General Yuzuru Chat

[xeyra]

Yuzu is inconsistent. But so are most other men. I guess some are slightly less inconsistent than he is, but overall Yuzu isn't that much more inconsistent than other guys. However, what he is, is the man with the most pressure in the entire FS world, both by his country, his fans, the media, the FS community (Nathan might catch up in terms of the USA, though), etc. And the fact he is not any less consistent than most other men and gets the kind of results he does while having the most pressure heaped on him does prove something.

 

What I like about Yuzu is for all the mistakes he might have in a program, what he does right, he does magnificently. Reason why he can still score 200+ points for a FS with 2 pops.  

[gummybear]

moni said:

b138oo said:

Aww it's so nice to see how he still manages to have a good relationship with his previous coach. This says a lot about his personality. I've seen many athletes in my sport who have a hostile relationship with their ex coaches and that's not the best thing to see :nono:

 

Here is another picture with her Yuzu's having a lot of fun

 

 

 

Wow I have been waiting for the interaction between yuzu and nanami sensei! So glad to see them again on the same rink!

 

And thanks so much for creating a new forum for yuzu!  

[Gio]

xeyra said:

Yuzu is inconsistent. But so are most other men. I guess some are slightly less inconsistent than he is, but overall Yuzu isn't that much more inconsistent than other guys. However, what he is, is the man with the most pressure in the entire FS world, both by his country, his fans, the media, the FS community (Nathan might catch up in terms of the USA, though), etc. And the fact he is not any less consistent than most other men and gets the kind of results he does while having the most pressure heaped on him does prove something.

 

What I like about Yuzu is for all the mistakes he might have in a program, what he does right, he does magnificently. Reason why he can still score 200+ points for a FS with 2 pops.  

 

I really can't keep up with this thread (so fast c.c) but popping up to say that actually, as Max said, Yuzu is the best for average score this season.

So, not as inconsistent as most people say 

[Sombreuil]

I know what you mean about the thread and agree re Max, but Xeyras right -sky high expectations because of Nov/Dec 2015

[the50person]

xeyra said:

Yuzu is inconsistent. But so are most other men. I guess some are slightly less inconsistent than he is, but overall Yuzu isn't that much more inconsistent than other guys. However, what he is, is the man with the most pressure in the entire FS world, both by his country, his fans, the media, the FS community (Nathan might catch up in terms of the USA, though), etc. And the fact he is not any less consistent than most other men and gets the kind of results he does while having the most pressure heaped on him does prove something.

 

What I like about Yuzu is for all the mistakes he might have in a program, what he does right, he does magnificently. Reason why he can still score 200+ points for a FS with 2 pops.

 

[Floria]

I think the question is not that "Can he deliver under pressure?", because he can, he definitely can, we've seen many instances.

And for the ridiculous amount of pressure put on him, we all agree that he performed exceptionally well.

 

But the question should be, "Can he deliver under pressure at the right time?"

Because like it or not, we need to admit that Yuzu can be... a bit inconsistent some times.

He can crumble down under pressure. Yes, there's injury and whatnot, but WTT is an example where well... he can not-deliver under pressure as well.

And that's okay, he's a human after all (no, actually he's an alien), and I dare say that his humanistic side is what makes me care about him a lot more.

 

So yea, everybody knows his the best out there in terms of the whole package. He's on another level really.

But his biggest enemy right now is himself, in the form of mental pressure and self-doubt.

 

That's why winning the WC is indeed important, not to prove anything to anyone or add more medal collection, but just to give him that morale booster he really needs.

