Periodically different people they ask: “Why don’t our alpine skiers rise above ... tenth third place in the world ranking?” or “When will ours... take at least some places?” "Why...?" and so on. In all questions there is bewilderment and bitterness - it’s a shame for the state. And for some reason I always want the ski magazines of our country to publish interesting articles by those specialists - trainers who really understand alpine skiing. With amateur or recreational, one might even say “leisure” alpine skiing there are no problems: there are both instructors and amateurs who are ready to write - and write - excellent materials. Reviews on equipment - please, travel sketches - as many as you like, reports from developing resorts in the Urals - no problem, stories about the World Cup - for God's sake. About the training of instructors, about safety in the mountains, about love, about the weather, about ski lifts - about anything. But about sports training, methods, and in more detail - with graphs, with a comparison of results training process Vary with the results of Janitsa, and the results of Andrei or Sergei with the results of Kjetil or Hermann - there is no one to write to. Yes, there was also a letter to the editor from the coaches of one of the schools Olympic Reserve(!) with a request to publish some good materials on training methods.
And the editor gave instructions to find a trainer who would share his knowledge in the magazine, and so that his students would show some kind of results, and who would be able to speak, and not only with obscenities... It turned out that such trainers exist. Not much, but there is. It’s just that, firstly, they don’t want to tell anyone anything, and secondly, they don’t want to learn themselves at all, much less teach others. Don't believe me? I didn’t believe it either until I talked to them, the coaches, and tried to persuade them to cooperate and write articles. One senior coach told me so directly: “Well, yes! I’ll teach my coaches what I know, and then one of them will help me! I won’t tell anyone anything. But I can write, in general terms, without details." In general terms, this means talking about the fact that skis have edges and that the edges are iron, but you need to train... But about the details of the training process, about the methodology - no, no! There is a great mystery! Apparently, thanks to this secret it is believed good result that our best athletes are in the top ten international competitions the results show.
I ask another coach: “Do you read anything about alpine skiing (secretly, of course, hoping that he will begin to name me the names of special foreign and overseas magazines). He tells me: “I don’t read anything. I need to work, but I don’t have time to read books or magazines...” I understand, I say, I’m sorry that I bothered you with questions and took me away from my work... And the third, no less experienced, coach told me in detail that the main progress of his students - children - is taking place when they are in competition with more strong athletes perform, copying their technique. Then I ask: “So, does this mean that our best athletes copy the technique of the best in the world, and then those who compete with them at the same competitions copy their technique, and so on?” Yes, he says, that’s true. So, I’m wondering where the dog rummaged! It turns out that our Vova or Seryozha, to the best of their understanding, are copying the style of one of the best in the world, and since he does not know all the intricacies of the training process of the best in the world, he copies, most likely with an error and, very likely - without taking into account the anatomical and other individual characteristics of the athlete taken as a model. Then they copy from him, adding more errors - more experienced trainer after all, he doesn’t explain anything to his subordinates - remember why? And it turns out that our boys and girls are, at best, the nth copy of last year’s leader. And what, if I may say so, with such a method of the training process, often flavored with obscenities and the constant lack of normal funding, is it possible to raise a world-famous star? I seriously doubt it.
Is it weak to invite one of the world’s leading coaches who have already trained serious athletes? No money? But there is money for five or six snowcats that are in Shukolovo? Eat. And this is several million dollars, by the way. Have you found more than forty million dollars for the first stage of construction of Sorochany Park? And is it impossible to find money to ensure that Ivanov-Petrov-Sidorov constantly shines in the top ten at the World Cup? I don't believe it!
