2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[madison]

why move to Raf?, he is a jump coach specialist and Mishin is there in russia.

Honestly, i think she would rather retire... because she already won the most important medal, so what is the point to continue?
Plus she would know that it will be difficult, very difficult with any coach to be on the top next seasons, giving the competition.
For going to Mishin and Rafa she should change the cities and even the countries. Rafa is also very expensive.
I personally do not think she will do better with any other coach.
Plus she saw Medvedeva's case, no coach works wonder.
It is interesting that Alina had very good competitions after test skates and then... something happened, I think mentally.
Her team undermines her mentally. Eteri applies the same strategy that she applied with Medvedeva, but Alina and Evgenia are very different characters. Alina needs stability and confidence no challenges in training. The team should work to increase her confidence, to constantly encourage her, to support her, to make her feel that they are a team, and to provide her a comfortable enviroment.

 

[Vandevska]

Me every time someone jumps to a coach change:

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oeQMEO8XoEAJwKw1Q/giphy.gif

 

[LenaRadiFan]

Honestly, i think she would rather retire... because she already won the most important medal, so what is the point to continue?
Plus she would know that it will be difficult, very difficult with any coach to be on the top next seasons, giving the competition.
For going to Mishin and Rafa she should change the cities and even the countries. Rafa is also very expensive.
I personally do not think she will do better with any other coach.

Competitive athletes don't come this far to just quit bc they have won a lot. Imagine how much it took for them to get this far, they chose this career because they love it(and the sidegoal to win) so naturally most skaters continue, just look at Leonova. It would be so sad if anyone would have that mindset, it would make figure skating even more shortlived

 

[EdRoz]

Gold in Nebelhorn
Gold in Helsinki
Gold in Moscow
Silver GPF
Silver EC

Alinka, not bad for post Olympic season !!! Don’t give up Baby Boss

 

[chopinskate]

Me every time someone jumps to a coach change:

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oeQMEO8XoEAJwKw1Q/giphy.gif

Well, sure, but what do you think will happen? Eteri can't help what's happening here.

 

[starla16]

Competitive athletes don't come this far to just quit bc they have won a lot. Imagine how much it took for them to get this far, they chose this career because they love it(and the sidegoal to win) so naturally most skaters continue, just look at Leonova. It would be so sad if anyone would have that mindset, it would make figure skating even more shortlived

of course love for skating is important that is why even Med is sticking around, not sure Alina has that motivation now also she has won the biggest prize an OGM.

 

[Vandevska]

Well, sure, but what do you think will happen? Eteri can't help what's happening here.

Right now I don't think it would happen, although it might. However, it might be just that no one, not just Eteri can help.

 

[rachno2]

Right now I don't think it would happen, although it might. However, it might be just that no one, not just Eteri can help.

I still see the potential in Alina. She has great spins and a fighting spirit. Her skating skills and jump technique are indeed worrisome and will be hard to fix. But if you're a fan of Medvedeva, I don't see why you think Alina is beyond help?

 

[madison]

of course love for skating is important that is why even Med is sticking around, not sure Alina has that motivation now also she has won the biggest prize an OGM.

Evgenia wants to win an OGM, at least she has this dream. Plus she likes to compete.
I would love to see Alina competing as much as possible, and winning.
But I do not know if this is possible .

 

[starla16]

I still see the potential in Alina. She has great spins and a fighting spirit. Her skating skills and jump technique are indeed worrisome and will be hard to fix. But if you're a fan of Medvedeva, I don't see why you think Alina is beyond help?

only because some of this critics hate the coach more than the skater, notice how everyone jumped into Meds bandwagon once she changed coached and praising her for her bold decision. Zagitova actually has better technique she has powerful legs and jumps more with it. Its more of stress from expectation, training and post olympic growth spurt.

 

[hippomoomin]

I just wonder how much taller Alina has grown since the beginning of this season. She is still very young and so many things are fixable, especially considering she has a very strong body. Many top skaters (Gracie, KO) at 16 were not even known to the world. The new 3As will go through their growth spirt in the next few years, so no one is guaranteed to do much better than Alina.

Also Sofia's jumps always looked small, and she managed not to under rotate or fall? Or he jumps are actually getting bigger? I remember two years ago in her first JGP season, many people observed her "Satoko" jumps, and I though she would lose all of her jumps in a few years.

 

[esteticlove]

I kind of agree with madison's scenario. I don't see Alina initiating a change of coach because she's attached to them despite the difficulties and the drama that has been going on the team. Those are the people who brought her to the Olympic gold. She seems to be the kind of person who would endure anything but won't grab their bags and just leave. Otherwise, she would have already retired. But Eteri might be loosing patience with her already. If they don't fix her rotation problems, Alina would spend her next season chasing the 3A and dealing with failure. Just like Med had to do last season, chasing Alina.

 

[Vandevska]

I still see the potential in Alina. She has great spins and a fighting spirit. Her skating skills and jump technique are indeed worrisome and will be hard to fix. But if you're a fan of Medvedeva, I don't see why you think Alina is beyond help?

