2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[karina17]

Well, their last practice for today is over now and I can't seem to find anything. It didn't make sense...and then I realised Nathan and Yuzuru are practicing at the same time as them in the main arena, so everyone probably went to film that...? :/

Maybe there will be information later.

 

[nussnacker]

However, I think the point is that she was not getting these types of programs with Eteri despite asking for them. She seems to have been typecast into the “weird/strong/bold modern music” role. More importantly, Sasha is not the type of skater who naturally understands how to gracefully place her hands or move her arms or hold her head to fill out the music.

I said many times, I think Sasha should train with whomever she’s feeling happy to train. So far it seems like it is working for her, so she should keep going this way further.

Though, I think the reason why her requests for a lyrical programs might have not been fulfilled is something else.
Not the lack of resources or desire to do so, but more so, that even if Sasha does a program like that, there are skaters who are just naturally lyrical and soft, with whom Sasha is inevitably was going to be compared to by the judges.
There are so many skaters (majority of female skaters) who do lyrical programs, and do them very very well, which means it just invites a direct comparison, which won’t necessarily be in Sasha’s favor. Compete with someone like Aliona, Satoko in a field of being lyrical? That’s a battle that would easily be lost by most skaters, even those who are gifted dancers.
So why not try to avoid that kind of comparison? like with Kaori, to embrace being different. Kaori isn’t naturally gifted when it comes to choreography, but I think she does well with her Matrix program, specifically because she stands out. She’s not trying to fit into being a conventional pretty skater, but chooses to appear as a powerful skater. I think it helps her a lot.

 

[lopsilceci]

Exactly. Her jumps look better, but it probably happened naturally. So what about all the people that kept saying every skater gets worse because they're not with Eteri? It's a double standard. Chances are they were always going to struggle.

(Although on skating skills Sasha herself decided to train on it, so credit for the visible difference.)

Yes, her jumps are tighter and the technique changed, but I'm not sure that it has significantly improved her consistency or her ability to land more of them in competition. Her success rate and overall cleanliness in competition has stayed pretty much the same, which is why I question the decision to go for 5 quads and 3A.

I think the secret to skater's success with Eteri is the intense internal competition and high standards. Some skaters just seem to perform better under crazy pressure, so once they leave and the pressure is less, they struggle. And it's probably easier to deal with that pressure when they're younger and it gets harder as they grow older.

 

[nussnacker]

Artistry absolutely.

But on the technical she was going to get stronger and more powerful either way. Eteri takes away the motivation/hard work variable which is one reason Aliona struggled, but Sasha always had that in spades. Her entries don't look different to me, except 4T? But not really.

And I don't see any change in technique. Her picking during test-skates was closer to her body on the 4T, but if you look at the 4T in her 5 quad program today, it's all back to normal. The actual difference I see is both arms above her head, and that's because of Davydov. Otherwise I think she's mainly just gotten stronger and her height makes her look different.

I think same thing happened to Anna too tbh. Her combos have a better flow out, whereas last season she was almost coming to a standstill when landing them. Some effect of growing up, which turned out to be a positive change for her technique.

 

[neusw]

I said many times, I think Sasha should train with whomever she’s feeling happy to train. So far it seems like it is working for her, so she should keep going this way further.

Though, I think the reason why her requests for a lyrical programs might have not been fulfilled is something else.
Not the lack of resources or desire to do so, but more so, that even if Sasha does a program like that, there are skaters who are just naturally lyrical and soft, with whom Sasha is inevitably was going to be compared to by the judges.
There are so many skaters who do lyrical programs, and do them very very well, which means it just invites a direct comparison, which won’t necessarily be in Sasha’s favor. Compete with someone like Aliona, Satoko in a field of being lyrical? That’s a battle that would easily be lost by most skaters, even those who are gifted dancers.
So why not try to avoid that kind of comparison? like with Kaori, to embrace being different. Kaori isn’t naturally gifted when it comes to choreography, but I think she does well with her Matrix program, specifically because she stands out. She’s not trying to fit into being a conventional pretty skater, but chooses to appear as a powerful skater. I think it helps her a lot.

Of course she is at a disadvantage doing lyrical programs, but in her powerful programs she stilll needs the same set of skills in order to present a complete image (upper body movement, musicality, posture, skating skills). The best way to develop these skills is to skate soft lyrical programs where such skills are really emphasized, rather than to disguise deficiencies by continuing to skate to powerful frenetic music with random rushed and frantic movements.

 

[lopsilceci]

i don't think her jumps just "naturally" got better at all. her technique changed quite drastically. her air position is tighter, pick is closer, and entries are different. there has been a noticeable improvement in her artistry as well, which some of that can be contributed to being older now, but not all of it.

Well, how artistic can you be when you're always doing programs that fall in the action genre? I really liked those programs for Sasha btw, they were unique and different to what other lady skaters were doing and helped Sasha stand out.

I think the softer, more lyrical programs are helping Sasha express her artistic side more, but it's not that she didn't already have that ability before, it's just that her programs didn't require it.

