Sergei Starkin - 'Working with high level gymnasts like Ablyazin andMustafina is hard, but interesting'
An interview by Oksana Tonkacheeva with personal coach to Russia's leading male and female gymnasts, Denis Ablyazin and Aliya Mustafina.
Summary below (not word for word) -
Next week we'll have the European Championships. Denis Ablyazin will compete - but not, on this occasion, Aliya Mustafina.
- It wasn't just my decision to train Aliya - it wasn't as if Aliya out of the blue knocked on my door and just asked me to work with her. There was a meeting of head coach Andrei Rodionenko, the head coach of the women's team Evgeny Grebyonkin, and Aliya's father. Everything had to be carefully weighed up - working with an athlete like Mustafina is primarily a responsibility - I thought long and hard.
- First, I had to explain to Aliya that there would be conditions, and that if she were not ready to fulfill them, we could not even begin. I have had to make changes myself, not just inside the gym, but outside of it. The result that we are all expecting from her requires maximum concentration and a certain discipline. In other words, now her entire life will be subordinated to the goal. Self discipline is vital - you can't just 'sit on the horse and gallop off'.
- (In response to a question about Aliya's famous temperament.) I asked Aliya to think carefully before making a decision. To which she replied that as far as she was concerned she had decided everything long ago. Why did I decide to take this on? Well, first of all, a desire to help Aliya achieve the objectives she has set for herself. And secondly, any coach would be interested in working with such a high level athlete. Such talents as Mustafina are rare - it's a great experience to work with her, you can improve your own skills.
- We don't have much time before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. But to fulfill all our plans - to add difficulty to the routines and to find the right physical and emotional balance - is quite realistic.
- Before I found Denis, I had worked with girl gymnasts for ten years. When Leonid Arkayev was head coach, I even had a chance to bring gymnasts to Round Lake. I learned about the training system.
In my opinion, you need four or five months to bring Aliya to full form. And about her character, by the way ... there is no problem. You just have to try to engage in dialogue, to explain every action, why you need to do one thing and not another. The principle of "I'm the boss - do what I say" does not work here. Aliya is a mature woman, an athlete, and if she has understanding of what she must do then there is no need to use force.
- I work to the same principles with Ablyazin. Working with such high level gymnasts is not only about learning the technical subtleties. We have to find a common language. In the hall, and beyond. If you begin to treat the athlete as an object, he will immediately notice it. I am present in their lives as much as they need. For example, sometimes on a day off we can dine together, to talk about something in an informal atmosphere ...
- The first person with whom I consulted on this issue before making a decision, was Denis. Whatever changes may occur in my life, they should not be reflected in my work with him. Therefore, if he had said "no", I would have said the same thing to Aliya. He immediately reacted positively to this idea. I tried to schedule training so that the gymnasts do not overlap and each receives his share of individual attention. It is not easy, to be honest. Do I sleep at night? I'm so tired that I just drop off.
Good translation for once. Love you, Aliya! XD She is one of my favorite gymnasts of all time and one of the best of all time. It would be a crying shame if she didn't come back in strong shape. I have tempered my expectations realistically: I'm not expecting her to return to her highest form, or come back immediately with all these crazy upgrades. Aliya is past peak, she'll never be the Aliya of c. 2010 again, but even past peak she should be fighting for top honors. And upgrades, wherever she shows the ability to make them, will come gradually. All I'm hoping for is for Musty to look better than she has in the previous two years (especially last year). If she does that, I won't worry.
ReplyDeleteNovember, do you speak Russian? If so, I could really do with some help in translating and editing the many Russian language articles that this blog publishes. It is hard work, but so nice when people are grateful for your effort. Please just reply to this comment if you would like to help and we will take it from there.
DeleteNo, Elizabeth, I do not speak Russian unfortunately, so I can't help in that regard. I didn't mean to criticize individuals who work hard to translate, I was just thinking of Google Translation. Good luck and yours or anyone's translations are appreciated.
