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Marina Chernysheva-Melniks' interview with Viktoria Volchkova for matchTV.ru
MCM: At the beginning of your coaching career your group was mainly the girls. Did you want to develop your category?
VV: It just happened: I retired and my coach Viktor Kudriavtsev passed me 3 of his pupils. Then my colleague Olga Markova who was working on the same rink had a maternity leave and passed me her group, where a lot of girls practiced. In the end I had 12 girls and I spent a while working with the girls only. The boys story began with Sergey Dobrin: the head of the school asked me to take him into my group. It was a couple of months before the Nationals - so it was a lot of responsibility. Then Nikita Mikhailov and Murad Kurbanov, who is now my colleague joined. The pupils changed and now most of my grouop are guys.
MCM: Polina Korobeinikova is one of your first pupils. What did she lack to become a top skater taking the low level of the domestic competition at the 2000s?
VV: Mentality. It's for a reason they say the sport is about both the mental and the physical ability and the right work all have to come together. There are skaters who are the champions of the practices and can't complete a single programme at the competition. Polina was one of them - not being able to take the competition stress, even though she was working with the shrinks. There was so much work in the practices, so many run throughts, which she often would do ideally. But going out on the competition she would always fail one of the programmes. It was the same in 2012 - her only Europeans: she was 14th after the SP and 2nd in the LP. It was enough for the 4th place and she lacked just a couple of points for a medal and becoming a part of the figure skating history
MCM: What does Polina do now?
VV: After retiring she worked on the boats and now coaches in Tatiana Navka's school.
MCM: Last season your pupil Ilya Yablokov participated the Nationals. 17y.o. is quite young for the men skating. Was it a strategy - to give Ilya and experience competing with the senior skaters? I recall how the young Tuktamysheva and Sotnikova were competing in the seniors.
VV: It's a practice: it's important for the junior, kind of a progress. Remember how last year Danielian became 2nd in the Nationals and this year Kondtratuk, who no one took seriously at the beginning of the season shone. The fresh junior boy can rapidly become part of the team. Hence Ilya participated the last year's Nationals and this year we didn't even consider - we applied . Mentally he took it well - he loves competing and mobilizes himself at the right moment.
MCM: What did he lack in February ending up outside the podium at the Nationals?
VV: It was generally a tough season. He had a соvid in May - one of the first among the skaters. He took it hard and then was recovering in a training camp in Sochi. I could see he couldn't do a run through as before. Besides he grew up a lot. He also improved technically: he is now doing a 4loop and 3sal and is working on a 3lutz. But the competitions were problematic. The most important is that we know the reason and know how to proceed. I hope next season Ilya will be stronger.
MCM: Recently your pupil's Vladimir Samoilov posted his combos (lutz/sal and sal/sal). Will we see that in the programmes?
VV: Vladimir can do a lot during the practices but he is having a hard time at the competitions. These combos can pull the rest of the programme down. He has to be very strong physically and very confident mentally to show all that content in a competition. Hence the combos are for the practiecs and to motivate the younger guys.
MCM: Alexey Erokhov joined your group over the summer being injured. Why were his results so low last season?
VV: I thought it would be much worse. Alexey called me around July 10th, when my guys were after the training camp and more or less recovered after a 3 months break. Alexey missed 4.5 months and I was worried how will things go. But he managed losing the extra weight and we recovered all the elements.
He did not attend the Nationals keeping the stress off his leg that he injured. We thought a step ahead: if we want to see the skater the next season we'd better listen to the doctors now. Alexey came back on the ice by the beginning of February and within 3 weeks we were more or less ready for the Russian cup final. He did his SP quite well, as for the LP... he should compete more often. After all he lacked competitiosn for almost 2 years because of the injury and the surgery. It has it's consiquences. I thought this season he would compete more, but that didn't happen.
MCM: He is very good looking. What are his other good qualities?
VV: He is not an ordinary person. Hence he is so interesting to work with, though sometimes tough. I was not following him closely previously but I now understand every competition for him is a stress. He needs the experience to get back into the competitive mode. Now we are preparing to the new season, we have a training camp ahead of us. I'll do the inner group test skates to motivate each and every one of my pupils.
MCM: How is Egor Murashov doing? He is not very visible recently.
VV: He has now decide whether he retires or continues. He is a very creative person, he wants to study abroad. Hence the last season was a deciding one: either we keep working or he starts something new.
