#tom zakrajsek

[figureskatingconfessions]

“So Bradie joins the list of skaters switching coaches. So out of the six ladies at the GP, 4 of them have switched coaches. This fact is just intriguing to me.”

#figure skating #bradie tennell #skaters #team usa #countries #senior #ladies’ skating #disciplines #discipline overview #coaching #training #coaches #moving #tom zakrajsek #career #off ice #off season #facts #fans #reactions #grand prix final #grand prix #competitions #2019/2020 season #personal lives? #comparisons #feelings #opinions #examples #other

[empresswenjing]

Camden Pulkinen waiting with Pikachu and coach Tom Zakrajsek for his short program score at 2019 Junior Worlds

#camden pulkinen #tom zakrajsek #fskateedit #zagreb 2019 #junior worlds 2019 #* #my gifs #mine: camden #I love the k&c background #even if coloring it is not fun

[figure-skating-confessions]

“I will never forgive Tom Zakrasjek for what he did to Joshua Farris during 2011 U.S. Nats.“

#figure skating #tom zakrajsek #Joshua Farris #mens skating #Team USA #senior #nationals

[fyeahkarenchen]

coachtomz: Elite ballet with Marina Stillman on day four of our inaugural week of WASA. 

#camden pulkinen #ting cui #audrey shin #vincent zhou #yaroslav paniot #tomoki hiwatashi #brynne mcisaac #paige rydberg #livvy shilling #alex wellman #avery kurtz #emmanuel savary #tom zakrajsek #off ice #practice #season: 2018 2019 #photos #videos

[lovibond]

#TomZ = me

#mirai nagasu #fskateedit #figure skating #us nationals 2018 #sorry for shitty quality #but we were all tomz werent we #me making fs gifs again lol #tom zakrajsek #1k

[camdenpulkinen]

coachtomz Watch @campulk complete a delayed 2A. Do you think this can be +4 or +5 in the soon to be revised IJS scoring? We are actually working on it for the 4A technique. We have developed our theory for the proper takeoff angle and vector. #goforthegoal @isufigureskating@usfigureskating @profsk8rsassoc@theskatinglesson @rockerskating@icenetwork

#instagram #video #tom zakrajsek #camden pulkinen #figure skating #*

[mirai-nagasu]

Mirai Nagasu awards her coach Tom Zakrajsek the Order of Ikkos medal in the Team USA House at the 2018 Winter Olympics | February 17, 2018 (x)

#Mirai Nagasu #Tom Zakrajsek #figure skating #team usa #fskateedit #2018 winter olympics #pyeongchang 2018 #event: 2018 olympics #* #thank you tom! #off ice

[woodwind-sensei]

SINCE WHEN WAS YOU YOUNG WITH TOM ZAKRAJSEK????

#you young #tom zakrajsek #figure skating #what the hell #when did this happen #why

[oniceperspectives]

Can you count the revolutions? Not only do skaters have to not get dizzy when they spin, they also have to count their rotations in each position to make sure they achieve the highest level from the judges. Wild! __⛸ Paige Rydberg @paigerydberg __🎥 by Jordan @oniceperspectives __🎵 Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace) @hillsongworship __🎓 Tom Zakrajsek @coachtomz __👣 Ilona Melnichenko @skatingbyilona __📍 @thebroadmoorworldarena ❄️ #paigerydberg #hillsongworship #tomzakrajsek #figureskating #songsofworship #iceskater #figureskater #iceskating #figureskating #iceskate #figureskate #oniceperspectives (at Broadmoor World Arena) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQwNioPHRxh/?utm_medium=tumblr

#paigerydberg #hillsongworship #tomzakrajsek #figureskating #songsofworship #iceskater #figureskater #iceskating #iceskate #figureskate #oniceperspectives

[figureskatingconfessions]

“I hope Bradie Tennell new coach teach her to not bulldozer other skaters practices while she learn the 3A and 4T.”

