It's that time of the year - coaching changes 2019/2020

[EisElle]

On 4/25/2019 at 2:05 AM, sallycinnamon said:

Camden left Tom Z!

 

 

I had missed the news, but nice to know

I hope he can get at least a stable quad, it would be a pity if all US skaters with nice SS were to be always overshadowed by the quadsters...

 

On 6/3/2019 at 10:01 AM, shanshani said:

I think that would cause enough drama to last us the whole off-season 

On 6/3/2019 at 10:32 AM, shanshani said:

truly a great tragedy

 

I'm just going to assume Shoma is going to Eteri until otherwise stated because it's the possibility I find the funniest.

in hindsight, all of this is even funnier

I mean, a few weeks ago no one would have taken any of this seriously...

 

 

On 6/3/2019 at 12:16 PM, hoodie axel said:

She's co-training him, and he's worth 10 novices

let's hope Hamada can drill a bit of Satoko's SS and refinement in Vincent (I'd be genuinely happy, it would be better for my blood pressure, i wouldn't internally scream everytime I read protocols)

 

 

tbh Shoma's move to ----place still to be decided---- (I believe he's already a pretty good idea of where he's going) was a big surprise but IMO still not on the levels we had last season (probably the only thing that would surprise me more than last season would be Yuzu going to Eteri, since there would be a major clash of personalities tbh Yuzu leaving TCC wouldn't surprise me much, it's bound to happen sooner or later, just Yuzu going to Eteri would shock me LOL)

 

Ok, when weeks ago Shoma's name had been mentioned together with Eteri's at first I was "wtf are people smoking these days?"

but now (and after some pondering) it would be probably be the most interesting outcome (and the funniest too)

much more than Shoma e.g. joining the now overcrowded Raf

 

Shoma has some traits that would work well with Eteri: he's extremely hardworking, he likes doing a billions comps and he trains many many hours on ice (I think he has talked about drilling many RTs in the past, and also about how doing many comps made him feel more calm/confident). These are pillars of Eteri's team training. Of course with his recent ankle issues I hope he's also going to take care a bit more and reduce work load (I don't think Eteri would necessarily push him too much, from some interviews it looks like sometimes she's the one forcing skaters to slow down, but if that move really happens I hope they will take into account that while still young Shoma has already several years of high intensity training in his bones and ligaments)

Another relevant thing that IMO makes Shoma quite compatible with Eteri's team philosophy is that he doesn't seem to mind having someone else doing most of the planning for him.

As for jumps, he's always been more of a fast rotator than a huge jumper and his jump technique is one I think Eteri's team can work with. I could see him working with that team to bring a 4"Lz" of the type tech panels and judges seem to like just fine...

 

I'd be mostly curious about the choreo. For how much I dread DaniilG's music cuts it would be interesting to see Shoma doing something very different from his usual programs

Didn't he say he couldn't reveal his SP(?) yet, but the reason for his secrecy would be clear when he would reveal it?

Maybe he would have listen Daniil as his choreographer (or we would have seen a billions TR and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it IB into besti into something else with crazy music cut and would have guessed...)

anyway, if it happens I'm excited

 

the change of choreographer for his SP and FS is the biggest reason why I'm HAPPY he's changing coaches, despite of how good his team was for him on a personal level (Miyoko feels someone who's good to have around to smile and calm down before a comp and to cheer you after).

tbh I thought he would just have different choreographer and merely do more training camps while keeping his old team as main coaches, but if finishing off podium at WC finally gave him the push he needed to change things, good for him

(I don't think he's gonna work to radically change his technique, IMO the focus will be more on consistency/new quads and combos. It's not like scoring is going to make a difference anyway: as long as he'll land those jumps everything will come, so that would be really the smartest thing to do, no matter what I'd wish to see instead)

 

Anyway Shoma is already a very experienced senior skater and an adult and he should be fine financially too (Toyota is a big sponsor after all) so his coaching change doesn't make me as worried as others.

Language could be an issue of course, but he's dealt with it already (and with living in a foreign country) several times, even if only for a few weeks (now it's gonna be whole months). It's not like he has 0 experience. From what I know about him, he's probably going to be a hermit anyway

56 minutes ago, Sombreuil said:

I don’t think it makes any difference- if he leaves Japan he’ll need interpreters so it doesn’t matter if they’re Russian, English , French, whatever.  Shoma has always seemed to wander round in a bubble of his own from his own comments and those of people around him - not sure he would notice whether street signs were in western alphabet, Cyrillic, Norse runes......

