Alysa Liu Switches to Colorado Coaching Team

overedge

Mayor of Carrot City
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Gracie was known to have shouting matches with her previous coach and some other issues as well. Frank Carroll didn’t cause Gracie’s issues. There was pressure on her long before she switched to him.

I didn't say that Frank caused Gracie's issues. I said that no one addressed them while she was there.

And it got worse while she was there.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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On a more positive outlook: I often bring up Viktor Pfeifer's skating quality, his transitions into his jumps (his transitions into the Lutz are probably the best I've ever seen), the way he held the landings, and his beautiful programs. He was doing amazing things with younger skaters prior to his move to Colorado, and I'm sure he, Meekins, and Krall can also do great things in time with Alysa.
I agree about Pfeifer and I'm very glad to hear he will be involved with Alysa's training. I know he also worked a bit with Ilia Malinin when he was still coaching in Wilmington, Delaware.
 

skylark

Well-Known Member
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339
Altitude may eventually be a great benefit, but even some elite athletes take time to adapt. I think I recall Jason saying he needed supplemental oxygen for the first year. I’m not anywhere near an elite athlete 😂 but when I was transferred from Chicago to Denver it took me several months to acclimatize.
Good points. But it could be that Nashville and Beijing will feel much easier compared to the Rockies.


Hopefully she’ll have a seamless transition.
(y)
 

sundayspirals

Active Member
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Comment from Drew Meekins:
"I am honoured to work with Alysa, and humbled to get to help her reach her goals this season," Meekins told Olympics.com. "She is a wonderful human, and a great and talented athlete. ... I told Alysa I will be here to guide her through this difficult yet exciting part of the season, and I look forward to helping her step into a training regimen that is intense, tailored, and strategic. I feel strongly that with this kind of work, she can reach her goals at the U.S. Championships and Olympics."

Nick McCarvel's article on Olympics.com
 

Sylvia

TBD
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Comment from Drew Meekins:
"I am honoured to work with Alysa, and humbled to get to help her reach her goals this season," Meekins told Olympics.com. "She is a wonderful human, and a great and talented athlete. ... I told Alysa I will be here to guide her through this difficult yet exciting part of the season, and I look forward to helping her step into a training regimen that is intense, tailored, and strategic. I feel strongly that with this kind of work, she can reach her goals at the U.S. Championships and Olympics."
Direct link to McCarvel's article:
Another quote:
Meekins added that her previous team, led by Scali, Massimo had done "a wonderful job helping her improve her skating skills and components."
 

Yuri

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So Phil Hersh and NBC have confirmed Tony's post and, once again, FSU appears to have broken another significant news story in the Olympic figure skating world! I've always suspected that the likes of Hersh and Christine Brennan keep an eye on FSU for potential stories and wondered whether they read (or post?) here, either directly or via other sources. So congratulations to FSU for being a source of responsible rumors rather than over-the-top gossip mongering.

As to Alysa's skating, I look forward to seeing her in Nashville and hope there are no radical changes in her skating, and this is a reasonably seemless transition for whatever reasons she, her dad, and team believe are best for her. I wouldn't think she has a strong chance of making the final free skating group of six at the Olympics, but I would think she's the best USA shot at a top 10 finish there.

If money for training is an issue and she doesn't plan to continue beyond 2022, I do wonder I the demise of the old Tom Collins tour aka Champions on Ice is a factor. It wasn't just the Michelle Kwan's of the world who skated on it while training for the Olympics; it was a great source of training funds for many other hopefuls beyond official USFS funding.
 

sk9tingfan

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So Phil Hersh and NBC have confirmed Tony's post and, once again, FSU appears to have broken another significant news story in the Olympic figure skating world! I've always suspected that the likes of Hersh and Christine Brennan keep an eye on FSU for potential stories and wondered whether they read (or post?) here, either directly or via other sources. So congratulations to FSU for being a source of responsible rumors rather than over-the-top gossip mongering.

As to Alysa's skating, I look forward to seeing her in Nashville and hope there are no radical changes in her skating, and this is a reasonably seemless transition for whatever reasons she, her dad, and team believe are best for her. I wouldn't think she has a strong chance of making the final free skating group of six at the Olympics, but I would think she's the best USA shot at a top 10 finish there.

If money for training is an issue and she doesn't plan to continue beyond 2022, I do wonder I the demise of the old Tom Collins tour aka Champions on Ice is a factor. It wasn't just the Michelle Kwan's of the world who skated on it while training for the Olympics; it was a great source of training funds for many other hopefuls beyond official USFS funding.
Regarding your Champions on Ice Question, I believe that you are about ten years too late....
 

Sylvia

TBD
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Update from P Hersh
Meekins' quotes are the new part (same article link):
[Meekins] said in a text message he and Pfeifer would be in charge of Liu’s overall training.
“I will focus on training and performing the program and readying her for competition,” Meekins said. “Christy and Eddie (Shipstad, who works with skaters on the pole harness) will focus on stabilizing her jump technique through Dartfish and other analysis.
“In the next 40 days, the goal is to make adjustments to her training routine so that she can give an optimal performance at the US Championships, maximizing GOE on all of her elements, as well as performing clean jumps.
“At the same time, we will prepare for the Olympic Games, so if she is selected, she will have the necessary preparation she would need to deliver a performance in Beijing that is competitive with what the top women skaters in the world are doing.”
“I want to thank Massimo for all that he did for her,” Meekins said. “So rarely can tangible improvements in components and skating skills be seen, as they were in the work he did with her.”
 
