Yes. Champs Camp is when the skaters get initial feedback on their programs.
As for no national training camp like gymnastics, there is no one coach who oversees the international committee. Who do you put in charge?
Yes. Champs Camp is when the skaters get initial feedback on their programs.
As for no national training camp like gymnastics, there is no one coach who oversees the international committee. Who do you put in charge?
Champs Camp seems to be PR training, rules type meetings and silly bonding games. Perhaps they need to think about utilizing that time differently.
I think we have a dearth of strong young coaches, quite frankly. Our best singles skater at Worlds is coached by an 82 year old.
Actually, there are some great younger coaches in the US, they just don't have the same political pull as that 82 year old Brit.
That would seem to indicate that we don't need young coaches, we need more good coaches of whatever age.Originally Posted by louisa05
Unless you are assuming Nicks is going to be living forever...
Sato-Dungjen oversaw a trio of under performers in Nice. Tom Z is completely on the outs after last year's debacles with injured skaters. Gold's coaches aren't exactly excelling when it comes to expression and choreo, and it seems naive to assume she is going to burst on the senior scene with high PCS without a lot of changes. Julie Berlin is likely responsible for Czisny's technique issues. We haven't seen much from Wagner or Hill lately in terms of higher level competitors. The Kwan-Oppegard team took no one to Worlds... And the list goes on.
I blame the USF for Adam, Alissa.
Adam was held up at Nationals. His PCS should be way lower. I said it when I saw it. There's no way he's competitive. After 4CC, they should have sent Ross.
Alissa was help up greatly at Nat. Her PCS was a joke. She had no transition at all. Her SP shouldn't get anywhere near 60 but they gave her 63 or something. Ridiculous. Her LP should get about 20 points lower than actual score. Somehow she managed to win the silver medal. Disgusting! Judging at Nat is about the same as here. No real accountability at all. Anyway, after the Challenge cup, take her out of the roster. Put Zhang in. You don't have to follow the alternate order. Mirai finished lower than Rachael, but they put her in the alternate list anyway, correct? They can change the list to have Zhang as first alternate after 4cc.
Jeremy was a hot mess at the Challenge cup, but because he wasn't injured and because he won fair and square at Nats, I would still send him.
I would investigate Yuka and Jason and Alissa. Fine them, humiliate them in public, have hersh beat them with a proverbial stick just like they did to Rachael last year. Well, not even so. They should have harsher punishment for these three because they KNEW what would happen and they did it anyway.
So you're saying that the US skaters were never any good? For real?
You think if Kristi, Sarah and Tara were skating today, they'd be as bad as the nightmares of the last few years? Really?
The mistakes that Tara and Sarah made might be picked on more today, but they were still competitors. They did not meltdown. Kristi is one of the last gold medalists to fall in the long program, but again, she was a fighter and a champion. And Michelle wasn't propped up? Seriously? When? She won Nationals about 8 years in a row. And I think the American judge--back in the good old days when you knew which judge was which--put her in first at least above Tara. In both 1998 and 2002, she was the favored one, not the younger white girls.
1998 it could've gon either way, perhaps.
But in '02, falling was a big no-no. A faller didn't beat a cleanie. And Sarah, underrotated or not, was clean. Today, maybe Michelle would've won. Anyway, any racism against skaters of Chinese descent who fall in their long programs is completely gone now, that's for sure.
Wasn't Kristi the first to put triple lutz triple toe in competition in order to be competitive with Midori Ido?
Circa now, that's like Ashley Wagner putting in a quad lutz - triple loop combo to be competitive with Yuna, Carolina, Mao (at her best), and Miki (at her best)
Give Kristi some credit. She was fierce!
As related to Jeremy and Alyssa, both had nerve issues before they moved to Sato and Dungjen. Their problems aren't a result of their coaching changes - if anything , they've improved technically. They both also have experienced their highest finishes with their current coaches. So, I don't think it's the coaches, but rather the skaters.
Rippon has only been with Jason since June 2011 - less than a year. I'd give it another year before critiquing the relationship.
Kristi had the one flaw in her Oly long program, but that competition was a splat fest. I can still recall the bruises developing on Kerrigan and Hubert's legs due to all of their falls. Kristi's was the cleanest of the night and she had a beautiful short program.
For once, I agree with FlattFan. USFSA has not really learned have they? And they continue to lowball skaters like Caroline who continue to prove that they score well with the international judges. Guess who judges the Olympics? Hint: not USFSA judges. Perhaps Peter Oppegard was surprised by his new pupil's success this season but next season he really has no excuse not to get a little better at politicking on Caroline's behalf.
Caroline still has major weaknesses though. Her lack of speed and small jumps would still be a major problem at Worlds for instance.
Unlike Nadine, I am not ashamed to be an American. And I don't take the bombing of US athletes at a World Competition to be a blow to my personal self-esteem. However, I am royally angered at the USFSA. A lousy, weak-willed organization whose collective head seems to be firmly placed somewhere the sun don't shine....at least if there is anything about their mission that involves producing international champions. I had been a member since the early 1990's but after watching the trend of this outfit over the last several years, with so many issues bobbled, I let my membership lapse last year. If their primary goal is to avoid lawsuits, there's not a lot of hope. There's just no apparent strong leadership or any indication that a firm hand is on the steering wheel driving the bus. Insiders who know more, feel free to comment.
Say what you want about ISU's Speedy Cinquanta, at least he's firm in his own mind about where he wants the bus to go, and leaves no doubt that he's definitely at the wheel. (The fact that he often aims the bus over the cliff is well...a separate issue.)
When was the last time that USFS put everything in one basket? They picked skaters from one camp just because they trusted that camp so much, the whole national judging was corrupted. They picked World teams according to their "gut feeling" not on the skater merit. They pre-judged the Naitonals according to the "past history and coach reputation". If they're lucky, the skaters they picked did well, if not, it's a disaster. This is an expensive lesson. They have no reason to send Jeremy and Alissa to Hague two weeks before Worlds. If they did it to test the water, then they should reassign the World team since both of them were obviously not ready for Worlds. The result from Hague was identical with Worlds', no surprise.
I don't think it is about relationship with coaches for any of the three. This isn't the newlywed game or an Oprah interview.
I'm wondering if there is not adequate preparation for competition, not adequate managing of training to prepare them to peak at Worlds. They all three peaked for the season at Nationals and apparently had absolutely nothing left for Worlds. That's a problem of preparation not relationship. And preparation can be fixed.
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