hoodie axel

Around a week left!

I don't think Chen is as uninjured as the media would like us to believe. You can see it in the way he walks at times. But, anyway. Pointless speculation.

Chen did use to get injured a lot. His technique has him jump much smaller though (nor is it as bad as Uno's).

I actually don't like Two Men in Love... The texture of the singer's voice grates. But good for him if he chooses to skate to it.

Chocolate is overrated.

Based off scoring potential, I'd guess. Makes sense, frankly.

I think show programs that are being choreographed with a particular TV broadcast in mind are looking empty, because they are being choreographed towards the camera to show off the "star power" or whatever else. It was obvious in fan cams for ATS, when Yuna was specifically going closer to one of the cameras, looking straight into them, and doing a move. Interacting with the audience is also amped up for similar reasons. It is what it is, but I really don't like it, and wish we'd get full choreographies for shows.

Oh! Mayyyyyybe this will be the FS?

I'm guessing that the SP will be Masquerade. I hope that, for the FS, he decides to go for a fuller, newer mode of interpretation than the ones he's done before, and shows off a good range of movement (as much as it is possible within the confines of the CoP).

I am extremely proud of myself, re-reading my previous response, that I got Samodurova's name right in one go! Well, not really, I'd say... There were several errors that had happened for lower ranked skaters in the GP events in 2017, for instance, that combined with the errors of the higher ranked skaters pushed them into a much lower position. It's actually hilarious to see the kind of manipulation that happens to keep the momentum of big-name skaters going.

Very strange that a dancer (or a figure skater) would be homophobic...

How does this work with spins and steps? Well, Samodurova didn't deserve an edge call, it was (!) at worst. I don't think the ISU's incompetence should be taken as a good thing.

I didn't know that about Polunin.

I doubt he's going to go coachless. There's no way he feels he's been taught enough at this point to not need anyone for a full season, while training on his own to improve consistency, make layout changes, and heal his injuries -- or at least I hope he realizes that, since it's not a Kwan situation with him at all.

Admittedly, because I wouldn't make such a statement, I felt it an odd thing to be pointed out... But I agree if it's purely observational, nothing more, it doesn't matter. I am glad I asked anyway, because it did give me insight into assumptions made or not made by at least one other person, though. @rockstaryuzuSorry if I came off too heatedly. This is ridiculous, however. But I don't disagree with this? I dislike her methods, as I already stated (although I have no idea if she'll just move on to the next youngster or not while dealing with someone of Uno's stature from a foreign federation, nor do I know what is or isn't good for Uno at his age, or what will or won't happen with Eteri's shouting). I don't think I can draw any of these conclusions from her being cold in the K&C, however.

He actually hasn't even said anything at all about what he's looking for in a coach, and why he left his former coaches, as far as I know. And as far as I know, "strict discipline" might be one the qualities that could help him grow -- I don't see mutual exclusivity there, but maybe the rest of your response will prove me wrong. If you read the thread I mention that Eteri doesn't have experience dealing with men's injuries. I even said I dislike Eteri's methods. Nothing to do with her being "cold" as contrasted with Higuchi's being "sweet" in the K&C, but to do with her having poor coaching method. When I asked you why it matters if she's cold or not, you cited her K&C reactions, not her poor methods. Are you sure she's exactly as "cold" behind the scenes, each time she works with someone? Also, in case you haven't noticed, Uno's injuries were there around 2018 worlds, and popped up again around 2019 4CCs -- so much so for kind-hearted coaches being able to deal with injuries? And...? If you have a accusation to make of Eteri, just do it. This seems like concern-trolling, otherwise, based off someone's perceived warmth. I wouldn't call this coach "cold" if they were showing all this off in the K&C either -- I would be concerned they were abusive. If they aren't being anything more than "cold"... are you sure this isn't just projection? Uno already isn't performing well -- his reputation is saving him. He already does need to fine-tune his performance. He already would go through an adjustment phase -- even if he went to a perfectly nice and kind coach in a different training environment. Are you sure he hasn't weighed any of these things in his mind? When has Eteri not reacted nicely to skaters doing well? You are even free to include Zagitova's OGM, here. A coach being perceived as "cold" doesn't automatically mean they are an awful person, BTW. And again, "cold" isn't the word you want here. There's a difference between personality and psychology. This is a reductionist view. As if any athlete as young as Uno won't be passing through different phases of his life and be in need of different ways of trying to discipline himself. I don't understand why you went "ergo" there, it was always patently obvious that he was looking for someone to advance his skills -- or how it relates to perceived "warmth". He can easily gain something from Eteri -- consistency, and new quad jumps, and packaging that seems to work the best for one of the disciplines. What he won't gain is proper technique -- but it is unlikely ANY coach would have changed technique as shoddy as his by much, unless he wants to bid farewell to Beijing. The thing he loses with Eteri is experience to deal with him as a top senior man, which again has nothing to do with her perceived warmth. I didn't say that, lol. I just don't see the point of "coach should be sweet and warm" which is indeed more of a Western thing from what I can see. I don't believe all countries in the world see it like that. Even you yourself state that Higuchi is kinder than most Japanese coaches. Eteri is colder than most Russian coaches, let's say. So? As long as the coach knows how to deal with the skater (and again, I have already stated that Eteri might not be able to deal with a top man), who cares what image they project to the audience? Oh, BTW, Rafael Arutunyan? He's spoken about how different it is to train in Russia compared to the USA. He said he's had to take classes to understand what works better in the US compared to Russia. He is sweet to Nathan Chen and Marin Honda. One is a two time WC due to him. He used to rip Wagner and Rippon apart in the K&C after poor performances. One is a WSM, the other an Olympic Team Bronze. It is easy to look at what is put in front of us, and think very little about the dynamic that works for the athlete and the coaches.