LOL ngl I thought along those lines too... but there might still be some big changes e.g. in seasons and climate, and even things like avaliability of the food he's used to.

Still, tho, I think the biggest change will be the one at the rink and the training environment itself: there he can't be a hermit, he'll need to speak to the coaches at least. But since he managed it already in US, I don't see why he wouldn't manage it another country too

 

 

@eagle since you seem to know more about Shoma's team, do you know if Shoma's brother ever goes with him abroad? afaik they're pretty close and he often appears in tv with him/talking about him (I think he also wrote the biography?) but I guess he has his own life and studies in Japan. Do you know if any of his relatives went with him when he had his training camps abroad? I have no idea how self-sufficient Shoma is in daily-life stuff like making the laudry and cooking, having someone familiar to oversee all the non-training daily activities would make things better, I think

(breaking news: Keiji is going with Shoma and will take care of everything LOL I'm jk)

[shanshani]

'Ice Time learned two months ago about three-time Japan champion Uno possibly joining Tutberidze. Reports in the Russian media in recent weeks have also confirmed that Uno’s camp has talked with Tutberidze’s people.'

 

 

apparently Shoma's camp really has been talking to Eteri's camp. ahhh what is happening

 

Edit: lol should read thread, apparently this is old news. FS news moves faaast

[Sombreuil]

I don’t see him with Arutunian- don’t think JSF or US fed would like it and he has that lovely new set up, multiple rinks etc in the US - don’t think he’d risk upsetting his backers.  Having read @LadyLous post aspects of the Eteri set up are tailor made for him....

[hoodie axel]

15 minutes ago, LadyLou said:

Shoma has some traits that would work well with Eteri: he's extremely hardworking, he likes doing a billions comps and he trains many many hours on ice (I think he has talked about drilling many RTs in the past, and also about how doing many comps made him feel more calm/confident). These are pillars of Eteri's team training. Of course with his recent ankle issues I hope he's also going to take care a bit more and reduce work load (I don't think Eteri would necessarily push him too much, from some interviews it looks like sometimes she's the one forcing skaters to slow down, but if that move really happens I hope they will take into account that while still young Shoma has already several years of high intensity training in his bones and ligaments)

Uno's suffering from injuries, because of his technique. He is also losing consistency because of the way he jumps, finally not being able to uphold a 22 yo. He's dropped transitions, choreography, and overall skating quality in order to gain consistency, and it still didn't work out towards the end of last season and this.

 

When has Eteri shown the ability to deal with injuries properly, or any of this stuff, before?

[EisElle]

1 hour ago, Sombreuil said:

I don’t see him with Arutunian- don’t think JSF or US fed would like it and he has that lovely new set up, multiple rinks etc in the US - don’t think he’d risk upsetting his backers.  Having read @LadyLous post aspects of the Eteri set up are tailor made for him....

I think I'm gonna feel disappointed if it isn't Eteri in the end LOL I think I like the idea because it's both crazy and not so crazy (and it's the options that I like more exaclty because of that)

also, that's why I'm here enjoying the drama while everyone is losing their mind over the idea c'mon it's not that bad!

 

in all of this, no news about Wakaba? yeah I still dream she'll go to TCC one day

sigh I hope whatever team she has will make all that huge potential shine...(and hopefully no more injuries)

 

ETA:

@hoodie axel

idk how properly Eteri can deal with Shoma's issues, but she has had injured skaters that (even for a short time) came back to form (or at least to get some results).

What we know it's that her training isn't sustainable for long, but it's also effective. it looks like the recovery went relatively well for Anna and it looks things somehow got better for Alina too. She also had Lilbet get a quad and good results after she had been injured too (iirc she had some back injury?). It also looks like Eteri was the one who wanted Alyona not to go back jumping soon.

of course we don't know how long all of this will last, or how much the skaters will regret pushing their bodies, but for now Anna and Alina and Lilbet had very good results

(not saying everything needs to be sacrificed for goods results, but the parents should worry about their children's long term health, too, we can't only blame the coaches)

 

now, Shoma: 

if I were Shoma and were aiming to 2022 I'd probably try to preserve my health first and foremost, but also, he wants to keep his relevance (IMO internal ranking might not be a huge issue atm, but internationally there's Vincent breathing on his neck an dhe has beaten him twice on home ice) so he can't just take it easy till then, he must take a calculated risk and keep getting good results.

