Yulia Lipnitskaya | Page 247 | Golden Skate

Yulia Lipnitskaya

People, do you realize that Yulia has chosen Eteri to be her coach at the age of 9?! And she was very clear, either Etery or she's stopping with figure skating, in my opinion nothing has changed in Yulia's mind through the years. She has difficult but at the same time special relationship with Eteri, both have strong characters. Yulia is a smart girl she knows that Tarasova, Mishin, Goncharenko are not going to help her, she's ware of their hypocrisy. As far as Eteri's working with Yulia's rivals I can say only this:Yulia's trainer believes that the strong competition in her group will help everybody and I kind of agree with that at the same time I know that now Yulia needs more attention from Eteri and she'll get it because they both have something to prove to themselves.
Well I don't think Yulia is thinking that much. It's just she wants to work with whom she thinks understands her most I suppose.
 
I'm not a psychologist, so I'm not that familiar with too many specific techniques, but a good sports psychologist should be able to help her with things like confidence, improving focus so all the fan and media circus doesn't get to her, etc. One technique that's very commonly used by sports psychologist is visualization, and many many skaters talk about how that has helped them, including Elizabeth Manley and Joannie Rochette. And aside from personal testimonials from athletes about how it helped them, there's actual scientific evidence that it helps at a neurological level because visualizing doing an activity actually reinforces the neural pathways in the brain. Basically, the same neurons fire signals to your muscles when you're visualizing that activity as when you're physically doing that activity, and with more practice and more visualization, those pathways get stronger, helping create what we call muscle memory - or at least the neurological part of muscle memory.

By the GPF, Julia was expecting to make mistakes in the second half of her FS. Had she had a good amount of visualizing successful programs, her brain would have had well developed neural pathways for a successful program and we wouldn't have seen that confusion that came over her in some of her competitions. But that's really the main technique I'm familiar with from sports psychology (I actually know about it from reading a lot about neuroscience and neuroplasticity).

Thank you. Peg. This is really enlightening. I am obviously in the Stone Age when it comes to techniques and benefits of modern psychology. Freud still reigns supreme in my wizened brain. I had assumed that sports psychologists merely specialize in different subjects for talking. The physiological connection is really interesting, I'll read more on the web. Every skater should have this "mental diet" opportunity. With regard to effectiveness, this reminds me of the Alexander technique that many musicians swear by.
 
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I know, but I'm surprised that someone might think that Mishin should offer her "assistance". ;)

Only someone who doesn't understand the personality dynamics and the disingenuous nature of some public statements. Consider all my above Mishin comments retracted, I didn't know who I was talking about.
 
I know that now Yulia needs more attention from Eteri and she'll get it because they both have something to prove to themselves.
Are you sure? Have you noticed how Eteri was running around the rink during JGPF between Sima and Zhenia? She barely made it to Zhenia in K&C, I can't imagine how she's gonna manage with, let's say, Zhenia, Sima and Julia in one senior GP. Two senior newcomers are gonna need much of her attention for sure.
 
Only someone who doesn't understand the personality dynamics and the disingenuous nature of some public statements. Consider all my above Mishin comments retracted, I didn't know who I was talking about.

I wasn't speaking about you in particular sidj. :) His name was mentioned by others as well in another forum, FSU, also.

Are you sure? Have you noticed how Eteri was running around the rink during JGPF between Sima and Zhenia? She barely made it to Zhenia in K&C, I can't imagine how she's gonna manage with, let's say, Zhenia, Sima and Julia in one senior GP. Two senior newcomers are gonna need much of her attention for sure.

That's the only reason I could see her leave Eteri. Indeed she does has too many high level skaters.
 
That's the only reason I could see her leave Eteri. Indeed she does has too many high level skaters.
One for them being her own 12yo daughter, who I guess, is hoping to enter international junior ranks in 1-year time...

Btw., my heart is all-in for Eteri. I adore that proud, brave and beautiful Georgian lady. :love:
It's just I have hard time with imagining how she manages that number of elite students under her reign in the (near) future.
 
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Are you sure? Have you noticed how Eteri was running around the rink during JGPF between Sima and Zhenia? She barely made it to Zhenia in K&C, I can't imagine how she's gonna manage with, let's say, Zhenia, Sima and Julia in one senior GP. Two senior newcomers are gonna need much of her attention for sure.

Yes, I'm, although I admit it's a complex issue. One thing is to reach the top quite different to stay there. That's the next level they need to achieve. I know all Eteri's students it's up to her to decide how she will divide her attention between them next season. Let's face it, till 2018 at least, Yulia will be the most popular figure skater in Russia no matter the results. I know that Yulia doesn't like the fame part but she needs to learn how to handle it better because as we saw she's received some help from RF and the government in January. It wouldn't have happened last year. I hope they can work through this difficult period and show us more legendary programs.
 
