Anna Shcherbakova post Cup interview "There's no tensions between me, Trusova and Kostornaia"
- Yesterday, the most profitable element didn't work well, so you were unhappy. Today, the most expensive one was good. Are you happy now?
Today a mirror situation happened, as I didn't like entire program quality except my major element. So, I'm pretty much happy about my quad flip, but, honestly, I don't remember what was going on in a second part of program. It was kinda messy, I tried to save every jump as I knew that the start was good and I have no right to ruin other parts of program. There were some silly mistakes, I need to rewatch it, analyze and fix it.
- Why did you jump quad flip, but not lutz?
This season I practiced both quad flip and lutz, but flip was the first I restored in Novogorsk training camp. For some reason I felt this jump better. Before test skates we actually practiced lutz more, as we wanted to have it in competition. But the week between test skates and a Cup I had a practice session when lutz didn't work at all, but flip was good, so Eteri proposed to try the program with a flip. All went well. The value of both jumps is pretty close, and for me it's very important to practice quads and land successfully for now.
- After test skates a lot of people, fans included, felt like this program is too grim. Is this the reason to change the music?
That's true, a lot of people felt the same, federation, coaches... And since test skates main goal is to get feedback, we decided to alter this program. We're not losing anything anyway. New music is more powerful, I have to invest more in it, and more exhausted by the end. But I'm gonna rewatch my performance, I think, I did good today.
- What variant do you feel suits you better, new or an old one?
They're completely different for me. The old one had a logical character in it, suffering, but in result it had no inner rush. And music... by the end I felt not as cheerful as at the start. The new music pulls me all the way and forces me to perform at 200 percents. Probably it looks better this way.
- It often happens, that you struggle with jumps in training, but everything goes well at the competition. Is there some special way you set your mind up?
I'm trying to peak my form right for the competition. The morning training I perceive as just a warmup and preparations before a real performance at the evening. And the level of difficulty for quads is so high that there's no absolute reliability, they don't always work out. In my usual training routine it also happens, that at the morning things were not working well, but at the evening I did my absolute best.
- What's the percentage of clean quads for now?
Flip is about 50 percent. But it changes day by day, sometimes nothing works, and the other day I jump everything clean. Depends on my shape. Lutz has a lower success rate, so we ended up with flip today.
- Did you had some thoughts about giving up on quad today, as you struggled with it in training?
For me a single quad is a program minimum. I don't even think about falling back to triples. In any condition you can gather your strength and attempt a quad, and perform with triples afterwards.
- Are you working on triple axel?
I didn't manage to restore my quads as they were by the end of season yet. As soon as I'll be more confident in stability of my quads, I'm gonna pay more attention to triple axel.
- Any plans for quad flip + triple toe?
It's gonna be needed if I'm going to perform two quad flips. It's not so hard to add toe loop if needed. If I landed quad successfully, adding a triple is a breeze.
By the end of last season I tried flip plus loop, but it was just for trainings, to try something new. It's not really fit for competitions as you won't earn more points, but risk is much higher.
- What's your goals before the next competition?
Hopefully, I'll be able to stabilize more quads and going to polish second part of program to eliminate mistakes. As we are back to base, I'm gonna reanimate my lutz, add a flip, hopefully something more, but we'll see.
- Don't you have a feeling, that it's not enough competitions in a calendar? Have some plans to participate in smaller tournaments?
For me the number of competitions is quite normal, pretty much the same as before. I just wish all the major competitions happened. There will be a second stage of Russia Cup, the Grand Prix stage, selection for finals. But I have no clue how Grand Prix gonna work this year.
- After departure of two skaters you're considered as an informal leader of your group. Do you feel more pressure or coaches attention as a result?
That's secondary factors that you shouldn't pay attention to, because my coaches are the same, my trainings routine is the same. My goal is to work hard on myself.
- Being addressed as an "informal group leader", do you agree with such status?
Our group is huge, and there were some changes recently. I just had a couple of training days in such status, and I have my own training schedule as I had to prepare for this competition. Going back now, will see if something changed, but I don't think it's gonna affect my training.
- Don't you think, that it's not enough of competition in Trusova and Kostornaia absence?
Our group is still strong, Kamila Valieva has quad, Sonya Akatieva, all the youngsters are practicing quads. Perhaps, sometimes I miss my tournament rivals, but I have coaches. They'll always indicate that I'm underperforming. Though, It's a bit weird that I cannot see how my rivals are doing.
- Have your relationships with Trusova and Kostornaia changed after their departure?
We had good relationships, but mostly during trainings, it's not like we spent time together at weekends. And it didn't change, we were at the same locker room during test skates, normal communication, no tensions. There were no changes because of what happened. We communicate the same way.