Mzheng,
Thanks for asking your question about the differences between Sasha's edges in the '01-02 season and the '02-03 season since it is rather a fine point. I said I thought Sasha's edges were more SECURE in '01-02, which does warrant explanation. I think Sasha's edges were just as deep in '02 as they were in '03, but from what I saw during the change to Tarasova, Sasha lost a good deal of muscle mass. If you look at her at '02 Nationals and Olympics vs. '03 Nationals and Worlds, in '03 I think she looks thinner and her muscles are both less defined and have less mass. In '01-02, Sasha had an intensive off-ice training regimen, primarily Pilates, which uses both resistance and stretching simultaneously. In '01-02, Sasha's body, if not her skating, was a lean mean skating machine. Her head, IMO, needed work, as in how to focus, where to focus, goal-setting, and how to harness her natural competitive fire so that it worked for her not against her. Sasha also needed work, IMO, in terms of making her programs one connected whole instead of choppy sections. Some of this was due to poor choreography, but most of it was due, IMO, to Sasha not knowing how to "feel" a whole program in her mind and body. Sasha did best in the SP in '01-02 I think because it was short. It was in the LP where she would lose her concentration, improvise moves, change the order of things, etc. Not good. Anyway, I think Tarasova has helped Sasha with her focus, the psychology of competition, and how to absorb and perform an LP as a whole--this despite Sasha's extremely poor performances at Nationals. But to me this is par for the course in any steep learning curve. Sasha made tremendous progress in her GP events this past season. Just compare her fall '02 GP events to fall '01--no comparison. Sasha continued to skated well at the Canadian Open and Crest Whitestrips in December. With the pressure on at Nationals and Sasha still in the middle of going "up" on Tarasova's learning curve, not to mention Tarasova learning how to handle a ladies singles and a US skater, it did not surprise me that Sasha got her "failure" lesson at Nationals.
I'm digressing, sorry. As for Sasha's edges, the reasons I think Sasha lost security in her edges with Tarasova are as follows:
1. The loss of muscle mass and strength from not doing her off-ice training. I don't know if Tarasova told her she didn't need it (some coaches, especially older ones, don't like their skaters to be muscular) or if Sasha stopped on her own.
2. Tarasova does not have Sasha do full runthroughs with jumps. According to Sasha, she trains sections of her LP or does her LP without the jumps. To me, this is a terrible training approach for a skater, though it has been THE training method used by Russian coaches for decades. One reason was that at competitions, they didn't want other coaches and skaters seeing their whole programs and stealing moves and choreography. Obviously this comes from the days before videotape. Also, coaches know judges watch practice. Russian coaches only wanted the judges to see their skaters at their best, so they would practice a section of their LP, look great, and rest; do another section, look great, and rest. The problem was that many Russian skaters never developed the physiologic endurance they needed to do the entire program well. Also, neurologically, they never developed a motor program for the whole LP. Thus the skater who is trained this way, as Sasha was with Tarasova, never develops the neurologic pathways (muscle memory) nor the physiologic mechanisms (endurance) to be physically and psychologically secure in the LP. Easier to do in the SP, but the same principles apply.
3. Although Tarasova is an ice dance coach, the previous singles skaters she had, Kulik and Yagudin, had the great Russian basics in edging and other techniques. They wanted and needed someone to bring out the artist in them. I think Tarasova can be beneficial to Sasha in this way too, but I don't believe Tarasova worked on Sasha's basic skating skills the way they needed to be. I don't know if Tarasova realized Sasha was so behind in her basics (she didn't start skating seriously until age nine) or if TT chose to work on the "whole" first and the basics later. IMO, Sasha gained a lot from Tarasova, but she backslid some as well. This is not unusual when changing to a coach who is vastly different from your former coach, but with expectations for Sasha so high people are scrutinizing everything about her skating, as is par for the course.
Overall, I think Sasha's edges were less secure in '02-03 than they were in '01-02 because she lost some of the strength in her center and in her hips and thighs that enable the skater to get "down into the knees" and "into the ice." A skater who has the abdominal/lowback strength (center) and hip/thigh strength to power down into the ice is a secure skater. Michelle and Irina are the best examples of this. Actually, Michelle got BETTER in terms of her edge security, IMO, from '01-02 to '02-03, which I think had a lot to do with her off-ice training.
So Sasha could still get the same depth of edge in '03 as she could in '02, it just wasn't as secure through her whole body. I would watch Sasha in '01-02 and when she wasn't trying to do a quad and making a mess of her LP, she looked like there was nothing that could knock her down on that ice. I think her Olympic SP is a good example of this. Just watching her opening strokes in that SP, I KNEW she would not fall. Her Olympic LP was not as secure because she was trying the 3/3 and she also had focus problems, IMO; but still her basic skating on the ice was solid.
This season, Sasha looked skittish on the ice, as if she were skating slightly on top of it instead of down into it. She didn't have the deep soft knees she had in '01-02. In her spiral, she could hold a beautiful deep edge but watching her I'd think, "I could blow her over." Maybe it's a subtle thing.
Anyway, Mzheng, that's what I meant. I hope this explains it more clearly. You may not agree, but if you have tapes, I hope you will watch and compare the programs I mentioned from this season and last. I'd love to know what you think.
Rgirl