#figure skating #bradie tennell #tom zakrajsek #skaters #coaches #team usa #senior #ladies’ skating #discipline overview #coaching #training #career #future #on ice #competitions #warm ups #practice #jumps #quads #triples #triple axel #axels #toe loop #technique #elements #comparisons #negative? #feelings #reccomendations #examples

[figureskatingfanblog]

Coaching Changes

Coaching Changes since January 25, 2020

Men

- Brendan Kerry (Australia) from Nikolai Morozov to  Elena Buianova, Maxim Zavozin, Alexander Uspenski (February 7)

Ladies

- Pooja Kalyan (US) from Alexander Oriashev to Tom Zakrajsek (January 25)

- Amy Lin (Chinese Taipei) from Rafael Artunyan to Namhooh Ryu (February 4)

- Stanislava Konstantiova (Russia) from Valentina Chabotareva to Alexander Volkov, Evgeni Plushenko (February 11)

- Miyu Honda (Japan) from Mie Hamada, Yamoto Hamura to Takeshi Honda

Pairs

- Anastasia Mishina/Aleksander Galliamov from  Ludmila Velikova, Nikolai Velikov, Vasilii Velikov to Tamara Moskvina

#figure skating #pairs skating #brendan kerry #pooja kalyan #amy lin #stanislava konstantinova #miyu honda #mishina and galliamov #coaching changes

[figure-skating-confessions]

“Can someone explain to me what "lands on his ankle like a ballerina means" because any time a dancer's foot leaves the ground it's supposed to land toe-ball-heel, so I have no idea what Tom Z could possibly be referring to?“

#figure skating #tom zakrajsek #Vincent Zhou #team usa #mens skating #senior

[sashas4t]

Most Successful Coach of the 2018-19 Season

Mens

Interestingly, most coaches usually don’t coach more than one (or two) men at once, so this data may be a little inaccurate. I took into account six coaches for this data - Rafael Arutyunyan, Brian Orser, Tom Zakrajsek, Elena Buyanova, Evgeni Rukavicin and Eteri Tutberidze. Orser and Arutyunyan’s data is the most precise, since they have many students, and they all have competed more than just once. The three Russian coaches all have less students, and less scores, and therefore less of an exact calculation. Nonetheless, there are the final standings:

1. Rafael Arutyunyan

187.92 (Romain Ponsart) - 323.42 (Nathan Chen)

Average Score: 255.9046154

Median Score: 255.26

Standard Deviation: 35.62984631

Number of Students: 3

Number of Scores: 13

This one I expected. After all, he coached the World/GPF Champion. Arutyunyan is a pretty clear winner, with an average and median much higher than the rest. 

2/3. Elena Buyanova

215.69 (Alexander Samarin) - 269.84 (Alexander Samarin)

Average Score: 239.9633333

Median Score: 246.33

Standard Deviation: 16.22964503

Number of Students: 2

Number of Scores: 9

A bit of a surprise not going to lie. Though her results of the season are basically just Samarin’s plus two of Kovtun’s, they still prove to be higher than most others. Because she only coaches two students of the same competitive level, the scores have a much smaller fluctuation and a smaller standard deviation.

2/3. Brian Orser

162.83 (Joseph Phan) - 300.97 (Yuzuru Hanyu)

Average Score: 244.2576

Median Score: 254.15

Standard Deviation: 30.87118673

Number of Students: 6

Number of Scores: 25

This is probably a very accurate result of Orser’s season, since we have a fairly good amount of data points (If your wondering why Buyanova is higher... read the end). In general Orser has quite a balanced result, minus the one outlier from Phan. However, because he coaches both Hanyu, and new juniors, there is obviously quite a big range in scores.