 

He delivered when the pressure was highest (Worlds, after 5th place). I am not sure it is only the pressure issue. It is clear for me that when he is a chaser and not the chased one it works wonders for him. All the season 2016-2017 is a demonstration of that. Didn't he admit in one of his interviews that the LP at Worlds would have been different if not for the mistakes in SP? And WTT is another clear example. He was so angry at himself after the SP that he decided to try a new quad combo in the LP :smile:

[xeyra]

Floria said:

He delivered when the pressure was highest (Worlds, after 5th place). I am not sure it is only the pressure issue. It is clear for me that when he is a chaser and not the chased one it works wonders for him. All the season 2016-2017 is a demonstration of that. Didn't he admit in one of his interviews that the LP at Worlds would have been different if not for the mistakes in SP? And WTT is another clear example. He was so angry at himself after the SP that he decided to try a new quad combo in the LP  

 

He does seem to attack more when he's chasing after the SP but he's also had stellar FS performances with good SPs: GPF 2014, NHK 2016 (first in both segments), NHK 2015/GPF 2015. And yet, at GPF 2014 he did have something to prove after his GP series results and NHK ends up being a result of his frustration at losing to Patrick at SC; GPF 2015, in fact, could almost be considered an outlier in a pattern. But I don't think we can really ascribe a pattern of if he's good at a SP he'll immediately bomb the FS.

[mcq]

HoneyGoldLev said:

I think the question is not that "Can he deliver under pressure?", because he can, he definitely can, we've seen many instances.

And for the ridiculous amount of pressure put on him, we all agree that he performed exceptionally well.

 

But the question should be, "Can he deliver under pressure at the right time?"

Because like it or not, we need to admit that Yuzu can be... a bit inconsistent some times.

He can crumble down under pressure. Yes, there's injury and whatnot, but WTT is an example where well... he can not-deliver under pressure as well.

And that's okay, he's a human after all (no, actually he's an alien), and I dare say that his humanistic side is what makes me care about him a lot more.

 

So yea, everybody knows his the best out there in terms of the whole package. He's on another level really.

But his biggest enemy right now is himself, in the form of mental pressure and self-doubt.

 

That's why winning the WC is indeed important, not to prove anything to anyone or add more medal collection, but just to give him that morale booster he really needs.

 

Well I agree. I don't think I consider any of the top men as consistent as in Zhenya's type of consistent. But then again, she is not doing 3A and quads, who knows maybe if Yuzu only did 4S and 4T we would have seen a more consistent version of him, but everybody knows that is not going to happen due to the direction of the sport is going (this is the man who keeps upgrading something each season), so you are going to expect to see some splat here and there. I actually don't mind the "inconsistency" of the top men, because that means they are pushing themselves and getting out of their comfort zone. Because hey, If you are clean all the time, maybe your layout is too easy for you?

But I think the sentiment among general skating fans that if Yuzuru is clean he is unbeatable is still very strong (whether the judges is going to go with it or not is another story). Even Javier himself said it recently, if Yuzuru is clean, he is unbeatable, and this man is his biggest rival for the past years.  

[GoldMedalist]