OK, then why is someone being cold a bad look for a coach, and why does this contrast matter? Why might Uno -- who's been called out as having "brain fog" and being kind of silly on this very website, even on this thread IIRC -- not want a strict disciplinarian as his new coach? I am genuinely curious why the contrast in personality matters (or might actually not be one of the things he considered), and why you (or anyone else) might bring it up. And people on the thread were excited for a 4Flooptz. Doesn't take a big stretch of imagination for what might be said about him and his move if he did end up acquiring one.

He hasn't switched yet, and being "sweet" is hardly a criterion for selecting a coach. I don't like Eteri (her methods, and what has been captured of her coaching on camera -- and I've called her attitude out before), but let's not pretend being "sweet" and "warm" isn't essentially a standard that Western eyes have created here. Even with that, you probably don't know how other coaches behave off-camera. Let's wait and see. It's not like he gets spared attacks for his technique.

So scoring according to what is done on ice isn't simpler

I get that. At the end of the day, the more I think about it, even ignoring the judging and everything else, I feel more and more that FS just shouldn't be a sport. I guess, it's hard to leave the foundations it was built upon, and try to break it into a legit art form (as much as we talk about artistry in FS, I would say there have been maybe 9 or 10 interpretations and choreographies that I'd consider legitimate attempts at art, at least in singles), and to establish it as something as deserving of recognition as dance, establishing conservatories and schools... But I do think it's an entire fools' errand currently. If we really want to talk about "art", we aren't exactly going into a ballet and seeing people doing triple tours when a double tour would do, they just do whatever fits the music, but this wouldn't earn them points if it were quanitfied. If we talk about "sport", well, then it really calls into question about what kind of restrictions we must place on the technical content to be achieved to make sure the "artistic" qualities aren't entirely washed out (because to earn a tech advantage, someone would do a triple-triple, instead of a triple-double even though the latter fits music better, for instance). It's kind of useless. Athletes *want* technical advantages. Athletes who want to be artists *want* to skate to the music. But, as the sport goes through its natural paces (more quads, quad-quads, quints etc), all of this isn't possible. So the question really, to me, becomes "what do the *athletes* want, and what do the *audiences* want?". I'd be fine with Ice Gymnastics, and Ice Skating, one a sport, the other an art Just like someone who trains in ballet would have a good foundation for gymnastics, someone who trains in Ice Skating would be great at Ice Gymnastics. And after their sports career ends, they can go practice their art form. But IDK if it'll ever happen, what others think, and if anyone would invest time into making it into this and marketing it.

Well, they might. In a way, this seems like they might want to go back to a 6.0-esque system with the technical programme and the free programme. I don't mind that. The judges weren't blind enough to not know what steps before a jump were back then, and they had to complete a proper pattern of footwork (two for men; one + a proper pattern for the spiral for women) + they were some spin requirements, too. In the FP, I don't think there were any "required" spin positions or footwork elements (in the sense that they could pick to do whatever spin positions they wanted, for instance... and I remember a few programs where there wasn't a real footwork section at all), those existed for the sake of good choregraphy and interpretation and for having a technical advantage over the competitors. I don't think 6.0 is the ideal system, in that it had several judging flaws, and also didn't give proper credit to spins and footwork (I think those were all just a part of the "base mark"), and in those ways CoP is better. But we do need to get to an ideal CoP (we aren't even close), and 6.0 did have some good ideas (TP + FP, and also the fact that +3Lo and "difficult" combos were given automatic credit by the judges instead of going off what's loaded into their computers). A combination of the two might not be an entirely terrible idea, along with fixes to how rotation and edges are defined (6.0 wasn't the best at this either). I do worry about just how much they'll be screwing up the execution, however.

I don't think they've said there won't be footwork sections in the SP?

I sure hope he doesn't get dinged for it by the skating community and judges. Fun to think about the homophobia still in it, right? ETA: I actually don't know if he's doing it as a competitive program, I just saw a few tweets discussing it (possibly misread them in my sleep... goodness only knows how I specifically came up with "as his SP")... His IG just says he's debuting it at FaOI.

Vasilijevs to skate to Two Men in Love for his SP.

Oh! I was wondering why I was suddenly transported to a completely different page, but looks like we've merged threads? Or am I just delirious currently, and don't even remember clicking on a different page of the thread?