Mikhail Kolyada

[sallycinnamon]

@vorravorra Thank you very much for the video and the translation summary, I appreciate it a lot!

Mika is one intelligent young man

But an impatient one, it seems

 

[Tutto]

Thank you very much for the link/translation -vorravorra.

Mika might look younger than his age but he's got a wise head on his shoulders. Had I understood at 22 that the health is the only thing that matters, my life would be quite different I think.

 

[vorravorra]

I have decided to move this here so as not to completely monopolise the Men's thread with a discussion of Misha.

I think his issues with 3A this season were purely mental. It is not uncommon for the skaters to fail their most reliable jumps when they are trying new elements, so the focus and anxiety about 4lz was really what caused this problem, at least that's how I see it

Misha's popping of one of his best jumps made me wonder what it was exactly that was wrong with his 4S that led to pops. The only time he actually jumped it (during a warmup) he landed it, though with a stepout. I can understand them putting it aside because pops are way too costly to keep risking them - even a fallen 4Lz is better. But if he had brought himself to stop popping 4S he might have had an easier time landing it than 4Lz - his lutz technique is just so demanding.

 

[Tutto]

I have decided to move this here so as not to completely monopolise the Men's thread with a discussion of Misha.


Misha's popping of one of his best jumps made me wonder what it was exactly that was wrong with his 4S that led to pops. The only time he actually jumped it (during a warmup) he landed it, though with a stepout. I can understand them putting it aside because pops are way too costly to keep risking them - even a fallen 4Lz is better. But if he had brought himself to stop popping 4S he might have had an easier time landing it than 4Lz - his lutz technique is just so demanding.

I thought it was not a good idea to abandon 4S. It is no good to run away from the problem which was probably rooted in the unhappy start of the season and loss of confidence. I too worry about his 4Lz I wish Mika had a more cheating technique like some

 

[cathlen]

I thought it was not a good idea to abandon 4S. It is no good to run away from the problem which was probably rooted in the unhappy start of the season and loss of confidence. I too worry about his 4Lz I wish Mika had a more cheating technique like some

Oh, no, no no. It's one of the reasons I love his skating so much! But I agree it's not good to run away from a problem. A slow and calm approach would be better.

 

[xeyra]

But if he had brought himself to stop popping 4S he might have had an easier time landing it than 4Lz - his lutz technique is just so demanding.

Because it's textbook technique. It's always more demanding and difficult to master when you don't cut any corners. I think when he finally lands it in competition, it'll very probably (definitely?) rival Boyang's in my eyes.

 

[vorravorra]

I thought it was not a good idea to abandon 4S. It is no good to run away from the problem which was probably rooted in the unhappy start of the season and loss of confidence. I too worry about his 4Lz I wish Mika had a more cheating technique like some

Considering that Misha's only been seriously training quad lutz since November, he's not doing badly (although TAT now seems to think that's too long to learn the hardest existing quad - last season she was treating it being done at all as a near-miracle ). He seems to have reduced the speed of entry so the momentum doesn't blow him off his feet completely on landing while still being able to rotate it, so with some more fine-tuning and training he might stabilize it better. It'll never be an easy jump, of course, for all the mentioned reasons. And they haven't literally abandoned 4S, he is still doing it a few times per practice session, and they plan going back to it. So we'll see I guess.

Oh, no, no no. It's one of the reasons I love his skating so much! But I agree it's not good to run away from a problem. A slow and calm approach would be better.

Because it's textbook technique. It's always more demanding and difficult to master when you don't cut any corners. I think when he finally lands it in competition, it'll very probably (definitely?) rival Boyang's in my eyes.

Recent events have rather made one question the point of correct technique (and not just on the lutz). Misha has said that the quad lutz requires by far the highest force and is the hardest on the body compared to the other quads to a large extent due to the lack of prerotation. Four revolutions in the air have got to take a lot out of you no matter what. So why is it correct if it makes it harder to jump and nobody gets dinged for prerotations or properly rewarded for doing it right? Of course a completely screwed up lutz technique will be unlikely to ever give you a quad, but it feels like some modifications could make it easier (not at Misha's stage, of course).

 

[coldblueeyes]

I think whatever he did before WTT seemed to work well for his jumps - not only he was closest to landing the 4lz in competition, but every other jump was very stable too, especially the new combo. Also, he seemed to be in a different mood too. Maybe it's going to be different this season.

 

[vorravorra]

I am going to take this discussion of Misha re: Eteri's interview here too because we really shouldn't take over the men's thread.

