Yes, the most recent article I read about K/F mentioned that they have two Zoom sessions a week with Mozer. As for a reason, aside from those you mentioned, maybe they're working with her to increase their international credibility? But if that's the case, why not C/J also? Maybe it's a question of finances. Maybe USFS is investing more in K/F? I don't know. The Knierims seem to have worked with Mozer at one or more of her camps in the past. At practices in the past couple of years, I've seen Alexa make a beeline over to Mozer for a quick "hi," even when Mozer was standing with C-G/L's coaches, presumably to concentrate and working with C-G/L.
Other than what @icecoverage answered, maybe Raf has too full a schedule? I don't know. My hope would be that Raf's assistant would really strengthen the jump technique that C/J have, as opposed to re-working it, (knowing about the famous "two years" that Raf aims for).
I mean wow is right! Could you link the article you read about K/F's sessions with Mozer? I mean what is it about Mozer that people love so much? She must truly have some kind of tech or coaching guidance fairy dust in order to be so in demand by U.S. fed and U.S. pairs skaters. My word! I know she has a track record with certain Russian teams. But it looks like she's doing mostly consultant work these days, while Moskvina and other pairs coaches are more directly active rinkside these days. I'm sure Mozer still offers assistance to Tarasova/Morosov when needed. But T/M clearly also have Max Trankov and Marina Zoueva. And now of course, also the retired veteran skater whose name escapes the tip of my tongue!
Sure, it's clear that Mozer working with C-G/L has helped them a great deal. But Ashley still touches her arms down on Timothy's left shoulder in the dismount. For some reason, that doesn't seem to be called. Or maybe they just don't give them as much GOE? It seems to me that the contact is mostly missed by tech panel because maybe where they land the dismount makes it not clearly visible to the judges that there was contact?
Do you know someone in the sport that gives you some insider skinny?
Yes, I agree that C/J don't need their jumps reworked. It's more about confidence and believing in themselves. They both seem to get so nervous going into their jumps. Otherwise, I don't see tech issues, just nervousness and worry about the other person because they are both trying to land in sync, and not sure their partner is going to land. Jessica clearly was rattled in one of the ISP fp performances when Brian fell on the first sbs jump. Jessica landed it beautifully, but then she became rattled and they had to move into the next jumping pass immediately, where they both messed up. Purely a mental issue.
Plus the technique on their throws is a work-in-progress. C/J said in an interview that trying to adjust to different throw techniques has been one of the things that took them the most time to figure out, and they are still a bit tentative going into the throws. In general, they've landed their throws okay because Jessica has a cat-like ability to land -- she has a very strong core/ back, and lovely posture. They get huge height on their throws, but very little distance. That would seem to indicate a need for Brian to adjust how he's throwing I suppose. Or else work on increasing or modulating speed moving into the throws, or some other adjustment.
These seem to be the fine-tuning details that are so hard to figure out and then solve because it involves learned muscle habits that are hard to rework, I'm guessing. Sean Rabbitt spoke on the Beyond the Rink podcast (Episode 11) regarding a leg wrap he had, which it took a long time for him to work on and eliminate.
ETA:
International credibility simply because Mozer is consulting with them??? Again, what is it about Mozer that gives skaters more credibility because she's working with them? Her former success track record in pairs? Meno/Sand have a good and consistent track record in certain aspects of coaching too. It's just that the U.S. fed hasn't placed a ton of backing, political or otherwise, behind their pairs teams. For starters, they need to work on eliminating this knee-jerk and unfair dissing of U.S. pairs skaters. A lot of people in the skating community have their eyes glued to U.S. pairs (copying moves, etc), while at the same time there's still this attitude of looking down on U.S. pairs. That attitude needs to cease, because it's not just about results. Political savvy helps results in terms of how judges weigh GOE and rep. We've got some top-notch teams, but they need political support.
I don't know why U.S. fed thinks credibility can only come from Russian coaches. If that's true, then why is it true? Get the technical knowledge they have and capitalize on it. Rusfed checks out other trends happening among other athletes/countries and copies those trends for their own advantage. Russia was not a powerhouse in any discipline, until they began to take off in the 1960s in pairs due solely to the balletic evolution created by Belousova/Protopopov (a pair whom Rusfed did not even like, because they were considered too old by -- except that they were valued for their balletic innovations internationally).
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