The Tutberidze Effect

[Lunalovesskating]

The technique of Eteri's students has evolved with each "generation" of students. Yulia's technique did not hold up long at all. Zhenya's lasted longer. Alina had better technique at 15 than Zhenya did at the same age, and her jumps appear to be more stable long-term as well. Trusova and Kostornaia have bigger jumps than Alina did, which is a good sign for their longevity, IMO (Shcherbakova's seem smaller, other than her 4Lz, but I'm not sure.)

It was clear that Zhenya's jumps were pretty weak during the 2018 Olympics - they were landed with a thud and very little flow. She really had to grit them out to make them happen.

I think this will be less of an issue for Eteri's girls going forward, because the girls younger than Zhenya have better technique. But individual ladies might still have problems depending on if they have any particularly dramatic growth spurts. But I do think it means that the "Tutberidze Effect" IS adapting with every new generation of ladies.

Kostornaya, Zagitova and Trusova learned their technique from different coaches. Kostornaya came to Tutberdize in 2017 I believe. Trusova in 2016. As a skater one usally (but not always) keeps the jumping technique one learned from ones first coach, because it is difficult to change it, if you look at old videos from Kostornaya or Trusova you can see that they always had pretty powerful jumps even before Eteri. Shcherbakova and Evgenia are one of the few who have been with Eteri since they were little children, around 4-6 years old. Evgenia only had one coach before Eteri but switched to Eteri when she was around 6 AFAIK. Shcherbakova has been with Eteri the longest from all skaters, I think 11-12 years now

 

[Edwin]

As a skater one usally (but not always) keeps the jumping technique one learned from ones first coach, because it is difficult to change it

True, unlearning and re-training can be done, but takes time and effort and will not always yield the desired result, re: Goncharenko's interview., Plus, the athlete is out of action while being re-trained I suppose,one can easily get confused in the transition phase.
So best done with young children, like not older than 12-13, so they're cleared again by the time novice and junior season starts.

Which poses the question: has there ever been any skater trained in switching the dominant leg and returning in his previous strength? Switching writing hand can be done with young children at the time they start writing and micro motorisation (?) hasn't been ingrained yet.

 

[andromache]

Which poses the question: has there ever been any skater trained in switching the dominant leg and returning in his previous strength? Switching writing hand can be done with young children at the time they start writing and micro motorisation (?) hasn't been ingrained yet.

Satoko originally rotated clockwise. I believe this was when she was a child and lived in the US? Then she moved back to Japan (still as a child) and the Japanese coaches made her rotate counter-clockwise instead. This has often been cited as a potential reason why her jumps have been so small (though we don't really know, of course).

 

[Edwin]

Satoko originally rotated clockwise. I believe this was when she was a child and lived in the US? Then she moved back to Japan (still as a child) and the Japanese coaches made her rotate counter-clockwise instead. This has often been cited as a potential reason why her jumps have been so small (though we don't really know, of course).

Right handed skaters have their right leg dominant, rotate counter clockwise by nature, and skate counter clockwise by preference. Now, would there be any physical benefit if very young skaters learn to skate without a dominant limb, i.e. equally dexterious? Would it reduce the chance of overload injuries? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_motor_skill

http://balletfocus.com/ballet-turning-clockwise/
https://www.liveabout.com/direction-figure-skaters-jump-and-spin-1282268
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-ballet...but-most-figure-skaters-spin-counterclockwise

I can't remember having seen many left handed, clockwise skaters, only one Swiss girl in last year's JPG cycle comes to mind.

Actually there are some, even distinguished skaters: https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/4551046
And even rarer, there has been a pair: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/spo...a-different-set-of-challenges/article7454406/
which posed their choreographer quite some difficulties

 

[andromache]

Right handed skaters have their right leg dominant, rotate counter clockwise by nature, and skate counter clockwise by preference. Now, would there be any physical benefit if very young skaters learn to skate without a dominant limb, i.e. equally dexterious? Would it reduce the chance of overload injuries?

I can't remember having seen many left handed, clockwise skaters, only one Swiss girl in last year's JPG cycle comes to mind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine_motor_skill

Ashley Wagner is a clockwise skater. She's always the first one my mind goes to. Rohene Ward is ambidextrous (I believe) and can rotate both ways. I know there's video out there somewhere - just not sure where.

