Mao Asada news

[Blades of Passion]

Don't like the program. 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back, spins that don't relate to the music, a random catch-foot spiral, laborious footwork, and a bunch of "ta da!" arms instead of any kind of real tango feeling.

 

[herro]

Don't like the program. 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back, spins that don't relate to the music, a random catch-foot spiral, laborious footwork, and a bunch of "ta da!" arms instead of any kind of real tango feeling.

Agree. I clicked on the video link with such high hopes, but felt underwhelmed.

 

[aftertherain]

Here is another link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctyejy-5Yhc

and a much better version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiyFYbrKGgU

Totally unrelated, but Shen looks stunning in that white dress.

 

[SerpentineSteps]

Mao's a slow starter, as evidenced by last season, so I don't really expect anything from her (as far as jumps go) until 4CC & Worlds.

I'm glad though that she and the rest of the cast are enjoying themselves.

Also recall that she spent much of the summer rebuilding her jumps from scratch and that she probably hasn't spent much time refining the choreo. I'm looking forward to what this program will be like for Tokyo.

ETA:
1) Yay, she's using her dress from the Tango EX from a couple of seasons back.
2) Judging from where she's putting the axel, I think it's safe to say that she's planning on having the 3A there by the end of the season (or at least leaving the door open for that). Putting that in combination with the fact that her popped jump was a Lo and that her 3F was preceded by steps, I guess her planned jump layout will be 3A, 3Lo-3Lo, 3F until she fixes that Lz. Very exciting.

 

[Dizzy]

Don't like the program. 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back, spins that don't relate to the music, a random catch-foot spiral, laborious footwork, and a bunch of "ta da!" arms instead of any kind of real tango feeling.

I agree with all you said,but about the back to back jumps,what other option mao realy has?
the 3A would definitely be the first than the 3-3, so i think leaving the solo triple to the end will be too risky.especially if she will have the flip in combo and would go for a solo 3Z.

 

[Blades of Passion]

I agree with all you said,but about the back to back jumps,what other option mao realy has?
the 3A would definitely be the first than the 3-3, so i think leaving the solo triple to the end will be too risky.

Skaters have to perform 7-8 jumping passes in their Long Programs and almost every skater puts half of those jumping passes in the second part of their program.

There is absolutely NO reason why a skater should be performing all of their jumps as the first 3 elements in the SP. It completely goes against the rules of a well balanced program. Judges should be deducting heavily on the "Choreography" program component for any skater who does this and they should likely be deducting on the "Interpretation" mark as well because I've never seen a SP where a skater did 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back that fit perfectly with the music.

 

[PROKOFIEV]

Skaters have to perform 7-8 jumping passes in their Long Programs and almost every skater puts half of those jumping passes in the second part of their program.

There is absolutely NO reason why a skater should be performing all of their jumps as the first 3 elements in the SP. It completely goes against the rules of a well balanced program. Judges should be deducting heavily on the "Choreography" program component for any skater who does this and they should likely be deducting on the "Interpretation" mark as well because I've never seen a SP where a skater did 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back that fit perfectly with the music.[/QUOT

Of course, skaters try to put as many jumps in the second half of the program only because they can get bonus points for that. But the short program, it is really smart to leave triple jump later in the program. Some skaters did double axel in the halfway or even later half of the program only because it is the easiest jump and not risky at all. But Mao's case, it is defeinitely wise for her to finish all three jumps in the beginning since all of her jumps are extremely difficult triple jumps. For the short program, it is essential for her to execute all the required elements so I do not see anything wrong with what Mao is doing at all. Plushenko Daisuke some other skaters do the same thing and leave energey for the another importantn element, footwork which requires so much of strength and energy. Even Yuna did 3-3 and 3F in the very first part of the program. She did double axel later in the program but it is just because double axel is so easy for any skaters at tha level. I learned doubleaxel before triples.I do not recall any SP that has triple jump in the later part of program.It is ridiculous to even suggest penalize for that. I would rather penalize the skater who repeats same jumps in the long program The skater needs to be able to do all the different jumps with different combination.
Actually, I love Mao's program this year. I really envy her for her beautiful twizzles which is requirement for all the skaters whoi want to pass Senior moves in the field test. I think this is going to be a quite beautiful program for her. It is still too early to judge but it is looking good to me.

 

[babayaga]

There is absolutely NO reason why a skater should be performing all of their jumps as the first 3 elements in the SP. It completely goes against the rules of a well balanced program. Judges should be deducting heavily on the "Choreography" program component for any skater who does this and they should likely be deducting on the "Interpretation" mark as well because I've never seen a SP where a skater did 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back that fit perfectly with the music.

I have to agree with PROKOFIEV that this is something male skaters do all the time. I just checked the protocols from 2010 WC and 32 out 46 short programs in men have three jumping passes first (this also includes all top three finishers - Takahashi, Chan, and Joubert).

 

[Blades of Passion]

I never said skaters need to put a jump late in their SP, I just said they shouldn't be putting all 3 of their jumping passes at the very beginning of their program. You're incorrect about no skater ever putting a Triple jump late in their SP, though - check out Kurt Browning in 1990, or Kwan and Bobek in 1995, or Lipinski in 1997 and 1998, or Yu-Na in 2006. They all have their jumping passes spread throughout the entire performance, including a Triple jump that comes more than halfway through, and this adds texture and excitement to the programs.

For the short program, it is essential for her to execute all the required elements so I do not see anything wrong with what Mao is doing at all. Plushenko Daisuke some other skaters do the same thing and leave energey for the another importantn element, footwork which requires so much of strength and energy.

