I knew there would be one of these threads, lol. I wasn't going to look at the board, especially after 6-1/2 hours of watching skating nonstop--didn't eat dinner till midnight, lol. But I'll throw in my opinions on Wagner's redo of "Swan Lake," or as I call it, "Swan Puddle," and the neverending discussion of the figure skating version of "Why Can't Johhny Read," which apparently is entitled, "Why Can't Sasha Skate a Clean LP?"
Seriously, I think Sasha's new "Swan Lake" costume said a lot. Just not much there. I understand Robin Wagner's strategy of taking out a lot of the detail, with the idea being sacrifice choreographic complexity in the hopes that it would allow Sasha to make a break-through in both consistency and passion of performance of her LP in high-stake competitions, specifically Nats and Worlds. I also think it was an intelligent strategy. Had Sasha skated "Swan Puddle" with the kind of fire and accuracy she skated "Malaguena," hitting all her elements, even if she still hadn't won over Shizuka, I think the consensus would be, "Wagner's changes to 'Swan Lake' suck, but it did allow Sasha to skate an exciting, mistake-free LP at Worlds. So it was probably the right thing to do. Now Sasha knows what it feels like and they can work on making her programs more difficult and interesting." But that's not what happened.
In the end, Sasha skated Tarasova's super-packed Trophee Lalique version of "Swan Lake" as well as she skated Wagner's totally gutted version. I think Wagner was right to try this approach, but I think Sasha's problems with laying down a great LP at Nats and Worlds is something other than a simple concentration problem, an attitude problem of thinking about winning, or any of the "if Sasha would just" problems people tend to throw out. I mean really, Sasha has worked with three top coaches on this consistency problem: John Nicks, Tarasova, and now Wagner. If it were a matter of "If Sasha would just..." ONE of them would have helped her make significant strides in overcoming it. Also, Sasha works too hard to sabotage herself by letting herself be overcome with thoughts of "Must win! Must win!" like a Night of the Living Dead zombie. When she was 17, yeah, I think that was part of the problem. But Plush also lost his first bid for Worlds because, as he said himself, he was thinking "too much about medal, not enough about skating" and that was the last time we saw him make that mistake. Sasha is too good a skater and too hard a worker for me to buy that she is that dumb.
Piel said the way Dick and Peggy described Wagner's strategy made it sound like Sasha had ADD or something. Well, maybe Sasha does have ADD or something. ADD (attention deficit disorder) or some other neurocognitive problem is nothing to be ashamed of. [Edited to add: Piel, I know, of course, that you didn't mean that to be a criticism of Sasha.] I speculated on another thread that if Sasha did not skate well with a simplified version of "Swan Lake," that she might have something like (and I coined this term loosely) "kinesthetic dyslexia." What I meant is that just as dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence or effort, it seems to me that with all the work, focus, and different approaches Sasha has tried to overcome her consistency problems that whatever her problem is, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with concentration, intelligence, or having the right attitude. Just as dyslexia and ADD are beyond the individual's ability to overcome them just by trying harder or really, beyond the individual's control period, it's entirely possible that Sasha has just such a problem.
Shepherd Clark has dyslexia and has been very open about having it and how it has affected his skating. I'm sure there are people who still believe Shepherd is just using dyslexia as an excuse for *just not being able to cut it.* But the guy has always been a gorgeous skater, worked hard, and had great coaches, but his dyslexia made it so he could never be consistent. He kept competing and going to Nationals long after he would have had any chance to go to Worlds even if he had medalled, so in the long run his behavior shows that he skates because he truly loves skating. To me, Clark's dyslexia is no different from a skater with a chronic injury who can never fulfill his potential because of a physical anomaly. But in general, we still tend to think of people with neurocognitive disorders as having some kind of character defect. It's also part of our culture, our *anybody can pull himself up by his own bootstraps if he really wants to* attitude.