I'm not sure there would be any benefit in training a skater to specifically be able to rotate both directions. If they are not naturally inclined, working on technique on one side could mess up their technique on the other.

 

[dante]

Changing PCS factor for ladies from 0.8 to 1.0 can help, I suppose.

I'm afraid a plain increase will turn lower-tier competitions into single dances. Personally, I'd increase the factor to 0.9 and make PCS scoring superlinear (assuming it's linear now): the typical PCS range for top skaters should expand from 7-9 to 6-9.5, while tier 2 skaters should get lower PCS with the old variance.

 

[Edwin]

"To find the middle ground"
On the role of choreography in the development of figure skaters, by Alexey Zheleznyakov

Zheleznyakov
Alexey Valentinovich
July 5, 1981
Education: higher, teacher-choreographer.
Former students: Polina Shelepen, Julia Lipnitskaya, Evgenia Medvedeva, Polina Tsurskaya, Adyan Pitkeev, Sergey Voronov, Kristina Astakhova - Alexey Rogonov and others.
Pupils: Alina Zagitova, Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, Alena Kostornaya, Maurice Kvitelashvili, Daria Pavlyuchenko - Denis Khodykin and others.
Currently: works with groups of Eteri Tutberidze, Sergey Dobroskokov, Arthur Dmiriev. He is the head of the sports and dance studio AJ DANCE STUDIO FS.

As a professional choreographer, I have been working in the world of figure skating for 15 years, as this sport is directly related to choreography and art. It all started with the offer from Eteri Tutberidze to work in her group, where I got my first experience in teaching athletes. Later, I worked with various teams in singles and pairs, as well as in ice dancing. Even after all this time observing skaters, I still do not understand why they are engaged in physical fitness exercises much more often compared to choreography. I think the reason for this is a certain stereotype that prevailed in Soviet times that figure skating is “farther, higher, stronger” which cannot be achieved without physical exercise. Until now, many coaches (and not only the older generation) have remained in those years and did not notice that figure skating has changed. They continue to build athletes with pumped up muscles out of skaters, which creates a completely strained body. It seems to me the turning point has come when you need to stop and think: should we continue to follow this direction?

If someone thinks professional dancers, for example, ballet dancers of the Bolshoi Theater, do physical training in their time off choreography, he is mistaken. Although, personally I know some dancers of different styles and styles who sometimes go to the gym. Someone goes there sculpting his body to look beautiful on stage, some other takes to the treadmill to increase endurance, because if during the two- or three-hour performance the artist will lose his breath or sour his muscles, it will affect his performing skills. However, all the necessary qualities - leap height, speed, strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, body esthetics - dancers will acquire exclusively by means of choreography. My experience with figure skaters tells me that they can also achieve the above qualities, including significantly increasing all muscle groups in the body using choreography. For this purpose, any choreography is suitable - from classical to modern, but it is best to create exercise classes so that all the main types and styles are accessible to skaters.

