hoodie axel

Apart from all the obvious reasons to be yaying, her jumps were better with her old coaches, and she can maybe get better artistic direction if she's with Wilson.

Yay!

I mean think about it. For instance, in pairs, which man first thought "let me pick up this woman and toss her upwards and outwards". And why did the woman agree to this?

Has anyone here been told why anyone thought of jumping on the ice, and why it was considered an important skill?

I guess I would have liked Minsk, simply because I don't even know if Belarus has any skaters.

We're having Sweden right before it in Europe. I wish they'd gone to Korea or something. Austria maybe?

Zhou will be attending Brown, after deferring for a year.

Just posting it here for his teacher's sick freeze.

For me, it is useless to read an ISU document.

Then surely if you think Nathan and Boyang have similar weaknesses and that Shae would be able to do with Boyang what she did with Nathan, this idea wouldn't be a good thing at all? Or should Boyang, someone who is being politicked against by the USFS as having poor artistry, go to the USA's home-grown two time WC's SP choreographer to get an SP so it could be pointed out how inferior it is, even if it turns out it isn't? Boyang also had a pretty terrible season mentally, and didn't look like a fish out of the water with his programs, anyway (nor would I say he didn't look confident with the SP because it exposed his weaknesses or whatever). Nathan also had a confident aura because of his WC win, and the overblown scores he was getting as cushions as a result. This is a curious view of things anyway. Boyang mentioned he likes working with Lori. Surely, the material he's helping choreograph with a choreographer he likes can also give him confidence? Especially if he ends up connecting with the style, which is the point of the process anyway? Moreover, this is reductionist. What gives someone confidence can easily not be fruitful for someone. Maybe Boyang will think "I don't like that we just covered up my weaknesses. It's not challenging enough." Also, where exactly is a skater supposed to grow a skillset if his weaknesses are being covered up? Jin improved a lot in his presentation by taking dance classes for programs that began as quite a bit out of his skillset at the beginning of the season. It's surely not like Chen's improved with his weaknesses being covered up. I think Boyang's spins are better, and are used better in his programs. And his SS last season were used better in his programs than Chen's. Not shocking, seeing that I'd trust Kurt Browning on being able to incorporate SS into a program better than pretty much anyone else. Boyang was always a better performer than Nathan, and with his SP, I'd say he's had better interpretation, too. That's already four things (spins, PE, IN, jumps) that Boyang's better at than Nathan, instead of being on the same level, and he had better conceptual choreography, too, even if we don't want to dissect the pieces movement-for-movement and say definitively which one was better. The judges didn't see it that way, because of Boyang's lack of consistency that gave him poor momentum, and because he was being criticized as lacking artistry/struggling to incorporate both tech and PCS into his skating (and because they're dumb, and I doubt they'd know how to judge choreography worth sh*t), and it won't suddenly vanish because of a choreographer change. For that matter, "similar level of SS" is nothing if you don't analyze their strengths. Which brings us to: What Chen lacks is glide and speed. His edges can be quite deep when he tries, and Bourne has highlighted exactly this in his two previous SPs (how else would you be able to produce staccato movement on ice, if not for control over your turns and decent edging?). The fact that he needs to only show it off once in the season, and never try again has more to do with being able to rely on reputation and his federation. It was because it was a "fun" step sequence AND he was the reigning WC. OTOH, can you easily say that Boyang, after having done Spiderman, La Strada, and that ridiculous choreo sequence in Star Wars won't be dinged as being a caricature if he does something like that again? It's not like his programs' themes changed out of pure whimsy this season. OTOH, you can see what a choreographer does, what a skater does, and come to a conclusion. It's choreography, not grad school cookery. It's hardly that I am against him going to a new choreographer, or trying Bourne if he sees it fit. Maybe it will turn out great. I don't think it will currently.

