The Blade Boys interview with Tom Zakrajsek

[TheBladeBoys]

Happy New Year everyone!

We had the pleasure of interviewing Coach Tom Z a couple weeks back at the GPF, and tried to cover everything from A to Zakrajsek (zah-cry-shek ).

Here's what he has to say about coaching Mirai/Max/Vincent and their seasons so far. A former pairs skater, he also he throws a bit of shade at the judging system and the naysayers who don't like the difficulty being attempted nowadays (personally, we agree TomZ... more quads, please! ).

Much love to Golden Skate luv17 for helping set up this interview, and thanks for watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqQ_FMcreoc

 

[mrrice]

Wow!!!!!! He is as smart as they come. Thank you for posting that interview. It's very interesting to hear his thoughts on Max. I couldn't agree more with his answer when he says. Max has been around a long time and he should absolutely be thinking about regaining his title and medaling at Worlds. Why else would he continue to train and give up so many things that a young man would want just to skate if he had no desire to Win.

Great interview.

 

[Interspectator]

I'm about half-way through watching this, and It's so interesting. Thank you very much!
Good Luck to Max, Vincent and Mirai at Nationals. I can't wait to see how it all shakes out.

Now I'm finished. It was nice to hear Tom Z's take on quads, (he's all for it) and how it's made the disciplines of Men and Pairs exciting to watch.

I have heard arguments that quads don't really make things more exciting because the casual viewer can't usually tell between a triple and a quad anyway.

Which camp do others here at Golden Skate fall into?
-Though at the GPF we saw some excellent, well rounded programs from the men full of quads, and GOE and wonderful interpretation and theater and musicality. -At least from the top 4.

 

[Weathergal]

Thank you BladeBoys for a great interview!

I know Tom Z. is often viewed with some contempt or a least some caution for his reputation of pushing skaters, but I have to say I really enjoyed the interview and have a much better impression of him than before I watched it. I agree with other posters that he is smart. Do I agree with him 100% on the "quadfest" in Men's and Pairs skating? No. Don't get me wrong: I think it's exciting, but I also want to see quality--not just someone throwing themselves (or their partner) around. I want to see good overall programs. That is happening on the Men's side and, to a lesser extent, on the Pairs side, but no matter what, I will always also have great love for many quadless (or nearly quadless) Men's and Pairs skaters--there is more to that for me in skating. Obviously the technical side of skating, particularly jumps, is his area, and I think he owns that, but he did acknowledge the importance of the artistic/performance side of skating.

I love the way he talks about his skaters--he seems to have a great respect for them, which, quite frankly given his reputation, surprised me a bit. I also liked that he had something positive to say about all the choreographers Max worked with--not just Philip Mills. He was able to sing the praises of Mills without denigrating the others. And it was good to hear him say that Max needs to continue to work on his expression and performance.

Also really liked the way he discussed Mirai and how he offered her a clean slate.

 

[apgold]

Thanks for this interview, TBB!

I'm glad to hear he and Mirai are working well together. I know there was some skepticism when she first made the move. It also seems like she is much happier in Colorado (wonder who the bf is? LOL) studying and training. I'm glad her UR issue is more of a nervous habit as opposed to a technique problem. I'm also glad to hear they are trying to work through her nerves so she can skate cleaner. Wishing her the best at Nationals.

He's very proud of what Max has accomplished this season - he's really poised to be the #1 US male with Jason and Josh out, but even if they were in, I think he'd give them a run for their money.

And we learned how to pronounce Vincent's last name! I had a co-worker with his last name who pronounced it Jow so good to know.

 

[dorispulaski]

Great interview, guys!!

I also found Tom Z more interesting than I expected.

And I am really happy to hear that Mirai is in a good place.

I found it funny that he insisted on the correct pronunciation of Vincent's name

https://youtu.be/WMvdUoj_olI
Vincent Zhou says his name.

and then mispronounced Adam's:

How to pronounce Adam's name:
https://youtu.be/h-BUquaF3WA

 

[shiroKJ]

Thank you for the wonderful interview! His thoughts on the quads in both men's and pair's was especially interesting for me. Great hearing about about Max and Mirai's progress.

Will we be seeing a 4Lz face off between Boyang and Vincent on the road to Beijing? :eeking:

 

[FTnoona]

Thanks for the interview!
I really liked hearing about his coaching relationship with Mirai. It really showed at NHK that she was in a good place right now. I thought it was strange that she would be so prone to < because to me she has nice spring and height in her jumps so I thought she wasn't rotating fast enough or something. So it was nice to hear that her URs are more of a nervous thing than a technique thing. I hope she can skate great at nationals and make the world team.