Classical choreography and other

I must say that no one likes classical choreography, which by the way also included myself. It’s long, dreary, boring, but you can’t do without it, because it lays the foundation by aligning the body, gives an understanding of the culture of movement. Only at the age of 14-15 I began to understand this, after which I began to seriously engage in it.
The classics instills a culture of position, aesthetics of gesture, gives your back a pivot in every pirouette. It is inherently static, because it sets the muscles up to work in a uniform way but at the same time it affects the elasticity of muscles and ligaments. With the help of choreography classes, you can perfectly work out the qualities that skaters need. For example, at the end of the exercise there are bound to be jumps (sauté, changements), which give explosive power. The changement jump works to group the legs, because in the fifth position the legs are tightened and the uplift is provided by the power of ankles and other muscles. This movement is good for jumping on ice. For some reason, many people think that while jumping the skater does not need to work his ankles, that the impulse is due to speed and inertia. In fact, a well developed ankle, even in skating boots, still works and gives the jump an increase in height of 20-30%. Passes like pliée, grand pliée and big jumps work well for strength, and they are a great substitute for deadlifts that kill your knees and back. Classical choreography forms beautiful lines in the body, a sense of posture. Children learn to point their toes, hold a battement tendu for eight counts, correctly move the leg to the side, sit down slowly in the pliée, and so on, which affects elasticity and stretching of the ligaments. As a basis, I would take the old school of world choreography, so that athletes are engaged in classics every day. By analogy with the Bolshoi Theater, but with slightly smaller loads, so enough strength remains in the athletes to work on ice.
Only classical choreography however will not be enough for skaters, you need to pay attention to other styles. I believe that folk dance as an exercise in choreography for skaters is underestimated. I attended master classes in an ensemble named after Igor Moiseyev and I can assure you that folk dance has great potential for pumping muscles. Look at the professional dancers of this ensemble, evaluate what they do and which tricks they perform. Now let some skater try 16 Cossack jumps wearing those boots or make a series of Russian side split leaps with the same jump height and ease! To do this, there must be some huge power in those muscles no athlete has ever dreamed of. Can you imagine if a skater will jump to the same height? The characteristic movements of folk dances are completely different in their dynamics. Let's say pliée is the lyrics of Moldavian dance, jeté is the spirit of gaucho - the dance of Argentine shepherds. These dances will have a completely different pace, different legwork, making the muscles work differently each time. A characteristic dance will have your muscles work in various ways – sharp here, soft there, which creates a good boost.
In recent years, figure skating has greatly increased in the diversity of programs. Athletes try to present themselves in completely different styles. To be able to do this, you need to ‘own your body’, and by consequence, it must be universally able. Therefore, in addition to classical and folk dances, it is necessary to teach modern jazz, as well as other modern styles and trends.
To make children acquainted with choreography I advise you to start with the classics, at four or five years of age, and after a year, connect modern jazz, so they understand and open up to it. Modern jazz is fundamentally different from classical choreography: there is absolutely no fixation in it, on the contrary, it is a complete emancipation of the body, total body workout, shaking up every vertebra and joint. I advise you to start teaching modern jazz in the entry level classes right from the first year. Children need to be trained from the beginning, shaken up, to prance around so that they feel the rhythm, learn how to work under different rhythms, use different dynamics. When the children are done with prancing, you can set them interesting programs. I do not see any barriers in order to start doing this from an early age.
Only a teacher should understand what and why he is doing this. We must not allow the child to take any random jerking for a dance. In general, in the first two or three years of teaching, I would not skip over physical fitness: easy running, rope skipping, elastic stretching bands - everything is fine in the beginning to create endurance. For full-fledged work in the dance hall, they need to mature a little in their minds, and the exercises listed above give a good result both in coordination and in general endurance.
In my opinion, the skater’s choreographic day may look like this. Three times a week in the morning - a choreography class, in the evening - modern jazz. Twice a week in the morning - a folk dance class, in the evening - any modern dance. You can add stretching two or three times a week and specialized physical training (SPT) to these classes as many times as the coach considers necessary, since it is necessary to do training, practice grouping, work with the rubber band, jump with steps and so on. If during the day the skaters, in addition to ice and SPT, will have two classes of different choreography, then the ordinary PE is enough at the level of warm-up and cool-down. The main thing is: without athleticism. Such a schedule of classes will give, among other things, the athletes a chance to release their emotions by switching from one activity to another. I believe that these classes should be taught by different teachers, because the classics and modern are very different in style. In the group of Eteri Tutberidze, classical choreography is taught by Lyudmila Shalashova, a ballet dancer of the Bolshoi Theater, a teacher of classical dance, a person with experience and professional education. I am engaged in the modern areas in which I am well versed. Everyone should professionally and competently go about their business - and there will be a result.
With the help of choreography, an athlete can achieve the necessary physical fitness, but only if there are exclusively professional teachers. Unfortunately, we have to admit that in some sports schools choreography sometimes resembles amateur performances. As a result, children do nothing, hang out at the barre, discipline is zero, as is the result. If, for some reason, a sports school cannot or does not want to find a choreography teacher, then the athlete must look for some kind of dance studio and go there instead. But here you need to be careful, because there are studios where the “teachers” themselves took a course for six months or got some ideas from YouTube and imagine themselves to be choreographers. Parents will find it difficult to understand at first, wether a professional is in front of them or an imposter. Ultimately, time will put everything back in its place, only for the athlete it’ll be time wasted.

