berthes ghost said:I'm sorry, but how could I possibly take this poll seriously when it lists a wanna-be like Johnny Weir and leaves off one of the most accomplished champions of all time: Irina Rodnina? I don't care if you're only 10 years old, is history really that forgotten by the MTV generation? Shamefull IMHO.
Shizuka was always labelled as a jumping bean, so I don't see where the "decent feel for artistry" comes from. This has been discussed to death, but anyway... I believe there are different types of coaches. Some are good teaching the basics, for example, others are good for polishing and cleaning the programs, others don't exactly excell at both but connect well with the students and give them confidence... Tarasova is a coach who polishes the skater and since she's also a choreographer, her input on the programs is also what makes the difference. How many times we complain that this skater or that one has so much potential and is getting there, but there's always something missing? That is her job, to give them that last touch that will help them to fulfill all their potential. And this is not easy. When you have a skater that is already good, make him/ her/ them even better, find those last 5% to make them superb can sometimes be harder than starting from zero.PrincessLeppard said:Can someone tell me this: Has TT coached someone to a gold medal who was not already very accomplished? I don't know much about her dance background, but with Shizuka, Ilia and Alexei (and to some extent, Griazev) they came to her with jumps in hand, and a decent feel for artistry.
Ptichka said:Absolutely. Bestemianova & Bukin (whom I voted for) were her creation, period. She recalls the famous Frau Muller (Witt's coach) calling her crazy for taking on such an "ugly duckling" as Natalia, but TT knew she could do magic with them. To me, they pushed ice dance incredibly through their expression and choreography. I would even add to the "greatest accomplishments" list her first dance couple, Moiseeva & Minenkov (though they never won Olympic gold) -- this was her first attempt to create something brand new on the ice; BTW, they were also a pair she created.
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Like it was said, usually her students already have the technique. So AFAIK she doesn't really "teach", it's more like an efort to keep it. But she usually has no problems to "hire" someone who knows more than her in a certain area. So I believe that if any of her students needed help with some aspect of jumps or something, she'd probably hire someone for a few months. Lately, Yagudin has been helping her with her students, at least before he goes on tour, so I guess that if there is some problem with technique he can probably help.lulu said:TAnother question: Tarasova has been known for giving skaters the extra boost they need & for sometimes adding an extra dimension of artistry that may not have been there before. But how good is she at teaching technique?
Natalia was a national Junior champion. Andrei was actually a pair skater before coming to TT. His partner Olga was declared to have no potential, and the partnership was broken up. Andrei decided to leave the sport entirely, but Olga convinced him to go back.lulu said:I enjoy B&B's routines, but I don't know much about their history pre-88. When did they go to Tarasova to be coached?
I know you said that B&B were Tarasova's creation, but did they have any other major coach before her?
Vash01 said:Do you really take these polls seriously? They are not exactly gallup polls.
Besides, there is the category 'Other' which you can vote for.
As far as Wannabe Johnny Weir is concerned, I see a HUGE difference in him from previous year. I know he has a coach who is not TT, but he spent some time with TT and he is a completely different skater this year- he has confidence. IMO that's what TT excels at. Shizuka spent hardly two weeks with her, but TT gave her that final piece of the puzzle- believing in her own abilities.
She waved and blew me a kiss last year at Skate Canada. I would love to meet her and have a picture take with her.bladebabe13 said:I met Tatiana at a national competition once!
Matt said:PrincessLeppard said:Now, if she could take, say, Ludmilla Nelidina, and coach her to gold, THAT would be something.
If ANYONE could do ANYTHING w/ Ludmilla Nelidina beside get her to land the triple axel, that would be something! (I'm sorry, I'm not a fan of hers)
In the end, I voted for Shizuka (though it was a toss-up between her and Yags's Olympic LP, which is still my favourite of his programmes ). She [Shizuka] already came in w/ the jumps and that "Turandot" routine, but TT added some extra subtleties and gave Shizuka a big confidence boost, which probably resulted in the 3lutz-3toe-2loop in her LP, which pretty much settled the Ladies title in Dortmund right there, IMHO
Shizuka's 3-3-2 was wonderful but I don't think that alone determined the title. Remember, Sasha got 3 first place votes with even a subpar performance- without a 3-3 and a very shaky landing on the first triple. Shizuka needed a perfect performance to even have a chance of winning. She was always capable of doing it but she never did until she turned to Tarasova, who must have given her a HUGE confidence boost.
On the whole in the judging in Dortmund, high-difficulty jumps attempts were given undue credit. Among the higher-placed skaters, Ando's 2nd in Quali A; Kostner's otherwise inexplicable placement over Sebestyen, Poykio, and Rochette in the LP; Slutskaya's placement over Volchkova and Suguri in Quali A; Sandhu's 1st in Quali B; Dambier's 4th in QB despite a flawed landing on nearly every one of his jumps were among the most questionable. Where the judging was most awful was for the lowest-ranked skaters among the Men, where deep edges, good spins and footwork, and mostly clean lower-difficulty jumps were being trumped by awkward attempts on more difficult jumps. Zivanovic, for example, got the last qualifying spot for the SP, and he was a mess. Dong-Whun Lee, who finished just behind him in Quali A and got cut was so much more accomplished. This isn't surprising, given that the CoP judges asked that the Levels of Difficulty for spins, lifts, footwork, etc. be removed from the screens partway into the season, because they found themselves scoring higher when the LoD was higher. Because they all "know" the relative difficulty of jumps without a caller, luckily, the caller/tech specialists/inputters will be there to call cheats.Vash01 said:Shizuka's 3-3-2 was wonderful but I don't think that alone determined the title. Remember, Sasha got 3 first place votes with even a subpar performance- without a 3-3 and a very shaky landing on the first triple. Shizuka needed a perfect performance to even have a chance of winning. She was always capable of doing it but she never did until she turned to Tarasova, who must have given her a HUGE confidence boost.
soogar said:Tatiana is the bomb. Imagine if she coaches Griazev to gold in 2006. Wow, will Mishin be steaming mad!!!
I'd like to see Ilia Klimkin take from Tarasova. I think she could do wonders with him.
curious said:griazev winning olys not on this lifetimelol! tarasova can't pull that miracle
Joesitz said:I really believe TT gave Sasha one beautiful Swan Lake routine and I think she went into detail with it. Certainily Yags was a gem for her. He had a lot of baggage before her. I believe he was actually intimated by Plush. I don't follow dance so closely so I'll refrain from saying anything about that especially since I'm not crazy about 'over the top' psuedo passion. Just my take on dance.
However, Although, I think TT worked well with Johnny and Shizuka, it was just for a short while and I don't think it was so overwhelming as to make their Nats win and World's win. Both those skaters had a lot of talent before TT and I think they would have done as well if not being with her. I do give her credit for maybe giving them some fine tuning. In the case of Johnny, she was working exceedingly hard with Griazev, and she showed how much she wanted him to win at Dortmund Worlds. I'm looking forward this season for Shizuka and how well she does after a year with TT.