LOL he has always been 'deliver(ing) under pressure'. What 3 years? What (3) years? He did well in NHK 2015, GPF 2015, and Worlds SP 2016 and his silver was due to injury. Then he did 4Lo in 2016, won GPF 2016 (fine, not perfect but he's the first guy to do it 4 times consecutively), manages to YOLO his FS layout while under heat, broke FS WR at Worlds 2017 and became 2017 World Champ, he has always had a record of making tremendous comebacks (I call him King of Comebacks sometimes), so idk why ppl always say he can't or he hasn't been delivering under pressure? Who skates with the amount of pressure he has? Name me any other skater. Not Pchiddy, media doesnt hype him that much. Not Javi, Spain doesnt care abt FS. Boyang? China cares more abt pairs and Boyang himself knows he still needs to work on PCS. Nate? A bit more now, but he still has respite from the fact that men's skating just came from depression so the media have merely begun to hype. For him it's just starting. Shoma? Shoma said so himself that he didn't know Yuzu had been bearing so much expectations and pressure until he was gone and Shoma was without a deflector at Nationals. When Yuzu skates, media hypes, oh, will he fall and will the new ace rise, oh is his tine over? Media speculates and tabloids spin yarns. Hosts on tv bait him and everyone waits for him to fall into the pitholes. Federations score against him and push others up. Analysts say 'he can't deliver under pressure'. Antis and people who do not actually know anything about the technicalities of skating spew nonsense about how his skating is nonsense and cannot compare to the "complexities" and "beauty" of other skaters (beauty is subjective, but it shld also be backed up with good evidence and it"s subjectiveness is not an excuse to be blind). He puts pressure on himself. He skates for himself, his choreo, his choreographers, his coaches, his family, Sendai, Tohoku, his fans, the people who have all contributed or helped him in one way or another, and for the future of skating. And he still delivers, and on both sides, the technical and artistic. This is the guy who went from 7th to 3rd at 2012 Worlds while injured. This is the guy who went from iirc 9th to 4th at 2013 Worlds while injured. This is the guy who went from 3rd to World Champ. This is the guy who went to Olys bearing Japan's expectations and grabbed gold. The guy who overcame himself to set the 3WRs anew 2 weeks after he first broke them. And we have ppl telling us that he can't. deliver. under pressure. Someone tell me a bigger joke? (then again, they are US analysts so)

 

It's this type of minute brainwashing that influences commentators, influences analysts, influences the audience and most importantly, influences the judges. Soon, it permeates the skating circles that Hanyu Yuzuru cannot skate under pressure. It's not whether he can, it will become whether everyone has the impression he can. Impressions are poeerful, and impressions are also insidious. I'm sorry if this sounds cynical, but this is how power games are played.

 

Um lol chill a bit. I actually think they are quite complimentary to Yuzuru if you actually listen to the podcast. From the tone of their voice, their word choice and their figure of speech, I think they genuinely think Yuzuru is the man to beat and if he is clean he would win. I would argue that the tone of how they talk about Yuzuru is even nicer than some (some, not all) Japanese media who sometimes paints a narrative as if Yuzuru is really threatened by the younger guys. They really think Yuzuru is still the top guy if he delivers.

 

 

I think the question is not that "Can he deliver under pressure?", because he can, he definitely can, we've seen many instances.

And for the ridiculous amount of pressure put on him, we all agree that he performed exceptionally well.

 

But the question should be, "Can he deliver under pressure at the right time?"

Because like it or not, we need to admit that Yuzu can be... a bit inconsistent some times.

He can crumble down under pressure. Yes, there's injury and whatnot, but WTT is an example where well... he can not-deliver under pressure as well.

And that's okay, he's a human after all (no, actually he's an alien), and I dare say that his humanistic side is what makes me care about him a lot more.

 

So yea, everybody knows his the best out there in terms of the whole package. He's on another level really.

But his biggest enemy right now is himself, in the form of mental pressure and self-doubt.

 

That's why winning the WC is indeed important, not to prove anything to anyone or add more medal collection, but just to give him that morale booster he really needs.

 

 

Um, how do you know his performance at WTT had something to do with pressure? It was the last competition of the year, after worlds, he was maybe just tired? No? Not everything has something to do with "pressure".

[Moria Polonius]

I think there is a general image of him bombing the SP at Worlds, maybe because of the 5th place. But It's not exactly true.

 

Yeah, I showrped it to a friend, she really enjoyed it, said "nice save" on the combo and then I had to explain her ghag theu didn't count the combo.So, not really bombing.

[Floria]

xeyra said:

Floria said:

He delivered when the pressure was highest (Worlds, after 5th place). I am not sure it is only the pressure issue. It is clear for me that when he is a chaser and not the chased one it works wonders for him. All the season 2016-2017 is a demonstration of that. Didn't he admit in one of his interviews that the LP at Worlds would have been different if not for the mistakes in SP? And WTT is another clear example. He was so angry at himself after the SP that he decided to try a new quad combo in the LP  

He does seem to attack more when he's chasing after the SP but he's also had stellar FS performances with good SPs: GPF 2014, NHK 2016 (first in both segments), NHK 2015/GPF 2015. And yet, at GPF 2014 he did have something to prove after his GP series results and NHK ends up being a result of his frustration at losing to Patrick at SC; GPF 2015, in fact, could almost be considered an outlier in a pattern. But I don't think we can really ascribe a pattern of if he's good at a SP he'll immediately bomb the FS.