"Flying taburets"
 
For a fact, I believe Physical Exercise is the basis of everything in athletes. True, I think that the general PE for a weightlifter can and should differ from PE for a skater. I am sure for skaters there is enough PE in the amount of warm-up and cool-down before and after ice training. Easy running for about forty minutes as a good cardio workout is correct in every aspect, especially in combination with stretching of hot muscles after a workout. The athlete runs, crouches and hops, skips rope – all of this gives him warmed up muscles before going out onto the ice, and under no circumstances should he refused. However, I would not confuse a light cardio jogging with cross-country, skipping rope with pumping legs on training apparatus. In my 15 years of working with skaters, I have witnessed how in some respected Moscow schools, coaches with the help of PE, turned skaters into pumping jocks. They, in the apt expression of my friend Igor Pashkevich, turned into "flying taburets". Indeed, where does lightness, lines, grace, components come from, when a figure skater does not feel his body, which is so pumped up and strained that it’s like a steam locomotive going downhill.
Our figure skating trainers often invite light athletics coaches to give PE classes, who, not understanding the specifics of figure skating, give the skaters excessive loads, especially in gyms with iron. In fact, to achieve results skaters have enough exercise already using their own bodyweight. And with the help of the choreography class, an athlete can not only reach his maximum strength, but also the explosive strength needed to perform jumps and any other element.
 
During puberty, there is a period of growth, followed by a period of weight gain; the athletes who train in light athletics are inclined to gain more weight and form relief muscles, especially in calves and thighs. This is especially a problem for girls whose graceful shape and legs suffer not only because of puberty or eating disorders, but also because of those uneducated PE classes.
In these athletes, the body is accustomed to building muscle mass from childhood, because each day during PE she was being worked out like an runner. During puberty, even if she takes it easy with the load (which, as a rule, does not happen, because there is this opinion it is necessary to burn calories more intensively by increasing the load), her body is already used to turning calories into muscles, so when the load decreases, the pumped muscles begin to grow a fat layer. Boys can still work off hard muscles, but for girls in figure skating this is a disaster.

It is clear that in pair skating and in ice dancing, young men can use power oriented physical conditioning, including working with weights, throwing padded rods, or pump their muscles on benches, otherwise they just cannot lift their partners in support elements, throw their partners into the twisting flyaways and generally do not reach the end of their free program. But in general, it is better for skaters to cultivate their bodies through choreography rather than athletics.

Universal Soldier
 
Today, figure skating in our country is at the peak of its popularity. The audience has become very picky and demanding, and if it was first shown the best skating, then the mediocre, later even worse, it probably won’t watch anymore. Each skater seeks to skate in different 'images', making the most of the language of choreography, because modern figure skating puts maximum demand on presentation of the program. By this maximum, I mean the variety of styles and professional preparedness, so everything that choreography can give to figure skating can be absorbed. Therefore, those athletes who constantly skate in the same style and image create the impression of one-sidedness. They are so accustomed to their role that if they suddenly change their image, nothing good can come of it. This phenomenon happens all the time. This is especially noticeable when an athlete moves from one coach to another. In the world of figure skating, all of us - choreographers, coaches, athletes - track each other's work. Naturally, the new coach saw how the athlete skated, what programs he had previously been given. Ambition does not allow the trainer and choreographer to follow the same path, or the public will say: we’ve seen this before. The coach begins to look for a new image, trying to change the dynamics of skating and even the technique that has been established over the years. The coach begins to remodel the athlete, more on the basis of his ambitions than out of sports necessity. As a rule, this only goes downwards.

There are several reasons for this. On the one hand, each person is individual and some images and styles may not fit him. But it also happens that an athlete grew up in a situation where they didn’t offer him anything new, where he didn’t try anything, because, according to the coach, he was completely stuck in his own traditional way. As a result, the skater does not have enough choreographic skill in store for a full manoeuvre. If he had been engaged in classics, characteristic dance since childhood, was able to dance in the styles of jazz modern, hip-hop and others, he would not only be perfectly prepared physically, but his dance technique would be perfectly tuned. The image of an athlete in his program is one of the most interesting transformations for the viewer. An image is a voluminous concept, it should have an idea, morality, aesthetics, which manifest themselves both in movements and in the costume, even in a hairstyle. By the way, I always react internally when I see the breaking of some boundaries of decency and taste, especially in programs for exhibitions. Still, these programs should not be vulgar, no matter how much you want to expand your image. And again I will say that choreography fosters taste, because it gives a huge palette of possibilities for expressing any image. This education primarily depends on the literacy of teachers who are able to teach this all of this. Many trainers who abandoned the all around PE in favour of choreography have made convincing progress. For example, in the group of Eteri Tutberidze there have been no exhausting PE classes for quite some time now, instead they offer a full range of choreographic classes, which includes various types and directions of dance. Athletes of her group can stage any program under any image, which is exactly the universality the audience adores. Another striking example of such versatility for me is the Uzbek skater Misha Ge, who can work on the ice in any style, even at the level of professional dancers. I hope we won’t have to wait another few decades for all our coaches to understand that only choreography is able to raise universal skaters out of their pupils.

