Caroline Zhang's 2009-10 season | Page 87 | Golden Skate

Caroline Zhang's 2009-10 season

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Joesitz's comment that she's a smoldering volcano waiting to explode is interesting. For me, she's like a smoldering volcano waiting to expire. I just don't have a good feeling about her skating. I look back on her juniors skates and see all the seeds of her present issues there. It's not that she changed... it's that she didn't. What worked for her as a tiny tot just doesn't do it any more.

We'll see who's correct. I wish her the best but don't foresee much of a future unless she makes some big changes. But congrats on 4cc podium! She seems to like that competition.

I concur with RD and Spun Silver; a performance like this at 4CC keeps Caroline in the 6 - 10 placement range at Nationals. However, nothing about this performance says that she can break the top 5 at Nats. Unless she matures to a senior skater with solid jump technique, sophisticated stroking and transitions, the bottom of the top 10 is where she will stay.

I do think she WANTS to make progress in all those areas mentioned above, but she doesn't have the resources to accomplish it (i.e. the willingness to relearn the basics and work with a different coach.)
 

bigsisjiejie

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
I concur with RD and Spun Silver; a performance like this at 4CC keeps Caroline in the 6 - 10 placement range at Nationals. However, nothing about this performance says that she can break the top 5 at Nats. Unless she matures to a senior skater with solid jump technique, sophisticated stroking and transitions, the bottom of the top 10 is where she will stay.

I do think she WANTS to make progress in all those areas mentioned above, but she doesn't have the resources to accomplish it (i.e. the willingness to relearn the basics and work with a different coach.)

Add my voice of agreement to these posters. And another thing: even if she took a rest for 2-3 months to take care of her injuries, and then started with a different coach to work on jump technique issues, it's going to take a LONG time to rework things. Given that she has had bad jump habits for so long, it's not going to be a matter of fix-it-over-the-summer, then be good to go for next season. Usually, when you have to relearn basic jumping again at this level, things get worse before they get better, and you lose jumps completely in the transition. It may take a full year or more to put things on the right track again, given that Caroline has multiple problems with jumps--it's not just a matter of fixing just one jump. All this rework is going to be tough to do, while simultaneously trying to practice and compete programs. I still maintain that unless she takes next season off from competitive skating (except perhaps Nationals), she is not going to give herself and a new coach a real chance at fixing the technique issues.
 

cornell08

Final Flight
Joined
May 10, 2009
But there's also the issue of funding. Figure skating is expensive and I'll bet Arutunian is going to be, if anything, an increase in tuition for Caroline. I agree it would probably be best if she could just work on stroking, edges, etc. but I just don't know how many skaters could afford a top coach and not perform in shows or compete on the international circuit. She probably needs even more hours of one on one coaching than is the norm..
 

PolymerBob

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Add my voice of agreement to these posters.

Add my voice of only partial agreement. Caroline's poor season is not due to her poor technique. She had the same poor technique last season when she won bronze at Nationals, beat Team USA at 4CC, and won $30,000 at World Team Trophy. This poor season is due to other factors.

OK, now with that said, she does have problems that need to be worked out. How long that will take, I have no idea. Whether she needs a new coach, I have no idea. Regardless, there is no point in taking next season off. She has no bye, so if she wants to go to nationals, she must either do the Grand Prix or regionals / sectionals. If she competes and gets beat, so what? That's better than not competing at all. She needs to put her new jumps in front of the judges as soon as possible.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
i have found caroline's lp i think her jumps look better this time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOkkpgnKCbo

Thanks so much for providing this link! It's worth watching just to see her big smile when she gets her score in the kiss and cry.

Watching her in Nationals and again here, I realize how beautiful her arms are, and her upper body positions. Her shoulders are open and graceful, and her back is beautifully straight without being at all stiff. I do hope she manages to fix whatever ails her jumps and remains in skating, because she has a wonderful presence on the ice. This music from the Nutcracker suits her really well: she gives it warmth as well as grace.

One problem with being a skating fan is that one gets to like the skaters and hates to see them go through bad times, either on the ice or off. It was the same thing with Kimmie. I never thought she was a heart-stopping skater, but she's such a nice kid and such a sunny performer that watching her fall down through the rankings was a real distress. Same with Zhang, whom we've watched since she was--what, thirteen? The fact is that all of the skaters work harder than most of us could imagine, and at an age when most of us could barely manage to do our homework. I hate to see such determination and labor go unrewarded. I do hope Caroline pulls herself and her technique together and barrels up the ladder, so that she has a satisfying skating career.
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Thanks so much for providing this link! It's worth watching just to see her big smile when she gets her score in the kiss and cry.

