if she ever can fulfill her potential.

After reading this and thinking back to watching the GPF Sasha and TT did seem a little cold to each other but I just thought it was due to her poor skate.
Is it just me or does it look like all / most of the Russian coaches are moving back to Russia? And most are saying it's for health reasons!
Personal I don't think Sasha will be happy with Robin and like others have saud maybe it's only until she finds another coach.
Dosen't Scott Williams have an opening...
Anyway best of luck to her, it's been in the last year that I've started to enjoy her skating.

Robin is a good coach

Robin is a good coach, she was coach of the year in 2002. Robin has money, and she can afford to devote herself 100% to just one student.

People tend to criticize Sarah's technique etc Look at Sarah, she is consistent, she has mental toughess, and she has good practice habits. Even though she sets up her jumping passes mirror image to the other skaters, there were no near misses. I credit a lot of that to Robin.

Sasha is fortunate to have Robin Wagner

Tarasova's health:
I don't know she has health problems, hope she is OK. At Reading TT looked OK, she sat in front of me one time, and she was yapping away in Russian with one of her friends for the entire duration of the competition that evening.

I'm no Robin fan, but I wouldn't fault her for Sarah's technique problems.

IIRC, Sarah came to Robin later, after she learned her jumps. They talked all the time about correcting her problems. The year that Sarah trained really hard with Robin, she won SLC with some of her best jumps ever. After SLC, Sarah woulnd't listen to Robin's pleas to train harder, and we saw a Sarah reverted back to her old bad habits at worlds 03.

Blaming a coach for failure to motivate a student is right up there with blaming your parents for all your shortcomings. It may keep shrinks rich, but in the end it's up to us to take control of our lives, not blame others for our own laziness.

Can't believe this! Robin seems like a coach that is more of a closer relationship type and Sasha wants total control. I would think that someone like Angela Nikidinov would do really well working with Robin. I would love to have someone like Robin as a coach, but I'm not so sure it's best for Sasha (or Robin!).

Sorry, I have never rooted for Sasha but I will have to now because I admire Robin Wagner so much. It almost makes me want Sasha to succeed just to prove that Robin is a great coach.

Well color me curious, whatever do you mean? Is there some backstage dirt on family Cohen? I could see if she was moving back to SOCAL, but she ain't. Go on girl, dish!

Who would have thought that after a somewhat lackluster fall with the Grand Prix Series that December would bring such a flurry of exciting news, with Plushenko's first loss of the season to Sandhu, Fumie Suguri once again placing higher than Sasha Cohen, and both Michelle Kwan and Cohen, arguably the US's two top female skaters, announcing coaching changes?

Before I discuss Cohen's stunning announcement, here is a link I saw at MFK to a Yahoo AP article on Cohen-Wagner paring written by Barry Wilner that tells how Sasha contacted Wagner during her vacation in Florida and finalized everything just this past week.

I have only watched skating in earnest since the Grand Prix Final of 2002 (the one where Michelle debuted her Miraculous Mandarin program), so I appreciated the contrasting longitudinal views that Rgirl and AdultSkater provided. I agree with their premises that a) Sasha is extremely talented, enough to be a national and world champion, and b) Sasha has nice shown improvement under the tutelage of Tatiana Tarasova. Both Malagueña and Swan Lake are excellent vehicles to highlight Sasha's flexibility, great spins, and dramatic flair. So given that things had appeared to be going well, why the split and what happens now?

One wonders whether different opinions regarding training or the programs, control and interaction issues, money, panic, other psychological concerns, the two recent losses, or some combination of the above sparked the coaching change. The USFSA and the above article bring the additional possibility of Tarasova's possibly deteriorating health. The Russian press appears to be able to get more frank answers out, so maybe we'll find out more about what sparked this change, but cynical as I am, I somewhat doubt that Tarasova's health has declined so precipitously as to warrant this situation weeks before Nationals. I think more likely that health concerns made good press but was probably not the primarily reason for the split; more likely was some of the issues mentioned above have been festering for a while, and the recent losses were the straw that broke the camel's proverbial back. Also whether Cohen or Tarasova was the force driving the split or whether it is truly mutual remains to be seen.

The sudden timing of the announcement only two weeks before Nationals conjures up memories of Michelle's announcement that she was dropping Frank Carroll as her coach months before the Olympics at Salt Lake. The results of Michelle's coaching changes over the years also highlights some possible short- and long-term outcomes. Will Cohen's decision seem as a maladjustive continuation of a vicious cycle, as AdultSkater implies and as Michelle's somewhat subpar Olympic season going coachless suggests, or will Wagner help Sasha with her technical (flutz and edges) and mental (focus and pacing) issues, as Michelle's renewed skating vigor at the 2003 Nationals and Worlds? In other words, a few steps back this year for a long term gain? Or will Sasha remain a skater with high potential but without the international results we expect from her talent and that she herself craves.

Only time will tell, and I hope for the former, but I am concerned that she will end up like a Nicole Bobek or Victoria Volchkova, never quite or consistently enough living to their potential. Like Rgirl, I think that a coach does have a vital role to play in developing mental toughness, but like berthes_ghost, I also think that there is some intangible, unteachable factor that converts talent and pre-performance jitters into a sparkling routine on ice. Unlike others, I like the choreography that Wagner made for Sarah Hughes' La Bayadere (except too many stops), may help Sasha mentally, and, as Hughes' Olympic performance showed, is a competent enough technical coach. Whether this is a match made in heaven or not is hard to gauge; after all, we thought that the Tarasova-Cohen teaming was ideal. I suspect Cohen's jump problems will lead her to win the silver or (if a meltdown) bronze at Nationals. After that, who knows?