 

[silveruskate]

Well, how artistic can you be when you're always doing programs that fall in the action genre? I really liked those programs for Sasha btw, they were unique and different to what other lady skaters were doing and helped Sasha stand out.

I think the softer, more lyrical programs are helping Sasha express her artistic side more, but it's not that she didn't already have that ability before, it's just that her programs didn't require it.

But just as Eteri gets praised for her packaging, I would say Sasha's been packaged perfectly. And she actually has worked more with skating skills specialists and artistry too.

 

[nussnacker]

Of course she is at a disadvantage doing lyrical programs, but in her powerful programs she stilll needs the same set of skills in order to present a complete image (upper body movement, musicality, posture, skating skills). The best way to develop these skills is to skate soft lyrical programs where such skills are really emphasized, rather than to disguise deficiencies by continuing to skate to powerful frenetic music with random rushed and frantic movements.

I think that change comes more from within. After seeing how highly Aliona and Anna rewarded for that, possibly Sasha wanted to go the similar route.
Sasha was often described by everyone (Volkov, Tutberidze) as someone who loves jumps the most, and doesn’t like other elements as much. That if she’s given freedom, she prefers to jump. She said so herself too, if I remember correctly.
So to me it appears that prior to going senior, this as a whole wasn’t an issue for her, and she didn’t see a particular need to implement changes in those areas. Especially given how much time and effort quad jumps take. But after seeing how it gives a safety cushion to others, and puts her at a higher risk, she started consciously paying more attention to it.

 

[silveruskate]

I think same thing happened to Anna too tbh. Her combos have a better flow out, whereas last season she was almost coming to a standstill when landing them. Some effect of growing up, which turned out to be a positive change for her technique.

Yes I agree, Anna's -eu-3S combos especially have become much better. Sasha and Anna have "grown" but it's been positive for the moment. For the sake of their skating careers I wouldn't wish it, but hips widening is one of the biggest differences that just doesn't happen to boys, and has the ability to cause the huge rotation issues. So far their quads are improving as they get stronger and taller.

 

[Paulipau]

So yeap, according to instagram Sasha landed 5 quads again the the evening run-though.

 

[icybear]

Have faith in Anna. I used to doubt her mentality but after Rus Nats I have no doubt she has one of the strongest mentality in fs. In Nats she had a terrible practice and warm up and was literally boiling but still won.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

Have faith in Anna. I used to doubt her mentality but after Rus Nats I have no doubt she has one of the strongest mentality in fs. In Nats she had a terrible practice and warm up and was literally boiling but still won.

Ladies skaters may look (and be) sweet, but they are tough!

 

[silveruskate]

So yeap, according to instagram Sasha landed 5 quads again the the evening run-though.

Nice to hear, but why is she doing FS practice three times and SP only once? She'll have more practices on her day off.

 

[JazzUp]

FS fandom: anxiously waiting for any news about Anya's training/run-throughs
Eteri & Daniil:

 

[colormyworld240]

Nice to hear, but why is she doing FS practice three times and SP only once? She'll have more practices on her day off.

This it pretty normal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but skaters get to chose whether they want to run their SP or FS in each practice. It makes sense to do the FS as they will have those elements in their SP anyways, but will also get to practice their other ones.

I remember at the Olympics most girls practiced their FS much more than SP. Also, concerns about Anna first came up when she was running her SP and not her FS at nationals because that was out of the ordinary.

 

[rollerblade]

FS fandom: anxiously waiting for any news about Anya's training/run-throughs
Eteri & Daniil:

They murdered a pigeon for instagram!

 

[Skatesocs]

They murdered a pigeon for instagram!

Nah just a pillow. I don't endorse pillow genocide any more than pigeon genocide, though.

 

[Lechat]

Oh no she's crying... I feel like there's too much pressure on her

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxPIXipv3N/

Being the favorite is stressful. I think she’s just frustrated that everything goes wrong with her quads.
She’s like Alina two years ago.

 

[Jontor]

Being the favorite is stressful. I think she’s just frustrated that everything goes wrong with her quads.
She’s like Alina two years ago.

This is where the coaching comes in...and it's important to get her to focus on the skate, not the expectations.

 

[starlight97]

I agree except for the last statement. There are plenty of amateur people in sports who are under a tremendous amount of pressure and compete through pain all the time. For reference look at the NCAA. In fact, most sports are amateurs. And success is different for different people. There is NO need to be dismissive. Stop.

I don't even know what NCAA is and I don't care.
This is figure skating and yes, some amateur girl who likes to put on skates for 2h twice a week and goes to a competition in her community once in a while jumping doubles and one 3T, that's an amateur skater. And yes, that girl can't even begin to imagine what WC skaters have to endure physically and mentally, leave alone the Russian ladies.
So nothing dismissive towards "NCAA", or what not, to feel sorry for here, and nothing I need to "Stop".

So I repeat my point: It's perfectly normal for Anna to cry in a bad practice because psychological and physical pressure are normal at her level in any sport. Not because she's in any particularly alarming situation.
If you want to avoid that pain and pressure, don't go professional, stay amateur.