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General Yuzuru Chat


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11 minutes ago, xeyra said:

 

I'm not sure I agree with this? They can be friends but Yuzu still considers Shoma a difficult opponent. Especially after Worlds, when he almost lost the title to him. Shoma is still the guy, even above Nathan, with the most similar scoring potential as Yuzu. So I'm sure Yuzu has done some worrying about Shoma, as much as he's done worrying about Nathan, whatever kind of 'worry' that is (in his case, it's probably just called motivation). :laughing:

I tend to think he doesn't worry, like you said. He said he's happy to be challenged. Maybe not quite going "Yay! Shoma finished just 3 points behind me!". I do think he takes any and all challenges seriously, he's not the type to underestimate his rivals. But 'worry' is probably not a good word...

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52 minutes ago, xeyra said:

 

I'm not sure I agree with this? They can be friends but Yuzu still considers Shoma a difficult opponent. Especially after Worlds, when he almost lost the title to him. Shoma is still the guy, even above Nathan, with the most similar scoring potential as Yuzu. So I'm sure Yuzu has done some worrying about Shoma, as much as he's done worrying about Nathan, whatever kind of 'worry' that is (in his case, it's probably just called motivation). :laughing:

I certainly hope you didn’t think I was being flippant. But yes, while he may take into account his scoring potential, I always felt there was a calm clarity that he could always win. Even when Shoma almost beat him in points, I think he saw it that way, that he saw it more that he himself messed up (in the short. Even Shoma was describing it that way.)
My words probably sounded too cold… 
It’s just I notice how eagle-eyed he is about people’s skating. (that’s something that’s astounding to me, how fast his eye picks things up) And what’s more it’s in his atmosphere (that’s my subjectivity I realize). I do not mean arrogance. He's certainly described Shoma's strengths himself. (but his eyes are very relaxed when he’s ribbing Shoma and whispering “I won’t let you win”, kind of like tickling a kid)
I don’t find Nathan’s skating near Yuzu’s myself. And I certainly don't know about his level of "threat". But Yuzu had a very different look in his eyes when he looked at Nathan walking by. I'd never seen him have such a competitor's face. I guess as much as I look askance at the media trying to create their showdowns, I suppose I think somehow Nathan is on everyone's mind a teensy bit more. (Yes, those quads are on the mind. And maybe youth. Maybe even momentum which I'm afraid is there)
If I talk more I feel like I’m going to further misunderstanding of what I am saying. Look, of course Shoma or any of the top contenders could win over each other. This is the part of all competition that makes it the sport part I think. But I just don’t happen to believe Yuzu planned his practices with Shoma in mind that much… (that’s all…and the fact that we were talking about Yuzu keeping things close… half-jokingly, i just didn’t think he had Shoma on his mind!)

 

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After reading Shirota's book, I can not help but think Shirota is playing a big part in dealing with Japanese media (along with Orser). She wrote about how she has been learning and experiencing so many things and accidents on the roads to the Olympics in the past, and Pyeongchang Olympics is the 8th Olympics aiming for the medal in her 60 years career of being in figure skating community. She looks to me she is a very strategic person and personally I am not surprised if she is in TCC now.

 

She says she can not talk about Yuzuru a lot in the book because he is still competing. She might write another book someday :laughing:

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6 hours ago, KatjaThera said:

I agree, though, that the mental aspect is the trickiest part. He can jump all quads and a handful of quints in his sleep, but he can't focus when it matters, it means squat. However, I think Brian - or anyone else - trying to talk him into simplifying his programs is the worst thing they could do right now. It'd send a "we don't think you can do it with all quads" message and that's not a message you want to send. I also tend to think his kuyashii if he won with simplified programs would be comparable to the kuyashii of winning with mistakes. He might feel better going all out and losing than taking it easier and winning. (I'm also not sure he would win, because his heart's not fully in it.) If it comes from him, that's a different issue. But not if he lets himself be convinced, but in his heart he still has doubts. That's what happened at ACI. He got 112 points, but he wasn't happy. Not really. And then he fell apart in Seimei, because he had doubts that that was the right choice. Whatever choice they make, he has to be 100% behind it. If he has doubts, it'll possibly backfire on him. So I really, really hope in TCC they're not making any suggestions like that.

I have to agree with you here and perhaps I misrepresented what I was trying to say.  'Dumbing down' was not the term I should have used.  What I meant was that Yuzu should have had emphasized to him that it wasn't as important to match quad for quad as to concentrate on the whole program, every aspect of it.  I remember some years ago when Brian was telling him to trust his training.  I think here Yuzu has to be told to trust the program he initially set forth.  If he is as mindful of all the varying elements that make up his program, remembers how he and his choreographer worked out every detail, particularly putting every detail in the perspective of how and what Yuzu was trying to communicate and relating all those details to the music, then things will go fine.  Perfection should be his goal, not winning.  If he achieves perfection he wins because over the years he has learned that his notion of perfection is superior to that of any other skater.  That insight is where his greatness and his genius resides.  But part of achieving that perfection is knowing how much you can do and aiming for that 'how much', not trying to alter things if one momentarily feels challenged by what some other skater has done.  Yuzu in his mind wants to be the absolute champion, but Yuzu's Achilles heel is that he can at times lose that vision of the absolute champion and become distracted when he focuses on trivial details.  That, I feel is  the root of Yuzu's inconsistency.  When he loses sight of the total picture he loses competitions.  When the total picture is programmed into his every step, his every spin, his every jump, his every gesture, when he goes with the 'programming', then he wins.  It's a matter of focus and when Yuzu is focused nobody can beat him.  He just has to remember that when he takes to the ice.

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