It's really a very interesting interview, and after it I start to understand why Mikhail prefered to continue to work with Valentina and not to go to the big groups of seniors, conducted by world famous coaches. And why he stated, that he would finish already if it was not Valentina who coached him. It's not because he is blindly loyal or too thankfull or has lack of courage. It's because he doesn't like when he is treated like a robot, and needs explanations what and why he shoud do. And he needs time and patient mentor to nail new elements. But for Eteri, and I suppose for other coaches in the big groups, like Mishin or Arutyunan the ideal student, who doesn't ask, but listens to them and repeat again and again, and learn new things fast. I think Valentina, while she lacks of expirience of work with elite skaters, is a person who looks forward to learn something new, and she is always ready to discuss with him what they did, and what they suppose to do, and even confess that she may not be right sometimes. And she really knows him, loves and believes in him.

Yes, if Misha had been Eteri's student at 13, he would have either left or been thrown out - not that the latter would have been completely unjustified. I think Eteri is someone who is simply incapable of individualised approaches, she seems to have no real clue as to how to handle complicated students, not just a lack of desire to do it. She needs a particular type of student that responds in a particular way to be successful, i.e. students need to fit her rather than vice versa. Which is why I've said that she would have made an awful teacher - outside of a tiny minority, teenagers do not fall over themselves to make your job of teaching them more convenient.

As for the coaching relationship between Misha and Valentina, I think we shouldn't go so far as to suggest their decisions are somehow made collegially. Misha has said that when he gets his own ideas about what he should do, she lets him try, he fails and knows better in the future. I didn't get the impression that him questioning her was a regular occurrence, and requiring explanations for everything would rather interfere with the training process. There are areas where you can learn by talking things through but sport is not one of them. You have to trust that your coach knows their job and do as told, or they'll never be able to teach you anything. Of course is a big gap between that and being a robot, and the coach should realise that their job extends beyond simply issuing commands and expecting obedience, motivating a student to do it is a substantial part of it.

 

[coldblueeyes]

But all relationships between coaches and skaters are not a freeway, two-way kinda thing, otherwise the coach would never have the authority over the athlete. It's just that the kind of coach Eteri is just not for everybody, certainly not for Misha. Though, I would like to know how she would deal with the work need to put on in order to gets his quads competitive.

Would it end like Adian?

 

[vorravorra]

But all relationships between coaches and skaters are not a freeway, two-way kinda thing, otherwise the coach would never have the authority over the athlete. It's just that the kind of coach Eteri is just not for everybody, certainly not for Misha. Though, I would like to know how she would deal with the work need to put on in order to gets his quads competitive.

Would it end like Adian?

I have a feeling that if Eteri hadn't managed to push him forward Adian-style, she would have simply run out of patience and moved on long before he'd even moved to seniors. She seems to want quicker results and is already losing patience with 14 y.o. Ilya Skirda. And I suppose if she can have Trusova and Shcherbakova, why bother with slow developers? She'd rather spend her time on 15 year olds who win an Olympic Gold, 16 year old World Champions and 12-13 year olds doing quads. Eteri is only a brilliant coach for a narrow category of students, nurturing every talent is just not her strength.

 

[vorravorra]

I've listened to Stasya Konstantinova's interview on Sport FM. There is a reccording in her VK group:

https://vk.com/public133254204

Some things relevant to Misha:

About Valentina: she is great at spotting potential - she can tell early on whether a student has any prospects in the sport. Also, students trust her and do what they are told without question because they are certain she knows what she is doing since has been proven right many times.

They train 5-6 hours 6 days a week - that's ice+choreo+physical training. She said ice time is 2x1.5 hours.
She thinks Misha is a perfect student for a coach because he catches on immediately, is prepared to work hard and generally doesn't cause any difficulties - while she needs a lot more effort and careful instruction to get something. Misha is easy to get along with for other skaters in the group as well and isn't prone to diva-like behaviour in spite of being the leader. But they usually give him the right of way anyway when he needs it since they respect him. It's 9-10 people on the ice and generally there is a polite atmosphere.

Come to think of it, I can't remember anyone saying a bad word about Misha is a person - obviously Stasya wouldn't do it in her interview, but even apart from that. Not everyone likes his skating, naturally, and there are plenty of conspiracy theories about what behind-the-scenes machinations lead to his and Stasya's success. These generally centre on Valentina wielding a well-hidden but vast power within the Russian figure skating system, but none of it touches Misha personally. Of course him keeping himself very much to himself has a lot to do with it - there is nothing for ill-wishers to dig into.

 

[coldblueeyes]

Well, it's not like Misha had it that easy to rise to the top - so I don't know about hidden powers within the federation. And Stasya did well last season, again, not the most consisten skater, but when she's on, she's on.

 

[vorravorra]

Well, it's not like Misha had it that easy to rise to the top - so I don't know about hidden powers within the federation. And Stasya did well last season, again, not the most consisten skater, but when she's on, she's on.

