"What's wrong with this? With such a good altitude, three turns are more than enough. Why does this Lutz only turn twice?"
On the ice rink, Qin Siyu was puzzled after watching Xie Yunjun and Lu You's throw jump: "When I watched their competition before, I thought it was a 3LzTh when I saw the height of the throw. I thought that kids nowadays are pretty good, but I didn't expect that they only did a throw of two."
"During the club league, even if they did 3TTh and then followed it up with a Twist-Three, wouldn't it be easy to get first place in the race?" Qin Siyu could only think of one explanation for this situation. "Could it be that they haven't played the Twist-Three yet?"
Lu Tingsong: "...That's right."
Qin Siyu: “…”
This was the first time Qin Siyu encountered such a situation.
Let alone the twist, a kid who can do triple Lutz easily can't even do the simplest triple Lutz jump? What's wrong with that?
Lu Tingsong sighed, waved his hand and called Lu You and Xie Yunjun over: "Youyou, tell Teacher Qin and Teacher Jiang about the problem you had when throwing and jumping."
Lu You said: "When I was throwing and jumping, my center of gravity was given by Xie Yunjun. Then I felt that when I was about to jump, I was dragged by inertia, and the axis was tilted before I was thrown to the top..."
"I can feel that if I insist on turning 1080 degrees, I will definitely fall when I land on the ice."
Lu You scratched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.
"In short, they have been stuck on the triple twist and triple throw for a long time. The previous pair skating coach tried many methods but couldn't help them practice it. I guess it's a bit difficult to teach two children at my level," Lu Tingsong said. "The two children have never found a good coach to teach throws and twists. I came from men's singles, so I can't help much with pair skating."
"Since there are no good coaches, why didn't you send the two children to the provincial team earlier?" Qin Siyu lamented, "With your status as a former national team member, you can just say hello to the provincial team to confirm their level and accept them. Coach Jiang and I wouldn't have to run to grassroots competitions every day to pick up children!"
"Aren't you afraid that the two children will be torn apart?"
Lu Tingsong sighed helplessly and let Lu You and Xie Yunjun practice by themselves. Then he subconsciously reached into his trouser pocket for a cigarette, and suddenly remembered that there were people around him. He held back and said, "If someone told you that there are two kids who are good at skating and spinning, and have done 33 consecutive jumps, and are about to do advanced triple jumps, but they are skating pairs, and they have been stuck for a year and can only do two weeks of twists and throws, if it were you, would you want to split them up and send them to practice men's and women's singles?"
Qin Siyu was silent for a moment, then said honestly, "I do."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Lu Tingsong knows his two apprentices too well. "We are all experienced people who know how hard and tiring it is to practice figure skating. The two kids have been through it all, and there were many times when they felt so miserable that they didn't want to continue. In the end, they persevered because they thought, 'Even if it's for each other, we can't just give up.'"
What Lu Tingsong didn’t say was that if one day Lu You and Xie Yunjun stopped practicing pair skating, then they might really not continue on the path of professional figure skating.
There is nothing wrong with figure skating if it is just a hobby, but if you really choose to go professional, it will not only become hard but also expensive. Without being recruited and receiving government subsidies, it is basically a bottomless pit. It is normal to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at your own expense every year.
Despite this situation, there are still a large number of people in China who only care about gold medals. If they fail to get good results in international competitions, they will say something very unpleasant.
To put it another way, the overall environment for ice and snow sports in China is not as good as that in other countries. Even if figure skaters are full of honors, in the eyes of most capitalists, their commercial value is still mediocre. It might be faster to hire a small internet celebrity to attract traffic.
"It's okay. The two kids are still young. Now that they're in the provincial team, I'll help them sort out the problem of throwing three and twisting three sooner or later," Jiang Yang planned calmly. "Starting today, all classes at the club will be suspended. The new season will start in two or three months. Before that, Lu You and Xie Yunjun should follow me. I'll solve their problem of throwing three and twisting three first."
——This means that Lu You and Xie Yunjun were officially accepted into the provincial team. While Lu Tingsong was very happy, he also silently lit a candle for Xie Yunjun and his little niece.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that Jiang Yang looks like a kind-hearted uncle with a big belly when he’s doing nothing. It’s not the same when he’s actually training people.
When Lu Tingsong was in service, Jiang Yang said to him, "Practice as long as you are alive. You won't die." Lu Tingsong still remembers it vividly.
As soon as the morning training was over, Qin Siyu took Lu You and Xie Yunjun to go through a series of procedures for joining the team. The most important thing was to get a meal card for each of them. From then on, the two became glorious athletes with state responsibilities and who ate from the state's big pot.
At the same time, they also embarked on the journey of devilish training.
Because a new season is about to begin, they only have two months to practice throwing three and twisting three. In September, they need to participate in the National Championships to compete for the qualification to participate in the new season's Youth Grand Prix.
Due to poor performance in the World Junior Championships last season, the country only won one place in this year's JGP pair skating event. Who will get this place in the end will depend on which pair can take the lead in the national championships. Currently, Si Nan and Xu Zhen are training with the national team, and Jiang Yang is wholeheartedly leading the two newly recruited players Lu You and Xie Yunjun.
In order to prepare for the National Championships, Lu You and Xie Yunjun's summer vacation was almost filled with training. In addition to four hours of ice training every day, they also had to take a series of dance classes and physical training classes. In their spare time, the two also had to take time out to complete the summer homework assigned by the school.
"I think the hairs I had while staying up late to review for a 90 on my math test turned white. Last night, they came to me in my dream and accused me of dying in vain."