Another skater who got criticized for being a *choker* was Scott Davis, even though it turned out that he had an inner ear disorder that caused him to have vertigo. Just what a skater needs. Davis was an exceptionally fast spinner and whether his spinning abilities aggravated a pre-existing condition or caused the inner ear problem altogether is not known. But again the tendency was to blame the skater for having a poor character rather than try to understand the disorder. When Naomi Nari Nam's hip was damaged from so much jumping, I don't recall reading *If NNN would just...* kinds of posts. But somehow when it's a problem with consistency, which at the very least involves the most complex and least understood organ in the body--the brain--we seem to jump to simple conclusions when, IMO, the reasons for inconsistency in an otherwise extremely gifted skater seem far more complex than the mechanics of musculoskeltal overuse injuries. BTW, I don't at all mean to jump on anyone's case; I've been guilty of doing the same thing and will probably be guilty of it again.
Wagner's undergrad degree is in psychology, which in terms of coaching Sasha could be a plus or a minus, or both. It could be a plus in that RW should be aware of various psychological factors affecting consistency. OTOH, RW may feel she can handle Sasha's consistency problems all by herself when, IMO, Sasha needs a sports psychologist with experience in treating elite athletes with problems like hers. On the third hand, it could just be a matter of Sasha needing to mature, but the problem with that is going through years of frustration and people thinking she's lazy, obsessed with winning, or a space cadet--and it may be too late by the time her cognitive and kinesthetic maturity catch up to her skating. Dick Button's comments that sometimes Sasha seems like she's on another planet are classic Dickisms and classic ways of thinking, ie, that consistency is just a matter of concentrating. But I don't think such comments help. It's like people who think ADD is just an indulgent term for daydreaming. Funny, unless your child has ADD.
I liken the attitudes towards what I think should be called neurokinesthetic problems in elite athletes to those many people had toward the increase in number of jump rotations, skate boots, and injuries. At first, there wasn't a problem, just skaters who had poor jump technique. *If they would just fix their jump technique they wouldn't have these injuries.* Then it was skaters who were *too greedy* about winning, practicing difficult 3/3 combos too much just to be sure they would win. Eventually, the one or two top skaters who experienced career-ending hip injuries turned into a trend. ESPN did a segment on it, including information on the hinged figure skating boot. There's also an article about inadequate boot technology and skating injuries on the GS website. In other words, even hip injuries went through a period of *blame the skater*--at least those skaters who a lot of fans tended to dislike.
But eventually, after enough skaters were hurt, people saw that the problem was complex and involved a number of factors. I'm hoping the same will happen with skaters whose only serious problem is consistency. In fact, Shizuka Arakawa was very inconsistent for years, so much so that she didn't even make the Japanese World team for several years. In Shizza's case, it took about six years of intense frustration, almost quitting the sport, being criticized, changing coaches several times, some influence from the COP (IMO) and, IMO, just getting older for her to realize her potential. (At least in dancers and other athletes I've worked with, including skaters, there's a big difference between the movement sophistication of an 18/19-year-old and a 22/23-year-old.) Maybe Sasha will have to go down that road too. But it is possible and at least to me it seems probable that Sasha has some kind of neurokinesthetic problem that needs to be addressed by a sports psychologist with experience treating elite athletes for this kind of thing.
If Sasha didn't have all the other makings of a great skater or if she were an average person, such a neurokiesthetic problem would never manifest itself. It's only when someone is working the body at an extremely high level of skill under high pressure that these problems arise for some. Just as Jenny Kirk needed an off-ice training regimen specifically designed by a sports medicine physician who specializes in elite athletes to help keep her hip healthy, I think Sasha too needs the help of a sports psychologist who specializes in the neurokinesthetic problems of elite athletes to help overcome her problems with consistency. Nicks, Tarasova, and Wagner have all tried through coaching techniques and at least I have no doubt that Sasha has tried with everything she has to overcome this problem. To use a medical analogy, Sasha has worked with some great general practitioners, now I think it's time to try a specialist.