I don't think Boyang and Nathan have similar weaknesses at all At least not in terms of artistic skills. Boyang's weaknesses stem more due to his lacking refinement that doesn't allow him to express some inherent qualities well yet (although he also has lots of room to improve on those). Nathan's skating is essentially him skating at the same energy level throughout the piece (which is what Bourne does for him). I also think people just covering up weaknesses is hardly doing them any favour, but, well, if Boyang doesn't gel well with Bourne (as I don't think he would), it might expose him more, or he might get a program that just doesn't suit him. How will that hide any weakness? And I think he needs more deeper programs, not swagger. His SP this season was a good step, at least for me. I will say I liked her funk program she made for Ice Fantasia, and Boyang's performance of it. But that's not a competitive program.

I actually really don't know what I want to see him do for the SP if Masquerade is out Maybe something slower.

lol at least shoma and boyang knocked theirs out last season

To the Russian speakers out here ( @Fay ?), did this part really translate to "but we do not have a height and length competition" literally (which would mean "we don't judge height or length")? I took it to mean "but we do not have a height and length comparison" which is to say they might not have a database currently. Or maybe that it meant "it's not (*just*) a high jump or long jump competition". Could someone confirm one way or the other? Relevant excerpt: Because if it's the first, then it's ridiculous. I just assumed they were trying to get all these things together, and then would try to go for a database...

I do not believe he will be able to bring R&J1 to life anymore, not with his current stage of development, not with the quad requirements, and not with 30 seconds off the time limit.

Taking over the world, one bowling pin at a time.

I have been told that people can tell what I don't like simply by the way I say "no". To be fair to Shoma, though (and I do like him, although don't love), I think we won't see him improve most of his technique to a good extent this season because he'll be doing a coaching change (...thingy), and also because I doubt anyone's going to be fixing his jumps much. Spins, well, I don't think they've improved much since his debut, tbh, and therefore it's more of an extrapolation of the existing trend there. SS is more of a hope now because he's with new choreographers. Nathan and Vincent, well... I doubt we'll ever get emotional depth out of them. Nathan's had three years as a senior, and we can say he's had multiple reasons to not have improved, but he also simply doesn't have that guidance with Raf. Vincent can take another year from me, but I think they'll be trying to make sure he can rotate sufficiently more than anything, and while he's with Dickson and Hamada, let's say he just doesn't have that talent. I mean, he didn't even improve his SS any significant amount last season while he was with Lori, Kurt, Dickson, and Hamada at some point or the other (and in conjunction with two of them at any point IIRC), and that's entirely technical. That's... unfortunate. I've read that he's been with one since he was a junior. It's just wishful thinking with him. Probably he shouldn't have been taught that technique, but it's a good thing to try and jump purely, and thanks very much for trying. I do agree he's better in exhibitions, and it does sap the energy, but he also lacks emotional depth (perhaps due to constant worrying, that particular area of development has never been a focus, even for exhibitions), so hopefully, he'll try. And yes, hope he and Boyang stay healthy. Will be nice to see what they actually end up doing in the GPs after full seasons of not being in shape. I do agree he has good triples, and he's great in the SPs. But it does detract when he goes for the quad in the LP, and that leads to a domino effect with him usually. He has a triple-triple and the 3A back, this season, so hope he can get a 4S, too. And yeah, my vote for the best 3F goes to him, too. I don't particularly remember much from the SPs (or most men's programs), so I can't comment on the ranking (the only thing I remember is that Boyang's SP was being discussed as being cheesy, when there were actually some nice ideas there in terms of interpretation). I like Kevin's range of movement, and transitions, but he seems focused more on the moves and transitions than outward performance currently. Which is fine, learn one before the other, can't complain. I do hope he improves on the other regards now though.

Those are... bland. It perfectly suits Camden, though.

