Which coach(es) could Mao choose for the next season?

[sillylionlove]

It could be battle of the Brian's....Part 2

 

[justine]

Good question about mai, skatergirl. I wonder if she was unhappy in Lake Arrowhead as well. Is she even planning on competing anymore?

Mai hasn't been training with Rafael for quite some time. Her coach is Nadezhda Kanaeva now. She had some health problems this season, but I liked her performance at JSC 2008.

As for Mao - I think she works quite well with Rafael and it would be good if they could work together again sometime in the future. A temporary change of coach might be a good thing, though. It might help Mao to get a fresh look on her skating and improve some things in her skating that might have been overlooked by Rafael. I think if one works with one coach for so long, their relationships often becomes a bit parent/child like, and it is difficult for the coach to point out (or even notice) some things that could be improved.

Rafael praised Mao for her ability to take responsibility for her own training, so I think she could handle training in Japan with local coaches (Higuchi, Sato, Honda) and go from time to time to work with Tarasova (artistry) and a coach of her choice (or have them visit Japan).

Personally I think Lee Barkell would be a great coach for her. The skaters he trains are very well-rounded. He also helped Nobu in exactly those two areas that Mao has problem with: flutzing and underrotation (on 3A in Nobu's case). I think their personalities would match well, plus Lee has already experience with working with a Japanese skater. Plus, with Nobunari not competing, Lee certainly has more free time now...

 

[Bennett]

Rafael praised Mao for her ability to take responsibility for her own training, so I think she could handle training in Japan with local coaches (Higuchi, Sato, Honda) and go from time to time to work with Tarasova (artistry) and a coach of her choice (or have them visit Japan).

Personally I think Lee Barkell would be a great coach for her. The skaters he trains are very well-rounded. He also helped Nobu in exactly those two areas that Mao has problem with: flutzing and underrotation (on 3A in Nobu's case). I think their personalities would match well, plus Lee has already experience with working with a Japanese skater. Plus, with Nobunari not competing, Lee certainly has more free time now...

Mr. Higuchi and Mr. Sato are both in Tokyo. So I don't think that they would be available. I wonder if Mr. Higuchi would be a jump coach although I absolutely love and admire his style...

I would love to see Mao working with Barkell. But isn't Lee Barkell too busy as well?

 

[Tinymavy15]

As for Mao - I think she works quite well with Rafael and it would be good if they could work together again sometime in the future. A temporary change of coach might be a good thing, though. It might help Mao to get a fresh look on her skating and improve some things in her skating that might have been overlooked by Rafael. I think if one works with one coach for so long, their relationships often becomes a bit parent/child like, and it is difficult for the coach to point out (or even notice) some things that could be improved.

Mao has only been in the U.S for about a year or less. That is hardly a long time.

 

[Tonichelle]

That is probably the most reasonable proposition. Or at least the most useful one because it amuses us. Does Boitano coach?

He was listed as one of Alyssa's coaches, IIRC, at Nationals, but from what I understand he just gives her pep talks and what not and is not actually coaching what she does on the ice, just how she prepares herself.

 

[Bennett]

http://www.sanspo.com/top/am200802/am0228.html

Mao and Miki get extremely privileged ice time, compared to other students at the univ rink. This rink is said to be high-tech and the best quality which cost the university a tremendous amount of money. It was as expensive as 15,0000,0000 yen ($14,111,003). The article says that each of the girls uses the ice all by oneself for 5 hours a day. They never practice together so that they could better focus. As a result, the other students use the ice early in the morning and late at night.

They seem to build another smaller rink for her, Miki, and others soon for 3,0000,0000 yen ($2,822,200).

Coming from an academic family myself, it just strikes me as quite strange for them to use such an enormous amount of money for a couple of students who barely attend school. Just think of how many scholarships, full time faculty positions, and academic research projects can be realized with that money. Frankly speaking, I would never understand this kind of mentality. Does Mao and Miki being super talented in FS have anything to do with the qualification of this school as an educational and research institution that is supposed to serve the larger body of the students? Absolutely not. But this school seem to me to have completely different missions and objectives than academic schools. Perhaps name value would be extremely important for them. It would be tragic if neither Mao, Miki, nor other "future stars" can get OGM after all these investiments.

