Tatyana Volosozhar: “Motivating a child is the task of a coach, not a parent”

To be in sport, to be together

I fell in love with figure skating almost immediately when my parents took me to the rink, despite the fact that I was not taken to the section for this sport at that time. At that time there was a very serious selection: many applicants, a limited number of places.

Then I jumped not quite correctly, and they didn’t take me — I was upset, of course, terribly. But I have always loved skating, so my parents and I went to public skating sessions twice a week.

Playing sports together with parents is a cool and important part of preparing for the “painless” involvement of a child in sports. It is imperative to show by example that it is interesting and exciting. Visiting and watching sports competitions together with adults also perfectly energize the child with motivation.

It was the perseverance and initiative of my mother that led to the fact that I was nevertheless accepted into the training group for a month. It was a kind of test period, after which it would become clear whether I would stay or not. In the end, everything worked out.

I remember very well my first competition at the age of 7. Then my parents and I were still watching figure skating on cassettes, and on one recording we saw how Oksana Baiul, a well-known figure skater in Ukraine, won the Olympic Games.

Her emotions after winning the Olympics then made a huge impression on me. She burst into tears at the presentation, and I thought that this is how all champions must behave.

At those competitions, I took first place and, as expected, burst into tears at the presentation, but not at all because emotions covered me, but because I decided to copy Oksana.

Sport builds character for you

Strong-willed character and the desire to win are essential qualities of any professional athlete. It is possible and necessary to educate them, but not to parents: sport will do it for you.

The only thing that is required from mom or dad is to bring the child to the section and hand it over to professionals. Everything else is the task of the coach: to captivate, direct, explain correctly, give “try the ice”.

By the way, in the Tatyana Volosozhar Figure Skating Center we will focus on captivating children. I think that this is a separate, extremely important task. Our coaches will pass special tests, learn how to do it right. And we want to provide an individual approach to each child.

We also plan to introduce open lessons for parents, but not every day, it would be superfluous. If parents go to every class, they won’t be able to see progress the way they could by attending classes once a week or even once a month.

I often notice that it is the parents who force children to do this or that sport. We would like not to force, but to instill in the child a love of activity, to make sure that he really likes to do it. To do this, you need to introduce him closer to figure skating, and teach him how to take the first steps correctly.

Instilling a responsible attitude to the work that the child will be engaged in, it is worth starting with the little things. Now few people pay attention to this — they immediately demand the result, but it is important to tell how to choose the right equipment, help to understand the categories.

Bringing to the section and forcing you to do it under duress is wrong! I don’t think that pressure and stiffness are good guides to the world of sports. A parent who wants his child to really get excited about figure skating needs to try, come up with and practice more “creative” ways to get involved in classes.

For example, if you are going to gymnastics or ballet, you can decide together in what form you are going together today: white or black, bright or patterned.

The motivation to be “faster, higher, stronger” is born in the training process, and awakening it is also, for the most part, the task of the coach. Parents, of course, can and should «harden» the child, but the main thing is not to go too far. If he categorically refuses to study, cries, is naughty, it is better not to put pressure on him. Children’s tears and ruined relationships are not worth it.

It happens that the problem lies in the fact that something does not work out in training or there are no great successes. In this case, I would advise you to switch to a softer form of interaction: reduce the number of workouts for a short period, try something else.

Perhaps this particular sport is not suitable for your child. Or maybe he’s just in a bad mood right now. You need to be persistent, but if Angelica (daughter of Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov. — Ed.), For example, categorically resists classes, then we let go of this situation and switch to other activities.

Praise, but in moderation

Encouragement, of course, is important and necessary, especially when the child is small. Something will do well — gets stickers, perhaps toys, dolls. Angelica is not lazy, but we still try to act like this for the time being.

But in everything there should be a measure. From the point of view of the coach, I will say this: if we see that the child is doing great and he is on the “up”, we can praise a little less so that he does not lose motivation. Both the stick and the carrot must be present.

When a child is in such a mood, when he is capricious, when something does not work out, the so-called method of switching attention and tasks will come to the rescue. I know this very well even from myself and from experience with my daughter.

Don’t blame yourself if something doesn’t work out today. When you suffer for a long time, but you don’t succeed, you only memorize a mistake, get even more upset and lose self-confidence.

In sports, in such cases they say: “Leave it for tomorrow. Tomorrow you start with this and everything will be fine.” The task of parents is to support the child, give him a break and not scold him.

Stop controlling and become the best example

Remembering the past methods of «inculcating love» for sports in children — severe moral pressure and parental intervention in training — I think I would not want to see this in modern sports.

When I was little, mothers always stood along the ice rink. They watched the process menacingly and showed a fist if something did not work out, although they did not even understand why this was happening. Now they are trying to stop such behavior, but it still occurs … Such pressure can greatly harm children, the desire to study will disappear forever.

Each child is an individual, and it is worth remembering this. Not all methods that familiar mothers, friends on forums on the Internet will tell you about will work with your child. I look for advice on the Web and in the literature, but I still focus primarily on my intuition.

For example, I do not force Angelica to do what she does not like. I took her to private gymnastics and she didn’t like it at all. Tantrums began, I was also nervous. I tried to persuade, but then I remembered that this is the task of the coach — to arouse interest and captivate. Therefore, if my daughter does not want to categorically go somewhere, I do not force her.

Our daughter from an early age watched how Maxim and I work. Now she is engaged in figure skating — of course, of her own free will. We take her to gymnastics and to the pool, before quarantine we went to ballet.

I am for the fact that the child goes in for sports, regardless of whether he wants to do it professionally. But it’s always worth starting with yourself: children copy adults, and if we show them an example, then it’s easier for us to understand each other with them.