 

If there is a pattern, it is not "good SP bad FS", it is the contrary, the comebacks after SP. His own frustration is what fires him up most of all.

 

mcq said:

Well I agree. I don't think I consider any of the top men as consistent as in Zhenya's type of consistent. But then again, she is not doing 3A and quads, who knows maybe if Yuzu only did 4S and 4T we would have seen a more consistent version of him, but everybody knows that is not going to happen due to the direction of the sport is going (this is the man who keeps upgrading something each season), so you are going to expect to see some splat here and there. I actually don't mind the "inconsistency" of the top men, because that means they are pushing themselves and getting out of their comfort zone. Because hey, If you are clean all the time, maybe your layout is too easy for you?

But I think the sentiment among general skating fans that if Yuzuru is clean he is unbeatable is still very strong (whether the judges is going to go with it or not is another story). Even Javier himself said it recently, if Yuzuru is clean, he is unbeatable, and this man is his biggest rival for the past years.  

 

Actually Javi called him very consistent.

[xeyra]

I think there is a general image of him bombing the SP at Worlds, maybe because of the 5th place. But It's not exactly true.

 

Yeah, I showrped it to a friend, she really enjoyed it, said "nice save" on the combo and then I had to explain her ghag theu didn't count the combo.So, not really bombing.

His step sequence was on fire in that SP. And he had the most beautiful of 4Lo's there. So aside from his combo not counting, he still got a slightly less than 100 score. The problem was all the other men coming after having such stellar SPs too, some getting personal bests, which placed Yuzu in 5th and colored his SP in a more negative light in comparison.

[ralucutzagy]

I know what you mean about the thread and agree re Max, but Xeyras right -sky high expectations because of Nov/Dec 2015

So true. Every time that the man skates remotely clean or not so clean you can hear every comentator from every TV post saying: "Well, is not a WR this time, but ..." Come on, ppl! Give this guy a break, he's human, and he really don't need to break the WR every time he skates. But that's the pressure he's on at every competition, and, sometime it get to him like it was at WTT. This is media from our times and it's not valid only in FS, in all the sports is the same.

[HoneyGoldLev]

Hahaha totally agree with men inconsistent in general. I mean not to put down on anyone, but Nathan finished at 6th at WC definitely surprised anyone, when 2 months earlier he landed 5 quads in an LP. And yes, in general, Yuzu IS more consistent than the others.

But my point is, although some commentators did exaggerate about Yuzu not performing well (that's why in my first post I said I was a bit lukewarm with the talk), we shouldn't really jump on everyone that says Yuzu can be inconsistent, because well, he can be some times.

 

@Floria: Yeap, totally right about peaking when the pressure is the highest this season. As I said, I'm so glad Yuzu won the WC, it's the best start for him.

But going into the Olympic season, there are a lot of factors. The slightest issue can affect the mental condition a lot. And this is what he always wanted, even more than Sochi, so the pressure will be 10 fold, if not higher.

So yea, I'm really hoping he can also peak at the right time next season.

[HoneyGoldLev]

Um, how do you know his performance at WTT had something to do with pressure? It was the last competition of the year, after worlds, he was maybe just tired? No? Not everything has something to do with "pressure".

 

I think Yuzu said it himself during an interview with Japanese media that when he did the SP at WTT, he started to doubt himself, that maybe he's not good with SP and a lot of bad images started to appear in his head..

 

When I read that I was like... Yuzu, don't TT___TT

Ur great, okay, don't doubt yourself