4. Evgeni Rukavicin

219.52 (Dmitri Aliev) - 250.55 (Dmitri Aliev)

Average Score: 231.4933333

Median Score: 228.06

Standard Deviation: 10.18961836

Number of Students: 2

Number of Scores: 6

The coach with the least amount of data is Rukavicin. Though he coaches both Aliev and Shulepov, both did not perform much in the season. With the least amount of scores, and two similar skaters on the same level, also comes the smallest standard deviation.

5. Tom Zakrajsek

196.55 (Camden Pulkinen) - 299.01 (Vincent Zhou)

Average Score: 232.3116667

Median Score: 223.685

Standard Deviation: 32.28416352

Number of Students: 2

Number of Scores: 12

Though he coaches World Bronze Medalist Zhou, there are plenty of things that keep Zakrajsek from being in the top 3. Also not the most representative data, since we only have two of his students competing this season.

6. Eteri Tutberidze

187.94 (Egor Rukhin) - 248.58 (Moris Kvitelashvili)

Average Score: 221.1975

Median Score: 220.71

Standard Deviation: 18.17255881

Number of Students: 3

Number of Scores: 8

Far below the rest of the coaches lays Tutberidze. Though she tops the field in ladies, she’s lacking a bit in men. Though just looking at the Average and Median she doesn’t look that much far off, in reality, there is a huge gap separating her from the rest. Also not the most representative as both Rukhin and Erokhov only have one score to their names.

Reasons for the Placements

So why is Buyanova ahead of Orser despite having a much smaller average? The answer lays in consistency. Buyanova’s worser students still have better scores than Orser’s worser (or average) students. If you took into account five different categories:

1. Highest Score

2. Lowest Score

3. Average

4. Median

5. Deviation

And ranked the coaches in order, then in any rational way of distributing points to places 1 to 6, Buyanova always beats Orser. And if you calculate Average+Median-SD (or Average+Median/SD) then Buyanova has Orser beat as well. Though, if you didn’t care about fluctuations and consistencies, then Orser certainly produces better results than Buyanova. Looking over the results, I’ve decided Buyanova and Orser are pretty much tied.

These methods also explain why Rukavicin is higher than Zakjrasek. This result is more objective than the previously mentioned one. Rukavicin also has a smaller range of data and students of the same level, making for the highest lowest score, and the smallest amount of deviation. Though Vincent Zhou’s score is 3rd highest, that still isn’t enough to make up for the rather inconsistent results beyond Zhou’s top scores. 

Analysis:

So clearly Arutyunyan can be named the Best Mens Coach (much gratitude to Nathan Chen), while Buyanova and Orser can both be considered the runner-up. It’s strange to think that Buyanova, who coaches the wildly inconsistent duo of Samarin and Kovtun, has made her way here. In reality, I would definitely put Orser higher, since his students have had better results, and the only thing that put Buyanova higher was less results to take into account. But, in statistics, things must be seen on a more objective level, without taking into account too many inconsistencies. The next two are Rukavicin and Zakrajsek, who both coach rather inconsistent skaters (Aliev and Pulkinen respectively). Though Zakjrasek has Zhou’s scores from Team Trophy and Worlds, the inconsistencies of the season still manages to drag his team down. Both coaches have rather small data sets, that cannot really show us who definitely is better, but based off the data, Rukavicin gets the potato medal. Lastly we have Tutberidze, far off from her contemporaries. But don’t worry... she’ll be much higher in Ladies.

[camdenpulkinen]

coachtomz Team @usfigureskating showing their pride and support on the first day of competition with men and ice dancing during @isufigureskating #jgplinz #jgplinz2018 #jgp@theskatinglesson @rockerskating

#ting cui #camden pulkinen #tom zakrajsek #team usa #instagram #photo #jgp linz 2018 #jgp 2018 #* #s1819 #off ice

[empresswenjing]

2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final Qualifiers: Men

Petr Gummenik 🇷🇺 30 points

Age: 16 (April 11, 2002) Coach: Veronika Daineko, Vladislav Sesganov Choreographer: Alexandra Panfilova Season’s Best: 77.33/150.35/220.04 SP: Czardas FS: Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet”