DeleteI really do hope he is able to bring Mustafina into form by these upcoming worlds! She is such a great AA gymnast and even if he could just solidify the program she had leading up to worlds last year for example, the 6.6 on BB and 6.2 on FX with her olympic routine on UB with the 6.7; even if he can just make her conditioned enough to preform what she already does CONSISTENTLY throughout, It be more than enough I would say. Let's hope he can help Mustafina out; can't wait to see result:)
ReplyDeleteI think the whole team is taking the next 2 weeks off training!? I'm always surprised by the amount of time off these Russian gymnasts get.... Do the Americans ever get 2 weeks straight off besides a week off here and there for major holidays? I firmly believe a poor work ethic and lack of conditioning is a big factor in all of these Russian gymnasts' physical problems, from unstable ankles, to chronic back issues, to knee injuries, etc.... A gymnast must constantly do conditioning almost on a daily basis to maintain good shape and prevent possible injuries that reflect weakness in the joints/ligaments.
ReplyDeleteI think you are mistaken. The gymnasts are competing at the European Gymnastics Championships in Montpelier, arriving yesterday and finishing next Sunday. I guess they will return to Moscow on the Monday.
DeleteAs the national coaching team will be in France, those team members who aren't participating will return to their home gyms. Aliya Mustafina, whose Instagram entry most likely led you to draw this conclusion, will return to Penza where no doubt she will have a regime to stick to set for her by her personal coach. The other gymnasts will do the same.
None of the gymnasts train permanently at Lake Krugloye - there are regular training camps there but about half their training takes place with their personal coaches in their home gyms - a bit like in the USA. I have little doubt that discipline in the USA is superior to anywhere in the world but I wouldn't underestimate what the Russians do - they are fairly well established as second/third in the world. While this is disappointing, it is still a good result and belies what many portray as a 'poor work ethic'.
All gymnasts suffer from injuries. The main difference is that because of relative problems with strength in depth some of the gymnasts eg Mustafina, Afanasyeva have continued to compete while injured. Whereas in America gymnasts like Maroney, Raisman and Douglas have been able to take time off to recover and recuperate.
I am not really sure why Russia continually remains the focus of such unfair criticism. Clearly to maintain their position in the world they must be doing adequate conditioning. Just because they don't have visible muscle doesn't make them weak! The Americans are clearly the fittest girls out there and Russia has a distance to travel to match that, but if they were really as bad as you say they would be out of the world top ten.
I never implied that they were weak overall as a team in general. Clearly, I questioned their work ethic, but if you know for a fact they are training or at least doing conditioning in their home gyms, then that is better than doing nothing during breaks or vacation time. Afanasyeva has not continued to compete while injured and missed the last 2 world championships because of injury as have all the other London Olympic team members except for Mustafina who has been ailing a long time from chronic back issues. Afan has finally competed her 2 strongest apparatuses at Russian Nationals after a long time of not competing. And I'm not the only one who questions their training regimen by a long shot. Time will tell if the other gymnasts stay healthy up to Rio and if Mustafina and/or Komova can reclaim the top spots on the team after some setbacks. I'm definitely hopeful.
DeleteYou did however suggest they were taking a two week holiday when in fact they are competing - a bit of a goof.
DeleteSurely you did imply that they are weak overall - no gymnast would succeed with as a poor a work ethic as you suggest.
If you had been following the sport, you would know that both Mustafina and Afanasyeva have a long history of injury.
Please don't comment here if you can't get your facts right or at least concede when you are wrong - quoting 'lots of people' as support doesn't give your arguments any rigour.
Anon - I do not publish flame/rude comments here. If you want to reconsider what your point is and resubmit, I will be happy to consider what you have to say. And if you speak Russian, I would be delighted if you were to contribute good quality translations, but I am afraid that I do not take pay, nor do I have a budget to pay others.
DeleteLOL. You do not know as much as you think you know buddy. Even if this is not the case, you can surely take a couple of weeks off without causing any huge harm. In fact you can take years off and still be able to get back on track, healthy. Lots of American are there to prove this case. How about Ponor, she is back on training again.
DeleteI'm sure the Americans take weeks off. Thats ridiculously. Any athlete needs a break. Also, you do realize that the Russian girls spends way more time away from home than any American right? They train a lot at Round Lake.
I think is funny how you and other are going on and on about how the Russian are been coached and trained when in fact NOBODY knows how they actually do it. How do you know there some sort of lack of conditioning going on? The home gyms do not allow many people inside during training, not even parents stay there the whole day. Round Lake is even worse. For someone to be able to follow the training days there he/she must go to a lot of trouble. Even TV channels don't stay there much, they are allowed to film here and there, bits of pieces, but thats it.
Finally let me remind you of something. First most of the Russian coaches have been there for long time, many form the soviet times. Even the new ones are usually somehow connected with those times. Do you think they don't know how to properly coach someone? How many champions those people have made. How many medals? 10x more than US.