Come on, why am I - after all, I’m not a coach, I don’t have a higher specialized education, nor do I have the title of MS - who would listen to me, an amateur? It’s the same with us: if you’re a coach, that means you must at least be a master of sports, but otherwise your colleagues won’t even listen. That is, it’s nothing that he can’t say two words without using an obscene sequence, nothing that he drinks, nothing that the method is the same - racing on the track, nothing that doesn’t understand how amateur skating differs from sports. The main thing is MS, or even better MSMK, and a certified specialist sports university. And it’s not scary that the university doesn’t even have such a department - alpine skiing, which means there are no teachers either. Not at all. But he is MS, he himself knows everything about alpine skiing.
Well, okay, let's get back to our sheep. That is, excuse me, to the fact that none of them wants to write in the magazine - and really - but why? None of the coaches write - the fees are small, you need a lot of time, and then your subordinates will help you out. True, there was one who is not afraid of being caught. Now - an American, formerly ours, from St. Petersburg - Grigory Gurshman. So he talks on the pages of our magazine about this and that, how the process works, and what nuances there are in modern technology. True, his articles are not for everyone Russian coaches to his liking: “Who is it that decided to teach us here? Yes, we know all this ourselves, we just don’t want to write it! And his film about summer training on roller skates is bullshit, I’ve already seen this exercise...”
I don’t care that Greg coached the Austrian men’s team, then the USA men’s team, and then the Canadian women’s team. We still know everything better than him. It’s okay that there are stills in the film best athletes world training on roller skates. It doesn’t matter that Sonya Nef, partly thanks to Greg, stayed in alpine skiing several years ago. It’s not interesting that the boys from the club that he now coaches take first place in all age groups they take it at competitions. However, all this is really unimportant and uninteresting, because the main goal is not to get caught up, so that no one learns the secrets and techniques thanks to which the best skiers in Russia then take their well-deserved places... And let our Sasha and Masha continue to be only the second or third copy from the really strongest skiers - that’s enough for us! After all, in Russia they are the best, no one disputes this, right?
I’m only afraid that Grisha (he used to be Grisha) will get tired of telling our “cool specialists” alone, who don’t even want to listen to anything. And then there will again be a black hole in the magazine available to all coaches. True, it turns out that I’m not the only one who is so fearful: in March of this year, several trainers went to Canada to attend a seminar that Greg conducted for them free of charge. And the impressions of Lena Vikhreva, who attended this seminar, are published below. And Greg brought his students there, so as not to be unfounded, and conducted training, and showed secret exercises to our coaches, who decided to learn. Apparently, he is very “offended for the state”...
Seminar for trainers from Russia
Elena Vikhreva, alpine skiing coach
The first thing I would like to note is the level of the classes. The seminar was held at a high level professional level. All classes were held according to the plan presented to the participants at the very beginning. There were no failures even in small things, from hotel reservations to minor organizational issues such as transport, meeting time on the slope, meals, etc. On the very first day, Gregory suggested that we adopt some rules that would help us do everything on time and methodically, provided, of course, that they were followed. If we evaluate the level of the seminar from the point of view of its organization, then I give it the highest rating.
Now about my personal impressions of the topic of the seminar. I'm working out coaching work fourth year, I read all of Gregory’s articles and carefully studied the film on exercises during the summer training of alpine skiers on roller skates, but I still had questions about technique and methodology.
As you know, only very talented people can learn to ride using a tutorial; everyone else needs a teacher. You can teach another person to ski only if the teacher knows how to feel and understand the movements both as a whole and each element of the movement separately. If you simply give exercises without understanding their purpose, the result, of course, will be, but the quality will suffer greatly. When I realized that after everything I had read and seen I couldn’t get a complete picture, I decided to go to the seminar. I’ll say right away that almost all the questions about technique and methodology that I wanted to ask Greg were exhausted on the very first day of classes, they simply weren’t there. It was like shock therapy: the first impression was shock from what I saw, then surprise why I didn’t understand this from the materials I studied, because everything was written there so clearly and clearly.
Yes, in order to understand the basics of movement, you need to see them “live”, and performed by an experienced demonstrator, and the overwhelming majority of both coaches and athletes cannot understand from static material what exactly they should strive for. Again, before the ball seminar, I had the wrong picture of ideal skating - what I should strive for. Now there is such a picture, and all that remains is to work: learn to see, feel and move in harmony with these sensations.
