- Joined
- Apr 9, 2016
I am not sure exactly what happened with Davydov, but I know Sonya tried out with Eteri and Eteri wouldn't take her. A similar story happened with Zinina, Lukin also tried a couple of other places before coming to AoP. So Plushenko has been taking in other coaches' rejects, which shows the Academy is still often a place of last resort.* And as Zinina said, somebody finally believing in you is a great motivator.Yeah, it was interesting to see her and Samodurova skate head-to-head considering Sofia M is ex-Team Davydov, and seeing the difference in skating skills. I'm not sure about the circumstances that led to her moving to AoP, but I don't think she was considered particularly outstanding among Davydov's skaters. That flow and speed she has now - I think it developed over the past year or so.
I'd say Mikhailov does indeed play an important role in packaging/skating skills, I think he learnt a thing or two from training under Zhuk/Svinin and Rubleva/Shefer (their dance teams always have cool programmes!). But I also lurk on AoP's instagram sometimes and you can see Plushenko involved in multiple aspects of training; to me his most obvious area of influence is jumps/off-ice training (those spinny gadgets from Mishin) but also the way the kids hold their heads up and connect with the audience.
According to Plushenko, his main focus is jump technique. He has been looking for coaches who have at some time been Mishin's students so they are on the same wavelength. Their off-ice coach appears very dedicated and has developed his own system for training figure skaters. Good training conditions and being able to hire qualified, energetic and committed people seem to be the Academy's main strengths.
Thanks for the explanation. Sofia M. is my favourite female skater. She seems so determined and I love that anger at the end after not hitting her 4S. She is a perfectionist. Her test skate one was similar. It is huge and she rotates it fully, but, isn’t able to land it. At least she rotates it. So, it has potential. My hope is to see her eventually master this jump. When she moves to Seniors, it would be amazing to have this quad jump plus her artistry. So, I’m happy with the result and effort here.
I am worried Sonya has put herself under tremendous pressure to get that quad, and you can understand why. I've seen her upset in practices too. She is not like Veronika who is a natural jumper, and even Zinina has found it easier. Sonya has different strengths and should be able to use them but that's not enough these days in Russian women's skating.
*Of course this isn't helped by the school's location way out in the sticks. Unless you live in the right part of Moscow it must be hell to get to.
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