Also, many of US coaches are, in fact, from Russia or trained by the Soviet System. Ultimately there aren't that much difference. WOGA, from Nastia and Carly, is entirely based on the soviet system of training.
Regarding injuries, US have just as many injuries, they just have a big depth as of right now, that people do not miss the injured that much.
Xenia Afana is already on her third competitive quad, give her a break for god sake. Sacramone too was injured all the time by the end of her career. Aliya have always been constantly injured. Even when a junior. Just like Chelsie Memmel spent most of her career injured. It happens as you see. Nastia Liukin suffered a serious injury back in 2005/2206 and only went back to competitive mode close to the O08. So Komova can do it too. Mckayla Maroney have undergone what? 3 or 4 surgeries already. Jordyn Wieber went to O12 with a foot severely injured. Remember US 2008? 4 of 6 girls were serious injured and mostly of no help to the team. Happens. And this quad? Kyla Ross is said to have back problems for the entirely past year. She has been doing some watered down routine and haven't been able to work on upgrades. lexie priessman suffered so many injuries she is basically out of the competition. Peyton Ernst is also injured. Bailie Key spent last year recovering from an injury and did not compete nationals. Madison Kocian and Ashton Locklear are constantly injured as well.
First of all thank you to queen elizabeth for keeping us updated with the main russian news ;)
Delete(and sorry if I made many mistakes in my comment, it's not my native language^^)
i truly believe that comparing gymnasts between each others is not a good thing ! We all have to agree that there is a big difference of gymnast effectives if we compare the US, Russia and for example Romania.
all the gymnasts are doing their best, but injuries is something out of control! As long as the gymnast tries to recover and then tries to upgrade her skills she deserves respect, wherever she comes from !
In Russia, less girls are presents compared to the usa, so yes you are going to hear more about one who get injured, competed once and then get re-injured. but the fact is, the gymnasts want to compete and represent their countries, maybe sometimes they went back too early but their main goal is clearly to support their team, even if there is a risk for their own well-being!
honestly i don't believe that the conditionning is so different between all the top countries, if they didn't train well and often, they would have 0 medals.
Whoever you are, 'anonymous', don't denigrate people who are clearly able to do things you will probably never be able to do ! all the gymnasts are training hard and spend hours in training.
There is no interest to dénigrate Russian or American gymnasts ...All of them are very young and courageux women. But, it is a fact that Russian gymnaste are so unconsistent. Why ? Maybe because there is less challenge between them than between American gymnasts? Because they are more fragile physically and psychollogically ? Because their préparation is not so good ? I don't know, but that is the very différence between both : Russian D-score are excellent and artistry as well ; the problem is falls, loss of balance, etc. American young gymnaste seem so confident and mental strong. Maybe the différence is not the physical préparation, but the psychosocial one. About Mustafina, except the young genius Biles, she is the best of the world ...
DeleteThere is really nothing to look forward to the Russian team without key players such Aliya , Komova and Afanasyeva. The new upcoming Russian team does not have the skills and difficulties that is challenging enough. I don't know why but I don't really see the new team anywhere except not being in the top 3 anymore. *Sigh...*
DeleteIs Afanasyeva not going to compete in Euros? I thought she will be there? Now, I'm sad. I was looking forward to her performance.
DeleteRussia just subbed Paseka in place of Spiridonova because she got injured. Unfortunately, the gymnasts that Russia sent in Euros are not much to excited about.
Sorry, I meant to say Sosnitskaya was injured, not Spiridonova.
DeleteThank you.
DeleteSosnitskaya has an injured toe, so Paseka is doing vault and bars and Spiri will be trying for AA.
It will at least be be interesting - and Spiri is a beautiful gymnast to watch, I am just sad that the team hasn't taken a risk in Tutkhalyan - Paseka may be the safer option considering the circumstances but I think they should give Seda the experience. Hey HO.
I completely agree with you that they should have picked Seda Tutkhalyan. She needs the experience of major senior competitions. Paseka probably has a better chance of wining a medal (on vault), but Seda is the future. I am surprised I haven't heard about Afan's warmup at Euros.
DeleteBest,
Russiafan
Queen Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteyou can enlist me for help - I am a native Russian language speaker, and follow all Russian gymnastics news.
Hello anon - thank you, that's a great offer :-)). Please could you email me on elizabethbooth136@btinternet.com so we can discuss?
DeleteBest, Elizabeth