Alysa Liu Switches to Colorado Coaching Team

[tony]

This is per several personal sources- take it as you want at the moment. Her father has fired Scali & Abbott and now she's in Colorado.

 

[Vash01]

Isn't it odd to make a major change in the middle of a season? Not saying others have not done it, but this sounds like a knee jerk reaction to me. However, May be they were already planning to switch?

 

[skatingguy]

That's too bad. Things seemed to be headed in a good direction this season, and I don't see how a switch to Colorado improves her skating. We haven't seen any of the Colorado skaters really being successful, consistent, or improving their technique or artistry the way that Liu was this season. Do we know specifically who she will be working with?

 

[Karen-W]

Oh boy... Do we know WHO in Colorado? Tom Z & Tammy G have Bradie and Karen and, frankly, if Arthur was going to move Alysa to another coach, I'd rather he'd have taken her to Rafael.

 

[BittyBug]

This is hard to understand given how much progress Liu has made under Scali and Abbott.

 

[aka_gerbil]

This feels knee-jerk to me as well. Yes, work needs to be done on the jumps, but the other aspects of her skating have improved leaps and bounds.

The jumps are going to take time to fix, rework, so doing this now just before the Olympics doesn’t seem like it’s going to do much good.

 

[Spikefan]

Her main issue is UR, who in CoSprings is going to help with that? Plus, that’s a major move for someone that seems to enjoy her “normal” social life.

 

[Flip Jump]

Very disappointed to hear this news. Her team has worked hard with her and they seemed to understand. I would be upset at a change this close to Nationals & Olympics, but especially to Colorado Springs.

 

[thvu]

Oh boy... Do we know WHO in Colorado? Tom Z & Tammy G have Bradie and Karen and, frankly, if Arthur was going to move Alysa to another coach, I'd rather he'd have taken her to Rafael.

I could see Raphael saying no if asked. Arthur very well may have tried. Raphael thinks improvements through his coaching takes 2 years to fully bake, and I would imagine Arthur is not okay with that timeline.

 

[Karen-W]

I could see Raphael saying no if asked. Arthur very well may have tried.

In the middle of the season, when he is focused on Nathan, yes, I could see him saying yes also. Which is why I'm stunned that TPTB at USFS would signal to Arthur that this is a good move, right now. It's a kneejerk reaction and it will take more time to fix her UR issues than the next 10 weeks or so until the Olympics.

 

[Coco]

What's going to come first, the stress fracture or the eating disorder? I feel like I've seen this movie before and I don't like how it ends.

 

[Rukia]

This close to nats/the Olympics? What an odd choice (yes this is me being polite).

Well, good luck I guess.

 

[Yazmeen]

What's going to come first, the stress fracture or the eating disorder? I feel like I've seen this movie before and I don't like how it ends.

Oh, great, another figure skating dad deciding he knows best for the skater. Michelle Kwan 2.0...

 

[Wyliefan]

If I had to guess -- probably all the hype got to her dad and he unrealistically expected her to be scoring much higher this season. But I'm afraid of this backfiring. I hope it doesn't end up making things worse.

 

[maureenfarone]

It could be Christy Krall rather than Tom Z or Tammy G.

 

[Ananas Astra]

Outstanding move...not.

Well...good luck.

 

[jiejie]

Yep, my guess is Broadmoor/Christy Krall. She worked with Patrick Chan back in the day. Possibly Damon Allen will do a tag team.

This may not be a disaster. Neither Scali nor Abbott struck me as the ones to help her cure those underrotations.

 

[Cherub721]

Think about all the hype she got early season. They were probably thinking Olympic podium was at least possible. Not medaling in the deep SC field was one thing, but they must have really panicked when she didn't medal at NHK with no Russians.

 

[Rukia]

Think about all the hype she got early season. They were probably thinking Olympic podium was at least possible. Not medaling in the deep SC field was one thing, but they must have really panicked when she didn't medal at NHK with no Russians.

But surely someone (USFSA even) would step in and say, "Hey, I know this isn't great, but also switching coaches 2 months before nationals doesn't usually work out the way you want." Idk it makes zero sense to me. Work your rotations and then wait until next season if you think you have to switch.

 

[Spun Silver]

I wonder what her living conditions will be - surely her father isn't picking up and moving the whole family to Colorado just in time for winter - and I really hope just the move and training change won't throw her off. Crappy timing, dad.

 

[Debbie S]

Housing is available at the US Olympic Training Center. USFS seems to want Broadmoor to be a go-to training center for top skaters, either summer or full-time. I have no idea why they steer their top women to Tom Z et al....other than Mirai's 3A, how have they helped anyone improve?

 

[canbelto]

What? It's awfully close to an Olympics to be making such a huge change.

 

[Coco]

Moving into a dorm, your first living situation without parents / adults, I hope not.

 

[overedge]

Swapping coaches, when things are not going well for only a couple of months, doesn't give me a lot of confidence in whoever is calling the shots for her career. Not sure if it's Alysa herself or the people around her, but this could be more disruptive to her than helpful.

 

[MacMadame]

Oh, great, another figure skating dad deciding he knows best for the skater. Michelle Kwan 2.0...

I got the impression that was more Kwan flipping out before the Olympics and her dad not being able to talk her out of it. He sometimes had that look in the KnC that I get when my children tell me they want to do something crazy, but I want to be supportive and not crush their dreams.

This seems more like the Dad flipping out as Alyssa seems to have a really good relationship with her coaches. I also can't see USFS being happy about this.

 

[misskarne]

But surely someone (USFSA even) would step in and say, "Hey, I know this isn't great, but also switching coaches 2 months before nationals doesn't usually work out the way you want." Idk it makes zero sense to me. Work your rotations and then wait until next season if you think you have to switch.

They either didn't stop Gracie or outright encouraged her in 2013 to switch to Frank Carroll...so it's not like they don't have form in this area.

 

[Mayra]

What? It's awfully close to an Olympics to be making such a huge change.

The goal for her always seems to have been to peak at the Olympics. She's not improving fast enough for those pushing her and those jumps aren't getting better. They're short af.

Reality is, with her growth spurt and the changes she has gone through, her current trajectory had her peaking sometime circa Worlds or IMO next season. Not good enough for some.

Hope it works out for her in the long run.

 

[centerpt1]

Alysa looked fatigued at NHK. Altitude training should help with stamina. To me, she seemed to be improving more before she started going to Italy. Maybe they thought she needed OTC support? Maybe Scali et al didn't want to push her as hard as her Dad wanted? I just hope she doesn't get injured. She made rapid improvement.....we'll see where it goes from here.

It also makes me think the rumors are true, and she will retire after this season.

 

[yeslek]

This seems like a horrible idea.

 

[jiejie]

I got the impression that was more Kwan flipping out before the Olympics and her dad not being able to talk her out of it. He sometimes had that look in the KnC that I get when my children tell me they want to do something crazy, but I want to be supportive and not crush their dreams.

This seems more like the Dad flipping out as Alyssa seems to have a really good relationship with her coaches. I also can't see USFS being happy about this.

I never got that impression. Michelle wasn't the "flipping out" type. I will always be convinced that the reason was money--that Frank C. gave Danny Kwan an ultimatum that he wanted a percentage of Michelle's future earnings, as a condition of coaching her the rest of the way to the Olympics and beyond. Danny said no way and adios. The protagonists' lips are sealed so we will never know.

This feels like a completely different situation, and yes, Papa Liu s probably beyond anxious that Alyssa couldn't even manage to medal at a competition with no Russians.