Alexandra Trusova: “Tutberidze’s approach is more competition-oriented. Plushenko’s approach is more focused on technique and preparatory exercises.”
Translation of Alexandra Trusova’s comments about change of coaches.
original source: Okko Sports
In May 2020, the figure skater switched from Eteri Tutberidze’s group to Evgeni Plushenko’s, and in May 2021, she returned to Tutberidze’s group. Since October 2022, she had been training under Svetlana Sokolovskaya.
Here’s translation of Alexandra Trusova’s comments regarding her change of coaches made for Okko Sports.
“What was the reason for your move back to Plushenko?” Trusova was asked.
She responded, “I will answer now. I think it will be an answer to all my change of coaches, returns, and so on. I don’t consider it betrayal. I never considered it, and I don’t consider it now.”
“I have great relationships with all the coaches I have trained with. I can approach any of them, talk, ask something – and they will help me. Likewise, they can write something at any moment – and I will understand everything perfectly and do what is needed.”
“I believe it’s about development. Each coach has their approach. And an athlete, if they want, has the right to try working in different coaching staff and decide where they feel more comfortable. In any case, they gain experience that they didn’t have in another team.”
“The approaches differ greatly. I’m not saying one is better or worse, just different. When you combine two different approaches, it means you have knowledge from not one but two coaching teams. You become stronger,” said Alexandra Trusova, the silver medalist of the 2022 Olympics.
Alexandra Trusova explained why she returned to Eteri Tutberidze’s group.
“I probably never fought for the coach’s attention. Of course, competition always motivates you to work harder. But especially when I switched, where I didn’t have competition, I realized that, partly, it might be a bit harder for me. However, I could still work.
Knowing that I could do it one way or another, there was no need for me to fight for anything. No, I did my job, trained, and recovered. And from the very beginning, coming back from the break, I knew what the content would be, and all the coaches knew it.
On the very first day, I did a quadruple Lutz. Two days later, I was already practicing the axel. Two weeks later, I was jumping a quadruple flip.
I completed my first clean program with five quadruples at the end of July. And all the coaches were clapping for me, sitting there and clapping. So, I knew exactly how much time I needed to integrate five quadruples.
But the next day, I injured my leg. And it became more challenging after that,” said the silver medalist of the 2022 Olympics.
Alexandra Trusova shared what she learned from her coach, Svetlana Sokolovskaya:
“Is there any wisdom that Svetlana Sokolovskaya has taught you?”
She responded, “The main thing is to skate for the joy of it. Probably in my life, I often skated for a purpose: to achieve goals, to perform this jump, to skate cleanly. I rarely did it for the pleasure of it.”
“I love figure skating, just so you know, I love to skate. But skating for pleasure is something else. It’s when you enjoy being on the ice. Probably now I skate for pleasure. Back then, I skated for results.”
“Stepping onto the ice, I gave all the energy inside me to the people – that’s why it was harder for me to skate. Consequently, even physically, performing a program was harder. It’s still the case. But other people, on the contrary, take this energy – and at the competition, it’s easier for them to skate.”
“It’s a bit challenging for me to perform shows back to back or two shows a day because I don’t manage to replenish the energy. I step out, give it away, and then I need to find it somewhere.”
“And how do you recharge your strength?”
Trusova replied, “Well, I don’t really. I always gather myself somehow. When I see people, it motivates me, and from somewhere deep inside, I gather it.”
Trusova pointed out the differences in training between Tutberidze, Plushenko, and Sokolovskaya.
She stated, “We could talk for another five days without stopping. They are completely different. I have been in three groups, and they are all different. In terms of the athlete’s approach, how they conduct training, practices, and assignments.”
She described Tutberidze’s approach as more competition-oriented, with daily printouts detailing the athlete’s errors. Plushenko’s approach was more focused on technique, with a significant emphasis on preparatory exercises that she had never done before.
Trusova mentioned that Plushenko initially thought she couldn’t perform any jumps because she struggled with these preparatory exercises, and he emphasized their importance in preparing for quads.
Sokolovskaya, according to Trusova, had a completely different approach, particularly concerning the athlete. She emphasized the ability to engage in conversations not just about sports. Trusova felt that she knew precisely what she needed to achieve her goals when stepping onto the ice, particularly when training with Sokolovskaya.
When asked which of these coaching methods was closest to her, Trusova replied, “At the very least, I landed five quads both with Eteri Georgievna and with Evgeni Viktorovich. Yes, I only landed them in competition in the Olympic season. But I practiced them during training, whether I was with Eteri Georgievna or Evgeni Viktorovich.”
Related topics: Alexandra Trusova, Eteri Tutberidze, Evgeni Plushenko, Svetlana Sokolovskaya
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