It is useless to tell without demonstration, and therefore Gregory and I decided that we need to hold a seminar in Russia, in which everyone can take part. For those who want to understand, I will be holding a seminar (dates will be known closer to the fall), at which I will try to talk about the complete picture of an ideal carved turn.
This note was written by Greg Gurshman in a blog on ski.ru....
ABOUT AGGRESSIVENESS, TECHNIQUE AND AGGRESSIVE TECHNOLOGY - OR WHAT IS FASTER
I answered my own technical questions in some detail here:
but I postponed the point about aggressiveness until later. This is not a simple question. Therefore, I didn’t want to write about this somehow casually and in a hurry between planes.
And I was waiting for one event to confirm my words. I'll start with the event.
First Russian athlete was accepted into the best Austrian ski academy STAMS. She turned out to be Moscow schoolgirl Katya Tkachenko. It should be noted that the admission of foreigners to this ski boarding school, whose graduates include almost all members of the Austrian national team, occurs only in extremely rare cases. I have known Katya for many years (I think since 7 years). Of course, I’m happy for her and for my mother, and for Katya’s coach Lena Vikhreva (CSKA). On behalf of everyone, I want to congratulate them here.
But why is this fact interesting in terms of talking about technology and aggressiveness? For a number of years I have said that Katya and Lena are on the right way in terms of technology. Sometimes he made efforts to prevent her from leaving this path. At the same time, there were many Russian “specialists” - coaches and functionaries who said that Katya was driving incorrectly and, most importantly, non-aggressively. Naturally, there were also disrespectful comments addressed to her coach. I don’t even talk about myself anymore
Those who have seen how Katya drives may well appreciate that she drives dynamically and very smoothly. In general, such driving is typical for leaders at the World Cup. This is exactly what was appreciated by the selection committee in Austria, which watched Katya ski for several days (both on and off the track). I spoke with the coaches and they unanimously admitted that it was Katya’s aggressiveness in skating that played a decisive role in their choice. At the same time, Russian colleagues believed that Katya was not aggressive at all. The fact is that they confused and confuse aggressiveness with twitching, shoving skis and hitting poles.
What do we mean by true aggressiveness? Aggressiveness is the creation of large displacement angles in the initial phase of the turn above the fall line of the slope. Thus, when skating aggressively, the athlete does not “fight” across the slope in the third phase (under the gate), but cuts out most of the arc above the flag. This, of course, is only the ideal of the most efficient and fastest skating. But this is exactly what we need to strive for. Without correct technique this is impossible.
“Aggressive” skating in the typical Russian sense leads to holes under the pole and a clear struggle at the exit of the turn. Therefore, there is definitely no need for any pseudo-aggressiveness leading to twitching, but an aggressive shift inside the arc is what leads to smooth but dynamic skating.
I explained as best I could. I hope that coaches and athletes and even veterans who especially like to twitch on the track will try to understand that this is not aggressiveness at all. And the main thing you need to understand is that this will definitely not add anything to either speed or results. Jerky driving is always slower, despite some illusions that can arise on short slalom courses on bumps.
So, aggressively moving forward and inside the arc, rather than jerking while standing over the skis, is the path to success both on the piste and just in free skiing. Truly aggressive driving is a result of technique, not deliberate aggression.
True, for many this is all of course difficult, even in discussions of technology on forums there is a lot of aggression, let alone skating.
In January of this year, at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, Muscovite Ekaterina Tkachenko won bronze medal in slalom and performed confidently in other disciplines.
- Katya, how did it all start - how did you get on skis?
When I was two years old, my grandmother took me to a ski resort near my house. And we lived in Krylatskoye. I immediately liked skating, and that’s how I still skate.
- What was decisive in your sporting achievements - performance or talent?
