Nam Nguyen Makes Coaching Change

[Cleo1782]

I'm not convinced this change will work long-term for both Nam/Polina.

Polina Edmunds is a star, and Polina Edmunds' man could be a distraction. Only Polina Edmunds can block the spotlight on Polina Edmunds.

Are they even dating? Who cares? David is young and determined imo. Not everyone needs to go to Frank, Carlo (RIP), Tom Z, Brian etc. to get results. Just because Polina is a star doesn't mean David can't make other stars. Do we consider Linda Leaver a bad coach because Brian was her only elite student? If they are dating they are dating. They are young. They seem like very determined people who will not let distractions get in their way. Like you said Polina is a star even if it's only in her own mind, but you can dislike her but you can't deny her results. She makes it happen. lol. She is Polina. She has no distractions lol.

 

[Karpenko]

Just because Polina is a star... Like you said Polina is a star... lol. She is Polina. She has no distractions

Polina Edmumds is in total agreement.

 

[kwanette]

It was mostly postings here and there...in tsl interview with Tracy Wilson when questioned about Nam and his problems this year mentioned growth spurts ,training diff things...then Nam claimed to various people he did not do off ice training at all and then in the babbling review of tsl about worlds the blabbed not mentioning names about someone north of the border coming down and being a training mate of Polina...and garble garble about someone being with Polina......they never should have said anything as there was no announcement made yet so the proper media story was not out there yet but everyone figured on who they were talking about...the on 2016 TSL THREAD # 551- it was said that ...well read it....the someone jumped in and kind of denied it because Nam was in the ice show.....then right after that came the announcement

I read "the rumor" of a coaching change here before TSL said anything..

 

[barbarafan]

I read "the rumor" of a coaching change here before TSL said anything..

Thanks Kwanette, I either missed it or didn't give it any credence at the time so didn't remember it.

 

[Jem X]

@barbarafan it may have been in Sekret Sources.

 

[overedge]

They seem like very determined people who will not let distractions get in their way.

I think Polina's mom is even more determined than either of them. And I can't see her letting Polina be distracted by boyfriends....

 

[barbarafan]

@barbarafan it may have been in Sekret Sources.

could be..I do not have access to that.

 

[Cleo1782]

I think Polina's mom is even more determined than either of them. And I can't see her letting Polina be distracted by boyfriends....

This lol! And her flip is on the right edge and her jumps are always rotated people. The judges are wrong. Nam will not stop her. Nothing will.

Seriously, tho, I like both Nam and Polina. I think they have so much potential. I am interested to see what David Glynn and co do with them next year.

 

[A judge]

I doubt very much if Glynn can do anything for Nam since he will not strength train. He needs to look at Duhamel for inspiration. That lady is amazing.

 

[Sylvia]

Athletes have been known to change their minds about their training methods over time. I hope that people, or at least some skating fans, give Nam Nguyen a chance to adapt and adjust to his new training environment rather than making sweeping negative pronouncements before he has even started.

 

[A judge]

We shall see.

 

[Cleo1782]

I feel like everyone would be oohing and aahing if he went to Frank or something. I feel like he had a really tough year this year. Majorly disappointing. Just because he is going to a lesser known coach doesn't mean it might not be the right change for him. David has kept Polina in the mix this entire quad so far, so why don't we think he can offer something to Nam? We won't know until we see it. California and more time with his coach maybe what he needs

 

[giselle23]

Based just on the statement quoted above, it sounds like he was asked to move on.

Didn't Orser also request that Rippon move on several years ago? I don't think he's interested in keeping students just for the sake of having them.

I don't think Brian asked Adam to "move on." I read that Orser was nearly as upset over losing Adam as he was over losing Yuna.

 

[barbarafan]

Athletes have been known to change their minds about their training methods over time. I hope that people, or at least some skating fans, give Nam Nguyen a chance to adapt and adjust to his new training environment rather than making sweeping negative pronouncements before he has even started.

Statements say that there needed to a complete do over from last year...so coaching enviornment programs and I am hoping Nam himself...He may show up first day of training with a yes sir...whatever you think is best and go all out...That is what I am hoping for and I also hope they have sent him down there by himself ..maybe rooming with someone or whatever so he is not dealing with conflicts between family and training and also so the family is not uprooted. He has enough on his plate without that.
Hopefully we will see a big change by the time summer competitions come about.

 

[A judge]

I cannot see how Father and Mother can find good jobs in California like they have in Toronto. So they will probably stay in Canada which is a good thing.