As for "Swan Puddle," I agree it was sad to watch, but only because Wagner's strategy failed. IMO, there's no shame in that. The only shame would be if Sasha does not try at least one sports psychologist in her continuing efforts to overcome her problems with consistency (like coaches, you have to find one who is both an expert in the right field and with whom you click). The only shame besides that would be if people continue to stick with *If Sasha would just...* answers for her consistency problems. Anyone who has ever coached any kind of sport knows that people who just don't or won't concentrate or who are focused solely on winning rarely make it to the elite levels.
Finally, like Shepherd Clark and Scott Davis, both enormously gifted, hard working skaters, Sasha may not ever be able to fully overcome her consistency problems. But I don't think it will be for lack of trying on her part. Of course it's easy and tempting to Monday-morning quarterback these kinds of things--in some ways that's what these forums are about, lol. But Sasha is the World silver medalist because of her overall performance through all three phases of the competition. By all accounts she had a great skate in the Q round, she had what Dick Button called the best short program performance he had ever seen, and though she faltered in the free skate, she still came in third. She also comes home from Worlds knowing that simplifying her long programs is not the answer to her consistency problems. I'm actually somewhat heartened by this because it means that whether Sasha does an LP as difficult as "Swan Lake"-Lalique or as simple as "Swan Puddle"-Worlds, her consistency in the finals of a major event is still a problem. Thus I hope RW will have Sasha doing LPs just as difficult as "SL"-Lalique and look for answers to her consistency problems elsewhere.
BTW, somebody wondered if Tarasova might choreograph for Sasha. With TAT now the coach of one of Sasha's major rivals, I think that's a pretty firm "not bloody likely." Also, I really liked a lot of RW's choreography for Sarah. I didn't always like Sarah's performances, which was not because I didn't like Sarah's skating, but rather because I found Sarah to be somewhat uncoordinated in her dance abilities. I thought the choreography for Sarah's Olympic short and long programs as well as last year's short and long to be very interesting and effective. A lot of people hated and made much of last year's LP "breast self-exam pose" (actually pretty funny description), but it didn't bother me and I liked the choreography quite a lot. I especially liked Sarah's SP last year, which had an angular, modern approach. I may be in the minority, but people have been saying they'd like to see Sasha do something more modern or jazzy.
On with the Worlds post mortem.
Rgirl
Seriously, I think Sasha's new "Swan Lake" costume said a lot. Just not much there. I understand Robin Wagner's strategy of taking out a lot of the detail, with the idea being sacrifice choreographic complexity in the hopes that it would allow Sasha to make a break-through in both consistency and passion of performance of her LP in high-stake competitions, specifically Nats and Worlds. I also think it was an intelligent strategy. Had Sasha skated "Swan Puddle" with the kind of fire and accuracy she skated "Malaguena," hitting all her elements, even if she still hadn't won over Shizuka, I think the consensus would be, "Wagner's changes to 'Swan Lake' suck, but it did allow Sasha to skate an exciting, mistake-free LP at Worlds. So it was probably the right thing to do. Now Sasha knows what it feels like and they can work on making her programs more difficult and interesting." But that's not what happened.
In the end, Sasha skated Tarasova's super-packed Trophee Lalique version of "Swan Lake" as well as she skated Wagner's totally gutted version. I think Wagner was right to try this approach, but I think Sasha's problems with laying down a great LP at Nats and Worlds is something other than a simple concentration problem, an attitude problem of thinking about winning, or any of the "if Sasha would just" problems people tend to throw out. I mean really, Sasha has worked with three top coaches on this consistency problem: John Nicks, Tarasova, and now Wagner. If it were a matter of "If Sasha would just..." ONE of them would have helped her make significant strides in overcoming it. Also, Sasha works too hard to sabotage herself by letting herself be overcome with thoughts of "Must win! Must win!" like a Night of the Living Dead zombie. When she was 17, yeah, I think that was part of the problem. But Plush also lost his first bid for Worlds because, as he said himself, he was thinking "too much about medal, not enough about skating" and that was the last time we saw him make that mistake. Sasha is too good a skater and too hard a worker for me to buy that she is that dumb.