Oh of course, pull the "You're Medvedeva's fan" card. Obviously Med's doing not very well. I didn't say that Alina's for sure beyond help, just that I don't think there might be someone else to help her with her issues. Time will tell after all.

 

[rachno2]

Oh of course, pull the "You're Medvedeva's fan" card. Obviously Med's doing not very well. I didn't say that Alina's for sure beyond help, just that I don't think there might be someone else to help her with her issues. Time will tell after all.

I wasn't trying to be combative. I admire Medvedeva for trying to fix her technique, and I do see improvements. But if you believe in her, why can't you believe in Zagitova, too? That's the point I was trying to make.

I agree Alina's options seem more limited, as she seems to have a less strong-willed personality than Medvedeva, and I doubt RusFed would support sending her abroad given Medvedeva's struggles. But I also think Alina is a stronger overall skater than Evgenia (sorry). Mishin could be fun; I'm convinced Alina has a hidden diva insider her.

 

[NaVi]

I didn't watch it but I saw the podium.

One of the biggest problems with Russian ladies skating is how to handle attention after success. There needs to be a greater understanding that all psychology is at heart social psychology. We are all socially embedded creatures and what goes on in our minds depends on our circumstances and environment. Reading news about yourself and following fan accounts is probably not very healthy for ones performance. Both the types of criticism and praise that is typically given to skaters is not healthy. It could lead towards either debilitating self doubt or a reduced drive for recognition during training. TBH, I think Eteri is weak in managing the mentality of older skaters who do have to deal with the media more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looking-glass_self
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogical_self

 

[Lunalovesskating]

Right now I don't think it would happen, although it might. However, it might be just that no one, not just Eteri can help.

I do not think that Alina's issues aren't fixable. She has so much talent and I feel like all of her potential has not even been brought out of her. She is such a great spinner and watching some of her exhibitions she has such nice skating quality that has not been brought out with her competitive programs yet. I think with maybe a coaching change and also maybe a mental break she can come back stronger. I mean look at Adelina Sotnikova she is now such a better skater than she was during the 13/14 season in my opinion. She matured, acquired much better skating skills. She, in my opinion, gave up too early, because she hadn't peaked yet before she quit competitive skating.

 

[Fluture]

Right now I don't think it would happen, although it might. However, it might be just that no one, not just Eteri can help.

That's a mindset I don't understand. If Zhenya can change her technique (and I think all of her fans strongly believe in her) why can't Alina too? Alina has different issues than Zhenya but still... it's not that bad. Let's not blow things out of proportions please. Alina has had lots of problems lately and I have no suggestion as to how to help her but I don't think she has no hope whatsoever. A lot seems to be mental struggles, even though troubles with technique obviously also play a part. But still, she's almost always clean in practice run-throughs. I think it's a mix of both mental and physical struggles. Maybe talking to a sports psychologist would be a good idea. Beyond that, I don't know. But I hope Alina listens to herself and decides what she WANTS and NEEDS and decides from there. Not from what others tell her.

 

[madison]

I kind of agree with madison's scenario. I don't see Alina initiating a change of coach because she's attached to them despite the difficulties and the drama that has been going on the team. Those are the people who brought her to the Olympic gold. She seems to be the kind of person who would endure anything but won't grab their bags and just leave. Otherwise, she would have already retired. But Eteri might be loosing patience with her already. If they don't fix her rotation problems, Alina would spend her next season chasing the 3A and dealing with failure. Just like Med had to do last season, chasing Alina.

I also think that her team will get rid off her... they do not need "heavy bags'' when they will have the 3A.
Eteri is always doing so, making the skater's life unbereable (those ones that are not competitive anymore) until she/he cannot stand and just leaves.
She and Daniil already started. I feel that their attitude towards Alina after the Rus Championship changed.
I would be happy to be proved wrong.

 

[starla16]

I just wonder how much taller Alina has grown since the beginning of this season. She is still very young and so many things are fixable, especially considering she has a very strong body. Many top skaters (Gracie, KO) at 16 were not even known to the world. The new 3As will go through their growth spirt in the next few years, so no one is guaranteed to do much better than Alina.

Also Sofia's jumps always looked small, and she managed not to under rotate or fall? Or he jumps are actually getting bigger? I remember two years ago in her first JGP season, many people observed her "Satoko" jumps, and I though she would lose all of her jumps in a few years.

Sofia does have a Satoko jump, weird landings and tiny jumps but her technique seems good enough to hold it.

 

[Watch]

Well... I'm very happy for Sofia and Mishin and very concerned for Alina. Not because she got silver - needless to say, there's no shame in that. But because of the general vibe she's giving. All season long she looks on the edge and just exhausted, both mentally and physically. I really thought it would go away after she gets her first victories early in the season, but it didn't and instead it's been getting worse since the GPF. She just doesn't look right. I know a lot of it is a mental problem, then there's also the physical puberty and on top of that I'm really not sure if she's not injured. And I see a lot of issues with how her coaching team is handling things. Come on, can't you make the long a bit less overloaded when she's obviously not able to handle it for now? It just pulls her down and makes it worse for her mentally.