 

[Cleo1782]

I don't think Brian asked Adam to "move on." I read that Orser was nearly as upset over losing Adam as he was over losing Yuna.

I don't think Orser would ask him to move on. He is a talent. He doesn't strike me as that sort of coach and why would he ask a National Champion to move on? Everyone has their struggles unless it was a personality issue and they both though it was best. I also don't believe he told Adam to "move on". He made have said get yourself together or may have been harsh about his future, but I don't think a coach like Orser would just drop talented students like that so coldly when he obviously gets great results.

 

[overedge]

From the Manleywoman interview with Brian Orser - the first part of the quote is about Yu-na Kim. (the whole interview is at http://www.manleywoman.com/episode-79-brian-orser/)

We really did have a great relationship and I thought I would be part of her life forever, and I would have this really positive impact on her life, and I’d be going to her wedding one day, and just be connected forever. The Olympics can do that. And then it was all just pulled away, and that’s exactly what happened. I don’t think other people wanted to see that happen, but it just got yanked away from me. And the same thing happened with Adam [Rippon], and it was hard for me to trust anybody in this sport. I couldn’t get emotionally involved. I love the skaters that I’m working with now, but I can’t let myself get emotionally involved. I can’t. Perhaps it was ruined by people like Yu-Na and Adam. But it is what it is. I learned a lot, just take it one season at a time.

That doesn't sound like someone who asked Rippon to leave.

 

[NorthernDancers]

I think people need to give Nam a break. He's turning 18 later this month. He's just undergone a huge growth spurt, which absolutely will have altered just about everything he learned from a young age. It's going to take a bit for his body to settle out. And until his growth spurts are finished, he should absolutely not be working out with a lot of weight training to bulk up. That can cause a lot of long-term physical damage to joints and muscles. I can't imagine what it's like to be a national champion from the age of 10 (and maybe even younger?), even win a senior national title, and then have to re-learn technique and muscle memory. With every inch of growth, he has to get used to how everything feels again. It must be extremely frustrating. I remember Tracey Wainman. She also was a young phenom who was overly criticized when she had a huge growth spurt and then struggled competitively.

Nam has a beautiful, zany, outgoing personality. He's still really young. I'd love to see him do some more fun, young, quirky, and interesting programs that help him feel the love of skating and is perhaps more comfortable and motivating while he gets used to skating and training in his new body.

 

[mag]

I think people need to give Nam a break. He's turning 18 later this month. He's just undergone a huge growth spurt, which absolutely will have altered just about everything he learned from a young age. It's going to take a bit for his body to settle out. And until his growth spurts are finished, he should absolutely not be working out with a lot of weight training to bulk up. That can cause a lot of long-term physical damage to joints and muscles. I can't imagine what it's like to be a national champion from the age of 10 (and maybe even younger?), even win a senior national title, and then have to re-learn technique and muscle memory. With every inch of growth, he has to get used to how everything feels again. It must be extremely frustrating. I remember Tracey Wainman. She also was a young phenom who was overly criticized when she had a huge growth spurt and then struggled competitively.

Nam has a beautiful, zany, outgoing personality. He's still really young. I'd love to see him do some more fun, young, quirky, and interesting programs that help him feel the love of skating and is perhaps more comfortable and motivating while he gets used to skating and training in his new body.

Nam is quite old enough to be doing off ice conditioning under the supervision of a professional trainer. Not all conditioning is lifting heavy weights. Just using his own body weight to build strength is beneficial. He particularly needs to gain core strength and learn to use those muscles correctly. Good Pilates instructions (something that he could do with Polina!) would not go amiss.

Skating is an extremely one sided sport. The differentials in muscle strength from one side of the body to the other is a great recipe for long term injury. Off ice conditioning to correct this imbalance should start very early in a skater's career. Ditto the correct use of core muscles. Younger children don't need to do Pilates as such, but they do need to learn how to protect their backs.

 

[chewy]

The kid spent his formative years with Joanne McLeod. He would have had off ice training, lots of it because she demands rotations off ice before ever attempting any jumps on ice. Perhaps he was just sick of off ice training and slacked, if that is what made the difference. Time for some growing up if he's hungry for it.

 

[overedge]

McLeod may "demand" rotations off ice before letting skaters do jumps on the ice, but judging by the bad jump technique of her skaters, I don't think that's exactly a ringing endorsement of the off-ice training Nam used to get.