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Many thanks to dante for pointing out errors. There will likely be some more small revisions once the Russian and English have sunken in.

 

[dante]

Many thanks to the poster that pointed out errors.

Why not mention the name of this incredibly humble person?

 

[Vandevska]

This was such a great read! Thank you so so much for posting!

 

[Edwin]

This was such a great read. Thank you so so much for posting it!

No thanks, it was a fun thing to do.

Not forgetting Zheleznyakov is preaching his own gospel, and sort of indebted to #TeamTutberidzeForProgress, his arguments hold great value.

Why bother yourself with PE in a gym when everything can be taught much more effectively, much more dynamically, with much more pleasure and satisfaction in both teacher and students through dance?

Especially "Athletes of her group can stage any program under any image, which is exactly the universality the audience adores" which is precisely what dance/choreo training should be about.

It makes the financial household of Sambo-70 only a little poorer by having to hire another dance teacher to fulfil that schedule, but it saves on PE trainers with the wrong background that might work cheaper by the hour, but aren't nearly as effective and often teach skaters the wrong way.

Trusova's incredible power and jump height comes to mind first, remember her Unstoppable performances in the Tutberidze Show of Champions with that flying side split leap straight into another, and multiple camel spins with the free leg kicked so high? And those series of 5-6 jumps in series, including a quad?

Does she look bulked up? This is her secret to stay in shape: Dance, dance, dance, everybody dance!

 

[Mathman]

Tutberidze has the Midas Touch. Everything she touches turns to gold.

I greatly look forward to the coming season to see what happens next. It seems like we have already tossed Trusova and her cohort aside so we can jump on the Kamila Valieva bandwagon.

 

[SkateSkates]

Tutberidze has the Midas Touch. Everything she touches turns to gold.

I greatly look forward to the coming season to see what happens next. It seems like we have already tossed Trusova and her cohort aside so we can jump on the Kamila Valieva bandwagon.

Well I for one have not tossed anyone aside and will not be hopping on any new bandwagons perhaps I will just add a new wagon or 2 to my collection.

 

[Edwin]

There is some truth in this, if the Crystal Dome is really capable of delaying the onset of obsolescence, they might find they have a staffing problem, apart from a logistical one in how to manage all this given the limits of time and space?

For the Tutberidze Effect to be successful, a certain number of specimen are needed, but there is this critical mass, still yet not discovered, when the experiment becomes over saturated and start loosing its effectiveness.

However, when the Tutberidze Effect picks up and is also set up at other ice palaces, there will be a great incentive for trainers to advance themselves along with their colleagues to this higher level of professional consciousness.

So I think this is another win-win situation of really applying yourself to your job, of seeking advance, making that progress happen, to reach for the sky and venture in unknown territory.

 

[[email protected]]

About Marin? Yeah, I was looking up some of her results and happened to read a bit further. First 5 seems about accurate, even though it’s probably less, the first two pages or so. I didn‘t read the whole thing. Of course it‘s a fanfest, so it‘s expected to be very positive — and it is — but even there some people were worried. So, it‘s not all about the Eteri girls as the discussion with Marin came up in 2014 some time, when Eteri’s quad girls weren’t even around yet. And the concern certainly isn‘t fake (in most cases), is all I wanted to say.

There is a big difference. Whatever concerns people expressed talking about Marin were theoretical ones. Like "Marin has started to learn quads - she'd better watch her health status". Nice and genuine concerns. The thing is that she never jumped any quad. Concerns about Eteri's skaters were up and running (and still are) after they started to jump quads. Big difference and the reason to suspect that some of those concerns are fake indeed.

 

[Mathman]

... reason to suspect that some of those concerns are fake indeed.

? I don't see any reason to doubt the sincerity of fans who express concerned about athletes' health and well-being. Not at all.

 

[[email protected]]

? I don't see any reason to doubt the sincerity of fans who express concerned about athletes' health and well-being. Not at all.