Thank you. Peg. This is really enlightening. I am obviously in the Stone Age when it comes to techniques and benefits of modern psychology. Freud still reigns supreme in my wizened brain. I had assumed that sports psychologists merely specialize in different subjects for talking. The physiological connection is really interesting, I'll read more on the web. Every skater should have this "mental diet" opportunity. With regard to effectiveness, this reminds me of the Alexander technique that many musicians swear by.
Freud died almost 80 years ago :laugh: Plus, he wasn't even a psychologist - he was a neurologist ;)
But yes, the field has grown and expanded dramatically since then. And in the last couple of decades, with better neuro-imaging techniques available, neuroscience (which looks at how the brain works) has absolutely exploded.

From what I know about the Alexander technique, it's more of a physiotherapy-type of approach. I think where the similarity comes in is that it acknowledges the mind/body connection.
 
Btw., my heart is all-in for Eteri. I adore that proud, brave and beautiful Georgian lady. :love:

Me too. :yes:

It's just I have hard time with imagining how she manages that number of elite students under her reign in the (near) future.

Yep. That's the main issue. Sooner or later someone will leave.
 
Freud still reigns supreme in my wizened brain.
Freud was a not psychologist (someone that might be useful to an athlete), he was a psychoanalyst (little use to anybody)

Psychology is a science.

Whereas Psychoanalysis is fruitloopery. (Or a pseudoscience if you want to be diplomatic). Its theories have no proper scientific basis. Real scientists generally pay it no heed, and the few psychoanalytical theories that have been properly scientifically tested, have resulted in them being disproven (most famously, the Oedipus complex).
 
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Now that we're entering the most exciting period in figure skating... I already miss Yulia :ohwell:
But I saw her latest photos and she seems really relaxed
 
Now that we're entering the most exciting period in figure skating... I already miss Yulia :ohwell:
But I saw her latest photos and she seems really relaxed

I have the same feelings..
 
Freud died almost 80 years ago :laugh: Plus, he wasn't even a psychologist - he was a neurologist ;)
But yes, the field has grown and expanded dramatically since then. And in the last couple of decades, with better neuro-imaging techniques available, neuroscience (which looks at how the brain works) has absolutely exploded.

From what I know about the Alexander technique, it's more of a physiotherapy-type of approach. I think where the similarity comes in is that it acknowledges the mind/body connection.

Actually, I was referring to Anna Freud, she's been dead only 30 years. Your comment about S. Freud being a neurologist reminds me that he himslef said his psychoanalysis technique was temporary, that science would advance and in the future better treat patients. Psychoanalysis remains effective in one area, analyzing some literature and some movies (one of my hobbies a few years ago), it's a fascinating intellectual approach. I never intended to suggest that analysis would be appropriate or effective for Yulia. I stopped using the word psychologist, preferring the word counselor, about 100 pages back in this thread, in order to avoid unintended reference to psychoanalysis. I now see that counselor isn't any better.

Since your post from yesterday I have read about sports psychology. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. Referring to the discipline as 'psychology' is itself misleading, psychology doesn't even hint at the multi-disciplinary structure of the field. The word psychology seems to be an historical artifact. Wikipedia tells us that dozens of sports psychologists were on the USA Olympic staff full-time a few years ago. Unfortunately there was no statistical analysis for effectiveness. I'm pretty sure it was bellflower who mentioned that the German world cup victory was credited in part to training by sports psychologists, about 150 pages ago. I think she said it gave them a competitive edge. Alba says several Russian skaters have consulted sports psychologists. I hope Yulia will do this. It won't interfere with her style. And since sports psychology is more training than intervention, sports psychologists should be active on staffs for skaters everywhere. It seems this field is in its infancy, so personnel selection is crucial.

The similarity with Alexander technique is mind-body as you say, and also has similar effectiveness. Some pianists are convinced Alexander technique has freed them to perform nearer their potential. There are conservatory teachers who incorporate Alexander technique for all their students.
 
I think now the problem is not in the Julia. Yulia strong character and she will cope with the difficulties with the help of a psychologist or without such assistance. The problem Tutberidze.
This is Julia lost confidence in Tutberidze. This confidence was a common support, which suddenly disappeared. Keywords Julia during the losing streak: I don't know what to do. You have got to know the coach. And she didn't know. Julia knew it is the cause of the conflict.
We can only hope that Tutberidze found ways to restore Yulia. These paths were convincing to all who participated in the meeting in the Ministry. Julia believed her also.
Sorry if I again expressed not understand English - I completely alien to English phraseology.
 
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