Piel said the way Dick and Peggy described Wagner's strategy made it sound like Sasha had ADD or something. Well, maybe Sasha does have ADD or something. ADD (attention deficit disorder) or some other neurocognitive problem is nothing to be ashamed of. [Edited to add: Piel, I know, of course, that you didn't mean that to be a criticism of Sasha.] I speculated on another thread that if Sasha did not skate well with a simplified version of "Swan Lake," that she might have something like (and I coined this term loosely) "kinesthetic dyslexia." What I meant is that just as dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence or effort, it seems to me that with all the work, focus, and different approaches Sasha has tried to overcome her consistency problems that whatever her problem is, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with concentration, intelligence, or having the right attitude. Just as dyslexia and ADD are beyond the individual's ability to overcome them just by trying harder or really, beyond the individual's control period, it's entirely possible that Sasha has just such a problem.
Shepherd Clark has dyslexia and has been very open about having it and how it has affected his skating. I'm sure there are people who still believe Shepherd is just using dyslexia as an excuse for *just not being able to cut it.* But the guy has always been a gorgeous skater, worked hard, and had great coaches, but his dyslexia made it so he could never be consistent. He kept competing and going to Nationals long after he would have had any chance to go to Worlds even if he had medalled, so in the long run his behavior shows that he skates because he truly loves skating. To me, Clark's dyslexia is no different from a skater with a chronic injury who can never fulfill his potential because of a physical anomaly. But in general, we still tend to think of people with neurocognitive disorders as having some kind of character defect. It's also part of our culture, our *anybody can pull himself up by his own bootstraps if he really wants to* attitude.
Another skater who got criticized for being a *choker* was Scott Davis, even though it turned out that he had an inner ear disorder that caused him to have vertigo. Just what a skater needs. Davis was an exceptionally fast spinner and whether his spinning abilities aggravated a pre-existing condition or caused the inner ear problem altogether is not known. But again the tendency was to blame the skater for having a poor character rather than try to understand the disorder. When Naomi Nari Nam's hip was damaged from so much jumping, I don't recall reading *If NNN would just...* kinds of posts. But somehow when it's a problem with consistency, which at the very least involves the most complex and least understood organ in the body--the brain--we seem to jump to simple conclusions when, IMO, the reasons for inconsistency in an otherwise extremely gifted skater seem far more complex than the mechanics of musculoskeltal overuse injuries. BTW, I don't at all mean to jump on anyone's case; I've been guilty of doing the same thing and will probably be guilty of it again.
Wagner's undergrad degree is in psychology, which in terms of coaching Sasha could be a plus or a minus, or both. It could be a plus in that RW should be aware of various psychological factors affecting consistency. OTOH, RW may feel she can handle Sasha's consistency problems all by herself when, IMO, Sasha needs a sports psychologist with experience in treating elite athletes with problems like hers. On the third hand, it could just be a matter of Sasha needing to mature, but the problem with that is going through years of frustration and people thinking she's lazy, obsessed with winning, or a space cadet--and it may be too late by the time her cognitive and kinesthetic maturity catch up to her skating. Dick Button's comments that sometimes Sasha seems like she's on another planet are classic Dickisms and classic ways of thinking, ie, that consistency is just a matter of concentrating. But I don't think such comments help. It's like people who think ADD is just an indulgent term for daydreaming. Funny, unless your child has ADD.
I liken the attitudes towards what I think should be called neurokinesthetic problems in elite athletes to those many people had toward the increase in number of jump rotations, skate boots, and injuries. At first, there wasn't a problem, just skaters who had poor jump technique. *If they would just fix their jump technique they wouldn't have these injuries.* Then it was skaters who were *too greedy* about winning, practicing difficult 3/3 combos too much just to be sure they would win. Eventually, the one or two top skaters who experienced career-ending hip injuries turned into a trend. ESPN did a segment on it, including information on the hinged figure skating boot. There's also an article about inadequate boot technology and skating injuries on the GS website. In other words, even hip injuries went through a period of *blame the skater*--at least those skaters who a lot of fans tended to dislike.