I know that you are a good person and believe in people no matter what. My personal doing quick mental regression analysis shows that some of those with health concerns are critical about Russian ladies in general and Eteri in particular. That's why I suspect a fake in those cases. I hope that I am not just a misanthrope.

 

[Edwin]

Here is what a specimen skater himself had to say about being subjected to the Tutberidze Effect:

Hope is in our eyes

Daniil Samsonov: “I want to go down into the history of figure skating”

Daniil Samsonov: Date of birth: July 13, 2005 (Moscow). Candidate Master of Sports
Clubs:
CS&O Sambo-70 (Khrustalny branch), ShOR Moskvich, RBM No4.
Trainers: Eteri Tutberidze, Sergey Dudakov, Daniil Gleichengauz, Alexander Shubin, Nataliya Dubinskaya, Olga Levina, Valeriy Meshkov.
Results:
Championship of Russia among juniors (2019) - 1st place.
The first winter International Sports Games "Children of Asia" (2019) - 1st place.

- Daniil, how do you deal with the fame that has piled on you after winning the Russian Championship? How do you feel about the fact that fans now expect victories from you? Doesn't it crush you?
D: No. It rather motivates me. I try to give my best in every training so as not to disappoint those fans who rely on me. Their hope is not annoying me, but only spurs me on. I understand that everyone was waiting for victories in our men's single skating, so much attention to me and to all the guys in general. This interest is connected with the hope that we will be able to return to the world elite.
- The public sometimes knows no bounds in its adoration, and the press is constantly looking for sensational hot news. Are you mentally prepared for the fact that your life will be the subject of gossip among all kinds of strangers?
D: I think that my family will support me, and the coaches will tell me how to react to some things, how to communicate with fans and journalists, and will teach me how to cope with some problems from this area. As for the press: I already had a case after the Championship, when “my” words that I didn’t say were put in the headline of the news. So in this regard, I already understand everything. I am not so naive to think this won't happen again.
- Do you have the realization that you belong to that generation of skaters who have mastered all quadruple jumps, and this in childhood?
D: I did not think about it, but you are probably right. In our group already some boys - Yegor Rukhin, Gosha Kunitsa - are jumping quadruples.
- If the quadruple jump ceases to be exotic, due to what will your generation win?
D: Due to quality. Complex entrances and exits, some quadruples will be put in the second part of the program to get an increase of 10%. Perhaps someone will risk doing cascades with quadruple jumps. I think this is for real.
- Will your set of elements change in the new season? Will something be added to the complexity or will you stay with the same content and work only on quality?
D: Over the season, I learned all four jumps. We wrapped them up tight, with regard to later exits. Since the solo jump in the short program for juniors changes every season, this year there will be a Rittberger instead of a Flip. It will be a triple, because the juniors in the short can not jump quadruples. But there will be a triple Axel and a cascade of Lutz-Toeloop. Naturally, in order to earn those plus marks from the judges, I was given complex entrances and exits everywhere. In the free program, we are going to insert two quadruple jumps in the second half of the program - from triple cascades.
- Will you modify something on your spins?
D: My spins are all on level four, so we will work on their quality. This season, for juniors in the short program the Chinyang jump has been announced. We made it a little more complicated compared to last year. Eteri Georgiyevna said that the position I was doing it in was on the verge of whether or not it would be counted. We now have made such a position it will be counted for sure. But to land it 'on top' turned out to be harder.
- If we talk about your training in such characteristics as strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, etc., what are you mainly working on now?
D: This is happening comprehensively and constantly. We work on endurance during training and at warm-ups; we carry out tasks in series of several run throughs. We are working on acceleration. I work on some qualities either in physical exercise class or on ice, some - only during choreography.
- I noticed that you do not have a very tight wrap in your quadruple jumps, and at the same time they are all fully rotated. Does that mean you still have a margin if you can do quads so relaxed? What do trainers say?
D: In fact, the coaches make comments about this every training session. We are working on it. I do exercises during special physical exercise lessons and check every jump, but so far this is slow going. Fully rotated jumps are the result of me having a good jump height since childhood and a good spin.
- What programs will you show in the new season?
D: We decided not to change the short program "Rain in Your Brown Eyes" because the audience liked it and the judges rated it very well. The costume, however, was slightly altered because I am a little older. I’m not growing very fast yet, somewhere around 2-3 centimeters a year. And as for the free, it will be a program to the music of Josh Groban, his composition "Per Te".
- Last season I was surprised by the choice of music for the free program, because Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue”, in my opinion, is an adult story. Was it hard for you to ride under it?
D: The coaches explained to me how I should perform this composition. We discussed all my movements, character, image. The main task was to make the movements wide, strong, confident, powerful.
- During the skating of programs, what do you concentrate on more - on the image or on the technical elements?
D: In simple words, I can not answer. When you need to do elements, I am focused on them: for everything to work out, I must approach the element with technique. And beautiful. When there are some musical accents or connecting steps, tracks, choreography and image are more important. Of course, when I’ve already made my jumps, I can direct all my strength to the program, to emotions. You feel such freedom and strength that your legs skate by themselves. It doesn’t matter if I skate a competition or train, in any case, you need to be concentrated, do everything distinctly.
- Daniil, what do you think, are the qualities you need to work on harder so you can justify the hopes that we spoke about at the beginning?
D: I need to learn to express my emotions brighter. In the previous and the year before last, I had such programs in which it was necessary to light up to the fullest, and the coaches told me endlessly about this, but I was very shy. In addition to expressing emotions, adding as much as possible to any element. If everyone will do quadruples, you need to raise the difficulty and do something unusual.
- I know that today you had your first training session with Shoma Uno. What are your impressions of meeting him on the same ice?
D: Very motivating. Just a Japanese god, especially in skating. It caught my eye and remembered his landings low in his legs, the work of his knees. Soft cat-like sliding and very high speed. Also he rides without respite. It was interesting to watch Shoma and it was interesting to repeat after him. I want to ride like him.

