Alysa Liu Switches to Colorado Coaching Team

[B.Cooper]

I thought Flatt did.

From an article in MaxPreps from Feb 2010, Flatt talks about the original injury to her back:

Flatt crowned No. 1 female figure skater in U.S.

MaxPreps News - Not even two bulging discs have kept 17-year-old Olympic hopeful Rachael Flatt, a senior at Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs, Colo.), from reaching the pinnacle of American figure skating.

www.maxpreps.com

"When she was 13, Flatt came out of a spin, fell and injured her back. The bulging discs have been with her ever since. She has been able to at least partially overcome the problem, but it lingers." ( The initial injury took place before her first JGP assignment, which was to be in Mexico City, but she had to w/d and ended up going thru the Q system to get to US Natls that year....her Jr US season.)

and a more recent Stanford article....she has 3 ruptured discs in her back:

Former figure skating champion Rachael Flatt on coming back after injury

Like many Stanford students, Rachael Flatt '15 doesn’t know what her future holds. But unlike most of her peers, she is not attempting to figure out her first

www.stanforddaily.com

"Before graduating from high school, Flatt won the 2010 U.S. National Figure Skating Championship and skated to seventh at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. A year later, Flatt enrolled at Stanford, intending to pursue a degree while continuing to compete professionally.

Since 2011, however, injuries have taken their toll. Last summer, Flatt re-aggravated three bulging discs in her back, and developed tendonitis in her ankles after returning to training. In October, Flatt was forced to withdraw from the rest of the 2012-13 competition circuit to give herself time to heal. She only recently began training again for an exhibition show in February"



Skating is tough on these kids. No doubt about it. She only really talked about her back issues at the end of her career, but it was apparent after her novice season she could no longer do the amazing laybacks she had as a 12 yo. Hard to believe Flatt incurred the first ruptured discs when she was just 13, and managed to continue to skate, acquire 3x3 combos, win the world jr championship, US Nationals and go to the 2010 Olys. But the years of back and lower leg injuries took their toll for sure.

Skaters are tough. I don't many people fully appreciate how banged up they are by the time they retire.

And, you look at what her peer group has gone thru....Mirai has had several surgeries (hip flexor IIRC), and Caroline Zhang's back surgery. Wagner, to the best of my knowledge, is the only one who did not endure chronic injury issues.

 

[rfisher]

Source?

The scores across the board were raised just about equally in said competition that everyone likes to point to as a clear sign that some fix is in. But let's not touch Daisuke Takahashi's improvement over one week.

Well, I don't know if it's politicking, but Diana and Gleb said in an interview they hoped to make the team in 2026, but were taking it one year at a time. Neither were committed to skating that long. I've never read anything that Eteri has ever said about her kid and Diana didn't discuss her mother in the interview I read.

 

[Coco]

The only time I've heard Eteri mention Diana is when she said it was Diana who advocated for her to let Kostornaya back into the group.

And @B.Cooper I believe I read that Ashley has torn hip labrums on both sides, but they were managing without surgery.

 

[SorrySkater]

It is possible that Krall could actually help Alysa a lot in a short time if she can identify simple changes that will help her jumps. We need to remember that Alysa did have quads before, so it is not fear or a feel for a quad that is the problem.

Agree with all of this. My niece was a competitive dancer - in fact, she was on Team USA. She has a very scientific mind, and she really appreciated teachers who gave her very specific, physiological reasons for changing her technique. If you could tell her why she had to move her body in a specific way in order to avoid injury or better perform a specific type of move, she was all in. I don’t personally know Alysa, but I can see her having a similar type of mind. Dartfish analysis of her jumps might be exactly what is needed.

 

[soogar]

Why would you assume that Jeremy Abbott is not a jump coach? The guy jumped quads.

Just because he jumped quads doesn’t mean he knows how to teach them or have an eye for correcting technique. Mishin and Raf have never jumped quads but they can correct technique. Same with Tom Z.

 

[soogar]

I don’t know Eteri and I am sure she is a tough as nails coach. But I also feel that if USFSA had the opportunity they would take her in a New York second.