Skating is difficult. It is what it is. Programs need to be balanced - blending the technical elements into the performance is part of what makes a great program. Every male skater has been cramming all of their jumping passes back-to-back-to-back in the SP for the past 2 years and it is a serious problem. Programs start to look more like a predictable checklist of moves than actual choreography. Even some female skaters have been doing this in their Short Programs, despite the easier requirement of a Double Axel.

Before CoP, and during the first years of CoP, spreading jumps out in the SP was considered to be important. Only people who were doing the Quad-Triple combination in the SP could sometimes get away with frontloading all of their jumping passes. There isn't a specific CoP deduction in the SP for frontloading, though (or a bonus for doing a jump late in the program), and judges are really bad at scoring the Program Components, so we've been left with skaters getting away with dumbing down their programs and being rewarded for it.

I won't stand for it. Mao Asada is planning very difficult technical content in her SP, so it's understandable that she wants to get all of the jumps at of the way at the very beginning of the program, but the fact is that it's BAD choreography. If I was choreographing her program, I would make sure to put in a spin before her 3rd jumping pass.

Again, skaters have to do far more jumping passes in the Long Program. There is absolutely no reason why it's unreasonable to expect them to appropriately balance the content of their Short Programs. Failing to do so should be seen as lazy and unsavory.

 

[Blades of Passion]

I have to agree with PROKOFIEV that this is something male skaters do all the time. I just checked the protocols from 2010 WC and 32 out 46 short programs in men have three jumping passes first (this also includes all top three finishers - Takahashi, Chan, and Joubert).

Just because everyone is doing it, that doesn't mean it's right. Instead of looking at what skaters have been doing the past couple years under the stagnant CoP, look at what skaters did before CoP and when CoP was still newer (2005 and 2006) - you won't see very many skaters putting all 3 of their jumping passes back-to-back-to-back in the SP. In fact, at the 2006 Olympics, Plushenko is the only person in the top 13 who frontloaded this heavily and it should come as no surprise that he was the only person who could get away with such a thing. At the 2002 Olympics, Timothy Goebel is the only person who I can recall putting all 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back.

Cramming the jumping passes together has historically NEVER been the case. Only in the past few years under CoP has this become normal. It's a horrible trend that needs to be reversed.

 

[babayaga]

Just because everyone is doing it, that doesn't mean it's right. Instead of looking at what skaters have been doing the past couple years under the stagnant CoP, look at what skaters did before CoP and when CoP was still newer (2005 and 2006) - you won't see very many skaters putting all 3 of their jumping passes back-to-back-to-back in the SP. In fact, at the 2006 Olympics, Plushenko is the only person in the top 13 who frontloaded this heavily and it should come as no surprise that he was the only person who could get away with such a thing. At the 2002 Olympics, Timothy Goebel is the only person who I can recall putting all 3 jumping passes back-to-back-to-back.

Cramming the jumping passes together has historically NEVER been the case. Only in the past few years under CoP has this become normal. It's a horrible trend that needs to be reversed.

Agree. Back to Mao, this is the first season she will perform such a difficult short program and she is also reworking her jumps. So it might not be a bad idea to have an easier layout for now even if the choreography suffers. Hopefully if she can get her jumps stable by the end of the year she might be able to do a program which is more balanced next season.

 

[hurrah]

Cramming the jumping passes together has historically NEVER been the case. Only in the past few years under CoP has this become normal. It's a horrible trend that needs to be reversed.

Well, sure it would be better if the jump passes were spread out, but you have to consider the fact that Mao is going for a 3-axel rather than a 2-axel, and most women usually only have their 2-axel in the 2nd half of the short. If Mao were planning on doing a 2-axel, I'm sure she's put it in at the very end of her program as she usually does. You also have to consider that this is the first time skaters will be choreographing with new rules on spins and step sequence, making it more difficult for them to hit levels on these components.

In short, you have to take into consideration the fact that Mao is planning a SP that has historically NEVER been a norm (i.e., doing a 3-axel, with no 2-axel with 3-flip instead) under historically NEVER before existing CoP rules (more difficult spins and step sequence).

I personally would prefer a front-loaded program (in terms of jumps) to not seeing a female skater who is going to attempt a 3-axel and another triple jump instead of a 2-axel and does so while making her spins and step sequence more challenging.

JMO.

 

[janetfan]

It looks like Mao has finaly decided on a new coach:

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-asada-coach

Seems like a good choice and hope it works out well for Mao.

 

[hurrah]

It look like Mao has finaly decided on a new coach:

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-asada-coach

Wow, of course Nobuo Sato was the most obvious choice. I guess they were being very cautious about the whole thing. With Nagakubo as her jump coach, and Nobuo Sato improving her skating skills even more, she is in good hands!

 

[babayaga]

It looks like Mao has finaly decided on a new coach:

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-asada-coach

Seems like a good choice and hope it works out well for Mao.

Thanks for good news!!

 

[seniorita]

arty:kozuka and mao!

 

[iluvtodd]

arty:kozuka and mao!

it!

 

[Olympia]

Nobuo Sato? Oh, it can't get better than this! Way back last year, when we were lamenting about Mao's program, I had hopes that she would end up with Sato (and I'm sure I wasn't the only one), and I think I put the idea aside because it seemed impossible. And here it is! Oh, I hope they have a fruitful association.

 

[demarinis5]

arty:kozuka and mao!

it!

Ditto. Great news!!

 

[sorcerer]

This is great !
Thrilled to see the outcome.