Lottery ticket

- How has your life changed after the transition to Tutberidze?
D: It felt like I won the lottery.
- What do you think made her to take you into her group?
D: I think she saw my desire to work, saw a perspective in me. The first weeks I was on trail, I gave it all my best. I think Eteri Georgiyevna saw that I can work the way everyone in her group works.
- And how does the group work?
D: Non-stop. All rush here and there. Nobody works on 'half a leg'. Everyone wants a result.
- You were worried that day when you found out that you were going to see Eteri Tutberidze for appraisal?
D: I don’t even know, I was little then. We came from Velikiy Novgorod from the Championship of Russia for younger age. We arrived by the morning train, there were no trainings that day, I rested all day and did my homework. Already in the evening, before going to bed, my mother said that tomorrow we were going to the appraisal. I went to bed as usual, knowing that tomorrow would be just like any ordinary training and I had to show everything I can.
- And how did it happen that you then showed something you didn't know was in you?
D: When Daniil Markovich said: “In our group, double jumps do not count,” I realized this is true and I must jump triples. Before that, I only tried Salchows - it is the easiest triple, and I never jumped a Flip, so I was a little afraid. The first time I fell, but I then realised I can do it. Went in and did it.
- Why did you choose the Flip, and not that same Salchow?”
D: Because I jumped the toepick double jumps the most, entered into the toepick assist well, that's why I decided - Flip.
- And what was the reaction of the coaches?
D: Yes, well, there was no reaction, everyone continued to ride. They just began to help me during the training, correcting some mistakes.
- Daniel, due to what your group has such an amazing result? Maybe there is some secret?
D: Everyone asks about this secret. There is a secret - it is Eteri Georgiyevna. She herself works a lot, always on skates. When I joined the group, I began to do everything more often in training than I did before. No one forced anybody, you just have to understand why you are here. Anya Shcherbakova and I were the smallest in the group, but still worked with full power. I think this is very correct, if someone really wants a result and is ready to work for it, the trainers will help to achieve it: they will correct, clean, add, improve, and decorate.
- Star disease - what is it, in your opinion? They say it's deadly.
D: Probably, like when you won a tournament in a special program for younger age and start to feel like a champion in front of everyone, to think that you are the coolest and you have no equal. I think if a person is predisposed to star fever, this will manifest itself very early. All characters are different.
- Have you ever experienced such feelings? How do you feel about praise and enthusiasm?
D: It pleases me to be praised, but I do not dwell on it. Praise is needed to understand I am doing everything right. The main thing is not to wait for admiration and enthusiasm as a reason in itself. The same Championship of Russia: I won and won. Nothing. Although I do not know any recipes against star disease.
- Outbreaks of this disease happen in your group?
D: Did not notice. Nevertheless, we work a lot every single day, and there is no time for star fever.
- Can you allow yourself something, forbid or force to do? Or should others do it?
D: Basically, I control my daily routine myself, I set myself tasks in training. Nobody holds me by my black gloves.
- You answered your own question, why do you need all this?
D: I want to succeed in my favorite occupation. If I didn’t like figure skating, I would hardly have continued to practice it and, most likely, I would not have had any particular results. I want to go down into the history of figure skating, I want to have fans who like what I do. I also understand that success can be a good start in later life. I have a dream that someday our family could improve their living conditions with prize money, because for more than 20 years we have been standing in line for housing.
- You have a big family?
D: Parents, older sister Lisa and younger brother Vanya. Lisa graduated from high school this year and wants to go to college, to study for a specialism in advertising. Vanya is also involved in sports and also in Sambo-70, but only in taekwondo. We also have a Pomeranian dog named Stefan.
- Do you manage to communicate with your family? In general, time for some leisure remains?
D: My brother and dad love to watch soccer or hockey. Dad is a former soccer player, so as long as I can remember, I watch soccer. I also like to collect puzzles. Especially if they are big. Two boxes were presented to me for New Year, in one a mosaic consisting of 5 thousand pieces. But we have only half collected it yet.
- Is there a special table for this at home?
D: Yes. Then we order to have the collected mosaic framed and hang it on the wall as a painting. In my room there is one with Olympic rings from which I hang my medals.