MCM: During the winter Stanislava Konstantinova joined your group. It've been a little while now, so what can you tell about your new pupil and her current condition?
VV: In the practices Stanislava is doing great, she does all her tasks. Her problem is mental and the lack of competing experience. This season Stanislava only competed at 2 Russian cups and the Nationals. She then participated a show and came to me at the end of January completely out of shape. She spent a month with no practicing! I think Stanislava and I need to compete as much as possible. Any competition even on the school level. Just enter them and compete, enter and compete so it would become a normal. Because I see that any competition is a stress for her.
MCM: The senior competitions are over now
VV: Unfortunately. But there are plenty of the kids competitions in Moscow, we'll try to participate them with no score. We need to overcome the nerves.
MCM: In February you said Stanislava can't do the whole programme, just some parts and elements. Were you able to put it together?
VV: Of course. She now skates both programmes daily. I do it with all of my pupils and Stanislava was not having an easier time. Because taking her level of nerves if she does not skate the whole programme she can just stop in the middle and not continue. We did a lot of run throughs, physically Stanislava is ready. Now we have to deal with her head.
MCM: Many found it touching you discussed Konstantinova with her previous coaches, especially with Chebotareva, who worked with her for a long time. It's a rare thing when the coach is so considerate of the previous coaches.
VV: I'm in a good relationship with Chebotareva and am friends for many years with Volkov. This healthy relationship allows exchanging the experience besides, I got different points of view. A year ago when Stanislava was switching to Volkov was one thing. When she came to me is a different shape and state. Stanislava wanted to continue working with Volkov but he didn't have the right conditions. It was imoprtant for me to understand what were my new pupil's problems, hence I listened to both her previous coaches. Their advice was priceless and I now use it in our work.
MCM: What are the plans for the new season for her?
VV: We'll keep her LP: it suits Stanislava and she didn't get to show it enough. We'll change the SP - the style and the character. I think this programme is a bit similar to the LP and I'd like to show different sides of Stanislava.
MCM: In one of your interviews you voiced and interesting thought talking about Arutunian: most of the coaches suit the technique to the skater, while Arutyunian suits the skaters to the technique. What is that technique?
VV: All Arutyunian's pupils stand out with their jumping technique. It was the same when he worked in Moscow. When he moved to the USA it remained: after a season or two working with him his pupils' technique became `Arutyunian's'. I.e. the skaters suited their technique.
If the skater trains with you from the very young age it's natural you give them your technique, the one you think is right. The body built and the way they move is almost important. But all and all the skaters do your technique years later. When the athlete switches to you with a certain technique it's wrong changing things so fundamentally. And you work with them applying the technique to their abilities and body.
MCM: Before the channel 1 cup you shared a thought the ladies are much more mentally consistent than the men. Where does it come out?
VV: In the contemporary figure skating, where the girls' content is close to the boys', with such an amount of quads they must be mentally super stable. I.e. only really mentally strong girls can pull such skates. With the age I realized it's really an individual thing. There are super strong athletes like Yablokov and there are too emotional.
MCM: In the 90s you were practicing in Mishin's group yet you were coached by the other coaches. Mishin was not working with the girls back then but he must have consulted from time to time?
VV: I joined Mishin's group at the age of 10: he was accepting the girls for his assistances Julia Kulibanova and Tatiana Klenina. We were all skating on the same ice - with Urmanov, Yagudin, Pluschenko. Mishin was supervising our practices but he did not participate. Though he could gather the group and work with each individually.
MCM: So you witnesses the star single men of Mishin. Can you tell what the mood was like in the group in the 90s?
VV: It was an interesting time. We were watching Urmanov preparing for the Olympics. Yaguding was blossoming after winning the junior Worlds and Pluschenko had just moved there from Volgograd. We were 2 little girls there - me and Yana Chudinova. The guys were protecting us and joking around. Mishin was making the mood lighter with his favourite jokes.
MCM: What is your most valuable medal?
VV: The gold in the Moscow 2002 GP event where I beat two very good skaters - Slutskaya and Cohen. All just worked out - the inside and outside. There was also the 5th place at the Worlds in Washington in the same season. Yes, I did not medal, but I skated clean both my programmes according to the expectations. All and all - my 4 European bronze medals. Each was important in it's own way and each was a journey. But at some moment I realized if I wanted to improve my results I had to change something. Hence I left Kudriavtsevs' group and moved to Oleg Vasiliev. The result was my most valuable medal - the GP gold.