I guess I did this for Yuzuru (although the thoughts were very brief lol), so I am going to give thoughts on what I'd like to see this season for some of the men (Top 6 + Jason) 1. Nathan Chen: Training to become a more coherent performer who can commit and project emotion at least to a degree. He's still just 20, so some of his flaws are perhaps understandable, but I see no overall effort from him or his team to work towards creating a fully dimensional performance. Improved basics would be better, since I don't believe there was any work done at all since last season (at least not any significant amount). A lot of his positions are pretty enough to look at in pictures, but they lack intention (which is also evident in pictures, sadly). Less superficial understanding of music. Would like to see him skate to something like his Mao's Last Dancer program, which was a total failure in terms of what he was doing with the music (even ignoring the watered down program), but I don't believe we will. 3. Vincent Zhou: Creating a more authentic image on the ice, instead of looking like he's adopting a personality to fit the music. Better refinement (again, due to age to an extent). I don't believe we'll be seeing any work done at all on his overall technique, although he improved very slightly this year in terms of SS, I guess. I am not a fan of the music he has announced, and I am definitely not looking forward to the sloppiness being covered up as "personality" in his SP (although if he ends up projecting a personality with it, it would be a plus on that end). 4. Shoma Uno: Get back to where he was with Loco, and then try to add more nuance, more emotional depth, better expression. Improve his SS, as they haven't improved any significant amount for a while. He should be much further ahead at this point of time. I don't think we will see any improvement in the rest of his technique, but I do hope he does more creative things. 5. Boyang Jin: Overall improvement in all regards, but also to bring the refinement he's shown himself to be capable of in practices to the competition ice, while combining it with tech content and emotional depth. Stabilizes his jumps again. Could have deeper edges, and be less hunched forward at times. Could stretch out his limbs more, and have fuller movement. Hopefully more creative spins. I'd like to see something inventive and fun for the SP with a fast footwork sequence. His Angel EX is lacking currently (not a fan of how they open it up or at least how he performs some of the opening, nor how some of the emotion is fractured by the way he uses his limbs, and it looks too put together at points because he looks like he's trying a little too hard to look emotional, when he should just do it with a personal feeling)(could also do with better choreo in general or better music, but that's not all on him), but it does show attempts at nuance -- like trying to slow down his stroking according to the music and speed control, or some of the positions and arm movements which look quite honest. On that note, better dance technique overall to avoid being clunky and to reflect these attempts better, more work on projecting maturity, and better technique to achieve defined movement and creating a variation of speed better on the ice with his blades to add layers, too -- and use it all in an introspective LP. A tall order, but he's capable I'd say, although perhaps after another season to fully show all of it. He should also be a little further ahead than he is, but at least there's constant progress. 6. Mikhail Kolyada: I guess his music choices are set in stone. I wish he just learns to project a joyful image on the ice, or at least looks like he's having fun, and does so with better facial expression with them, as I have little hope with the choreo. Stops being a headcase ( ). I think his technique is just not suitable for him in the sense he's just not muscular enough to control some of the jumping he does, but I do wish to see how he'd do with better mental grit. Also, it's clear he gets tired after knocking out those initial quads, but he simply must have 3+ to podium... But my criticism is mostly just on emotion on mentality, because his technical and presentation skills are quite good overall (and I don't doubt they will get him further ahead on that regard). 9. Jason Brown: Get the quad rotated, and work on more creative programs, with unusual music choices. I don't think he'll be suited to classical music, but might give that a try (EDIT: I think he did Liebestraume, actually! That kind of a soft, airy, joyful feel is definitely suited, I'd say). Improve on every regard, but not worried there.

https://www.sport-express.ru/figure-skating/reviews/my-pomogaem-medvedevoy-izmeneniya-kosnutsya-vseh-vice-prezident-isu-o-novyh-pravilah-i-12-rossiyankah-na-gran-pri-1552839/ (Translation here: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?81076-Interview-with-Lakernik-on-rule-changes&p=2409065#post2409065 ) Embrace yourselves for backwards logic, folks! Yaaaas, kinnnnng! (instead of, you know, just going back to the "more than 90" standard, they decided to reinvent the BVs. Lmao.) Probable UO, but this IS a good thing in my book. Yes, measure jump rotation please, and I'm guessing they mean "height or length comparison" which is also true that it doesn't exist. But also ACTUALLY FIGURE A STANDARD FOR MEASURING WHERE THE JUMP STARTS, LEAVES THE ICE, AND LANDS IN RELATION TO THE FIRST TWO POINTS. lol