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LoopCombo

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This seems like a PR move on the part of the father. Alysa’s skating skills and speed improved with the last coaches, but in international competitions, she has been dinged for underrotations and her jump GOE is not huge. If you stay with those same coaches, how do you improve the scores/change the narrative about her jumps without working over time to improve them? For this Olympic cycle, they are almost out of time. If you want better calls in a couple of months at the Olympics — and a precedent for those better calls starting at US nationals — you change the coach, change the narrative, talk about wanting Alysa to train more intensely. Notice that he picked a Colorado coach that people don’t object to as much even though people are upset about the switch. He might be calculating. The narrative can become “with the help of Christy Krall, who helped Patrick Chan, Liu has improved her jumps through more intensive training at the Olympic training center, at altitude!” I’m not saying that her jumps won’t improve anyway. I’m saying changing the narrative about her jumps may be just as important as getting actual improvement in the jumps. If we have learned anything from the Eteri skaters, surely it’s that the narrative about how good their jumps are is better than the jumps themselves. It’s partly a PR game, and it’s easier to change the PR about her jumps if she changes coaches. If changing the narrative in time for the Olympics works, could she get on the podium? Maybe that’s where her dad is deluded. But, frankly, recent events in figure skating have proved that PR is as important as skills. Alysa has skills and good programs already. Now she just needs better PR to influence higher jump scores.
 

VGThuy

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This seems like a PR move on the part of the father. Alysa’s skating skills and speed improved with the last coaches, but in international competitions, she has been dinged for underrotations and her jump GOE is not huge. If you stay with those same coaches, how do you improve the scores/change the narrative about her jumps without working over time to improve them? For this Olympic cycle, they are almost out of time. If you want better calls in a couple of months at the Olympics — and a precedent for those better calls starting at US nationals — you change the coach, change the narrative, talk about wanting Alysa to train more intensely. Notice that he picked a Colorado coach that people don’t object to as much even though people are upset about the switch. He might be calculating. The narrative can become “with the help of Christy Krall, who helped Patrick Chan, Liu has improved her jumps through more intensive training at the Olympic training center, at altitude!” I’m not saying that her jumps won’t improve anyway. I’m saying changing the narrative about her jumps may be just as important as getting actual improvement in the jumps. If we have learned anything from the Eteri skaters, surely it’s that the narrative about how good their jumps are is better than the jumps themselves. It’s partly a PR game, and it’s easier to change the PR about her jumps if she changes coaches. If changing the narrative in time for the Olympics works, could she get on the podium? Maybe that’s where her dad is deluded. But, frankly, recent events in figure skating have proved that PR is as important as skills. Alysa has skills and good programs already. Now she just needs better PR to influence higher jump scores.
There is nothing false about this post at all. The fact that this all does summarize figure skating calling and judging well is damning to the sport.
 

SkateFanBerlin

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I can't imagine the pressure swarming around this 16yo. The new coaches can't be serious. "to deliver a performance in Beijing that is competitive with what the top women skaters in the world are doing" If she could clean up a few of her triples and combinations in the next 2 months it would be quite an achievement. Wish everyone the best of luck.
 

tony

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I can't imagine the pressure swarming around this 16yo. The new coaches can't be serious. "to deliver a performance in Beijing that is competitive with what the top women skaters in the world are doing" If she could clean up a few of her triples and combinations in the next 2 months it would be quite an achievement. Wish everyone the best of luck.
I'm surprised Meekins actually went straight out and said that because it really puts pressure on the new team to make something huge happen, and it's exactly what I referred to earlier today in post #214 pre-addition of those quotes. Papa Liu wants quads, plain and simple. That's the driving force behind all of this.
 

tony

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It's a given IMO that Alysa is going to get very generous calling at Nationals. She's the leader of an otherwise very inconsistent group of women and there needs to be some buzz around someone- who else would you put the spotlight on at this point? She got away with calls internationally that were ridiculous; you better believe US Nationals panels are going to turn their heads the other way.

Now I don't want to give up on her new team before they even start, but I really could see US MEDIA having the narrative of OMG, she's so improved- no underrotations! Great idea to move! even if nothing has changed, solely based on a lenient panel. This ties into the thoughts that @Ruby999 posted above.
 

boopboop

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centerpt1

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My guess-Massimo and Jeremy told Liu what he didn't want to hear.

Alysa looked fatigued at NHK.

The training/conditioning/nutrition/psych supports available in Colorado Springs may help her. It just seems like a better set up for someone at Alysa's level. (although there may not be enough time to help her)
 

Orm Irian

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Poor girl is going to be sent to Beijing on a wave of the public's warped expectations. I feel for her.
And we saw how well that went for Nathan Chen...

To be fair, Liu probably has a fairly realistic idea of what she can actually accomplish in a couple of months, but a media juggernaut of attention by people whose only interest is getting money off of hype must be difficult if not impossible to be affected by no matter how hard you try. Good luck to her.
 

giselle23

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Now that it's been confirmed, I think this is a positive thing. It was now or never for Alysa, if a change was going to be made. Her current coaches had taken her as far as they could, but she now needs a jump coach. I am happy to see she is working with Christy Krall. She has a lot of time now before Nationals. Regardless of how she is judged there, the results, or lack of them, will be evident.
 

wickedwitch

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Now that it's been confirmed, I think this is a positive thing. It was now or never for Alysa, if a change was going to be made. Her current coaches had taken her as far as they could, but she now needs a jump coach. I am happy to see she is working with Christy Krall. She has a lot of time now before Nationals. Regardless of how she is judged there, the results, or lack of them, will be evident.
How could you possibly know that? It's not like she's plateaued for years or even many months.
 

overedge

Mayor of Carrot City
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Now I'm wondering how it's going to go if the alleged reason for the change is that Alysa wasn't training intensely enough, and Arthur thinks that Meekins and Pfeifer aren't training Alysa intensely enough either. "More" is not always the same as "better".
 

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