MCM: At the beginning of your coaching career your group was mainly the girls. Did you want to develop your category?
VV: It just happened: I retired and my coach Viktor Kudriavtsev passed me 3 of his pupils. Then my colleague Olga Markova who was working on the same rink had a maternity leave and passed me her group, where a lot of girls practiced. In the end I had 12 girls and I spent a while working with the girls only. The boys story began with Sergey Dobrin: the head of the school asked me to take him into my group. It was a couple of months before the Nationals - so it was a lot of responsibility. Then Nikita Mikhailov and Murad Kurbanov, who is now my colleague joined. The pupils changed and now most of my grouop are guys.
MCM: Polina Korobeinikova is one of your first pupils. What did she lack to become a top skater taking the low level of the domestic competition at the 2000s?
VV: Mentality. It's for a reason they say the sport is about both the mental and the physical ability and the right work all have to come together. There are skaters who are the champions of the practices and can't complete a single programme at the competition. Polina was one of them - not being able to take the competition stress, even though she was working with the shrinks. There was so much work in the practices, so many run throughts, which she often would do ideally. But going out on the competition she would always fail one of the programmes. It was the same in 2012 - her only Europeans: she was 14th after the SP and 2nd in the LP. It was enough for the 4th place and she lacked just a couple of points for a medal and becoming a part of the figure skating history
MCM: What does Polina do now?
VV: After retiring she worked on the boats and now coaches in Tatiana Navka's school.
MCM: Last season your pupil Ilya Yablokov participated the Nationals. 17y.o. is quite young for the men skating. Was it a strategy - to give Ilya and experience competing with the senior skaters? I recall how the young Tuktamysheva and Sotnikova were competing in the seniors.
VV: It's a practice: it's important for the junior, kind of a progress. Remember how last year Danielian became 2nd in the Nationals and this year Kondtratuk, who no one took seriously at the beginning of the season shone. The fresh junior boy can rapidly become part of the team. Hence Ilya participated the last year's Nationals and this year we didn't even consider - we applied . Mentally he took it well - he loves competing and mobilizes himself at the right moment.
MCM: What did he lack in February ending up outside the podium at the Nationals?
VV: It was generally a tough season. He had a соvid in May - one of the first among the skaters. He took it hard and then was recovering in a training camp in Sochi. I could see he couldn't do a run through as before. Besides he grew up a lot. He also improved technically: he is now doing a 4loop and 3sal and is working on a 3lutz. But the competitions were problematic. The most important is that we know the reason and know how to proceed. I hope next season Ilya will be stronger.
MCM: Recently your pupil's Vladimir Samoilov posted his combos (lutz/sal and sal/sal). Will we see that in the programmes?
VV: Vladimir can do a lot during the practices but he is having a hard time at the competitions. These combos can pull the rest of the programme down. He has to be very strong physically and very confident mentally to show all that content in a competition. Hence the combos are for the practiecs and to motivate the younger guys.
MCM: Alexey Erokhov joined your group over the summer being injured. Why were his results so low last season?
VV: I thought it would be much worse. Alexey called me around July 10th, when my guys were after the training camp and more or less recovered after a 3 months break. Alexey missed 4.5 months and I was worried how will things go. But he managed losing the extra weight and we recovered all the elements.
He did not attend the Nationals keeping the stress off his leg that he injured. We thought a step ahead: if we want to see the skater the next season we'd better listen to the doctors now. Alexey came back on the ice by the beginning of February and within 3 weeks we were more or less ready for the Russian cup final. He did his SP quite well, as for the LP... he should compete more often. After all he lacked competitiosn for almost 2 years because of the injury and the surgery. It has it's consiquences. I thought this season he would compete more, but that didn't happen.
MCM: He is very good looking. What are his other good qualities?
VV: He is not an ordinary person. Hence he is so interesting to work with, though sometimes tough. I was not following him closely previously but I now understand every competition for him is a stress. He needs the experience to get back into the competitive mode. Now we are preparing to the new season, we have a training camp ahead of us. I'll do the inner group test skates to motivate each and every one of my pupils.
MCM: How is Egor Murashov doing? He is not very visible recently.
VV: He has now decide whether he retires or continues. He is a very creative person, he wants to study abroad. Hence the last season was a deciding one: either we keep working or he starts something new.