 

[mag]

8-Rinks kids warm up rink side before getting on the ice. I have seen them do it many times and the warm up includes off ice rotations as well as skipping and other warm up activities. I believe they also have a stretch class, ballet, as well as conditioning sessions. Say what you will about the way they teach jump technique on ice, the coaches clearly value and insist on a proper off ice warm up and off ice training (as apparently does Orser.) Nam's issues, if he has them, with warm up and off ice training should not be blamed on Joanne McLeod.

 

[overedge]

@mag there are also stories about some of the skaters at the "top of the heap" in McLeod's regime being allowed to act as they pleased, including not participating in off-ice activities if they didn't feel like it. I don't know if Nam was one of those, though. I get the sense that during that time his parents drove him pretty hard about doing everything she told him to do.

 

[mag]

@mag there are also stories about some of the skaters at the "top of the heap" in McLeod's regime being allowed to act as they pleased, including not participating in off-ice activities if they didn't feel like it. I don't know if Nam was one of those, though. I get the sense that during that time his parents drove him pretty hard about doing everything she told him to do.

I do not have any inside scoop on that, but I am not sure what that has to do with Nam now or how it is a reflection on the quality of off ice instruction offered at 8 Rinks.

 

[overedge]

I do not have any inside scoop on that, but I am not sure what that has to do with Nam now or how it is a reflection on the quality of off ice instruction offered at 8 Rinks.

It's not a reflection on the quality of off-ice instruction at all - the off-ice instructors are very good. E.g. they did a lot with dance and movement to help Mira Leung look much better than she might have otherwise. But Nam's current attitude toward off-ice training could have been influenced by his previous training contexts. Not that it definitely did, just a possibility.

 

[arakwafan2006]

It always amazes me how much people blame coaches for a skaters problem. Anyone ever try and lose weight? Your trainer can ask you to do all types of things but if you eat like shit, don't hydrate, get only a few hours of sleep and give 60% during your training, how's it his fault that you gained weight instead of losing it?young skaters have information of all kinds at their fingertips. They also have access to atheletes outside of the sport to assist with training etc. at the end of the day, Nam's career is Nam's problem. I applaud Nagasu for stepping in the drivers seat of her development.

Besides, most fans have no idea what constitutes a good coach and also have no clue about a coaches philosophy. People read into blurbs on social media and think that tells the story. Relax people... If Nam has what it takes, he will be fine

 

[WanderlustTO]

Personally, I don't think this was a good move for Nam. I don't think his problems were coaching-related - if anything, I think Orser et al would have been able to guide him through things.

Oh well, it is what it is...we'll see how he does next, i guess.

 

[Xela M]

It always amazes me how much people blame coaches for a skaters problem. Anyone ever try and lose weight? Your trainer can ask you to do all types of things but if you eat like shit, don't hydrate, get only a few hours of sleep and give 60% during your training, how's it his fault that you gained weight instead of losing it?young skaters have information of all kinds at their fingertips. They also have access to atheletes outside of the sport to assist with training etc. at the end of the day, Nam's career is Nam's problem. I applaud Nagasu for stepping in the drivers seat of her development.

Besides, most fans have no idea what constitutes a good coach and also have no clue about a coaches philosophy. People read into blurbs on social media and think that tells the story. Relax people... If Nam has what it takes, he will be fine

I would agree with you on any other day but... today one coach achieved a miracle the magnitude of which only soccer fans around the world can truly appreciate.

Leicester City WON THE PREMIER LEAGUE!

It's probably the greatest sporting upset in history and has been compared to the Jamaican bobsleigh team actually winning Olympic Gold. Last year, the very same team with the same players only managed to stay in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth. Then came the genius coach Ranieri who turned a bunch of rejects into champions and achieved soccer-immortality!

 

[screech]

I wonder if Nam will change choreographers too. I love Jeff's work, and think he and David did a good job with him in 14/15, but this year it just didn't work for him. I don't know if Rudy Galindo would be any better...

 

[barbarafan]

I wonder if Nam will change choreographers too. I love Jeff's work, and think he and David did a good job with him in 14/15, but this year it just didn't work for him. I don't know if Rudy Galindo would be any better...

so hard to say...sometimes good program wrong timing is the culprit...The program did what it was supposed to do but unexpected problems came up..Both Jeff and David are totally capable of producing the kind of programs Nam should have at this stage of his developement ..I guess it depends on what they are asked for. I have always loved Rudy Galindo but aside from Polina's (which I am not dazzled by) I don't know whatever works he has done to judge.