Watching her in Nationals and again here, I realize how beautiful her arms are, and her upper body positions. Her shoulders are open and graceful, and her back is beautifully straight without being at all stiff. I do hope she manages to fix whatever ails her jumps and remains in skating, because she has a wonderful presence on the ice. This music from the Nutcracker suits her really well: she gives it warmth as well as grace.

One problem with being a skating fan is that one gets to like the skaters and hates to see them go through bad times, either on the ice or off. It was the same thing with Kimmie. I never thought she was a heart-stopping skater, but she's such a nice kid and such a sunny performer that watching her fall down through the rankings was a real distress. Same with Zhang, whom we've watched since she was--what, thirteen? The fact is that all of the skaters work harder than most of us could imagine, and at an age when most of us could barely manage to do our homework. I hate to see such determination and labor go unrewarded. I do hope Caroline pulls herself and her technique together and barrels up the ladder, so that she has a satisfying skating career.

Great post. ITA
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Thanks for the links. Speaking for myself only and as a Caroline fan I am just happy for her that she did well and medaled. Most of Caroline's' fans know what her weaknesses are and one medal at an International competition does not erase the fact that she has poor technicque and something needs to change. Nice to read upbeat posts about Caroline for a change instead of the usual "poor Caroline".
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
It is SO nice to see her happy again. She seemed happy all through her freeskate, so much more loose and expressive than at Nationals where you could tell she was thinking "don't fall" during the entire skate, and her PCS suffered. Finally seeing her happily surprised with her score instead of frustrated and angry was heartwarming.
During the medal ceremony she looked happier than Mao, who most of the time seemed to be thinking of what she has to do now.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I think the stress of the Oly year might have contributed. Now that she is a far cry from the Olympic or World Team, that burden on her must have been lifted.

Still, if she wants to make her way back up, a major move needs to be made.
 

i love to skate

Medalist
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
It is nice to see her smile but her skating just looks so painful. If she wants to improve she really needs to commit to fixing her technique on her lutz and flip- even if it means falling on every attempt for a year or so. If you pause her entry going into her lutz it is probably the worst position I have seen. I have no idea what her coaches were thinking in allowing this technique to continue for so long!
 

krenseby

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
It is nice to see her smile but her skating just looks so painful. If she wants to improve she really needs to commit to fixing her technique on her lutz and flip- even if it means falling on every attempt for a year or so. If you pause her entry going into her lutz it is probably the worst position I have seen. I have no idea what her coaches were thinking in allowing this technique to continue for so long!

What bothered me this year as much as her jump technique was her inability to get into the programs and perform. Without good jump technique, she won't ever make it into the top ranks. But if she lets her nerves stop her from performing her programs, she won't be able to engage the audience, which is also very bad, I would say.
 

feraina

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
The entire 4CC exhibition is here:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Sports/Figure_Skating/Full_Shows/ID=1400174894

You can actually scroll back and forth to wherever, and it loads from there -- much nicer than Icenetwork's setup.

Caroline skates her Lullaby for a Stormy Night program, which I like better than The Climb. She did two 3R's, no 3F as she usually does, the jump must have been bothering her lately. Also no pearl or haircut or biellman. I think her back must be bothering her... But she does some nice spins anyway. And it's lovely to see her skate in exhibitions -- she's much more relaxed and musical, and relates to the audience a lot better.

I hope that her back heals and we'll see a return of her pearl, that's one very special spin!
 

Charlotte Elizabeth

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Caroline was magical in that exhibition! :love:
If only she could be as expressive in the competition.
And I wish her quik recovery from her back injury...
Of course we miss her pearl spin and hope it will come back next season, it would be a great shame to lose this magnificient element.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
I actually don't mind if I never see that pearl spin again. The first time I saw it, I think I posted about my concern about the damage it could do to young backs. Now it seems Caroline's back is indeed feeling those effects. If not now, it will later.

She's done the spin. It's on video for posterity. Now let her recover and save herself from worse problems in her skating (and post-skating) future.

If she's really good (as in competitive for international podiums), she doesn't need the pearl. If not, it won't help her.
 
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