It seems to me that I have no special talent. So the main thing is performance.
You trained for many years in Moscow with coach Elena Vikhreva. What can you say about this? Where were the foundations of your technique laid, and how does technical work differ in Russia and in Austria, since you have been studying at the Austrian boarding school Stams for the fourth season?
I can say that it was Lena who laid the foundations of my technique. And then I was able to work further and improve my skating. And due to this, you can increase your speed and gain self-confidence. And regarding Austria and Russia, it seems to me like this: in Austria, skiers ski a lot from an early age, especially without focusing on technique. And only then do athletes who, technically, thanks to their talent or performance, are ahead of others, become more noticeable. And we are already working on technique with these athletes. That is, they work on technique at a later age, when the athlete has already proven himself. And since in Russia there is no such opportunity - there are no long slopes, difficult routes, there are not a large number of trainees, then you need to immediately start working, first of all, on technique, as my coach Elena Vikhreva did.
You trained in both Russia and Austria. What is missing in Russia for the development of alpine skiing, unlike Austria?
In Russia there are not enough conditions for many children to go skiing. In fact, this is the main thing at the initial stage. And if we talk about more experienced athletes, then there are not enough suitable trails and they are not accessible to everyone. The Austrians have a slope in almost every village.
At the YOG you won a bronze medal in slalom. Then you had the first starting number. And when do you feel better - when you start first or when you know the results of your main rivals?
It's better when I know the results. But at this start everything worked out very well for me, and I think I performed as well as I could.
- How did you like the Olympics in general?
I really liked it. These are the first Youth Olympic Games, everything was organized in an interesting way. We had the opportunity to visit many places and learn something new for ourselves. Everything was available to everyone..
- In the summer you had health problems, then you had to recover, but what are you doing now?
Now I feel good, I’m training in Stams. Literally in the next few days I will start training again with our national team “C”. Including in the snow. I will train for a week in Stams, and a week with the national team.
- What are your plans for the upcoming season?
If everything goes well, then by the end of the season, I hope I will already be competing at FIS competitions.
- What would you like to improve in technology?
I want my technique to be more stable, that is, to have as many technically good turns as possible throughout the track, and then the speed will come over time, I will work on that.
Until I start skiing, I won’t make any guesses!
Thank you very much for the interview and we wish you success in your studies and get back on the competition circuit as quickly as possible. And, of course, victories!
DATE OF BIRTH: 07.03.1995
DISCHARGE: MS
WHERE WAS BORN: Harare, Republic of Zimbabwe
HEIGHT: 163 cm
WEIGHT: 55 kg
FIRST SLIDE, FIRST TIME SKIING: Krylatsky Hills, slope No. 2
FIRST SPORTS SCHOOL: MGFSO
FIRST COACH: Gavva Anton Alekseevich
FAVORITE FOOD: homemade and Austrian cuisine
DRINK: fruit tea with orange juice
MUSIC: relaxing
COMPOSITION: Pink Floyd - Dogs
WHAT HELPS TO GET IN SETUP FOR THE START: good sleep
HOBBY: drawing
TYPE OF SPORT: athletics, especially running
THE IDEAL OF AN ATHLETE: Marcel Mathis
MOTIVATION: overcoming oneself
HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT:"bronze" Youth Olympic Games - 2012
MOST MEMORABLE ACHIEVEMENT: 6th place at the Trofeo Topolino competition in 2010, on his birthday
FAVORITE TRACK: Krylatsky Hills, slope No. 4 - native hill
LAST FAVORITE TRACK:"pipe" in Bottrop - very difficult to properly accelerate the skis
COACHES: Russian national team coaches Gerhard Huttegger, Andreas Wieland, Michael Strobl (OPP) and Alexandra Namestnikova, Konrad Staudinger in Stams.
THINGS NOT TO LIKE: irresponsibility
WHAT IS AFRAID OF: laziness
DREAM: achieve outstanding results - both in life and in sports