Only man to win both of his events; first-time qualifier (also the youngest man to qualify this season)

Missed most of last season with injury

Competes a rare 3A-3Lo combo in the free skate

Current junior men’s free skate record-holder

Camden Pulkinen 🇺🇸 28 points

Age: 18 (March 25, 2000) Coach: Tom Zakrajsek Choreographer: Stéphane Lambiel (SP), Tom Dickson (FS) Season’s Best: 81.01/147.80/223.95 SP: Oblivion FS: West Side Story

Defending silver medalist; second-time qualifier

Highest total score PB of the qualifiers (Stephen Gogolev of Canada is the current junior men’s record-holder)

Huge triple axel

Adam Siao Him Fa 🇫🇷 26 points

Age: 17 (January 31, 2001) Coach: Brian Joubert, Cornelia Paquier Choreographer: Nikolai Morozov Season’s Best: 70.50/135.33/205.83 SP: Archangel/Flying/Star Sky FS: Weight of Love

First French singles skater, junior or senior, to qualify for the Final since Florent Amodio in 2010–11; Luc Economides was second alternate last season

Unexpected qualifier after contenders made mistakes at both of his events and said in an interview that making the Final is an added bonus to skating well at his events

Attempts two quad toes in his free skate, but has not yet landed both successfully in a program this season

Tomoki Hiwatashi 🇺🇸 26 points

Age: 18 (January 20, 2000) Coach: Christy Krall Choreographer: Mark Pillay, Ben Agosto Season’s Best: 76.81/140.99/215.16 SP: Cry Me a River FS: Fate of the Gods

Won silver at both events to qualify for his first Final; previously won three bronze medals on the JGP circuit and was the surprise 2016 Junior Worlds bronze medalist after being called up to replace Nathan Chen

Flexible enough to do a Biellmann spin

Includes a phenomenal split jump in both programs, including cantilever-split jump-3S in his free skate

Andrew Torgashev 🇺🇸 24 points

Age: 17 (May 29, 2001) Coach: Christy Krall, Erik Schulz, Joshua Farris Choreographer: Andrew Torgashev, Scott Brown Season’s Best: 69.39/132.24/201.63 SP: Open Arms FS: El Tango de Roxanne

Won JGP Lithuania to qualify after finishing fourth at JGP Slovakia; second-time qualifier looking for redemption after a rough competition at the Final last season, previously won two silvers on the JGP circuit

Relocated to Colorado Springs to train with Christy Krall during the off-season after being coached his whole life by his parents, former Soviet Union ice dancers Artem Torgashev and Ilona Melnichenko

Helped choreograph his short program this season

Koshiro Shimada 🇯🇵 24 points

Age: 17 (September 11, 2001) Coach: Stéphane Lambiel, Robert Dierking, Anna Bernauer Choreographer: Stéphane Lambiel Season’s Best: 74.78/145.67/220.45 SP: Adios FS: Winter in Buenos Aires

Qualified largely due to a 0.01 point margin of victory over Conrad Orzel of Canada for the bronze medal at JGP Slovenia; first-time qualifier, previously won a bronze on the JGP circuit

The lone Japanese qualifier in either singles discipline

Had a large growth spurt over the past season, but has adjusted fairly well

#fskateedit #petr gumennik #camden pulkinen #adam siao him fa #tomoki hiwatashi #andrew torgashev #koshiro shimada #jgpf 2018 #* #my edits #mine: petr #mine: camden #mine: adam f #mine: tomoki #mine: andrew #mine: koshiro

[woodwind-sensei]

The 2019-20 ISU Grand Prix: Men’s Singles

   I’ve been stewing over the Grand Prix assignments for these few weeks, and after cementing my thoughts, I’d like to share some of my ponderings about the men’s singles lists. Ice Dance and Pairs will follow suit, and if you want to read what I said about the Ladies assignments, click here!