But eventually, after enough skaters were hurt, people saw that the problem was complex and involved a number of factors. I'm hoping the same will happen with skaters whose only serious problem is consistency. In fact, Shizuka Arakawa was very inconsistent for years, so much so that she didn't even make the Japanese World team for several years. In Shizza's case, it took about six years of intense frustration, almost quitting the sport, being criticized, changing coaches several times, some influence from the COP (IMO) and, IMO, just getting older for her to realize her potential. (At least in dancers and other athletes I've worked with, including skaters, there's a big difference between the movement sophistication of an 18/19-year-old and a 22/23-year-old.) Maybe Sasha will have to go down that road too. But it is possible and at least to me it seems probable that Sasha has some kind of neurokinesthetic problem that needs to be addressed by a sports psychologist with experience treating elite athletes for this kind of thing.
If Sasha didn't have all the other makings of a great skater or if she were an average person, such a neurokiesthetic problem would never manifest itself. It's only when someone is working the body at an extremely high level of skill under high pressure that these problems arise for some. Just as Jenny Kirk needed an off-ice training regimen specifically designed by a sports medicine physician who specializes in elite athletes to help keep her hip healthy, I think Sasha too needs the help of a sports psychologist who specializes in the neurokinesthetic problems of elite athletes to help overcome her problems with consistency. Nicks, Tarasova, and Wagner have all tried through coaching techniques and at least I have no doubt that Sasha has tried with everything she has to overcome this problem. To use a medical analogy, Sasha has worked with some great general practitioners, now I think it's time to try a specialist.
As for "Swan Puddle," I agree it was sad to watch, but only because Wagner's strategy failed. IMO, there's no shame in that. The only shame would be if Sasha does not try at least one sports psychologist in her continuing efforts to overcome her problems with consistency (like coaches, you have to find one who is both an expert in the right field and with whom you click). The only shame besides that would be if people continue to stick with *If Sasha would just...* answers for her consistency problems. Anyone who has ever coached any kind of sport knows that people who just don't or won't concentrate or who are focused solely on winning rarely make it to the elite levels.
Finally, like Shepherd Clark and Scott Davis, both enormously gifted, hard working skaters, Sasha may not ever be able to fully overcome her consistency problems. But I don't think it will be for lack of trying on her part. Of course it's easy and tempting to Monday-morning quarterback these kinds of things--in some ways that's what these forums are about, lol. But Sasha is the World silver medalist because of her overall performance through all three phases of the competition. By all accounts she had a great skate in the Q round, she had what Dick Button called the best short program performance he had ever seen, and though she faltered in the free skate, she still came in third. She also comes home from Worlds knowing that simplifying her long programs is not the answer to her consistency problems. I'm actually somewhat heartened by this because it means that whether Sasha does an LP as difficult as "Swan Lake"-Lalique or as simple as "Swan Puddle"-Worlds, her consistency in the finals of a major event is still a problem. Thus I hope RW will have Sasha doing LPs just as difficult as "SL"-Lalique and look for answers to her consistency problems elsewhere.
BTW, somebody wondered if Tarasova might choreograph for Sasha. With TAT now the coach of one of Sasha's major rivals, I think that's a pretty firm "not bloody likely." Also, I really liked a lot of RW's choreography for Sarah. I didn't always like Sarah's performances, which was not because I didn't like Sarah's skating, but rather because I found Sarah to be somewhat uncoordinated in her dance abilities. I thought the choreography for Sarah's Olympic short and long programs as well as last year's short and long to be very interesting and effective. A lot of people hated and made much of last year's LP "breast self-exam pose" (actually pretty funny description), but it didn't bother me and I liked the choreography quite a lot. I especially liked Sarah's SP last year, which had an angular, modern approach. I may be in the minority, but people have been saying they'd like to see Sasha do something more modern or jazzy.
On with the Worlds post mortem.
Rgirl
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