It's true Shoma is older, and that he has had injuries, but afaik he had somehow recovered by WC and WTT. The mistake in the WC SP seem more mental than anything (he was solid in training before that) and in WTT he was attepting 3A4T, he might have been kuyashii-driven but I don't think he's dumb (plus afaik he was fine and jumping in SOI right after that).

Yes it's likely he'll be more easily injured in the future, but we don't know how many hours of training he needs to cut down, and what he needs to change in his training, nor if he has already changed something.

That's on him and his team to found out.

And if he thinks "yes, I can do a gazillion ruthrough just fine" and "yes, I can just keep jumping like this, even if it means I'll need my superhuman-ankle save" then it's his choice and a calculated risk.

 

and speaking of consistency...tbh I don't know the numbers exactly, but last season Shoma wasn't being that clean either. I wasn't following him in 2016-17, but iirc wasn't that much more consistent than the other skaters even then...what hurt him the most this season were the 4S (that he might as well drop without regrets if he gets another quad), more UR calls in the first half of the season and his recurring issues with the SP (at least in part mental).

So even if maybe it is true Shoma was overall less consistent, I'm not sure how much of that lack of consistency is due to his body starting to feel the consequences of his technique or just some mental block.

 

Someone like Eteri could worsen his body condition, but could work well for his mentality. And IMO he would fit well in the environment (how Eteri works, how he works, what Eteri expects from skaters, what Shoma wants from a coach). Not huge clash of personality

So yes, I think it could be a productive partnership, possibly better than some others. For example, I think the chances of getting more consistent/get new jumps under Raf would be lower, and there wouldn't be a big change in choreo (maybe there wouldn't be under Eteri, but it would make me more hopeful)

[Paskud]

Meanwhile I sit here and still wait for news about Eunsoo and Tom Z asian girls.

[anski]

So it’s almost confirmed? Damn, Shoma, not Eteri

[ralucutzagy]

 

[ralucutzagy]

 

[hoodie axel]

Quote

We do not comment on the transfers in the off-season

lol

[hoodie axel]

Quote

We do not comment on the transfers in the off-season

Again. Lol.

[Sukigirl]

Whut. I thought we were all joking. You mean it’s true?!?

[WinForPooh]

1 minute ago, ralucutzagy said:

 

 

That's a remarkably new policy.

 

But this was supposed to be a joke, guys. At least Shoma won't have to deal with training with five quinting juniors and novices competing for his spot, I guess?

[Paskud]

3 minutes ago, anski said:

So it’s almost confirmed? Damn, Shoma, not Eteri

No, it isn't. We know only that Shoma team was brave (or crazy) enough to contact Eteri side. We don't know what was their decision.

[eagle]

1 hour ago, LadyLou said:

 

 

 

@eagle since you seem to know more about Shoma's team, do you know if Shoma's brother ever goes with him abroad? afaik they're pretty close and he often appears in tv with him/talking about him (I think he also wrote the biography?) but I guess he has his own life and studies in Japan. Do you know if any of his relatives went with him when he had his training camps abroad? I have no idea how self-sufficient Shoma is in daily-life stuff like making the laudry and cooking, having someone familiar to oversee all the non-training daily activities would make things better, I think

(breaking news: Keiji is going with Shoma and will take care of everything LOL I'm jk)

Oh boy, if you want detailed info on Shoma, 'yawningshoma' is the best person to follow on twitter. 'Yawningshoma' is a very big Shoma fan.

 

Yes, Shoma's bro Itsuki wrote a book abt him & Shoma. Itsuki it seems gives a lot insight into Shoma's life, ie spill the beans.

 

I think Itsuki has followed Shoma before overseas, during off season. Forgot what event. Within Japan,from the pics, Itsuki goes along to most of the ice shows.

 

The last I read the Uno bros moved to another apartment cos their family home was full of fan gifts for Shoma. They still go home for meals, at least dinner.

Hmm, Itsuki's room sometimes becomes drying room for Shoma's competitive costumes. Shoma's mother is the one who put some of the sparkles on Shoma's costumes, clean it, etc.

Shoma's hair is always so stylish cos his mother was ex hairdresser.

All these tidbits are known cos : Itsuki spilled the beans on their private life. Lol.