Nathan Chen (USA) will be looking for his third Grand Prix Final title in a row this season. After a rocky start in last season’s Japan Open, he bounced back to dominate the Grand Prix and successfully defend his world title. Nathan’s a very explosive jumper, so expect some great technical content from him at Skate America and Internationaux de France in the fall. His programs don’t really do it for me, as there are usually a few dead patches in the choreography, but I’d be interested to see how he’s packaged this season. France is a particularly stacked roster, as it will be a three-way race between Nathan, Shoma Uno (JPN), and Tomoki Hiwatashi (USA).

Two-time Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) will be at Skate Canada and NHK this year. After withdrawing from the Final last season due to injury, he’s probably hungry to return to the top of the podium. He’s revealed that he’s put the quad Lutz back into his jump rotation during Fantasy on Ice this summer, which shows me he really is trying to challenge Nathan, who is almost undisputedly the top jumper in the men’s field right now. He’s unfortunately chosen Phantom of the Opera (at least that’s what I’ve heard) for his free skate this year. He’s such a great skater, but some of his programs have really strayed from God’s light, especially this past year. I really want him to skate to something more...interesting, like Brahms, or even something like Stravinsky. As much as war horse music choices are unappreciated in the current era, I think that choosing music you know will work is a good move.

The surprise World bronze medalist Vincent Zhou (USA) is competing at back-to-back events this year, appearing at Cup of China and Rostelecom Cup. He’s ditched Tom Zakrajsek as a co-coach (his main coach being Tammy Gambill), but has recently added Mie Hamada (coach to Rika Kihira and Satoko Miyahara) to his coaching staff. He is Hamada’s first non-Japanese skater, and it shows a lot of guts from Vincent to pursue a coach as rigorous as she is known to be. He’s prone to under-rotating his jumps and doesn’t have the best skating skills. Hamada’s students are known for their supreme skating skills, so that beauty hopefully transfers into him. He has one glaring problem: he’s set to start university this fall at Brown University in Rhode Island. It’s quite far from both Tammy and Mie, so I’m not sure exactly what his coaching arrangements will be. 

Shoma Uno (JPN) made figure skating headlines recently for leaving his long time coach Machiko Yamada. He’s currently participating in a summer camp with Eteri Tutberidze, and it’s highly rumored that if this goes well, he will become her full-time student. If this happens, it will be Eteri’s highest-profile addition to her coaching stable in a while, especially considering he’s not from a former Soviet Republic. Shoma will go head-to-head with Nathan Chen at Internationaux de France. He’s a powerful skater with beautiful jumps, but he’s extremely inconsistent, so he’s looking to rectify competition/mental problems with this possible move. If anyone knows how to instill a competitive fire in a skater, it’s Eteri.

Unlike the ladies event, not one country really dominates men’s figure skating. There’s a relatively diverse group of competitors from across the world. Russia has the most skaters with two assignments, with 6 men, Dmitri Aliev, Mikhail Kolyada, Alexander Samarin, Andrei Lazukin, Sergei Voronov, and Roman Savosin, on the circuit this year. Kolyada had the highest finish at the most recent World Championships (6th), but is not the most consistent of competitors. In fact, that’s the story for all the Russian men. Dmitri Aliev is known for his breathtaking skating skills and musicality, but dealt with injury and inconsistency last season. He didn’t make the Worlds squad last year, so this Grand Prix will serve as a little bit of a proving ground for the 2018 Olympian and European Medalist. Samarin had ups and downs last year, medaling at Europeans then crashing and burning at Worlds. The only Russian qualifier to last year’s Final was Voronov, who finished 6th. He then had to drop out from the rest of the season due to a knee injury. Only time will tell how the Russian men will compete.

