Well every single skater you mentioned (Michelle, Sasha, Shizuka, Joannie) all grew up, learnt to skate and hit seniors and competed for the majority of their competitive lives under 6.0. Isn't it possilbe, plausible, even that the skaters that grew up in a system where you did what you could, and did it well subject only to having a "balanced programme", are going to be more polished, finish their moves better etc etc, than the skaters who have groen up under a system that rewards quantity over quality?
Why would a skater do something with finesse, polish or finish it properly if judges are too stingey with +GOEs? If the simple maths is do a level 4 poorly, because the points are far higher than a level 1 with +GOE (which in any event you're not likely to get).
Or are are we simply comparing 16-18 year olds with 24+ year olds so there is going to be no comparison in terms of polish?
Who knows?
Ant
Maybe you have a point there. However there have been a lot of sloppy skaters under the old 6.0 system as well so perhaps attention to detail is more a trait within the skater than dictated by the system. I thought COP brought out the best in Shizuka. Irina was always sloppy, whether it was 6.0 or COP.
Michelle and Tara were very polished 15-16 year olds under the 6.0 system. I don't think Michelle's artistry evolved much from her mid to late teen peak. Sasha always had beautiful movements from the start of her skating career as well.
I listen to commentary about Yu Na and Mao and this might be the very first quad in which I am :scratch: over the love poured into these two girls- particularly Yu Na. With so much praise, what incentive is there for her to improve her skating? She's far from perfect. She's a very good skater but from the way people gush about her you would think she was the second coming of Midori Ito.
I'm another poster who prefers Miki's skating to that of Mao and Yu Na. Despite Miki's stamina issues at Worlds, I think she moves better across the ice and has better edges than the other two- plus she was the only woman who landed a fully loaded program.