What is meant by optimism

- Who or what can bring you back to life if you feel very tired?
D: Usually this happens to me only at the end of the season. If I feel that I am mentally and physically tired of competitions, of the workload, of figure skating itself, it helps me a lot to communicate with friends who support me.
- Are these friends from the rink?
D: No. There are friends at the rink too, but I communicate with them more on our “professional” topics. But these friends are not from the world of figure skating. I talk with them more about life. I really value them.
- Are you a balanced person or impulsive?
D: I think balanced. I try to be reasonable and calm, I live by my head, not by my emotions. Generally I do not like to show emotions, to be aggressive.
- Secretive or open?
D: Probably open, because from my face you can always understand what mood I am in, what is in my soul. I don’t put some mask on so that no one could guess anything.
- Do you often criticize yourself?
D: Of course. If something goes wrong, the reason is in you. This means that I myself had not thought it through, underperformed.
- If any problem or task is not solved, what will you do?
D: If some kind of jump does not work out, I switch to another element to clear my head. But I will return to it again later.
- And if this were not a jump, but rather something in life that doesn't work out?
D: Yes, I probably act the same way. I always try to hold on until the end. I’m not banging my head against the wall, but I’m looking for ways to get there. I approach my mistakes with a cool head.
- An optimist or a pessimist?
D: Rather an optimist. If optimism is understood as cheerfulness.

source: http://ffkm.ru/images/mf/Figurist_2_2019.pdf
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Danill has the necessary qualities that are favourable for positive results when subjected to the Tutberidze Effect: bringing out the best in yourself!

 

[Orlov]

D: Everyone asks about this secret. There is a secret - it is Eteri Georgiyevna.

Well, that’s all - the thread can be closed, Danya explained everything

 

[Mathman]

I know that you are a good person and believe in people no matter what. My personal doing quick mental regression analysis shows that some of those with health concerns are critical about Russian ladies in general and Eteri in particular. That's why I suspect a fake in those cases. I hope that I am not just a misanthrope.

Well, Russian ladies are in the spotlight right now because of the number of successful youngsters and their level of achievement. But there was also concern when, for instance, Timothy Goebel (nicknamed the quad king) had his career cut short because of back injuries, or even in 1998 when Tara Lipinski was finished at 16 due to hip injuries caused by too many repetitions of her triple loop / triple loop combo. So I don't think that this is a new issue, or one that just applies to one country.

(There may, of course, also be partisan fans with less than altruistic motives, but -- eh? )

 

[Mathman]

For the Tutberidze Effect to be successful, a certain number of specimen are needed, but there is this critical mass, still yet not discovered, when the experiment becomes over saturated and start loosing its effectiveness.

However, when the Tutberidze Effect picks up and is also set up at other ice palaces, there will be a great incentive for trainers to advance themselves along with their colleagues to this higher level of professional consciousness.

The only thing that I worry about is this: We don't want figure skating to become an endeavor where the athletes (specimens) are just interchangeable pawns in some sort of ego game played by adults.