The U.S. is also well-represented on the Grand Prix, as Jason Brown, Tomoki Hiwatashi, and Camden Pulkinen all have two assignments, besides Nathan and Vincent. Alexei Kraznoshon is currently set to compete at one event (Rostelecom), but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was given the host pick at Skate America, thus granting him two assignments. All eyes will be on World Junior Champion Tomoki. He will most likely challenge Jason for his spot on the Worlds team next year. Tomoki has some great skating qualities and a quad toe to boot. Jason, as beautiful of a skater as he is, doesn’t have the quad. His move to Toronto Cricket Club hasn’t paid full dividends in the jumping department, but I really hope Jason can really make the push for a consistent quad this year. 

Japan’s other hopefuls include Keiji Tanaka and Kazuki Tomono. Keiji hasn’t really stepped up to the plate since his junior days, so I’m not expecting much. Kazuki had an inconsistent season last year, medaling at one of his Grand Prix assignments, but missed out on a World Championships on home soil. The empty slot at NHK could go one of two ways. Koshiro Shimada, a first-year senior and 2018 Junior GPF medalist, is currently slated to be at Skate America as his only assignment. The JSF could potentially grant him the host pick, thus giving him two. Then there’s Daisuke Takahashi, who’s recently come out of retirement and was in pretty good competitive form at his one competition, Japanese Nationals. The JSF could give him the spot so he could go for the minimum scores needed to be Worlds-eligible. It’s a tough decision to make, but it will make the final GP of the season more interesting.

Canada has four men with two assignments, Keegan Messing, Nam Nguyen, Roman Sadovsky, and Nicolas Nadeau. Keegan had a fantastic season last year, qualifying to the Grand Prix Final as an alternate and called to compete after Hanyu withdrew. Keegan is a skater that entertains a crowd, so expect some showmanship from him. Former child prodigy Nam Nguyen reclaimed his National Title for the first time in 4 years, and though his season wasn’t filled with medals, expect for him to be on the upswing. Both Nadeau and Sadovsky have had relative success as juniors in previous years, but have yet to break the senior ranks. I don’t know their skating as well as Keegan or Nam, so I’ll look forward to discovering their style on the ice.

Cha Jun-Hwan (KOR), Jin Boyang (CHN), Matteo Rizzo (ITA), Denis Vasiljevs (LAT), Romain Posnart (FRA), Kevin Aymoz (FRA), and Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO) round out the list of skaters with two assignments this year. Jun-Hwan won the bronze at the last Grand Prix Final, so expect him to challenge for another GPF spot this year. After a disastrous Grand Prix, Jin Boyang came back in the latter half of the season to win a medal at 4CC and finished 5th at Worlds. One of the most powerful jumpers in the world, expect him to really challenge both Jun and Nathan at Skate America. Matteo Rizzo has been slowly climbing the ranks, winning the Universiade and medaling at Europeans. He’s a beautiful skater, so I hope he does well. He’s got a good shot to medal at Skate Canada (Hanyu will be untouchable, but the silver looks pretty open).

   Being more open than the ladies field, I can’t wait to see how the Grand Prix unfolds for the men! The momentum towards the next Olympics is starting to build, and this year will sort of show us who might be showing up in Beijing!

*edit: I’ve been informed that Hanyu hasn’t chosen his music yet. That Phantom thing was for Fantasy on Ice only. Thank the LORDT!!!

#figure skating #2019 grand prix #isu grand prix #nathan chen #yuzuru hanyu #vincent zhou #shoma uno #jin boyang #mikhail kolyada #dmitri aliev #alexander samarin #roman savosin #sergei voronov #andrei lazukin #jason brown #tomoki hiwatashi #camden pulkinen #keiji tanaka #kazuki tomono #koshiro shimada #daisuke takahashi #nam nguyen #keegan messing #nicolas nadeau #roman sadovsky #cha junhwan #matteo rizzo #denis vasiljevs #romain posnart #kevin aymoz