I definitely think that Mao and Miki should use this enormous support and invite whatever coaches they think to be the best.

 

[mememe]

He was listed as one of Alyssa's coaches, IIRC, at Nationals, but from what I understand he just gives her pep talks and what not and is not actually coaching what she does on the ice, just how she prepares herself.

He worked with Alissa for at least a week at Sun Valley last summer -- he and Linda Leaver were both there and they spent an hour or two (at least) a day working with her. I saw Brian out on the ice with her, demonstrating various techniques, at least a couple of times, with Linda by the boards, watching and giving instruction and such. So he has worked with Alissa on her skating, but he, himself, denies he's coaching -- he says it's "mentoring" (which includes tryihg to help her deal with pressure, plus tips on techniques, etc.), a new program he's heading up for USFS. He did the same kind of thing with Ryan Bradley, I think, and has said that several other former champions are joining in and will be mentoring other skaters.

Linda is certainly a more than capable coach, and together, they're a pretty good coaching combination, but I don't think he's figuring on moving full-time into coaching -- at least, not yet. And I would doubt Linda would be figuing on going back to full-time coaching, too, since she's already got a job as Brian's personal manager.

It WOULD be funny to see Brian O. coaching Yu-Na and Brian B. coaching Mao, however!

 

[kandidy]

Yeah, the retur of the battle of Brian!

 

[sorcerer]

It says that each of the girls uses the ice all by oneself for 5 hours a day.

I think that's only when the two are both in Nagoya.

...They seem to build another smaller rink for her, Miki, and others soon...

The subrink is for all, I believe.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

What I am not getting from this thread is that since I am not aware of the Japanese coaches, a little iinput on their capabilities would help. For example: how many are there to choose from and which of the choices would be best for Mao?

Joe

 

[Bennett]

I think that's only when the two are both in Nagoya.

The subrink is for all, I believe.

That's what I said, "for all," including Miki, Mao and other skaters. The regular rink also seems for "all."

What I am not getting from this thread is that since I am not aware of the Japanese coaches, a little iinput on their capabilities would help. For example: how many are there to choose from and which of the choices would be best for Mao?

Joe

There are many famous coaches. Mr. & Mrs Sato, Mr Nagakubo, Ms Mie hamada, Mr Higuchi etc etc. But I am not quite sure if there are ones who are willing to coach only Mao because famous coaches by default have talented students. For those in other areas, it would be difficult to move to Nagoya. In Nagoya, her former coach Machiko Yamada may be a big potential. With all my respect to Ms. Yamada, however, I feel that she may be getting her retirement age. Besides, she has so many students to take care of and enjoys not only teaching skating but also treating them as persons. AFA what I hear her talk in interviews, her teaching philosophy is the opposite to elitism. I don't feel that she wants to abandon her "family" just for one elite student.

I think it extremely unrealistic for them to try to recruit a famous coach who could teach only Mao. I don't really think that any coach would like to serve only Mao for just 2 years or 6 years at max and then become unemployed. Furthermore, he/she may be fired at any time if the training doesn't work out well. It's extremely risky. I wonder if they have anyone in mind already.

It seems that Yuna's team consists of a bunch of experts with Brian as the head coach taking the ultimate responsibility. I feel that she may end up having a similar team.

 

[Bennett]

The report says that they are still deciding and that she might end up starting the new season without a coach if they couldn't locate anyone before then. It seems that she'll use Tarasova and Nichol for choreo and that Tarasova would work on her artistry again. They are also considering of having several coaches who could teach individual elements. They are looking at foreign coaches. But she also seems to be wanting to be in Japan. It sounds like nothing is for sure yet and it would take time to find ones.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080331-00000038-spn-spo
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080331-00000028-nks-spo

 

[Tonichelle]

mememe - I am aware of the mentoring program, from what I gather USFSA alumni are being asked to 'mentor' the skaters that are competiting today...

I know Brian is very big on the program, I've talked to a couple of other alum who are a bit standoffish about it feeling that they don't want to seem like they're taking away from the coaching teams