The USFs can do something similar with Tom Z and Tom D in Colorado Springs. Tom Z can head a team of coaches and Tom D can pump out programs. The training center and medical is all there as well. Eteri takes her risk on the front end training a bunch of kids at below rates and then getting a chunk of earnings from shows and endorsements. The USFs would have to pump money into it and guarantee an income to these coaches/choreo that is more than what they are getting now.

 

[soogar]

Source?

The scores across the board were raised just about equally in said competition that everyone likes to point to as a clear sign that some fix is in. But let's not touch Daisuke Takahashi's improvement over one week.

I thought Dai had a mistake on his footwork seq in previous competition and missed a lift level.

 

[BittyBug]

The USFs can do something similar with Tom Z and Tom D in Colorado Springs. Tom Z can head a team of coaches and Tom D can pump out programs. The training center and medical is all there as well. Eteri takes her risk on the front end training a bunch of kids at below rates and then getting a chunk of earnings from shows and endorsements. The USFs would have to pump money into it and guarantee an income to these coaches/choreo that is more than what they are getting now.

LOL. USFS has no money and hasn’t for a while. Just look at who their sponsors are - no name brands with no money.

 

[clairecloutier]

Toyota is a no-name brand?? https://www.usfigureskating.org/event/2022-toyota-us-figure-skating-championships

(I'm not, btw, arguing that USFS has money or doesn't have money. I really don't know either way. All that seems clear is that they probably have less money than they would like to have. )

 

[becca]

The USFs can do something similar with Tom Z and Tom D in Colorado Springs. Tom Z can head a team of coaches and Tom D can pump out programs. The training center and medical is all there as well. Eteri takes her risk on the front end training a bunch of kids at below rates and then getting a chunk of earnings from shows and endorsements. The USFs would have to pump money into it and guarantee an income to these coaches/choreo that is more than what they are getting now.

It’s not a bad system. Really.

 

[BittyBug]

LOL I have obviously been asleep at the wheel lately. I was thinking of Guaranteed Rate, Consumer Cellular and how naked the boards are at USFS competitions.

 

[Primorskaya]

LOL I have obviously been asleep at the wheel lately. I was thinking of Guaranteed Rate, Consumer Cellular and how naked the boards are at USFS competitions.

Guaranteed Rate with the big fat arrow pointing down was a low point, it must be said.

 

[meggonzo]

LOL I have obviously been asleep at the wheel lately. I was thinking of Guaranteed Rate, Consumer Cellular and how naked the boards are at USFS competitions.

Justice for Ollie's Bargain Outlet!

 

[skateboy]

Just because he jumped quads doesn’t mean he knows how to teach them or have an eye for correcting technique. Mishin and Raf have never jumped quads but they can correct technique. Same with Tom Z.

It also doesn't mean that he doesn't have an eye for it...

 

[soogar]

It also doesn't mean that he doesn't have an eye for it...

He may or may not have an eye for it. He's fairly new to coaching and it's not like skating came super easy to him either. He had to work hard to get his jumps. He may be a better coach than a lot of other top skaters for whom success came easy.

LOL. USFS has no money and hasn’t for a while. Just look at who their sponsors are - no name brands with no money.

Tom Z and company are trying to form a group of coaches in Colorado. Nothing stops them from bundling their services with Tom D or other choreographers to develop top skaters. But then they have to put their egos aside and perhaps forfeit some of their coaching income to do so. US skaters would never agree to give up 40% of their earnings. Especially now since parents put so much money into the system. They can start from scratch and recruit a cohort and deploy their services but then do they really want to forfeit earnings to produce Olympic medalists? They are all making a lot of money now. Why would they even want to do what Eteri does? Everyone is so jealous of her but she had to form things from the ground up and build that team and it's clear that this team works well together and has a consistent product- at least with female skaters.

 

[VGThuy]

Nothing beat Cancer.net as a sponsor.

 

[Rhumba d’Amour]

Nothing beat Cancer.net as a sponsor.

I was not a fan of having the Noom weight loss program as a sponsor either.

 

[VGThuy]

I was not a fan of having the Noom weight loss program as a sponsor either.

Oh gosh! I forgot all about that I’ll-advised sponsor.

