But all my hatred is particularly reserved for Tom Zakrasjek, or as I often refer to him as, "EVIL Z". He breaks skaters. He ruins them. He deprives them of artistic development. I hate him so very, very much..
Oh dear. I'm traveling to CO later this summer and am taking from Zakrasjek... I'm scared now lol
I'll also be taking from Christy Krall; she's awesome.
Kori Ade and Damon Allen are my favourites - they both seem to be able to develop a special bond with their students (to the point that Lukas Kaugars was Damon's best man at his wedding!).
I don't much like Frank Carroll - I feel like he's a stodgy old man, stuck in his ways. But all my hatred is particularly reserved for Tom Zakrasjek, or as I often refer to him as, "EVIL Z". He breaks skaters. He ruins them. He deprives them of artistic development. I hate him so very, very much.
I hope one day when I travel to the US to take from Ilia Kulik, but if we are talking about other American coaches, I would love to take from Damon or from Christy Krall.
The skater walks away from this exchange feeling better about the first correction instead of thinking "gosh, I just can't do ANYTHING to his liking!" I REALLY LIKED THIS!
I'm trying to give Frank Carroll some slack this season, I wasn't happy when Grace went to him last year. However he seemed to keep "his" drama in check and I was pleased with her overall results. I still tend to cringe when I see his face though.
Frank expects total commitment from his skaters and with Mirai i think that was in question at times. Gracie seems much more disciplined and motivated.
Frank expects total commitment from his skaters and with Mirai i think that was in question at times. Gracie seems much more disciplined and motivated.
No need to bring subjective comments about Nagasu into this thread.
Her life circumstances and Gold's are/were very different, as many GS threads have discussed.
It seems Frank just wasn't the best fit for Mirai for a variety of reasons. That doesn't mean anything is wrong with either of them.
People need different things. That's actually okay and just because one coach's approach doesn't work for one skater, that never means the coach is an inherently bad coach or bad person nor does it mean that the skater is undisciplined or at fault. (And it's been mentioned before as well, but really, how is it even remotely realistic to think anyone can compete on the elite level, consistently make the top 10 at U.S. Nationals and not be motivated or disciplined or train hard? When people start throwing around that notion, we must remember that it is all quite relative. Mirai might be undisciplined compared to Evan or some other notoriously hard trainer, but I'm pretty sure triple jumps are not like riding a bike and she is more disciplined than the majority of us sitting in front of our screens).