That's why I called them conspiracy theories But a surprising number of people believe them. And the interpretation seems to be that this power sort of emerged out of nowhere this season, so Misha's slow rise doesn't count. Honesly, I would love for Valentina to have that kind of power right now so that they would stop messing with Stasya, move her to seniors and get her the GP assignment.

 

[coldblueeyes]

That's why I called them conspiracy theories But a surprising number of people believe them. And the interpretation seems to be that this power sort of emerged out of nowhere this season, so Misha's slow rise doesn't count. Honesly, I would love for Valentina to have that kind of power right now so that they would stop messing with Stasya, move her to seniors and get her the GP assignment.

Wow, this is even more silly, to say the least. He's been rising steadily for two seasons, and he's been working so hard, but it's not like the competition in Russia made it that difficult for him to win Nationals, let's be honest. But you can see even in the forum that there are some people that simply cannot stand him - why, I don't know. If anything Misha's been one of the most hardworking guys lately, and it's showing in his results.

 

[vorravorra]

Wow, this is even more silly, to say the least. He's been rising steadily for two seasons, and he's been working so hard, but it's not like the competition in Russia made it that difficult for him to win Nationals, let's be honest. But you can see even in the forum that there are some people that simply cannot stand him - why, I don't know. If anything Misha's been one of the most hardworking guys lately, and it's showing in his results.

For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, Stasya has an active hatedom which appeared before she had even taken part in her first JGP event and anyone had heard of her. She always seems to be getting in someone's way and taking someone's rightful place. There have even been a bunch of posts on this forum about her utter lack of talent. And on FSU. Not to mention Russian forums. So the only explanation this hate club can come up with for her successes is Valentina pulling strings and they tend not to keep this opinion to themselves. And even in Misha's case that's the only way some people can explain his PCS.

 

[Perfume]

I have just seen a collection of his 4lz attempts in competitions. It's not bad. His Lutz take off has it all. He just needs to keep on trying.

 

[buton]

I am going to take this discussion of Misha re: Eteri's interview here too because we really shouldn't take over the men's thread.


Yes, if Misha had been Eteri's student at 13, he would have either left or been thrown out - not that the latter would have been completely unjustified. I think Eteri is someone who is simply incapable of individualised approaches, she seems to have no real clue as to how to handle complicated students, not just a lack of desire to do it. She needs a particular type of student that responds in a particular way to be successful, i.e. students need to fit her rather than vice versa. Which is why I've said that she would have made an awful teacher - outside of a tiny minority, teenagers do not fall over themselves to make your job of teaching them more convenient.

As for the coaching relationship between Misha and Valentina, I think we shouldn't go so far as to suggest their decisions are somehow made collegially. Misha has said that when he gets his own ideas about what he should do, she lets him try, he fails and knows better in the future. I didn't get the impression that him questioning her was a regular occurrence, and requiring explanations for everything would rather interfere with the training process. There are areas where you can learn by talking things through but sport is not one of them. You have to trust that your coach knows their job and do as told, or they'll never be able to teach you anything. Of course is a big gap between that and being a robot, and the coach should realise that their job extends beyond simply issuing commands and expecting obedience, motivating a student to do it is a substantial part of it.

I didn't mean that he has a lot of questions his coach has to answer, but I've impressed from the interview of Eteri, where she stated that a good student of her should do what she said, without questioning. Since most of her students are about 12-17 it is understandible, but if we take Mika, he is 22 and he is graduated universaty as a figure skating coach, and he did some sort of scientific work to get his diploma. So he is Valentina's young colleague, and he must have some ideas about the training proccess, which from one hand make him understand better what Valentina wants from him, from other hand he can discuss it with her, and maybe suggest something. But I think overall he trusts her like nobody else.

 

[Perfume]

I didn't mean that he has a lot of questions his coach has to answer, but I've impressed from the interview of Eteri, where she stated that a good student of her should do what she said, without questioning. Since most of her students are about 12-17 it is understandible, but if we take Mika, he is 22 and he is graduated universaty as a figure skating coach, and he did some sort of scientific work to get his diploma. So he is Valentina's young colleague, and he must have some ideas about the training proccess, which from one hand make him understand better what Valentina wants from him, from other hand he can discuss it with her, and maybe suggest something. But I think overall he trusts her like nobody else.

Even children have their own ideas of what is happening to them. Following the coach without questioning doesn't work with grown up people who have their own visions. At a certain age, they have to show their personality in their performance. He is doing it quite well. I think it's good that his coach let him do that. Skaters are still human with personalities.

 

[Tutto]

Mika is in Budapest- a holiday?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTzqjzmD__3/?taken-by=mikhail_kolyada
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTzrhhSjBCO/?taken-by=mikhail_kolyada