- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
Just read the following article in the Globe and Mail in which Frank Carroll provides his opinion on Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: Globe & Mail
The following extract is the section of the article in which Carroll sets out his views on Tuktamysheva:-
"While few would disagree that it’s exciting to watch a precocious youngster, not everybody was convinced that she is a senior skater, style-wise. Some said she still looked like a junior skater. In this competition, we have a little girl who has very tiny legs and she can rotate like a bat out of hell,” said Frank Carroll, coach of Mirai Nagasu, who finished fifth. “She’s doing triple-triples like nothing while these other girls are more mature and struggling with it.” But Carroll, known as the coach of Michelle Kwan, watched Tuktamisheva practice on Saturday and found her routine to latin music very junior-level, with ‘no maturity, looking like she should be in a novice or junior program, executing these wonderful jumps, but lacking what the other girls have to offer,” he said. He said if the judges scored her correctly, they would give her high technical marks, but should be scored at six or seven for the presentation marks. Many judges gave her marks far higher than that, with some as high as 7.75.One gave her a 8.25 for performance and didn’t give her a mark lower than seven (out of 10). Tuktamisheva will have to learn to skate much more like a woman, with maturity, he said. “The movement is so immature right now,” Carroll said. He’d like to use the word “childish” but feels it’s too harsh."
This is way over the top. Tuktamysheva performed brilliantly and was well deserving of her victory. At the end of the day, she is only 14 and whilst she does not have the maturity of some of the senior skaters, the maturity she did display was well beyond her years. The criticisms re lack of maturity are always levelled at those just entering the senior ranks, but ultimately they have to start somewhere! As the old cliche goes, before a diamond becomes a fabulous jewel, it has to be refined, polished, and perfected. Tuktamysheva is undertaking the very same journey that Carroll undertook with Michelle Kwan, and like Kwan was at 14, Tuktamysheva is by no means the finished article. I think its time therefore that people stopped criticising Tuktamysheva for having the same issues that all skaters have when they first enter the senior ranks. Nobody can expect her to be the finished article at the age of just 14. She still has several years of development before her, but she is off to a brilliant start. Her coaches have obviously focused on the technical side to provide her with a good foundation. The maturity, as with all skaters and all aspects of life, will obviously come with age. To suggest that she should already have it and to criticise her for allegedly not having it at the age of just 14 is completely ludicrous. As stated, whilst she does not have the maturity of some senior skaters, I think she displayed maturity well beyond her years, and for that she should be applauded. It also shows that she has huge potential.
Apparently, Tuktamysheva comes from a family of very very small people. Hence, for those that think that she may be derailed by a growth spurt, it may well be the case that there is not a great deal of growing left for her to do. I strongly suspect therefore that she will have little difficulty in retaining her jumping ability. And given that she already has a very sound technical basis from which to build, she can therefore spend much more time over the next couple of years adding the artistry, presentation skills, musicality, choreography, etc. And under the current system, that is the correct way to go about things - establish a solid technical base at a young age and then add the artistry gradually thereafter. As I said, therefore, to criticise a 14 year old skater of lacking skating maturity when nobody in their right mind would expect them to have fully developed it at that age is just beyond ridiculous. Nevertheless, to reiterate, in my view Tuktamysheva's level of skating maturity is already well beyond her years.
The following extract is the section of the article in which Carroll sets out his views on Tuktamysheva:-
"While few would disagree that it’s exciting to watch a precocious youngster, not everybody was convinced that she is a senior skater, style-wise. Some said she still looked like a junior skater. In this competition, we have a little girl who has very tiny legs and she can rotate like a bat out of hell,” said Frank Carroll, coach of Mirai Nagasu, who finished fifth. “She’s doing triple-triples like nothing while these other girls are more mature and struggling with it.” But Carroll, known as the coach of Michelle Kwan, watched Tuktamisheva practice on Saturday and found her routine to latin music very junior-level, with ‘no maturity, looking like she should be in a novice or junior program, executing these wonderful jumps, but lacking what the other girls have to offer,” he said. He said if the judges scored her correctly, they would give her high technical marks, but should be scored at six or seven for the presentation marks. Many judges gave her marks far higher than that, with some as high as 7.75.One gave her a 8.25 for performance and didn’t give her a mark lower than seven (out of 10). Tuktamisheva will have to learn to skate much more like a woman, with maturity, he said. “The movement is so immature right now,” Carroll said. He’d like to use the word “childish” but feels it’s too harsh."
This is way over the top. Tuktamysheva performed brilliantly and was well deserving of her victory. At the end of the day, she is only 14 and whilst she does not have the maturity of some of the senior skaters, the maturity she did display was well beyond her years. The criticisms re lack of maturity are always levelled at those just entering the senior ranks, but ultimately they have to start somewhere! As the old cliche goes, before a diamond becomes a fabulous jewel, it has to be refined, polished, and perfected. Tuktamysheva is undertaking the very same journey that Carroll undertook with Michelle Kwan, and like Kwan was at 14, Tuktamysheva is by no means the finished article. I think its time therefore that people stopped criticising Tuktamysheva for having the same issues that all skaters have when they first enter the senior ranks. Nobody can expect her to be the finished article at the age of just 14. She still has several years of development before her, but she is off to a brilliant start. Her coaches have obviously focused on the technical side to provide her with a good foundation. The maturity, as with all skaters and all aspects of life, will obviously come with age. To suggest that she should already have it and to criticise her for allegedly not having it at the age of just 14 is completely ludicrous. As stated, whilst she does not have the maturity of some senior skaters, I think she displayed maturity well beyond her years, and for that she should be applauded. It also shows that she has huge potential.
Apparently, Tuktamysheva comes from a family of very very small people. Hence, for those that think that she may be derailed by a growth spurt, it may well be the case that there is not a great deal of growing left for her to do. I strongly suspect therefore that she will have little difficulty in retaining her jumping ability. And given that she already has a very sound technical basis from which to build, she can therefore spend much more time over the next couple of years adding the artistry, presentation skills, musicality, choreography, etc. And under the current system, that is the correct way to go about things - establish a solid technical base at a young age and then add the artistry gradually thereafter. As I said, therefore, to criticise a 14 year old skater of lacking skating maturity when nobody in their right mind would expect them to have fully developed it at that age is just beyond ridiculous. Nevertheless, to reiterate, in my view Tuktamysheva's level of skating maturity is already well beyond her years.
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