MCM: During the winter Stanislava Konstantinova joined your group. It've been a little while now, so what can you tell about your new pupil and her current condition?
VV: In the practices Stanislava is doing great, she does all her tasks. Her problem is mental and the lack of competing experience. This season Stanislava only competed at 2 Russian cups and the Nationals. She then participated a show and came to me at the end of January completely out of shape. She spent a month with no practicing! I think Stanislava and I need to compete as much as possible. Any competition even on the school level. Just enter them and compete, enter and compete so it would become a normal. Because I see that any competition is a stress for her.
MCM: The senior competitions are over now
VV: Unfortunately. But there are plenty of the kids competitions in Moscow, we'll try to participate them with no score. We need to overcome the nerves.
MCM: In February you said Stanislava can't do the whole programme, just some parts and elements. Were you able to put it together?
VV: Of course. She now skates both programmes daily. I do it with all of my pupils and Stanislava was not having an easier time. Because taking her level of nerves if she does not skate the whole programme she can just stop in the middle and not continue. We did a lot of run throughs, physically Stanislava is ready. Now we have to deal with her head.
MCM: Many found it touching you discussed Konstantinova with her previous coaches, especially with Chebotareva, who worked with her for a long time. It's a rare thing when the coach is so considerate of the previous coaches.
VV: I'm in a good relationship with Chebotareva and am friends for many years with Volkov. This healthy relationship allows exchanging the experience besides, I got different points of view. A year ago when Stanislava was switching to Volkov was one thing. When she came to me is a different shape and state. Stanislava wanted to continue working with Volkov but he didn't have the right conditions. It was imoprtant for me to understand what were my new pupil's problems, hence I listened to both her previous coaches. Their advice was priceless and I now use it in our work.
MCM: What are the plans for the new season for her?
VV: We'll keep her LP: it suits Stanislava and she didn't get to show it enough. We'll change the SP - the style and the character. I think this programme is a bit similar to the LP and I'd like to show different sides of Stanislava.
MCM: In one of your interviews you voiced and interesting thought talking about Arutunian: most of the coaches suit the technique to the skater, while Arutyunian suits the skaters to the technique. What is that technique?
VV: All Arutyunian's pupils stand out with their jumping technique. It was the same when he worked in Moscow. When he moved to the USA it remained: after a season or two working with him his pupils' technique became `Arutyunian's'. I.e. the skaters suited their technique.
If the skater trains with you from the very young age it's natural you give them your technique, the one you think is right. The body built and the way they move is almost important. But all and all the skaters do your technique years later. When the athlete switches to you with a certain technique it's wrong changing things so fundamentally. And you work with them applying the technique to their abilities and body.
MCM: Before the channel 1 cup you shared a thought the ladies are much more mentally consistent than the men. Where does it come out?
VV: In the contemporary figure skating, where the girls' content is close to the boys', with such an amount of quads they must be mentally super stable. I.e. only really mentally strong girls can pull such skates. With the age I realized it's really an individual thing. There are super strong athletes like Yablokov and there are too emotional.
MCM: In the 90s you were practicing in Mishin's group yet you were coached by the other coaches. Mishin was not working with the girls back then but he must have consulted from time to time?
VV: I joined Mishin's group at the age of 10: he was accepting the girls for his assistances Julia Kulibanova and Tatiana Klenina. We were all skating on the same ice - with Urmanov, Yagudin, Pluschenko. Mishin was supervising our practices but he did not participate. Though he could gather the group and work with each individually.
MCM: So you witnesses the star single men of Mishin. Can you tell what the mood was like in the group in the 90s?
VV: It was an interesting time. We were watching Urmanov preparing for the Olympics. Yaguding was blossoming after winning the junior Worlds and Pluschenko had just moved there from Volgograd. We were 2 little girls there - me and Yana Chudinova. The guys were protecting us and joking around. Mishin was making the mood lighter with his favourite jokes.
MCM: What is your most valuable medal?
VV: The gold in the Moscow 2002 GP event where I beat two very good skaters - Slutskaya and Cohen. All just worked out - the inside and outside. There was also the 5th place at the Worlds in Washington in the same season. Yes, I did not medal, but I skated clean both my programmes according to the expectations. All and all - my 4 European bronze medals. Each was important in it's own way and each was a journey. But at some moment I realized if I wanted to improve my results I had to change something. Hence I left Kudriavtsevs' group and moved to Oleg Vasiliev. The result was my most valuable medal - the GP gold.