During the land lift training, Lu You hung her head and complained to Xie Yunjun. She was sad to find that although she scored 90 points in the test, she had no free time to go to Disneyland.
"We've been to Disneyland in Shanghai many times, haven't we?" Xie Yunjun gently relaxed his strength, caught Lu You and put him on the ground steadily. "I remember that there is a sub-station in Nagoya for the Youth Grand Prix this time. If we can get first place in the National Championships, we can definitely participate in the Japanese sub-station of the Youth Grand Prix. After the competition, we can go to Tokyo Disneyland to play."
Lu You's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really?"
Xie Yunjun nodded, opened his hands and asked the little girl: "So are you still practicing?"
"Of course!" Lu You, who had found his goal again, rushed over like a calf and hugged Xie Yunjun's arm, full of motivation, "Work hard for a hundred days, I want to participate in the Youth Grand Prix!"
After the land training and four hours of ice practice in the afternoon, Lu You and Xie Yunjun were scheduled to have dance classes in the evening.
In order to cater to the tastes of current international judges, Jiang Yang forced Lu You to change his dance style from classical dance to ballet, which caused him a lot of trouble.
In the words of the dance teacher, ballet should be danced like a tall and straight poplar, rather than the way Lu You dances now, which is as soft as water.
As for Xie Yunjun, he only took dance lessons when necessary, and his dance style was not fixed at all, so it was naturally much easier for him to adjust than Lu You.
"How many times have I told you to forget your muscle memory from classical dance? You and Xie Yunjun are not coordinating at all. Do you do your own moves in pair skating?" The choreographer of the provincial team stood in the corner of the dance studio, tapping the pad in his hand. "Lu You, you need to use more force when you extend your arms in this movement. Don't be so limp as if you have no bones. Didn't you have lunch?"
The little girl who was criticized by the choreographer pouted in grievance. She hadn't even had lunch yet...
Xie Yunjun pinched the fingers of the person he was holding and whispered, "Let's practice again. If the teacher still says it's not possible, I'll tell her I'm hungry and we'll go eat first."
After being scolded by the choreographer, Lu You had to force himself to forget his physical memory and practiced the opening moves of the free skating with Xie Yunjun again. When he finally heard that he could go to the cafeteria to eat, Lu You felt that this voice was like the sound of nature. He didn't even change his training clothes and pulled Xie Yunjun straight to the cafeteria.
On the way, they happened to meet Guan Xiaoxuan and Zhang Bai who had just finished training. Guan Xiaoxuan originally wanted to ask them to have lunch with them, but Lu You ran faster than a rabbit, as if she was afraid that someone would snatch her food, and rushed into the cafeteria.
Guan Xiaoxuan was amazed by what she saw.
Guan Xiaoxuan said sadly: "Is the provincial team such a waste of time? In just half a month, what on earth could a cute and sweet girl go through to become what she is now?"
Zhang Bai: “Maybe this is competitive sports.”
In mid-August, when three quarters of the summer vacation had passed, the capital's ice training base was completed and the national figure skating team moved to the capital, preparing to officially welcome the new season with a brand new look. At this time, Lu You and Xie Yunjun finally successfully practiced the triple twist and triple throw, and boarded the plane to the capital to participate in the National Figure Skating Championships.
The coaches accompanying them on this trip were Lu Tingsong and Jiang Yang. Jiang Yang had already bought the tickets. The two coaches took the children from the Jianglin Provincial Team. As soon as they entered the cabin, they saw a bright red and white color scheme. The national team members were talking and laughing as they put things on the luggage rack. One of them saw Jiang Yang and shouted in surprise, "Jiang Coach, why are you here too?"
Jiang Yang walked over and greeted him familiarly: "Take the kids in the team to participate in the national championships."
"Are you taking Xiaoguan and Zhang Bai?" National team head coach Xue Chengze is a genial middle-aged man who loves to joke. He looked behind Jiang Yang and said, "How are their difficult rhythmic dances going? Guan Lin used to talk about her little niece every day, worried that they would not be able to practice rhythmic dances well before they both participated in the JGP."
Guan Lin is a female singles player who has mastered all four triple jumps except 3A, and has the ability to jump advanced 33. She is the undisputed top female singles player in China. However, as she gets older, she is finding it increasingly difficult to compete, so she chose to retire last year. Guan Xiaoxuan from Jianglin Provincial Team is Guan Lin's niece.
"Hey, is the guy next to Xiaoguan and Zhang Bai Lu Tingsong? Did you recruit him to be the coach of the Jianglin Provincial Team? That's great, but who are those two kids he brought with him?" Xue Chengze finally noticed Lu You and Xie Yunjun at this time, his eyes lit up, "Did your Jianglin team pick up another child recently?"
Currently, the major ice skating provinces in China are Jianglin Province and Xinluo Province. As we all know, the career trajectory of athletes whose native place is Xinluo Province is generally from the city team to the provincial team and then to the national team. They are typically trained and raised in the system since childhood.
The good seedlings of Jianglin Province are basically picked up by the provincial team coaches from all over the ice rinks. The players who are truly trained from the system are not as good as those picked up halfway. The training system is very strange.
As for Lu You and Xie Yunjun, Lu Tingsong helped them put away their luggage. Then Lu You pulled Xie Yunjun to sit down, pushed the armrest between the two seats upwards, leaned towards his male companion, took out a pad from his bag, and prepared to review the classic masterpiece of animation master Hayao Miyazaki - "Howl's Moving Castle" again.
The song selection for their newly choreographed short program comes from the interlude of this animation: "Walking in the Air".
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