I didn't mean to imply anything about how Michelle has skated her GP events in the past. I just meant to say that Sasha seemed to be compared by the commentators and the media to a perfect Michelle, which, IMO, seemed to blow the consistency issue way out of proportion.soogar said:...Sasha at least makes an effort to attempt to do her best, maybe to the point of burning out by the time the important events roll around, whereas MK makes very little effort in Grand Prix events and gradually builds up- or taper as they do in swimming- to getting her best performances in when they are seen and really count - Nats and Worlds...
Anyway, you mentioned something that I think is very important. You referred to Michelle gradually building up to get her best performances when they really count. There's actually a technical term for this, *training periodization,* which just means putting your training and competitions on a time table so that you increase and decrease the intensity of your training to suit your competitions.
Nobody can train and compete at full bore all season and then go out on tour. Well, you can, but you'll either get injured or burn out. I think this has been part of Sasha's problem, especially over the last two seasons. She does well in the GP series and GPF, but doesn't skate up to her potential at Nats and Worlds. I think this year especially she was trying to prove herself during the GP series and TAT was also increasing the difficulty of her programs prior to every GP event in an effort to up the point totals. The most difficult "Swan Lake" Sasha did was at Trophee Lalique and although it was a gorgeous program, it struck me as the kind of program you would want to have by Worlds, not by November.
So that's something I hope Robin Wagner works on with Sasha, putting less energy into her GP events and focusing more on Nats and Worlds. Irina had a similar problem. She virtually owned the GP series and GPF for years, but never skated as well at Worlds, at least not until '02.
Michelle was probably wise to hold back during the GP series. I remember her getting some mild criticism, but as a multiple National and World champion, she didn't have anything to *prove* on the GP circuit and used it, IMO, as it should be used by an experienced champion skater--as competitions to try out your programs in front of international judges and to get the feel for your programs in competition.
I'd actually like to see Sasha hold back some in the GP series this fall, as well as the ISU events, and as I said, rechannel her training so she can peak at Nats, rest a bit, and peak again at Worlds. On another thread, somebody said, "What has Sasha accomplished so far?" Although of all sr. ladies, she's won the highest number of all events offered over the last two years, what *counts* is Nats and Worlds. Somehow she needs to rework her physical and mental training to reflect that fact.
Rgirl