 

[canbelto]

I was not a fan of having the Noom weight loss program as a sponsor either.

What's wrong with Noom? I tried it for three months and lost weight.

 

[meggonzo]

Nothing beat Cancer.net as a sponsor.

Rhythm is a cancer.

 

[rhapsody]

What's wrong with Noom? I tried it for three months and lost weight.

It's uncomfortable to see a weight loss program being promoted to a demographic of athletes who are constantly weight-shamed and very often develop eating disorders.

 

[maatTheViking]

It's uncomfortable to see a weight loss program being promoted to a demographic of athletes that are notorious for being weight-shamed and having eating disorders.

I'm guessing that sponsors are more promoted to the audience, and noom is probably a decent fit in terms of demographics there, as the audience is 'regular' people.

but I agree that the fact that even if it isn't promoted to the athletes but to the audience, associating figure skating with diet culture overall is not great, to put it mildly.

 

[viennese]

RE: Back injuries and young skaters.

I am recovering from a back injury now. I asked my PT about similar injuries in young skaters and gymnasts. His team works with young athletes and old ones like me in many sports, including gymnastics, figure skating, hockey, baseball.

Champion PT and Performance

Expert physical therapy, sports performance, and adult fitness in Waltham. Personalized care to help you move, feel, and perform better.

championptandperformance.com

He sort of shakes his head when he hears about very young (preadolescent) athletes getting surgery or being so injured that they can no longer compete. Unless there is a congenital spine problem, he said, the cause is not the sport being too hard, it's bad coaching and unwise training patterns. Athletes, men and women, should be able to peak in their early 20s and well beyond when muscle and bone strength are at their maximums.

 

[DreamSkates]

Guaranteed Rate with the big fat arrow pointing down was a low point, it must be said.

Maybe if Nathan Chen wins OG in a big way, that will pump some enthusiasm for the sport in the US populace, and also some financial support.

 

[Mayra]

LOL I have obviously been asleep at the wheel lately. I was thinking of Guaranteed Rate, Consumer Cellular and how naked the boards are at USFS competitions.

It sounds like you need Prevagen. Helps improve brain health and memory.

 

[antmanb]

Maybe if Nathan Chen wins OG in a big way, that will pump some enthusiasm for the sport in the US populace, and also some financial support.

I don't think it did much when Evan Lysacek won gold in 2010. I doubt another male figure skater winning gold will help that much

 

[alchemy void]

It's always a trip watching something like 1992 Worlds (in Oakland, CA) on YouTube and seeing sponsors on the boards like Microsoft, Jägermeister, Disney, M&Ms, and Canon. I guess times have changed, eh?

 

[ilovepaydays]

I don't think it did much when Evan Lysacek won gold in 2010. I doubt another male figure skater winning gold will help that much

It depends on what Nathan does afterwards. And let’s be honest: Evan had a great skate in Vancouver - but off the ice, he was less interesting than a peanut butter sandwich. That didn’t help at all.

 

[thvu]

I don't think it did much when Evan Lysacek won gold in 2010. I doubt another male figure skater winning gold will help that much

I also think alot of it had to do with the media and marketing. Labelling Chen as the "Quad King" could change that. He may win the Oly Gold with 8 quads between the Short and Long Programs. That's going to be history, that's going to be a story.

 

[antmanb]

It depends on what Nathan does afterwards. And let’s be honest: Evan had a great skate in Vancouver - but off the ice, he was less interesting than a peanut butter sandwich. That didn’t help at all.

I don't follow the skaters much off ice but is Nathan that much more interesting?

I'm guessing if Nathan wins, then he'll be back to Yale and continue overachieving in another field. Like I said i don't follow much about the skaters other than what you hear during a broadcast but is there any likelihood that Nathan will go into coaching/choreography after he stops competing?

I also think alot of it had to do with the media and marketing. Labelling Chen as the "Quad King" could change that. He may win the Oly Gold with 8 quads between the Short and Long Programs. That's going to be history, that's going to be a story.

I agree it is definitely a story...but is it a long lasting one that would result in better sponsors/more money being pumped into Figure Skating in the US? I'm not convinced it would be.