Insecureedge (whose few posts have assumed Rgirl length)

berthes ghost said:

Well color me curious, whatever do you mean? Is there some backstage dirt on family Cohen? I could see if she was moving back to SOCAL, but she ain't. Go on girl, dish!

Click to expand...

Are you referring to MY post? If so, I don't have any dish--but I sure wish I did! Actually, I was really just wondering aloud what part Sasha's family played in this decision, if at all. I mean, I thought that Galina, being from the Ukraine and speaking the same language as TT, was close to her. The thought plickens!

THE TWO QUESTIONS!!!

The gist of my reply on the other SC/TT post is that it does not appear that anyone can answer:

1. What was the real reason for the split?

2. Why did she want to join Robin Wagner's camp?

When these two questions are truly answered, we can truly comment on them.

Joe

hmmm

all right..you've all got me thinking...

i'm not erasing/editing my previous posts on this, but i've changed my perspective...
we can speculate to our wit's end, but nothing will be answered until sasha skates at worlds. nationals will not answer any questions, and neither sasha nor tt will be talking (which, i think is good- if they wish to keep the true reasons private, then that's their decision, and we'll have to respect that).

if tt's health is truly the cause of this, i wish her the best, and i hope there is enough time to help her out (i certainly don't want another loss like yelena tcherkaskaya). if sasha's temper is the cause, then i hope robin wagner is able to discipline her...

euterpe said:

If you look back at Sasha's relationship with John Nicks (Sasha called all the shots, and always did things her way) and compare that to Sasha's relationship with TT (TT strict and demanding, Sasha obedient) it was pretty clear that a clash with TT had to develop at some point. What caused it to happen may never become known.

Look also at Sarah's relationship with Robin: she often said they were as close as sisters and she referred to Robin as her 'best friend'. The relationship had developed over years, since Sarah was a young girl, long before she became an elite skater. They shared a goal, and they worked toward the goal cooperatively and with equal enthusiasm. Last season, though, Sarah seemed to be a reluctant competitor, and Robin couldn't motivate her to work and practice as vigorously as she had pre-SLC, and the results showed at Worlds 2003.

As a coach, Robin allowed Sarah to continue with poor pick jump technique (that high kick) and the flutz, and didn't start working on the posture faults until fairly lat


e in the game. Sarah's athletic prowess and consistency plus her determination work hard and succeed was probably just as much of a factor in her success as Robin's coaching.

Now we have Sasha with Robin. This is a relationship formed overnight, and IMHO, these two are mismatched. Sasha sorely needs a technical coach, and Robin is not that. Sasha also needs a coach who can handle her headstrong tendencies. I am not sure Robin is all that forceful. She couldn't get Sarah to buckle down and practice in her final season (and it seems Sarah has hung up her skates for good, if Robin has accepted Sasha as a student).

I think Sasha was looking for a coach on the East coast who could help her win the titles she hungers for. Unfortunately, a coach cannot go out there and skate for Sasha in the big pressure events.

Click to expand...

I totally agree.

"Lately I have not been feeling well," Tarasova said. "The amount of travel to Sasha's international competitions has adversely affected my health. Physically, I need to have a less-rigorous schedule. I will be going back to Russia to take care of myself. I wish Sasha all the best in the future."

Click to expand...

If the above quote from the article I read is exactly what TT said, the second and last sentence provides a subtle yet disturbing indicator...

After reading many insightful and analytic posts, all I have left to say is....... whoa

Holy crap. (That's about all the reaction I can muster right now. What a shock. )

A friend of mine and I were talking and joking about this as a rumor last night and suddenly tonight, its all true. Crazy stuff. US Nats just got a little bit more interesting for sure!! I'm glad I will be there in person even more now!!! LOL

I am very surprised by Sasha's move and concern too, given the timing of the announcement.

Unlike some others, I don't have a high opinion of Robin Wagner. Sure, she is the coach of an Olympic champion, but there were other factors involved in Sarah's gold medal. One big difference between Sarah and Sasha is that Sarah was mentally tough. I did not care for her skating, but she was great at delivering what she promised to. I definitely care about Sasha's skating, and I am concerned that she has taken such a huge step at such a critical juncture.

I hope Sasha knows what she is doing.

Vash

What Vash said.... Sasha seems nothing like Sarah. For me, Sarah's strength was her consistency and competitiveness. She could stay on her feet for SP & LP in single competition. Even though Sasha has won competititions, I don't recall when she has skated 2 programs in the same competition without falling at least once. Sasha is a gorgeous skater while Sarah always seemed to be a better than average skater.....the main difference is that Sarah was able to keep things together when it really counted.

TT seems like a domineering mother while Robin seems like the gentle mother. Since Sasha seems to be very strong willed with regards to being in control, I'm sure there would be conflicts with TT's strong personality. On the other hand, I don't think Robin's gentleness will help curb Sasha's urges. I wouldn't be surprised if Sasha changes coaches at the end of the season.

Maybe she'll switch to Frank?

I'm with Paula on the fact that TT's quote is disturbing.... if it's not taken out of context!

and whoever had the idea of Angela working with Robin... FANTASTIC IDEA!!!!

"Lately I have not been feeling well," Tarasova said. "The amount of travel to Sasha's international competitions has adversely affected my health. Physically, I need to have a less-rigorous schedule. I will be going back to Russia to take care of myself. I wish Sasha all the best in the future."

Hmm. If she's going back to Russia, I wonder if this means Johnny Weir will be following Sasha Cohen over to the Wagner camp. From what I understand, the two of them are very close friends.