What does it take to be a winner in men's especially?

Skating skills(steps, spins, foot work, transitions...), jumps, artistry, musicality and nice choreography are the factors to distinguish top skaters but most of all the ability to perform their best under pressure might be the deciding factor to be the winner.


I was looking forward to see the Men's competition in NHK cup since I haven't seen this much of a deep competition in men's field for a while. That makes each competition so much more interesting to me in this season.

My favorates are Abbott, Kozka and Oda this year. I love their programs this year except Oda's short. So far only Oda managed to stay on top. I'm so disappointed to see Abbott and Kozka chocked in free. Abbott and Kozka both have great skating skills, artisty, musicality and jumps other than solid quads. Why, why did they chock?

Looking at Joubert and Johnny, I think handling pressure might be the biggest factor to be the winner.

No one soars under pressure like Plush. Although I admire his quards, his all other elements are far behind from Abbott and Koza. But in the end, he will always be on the podium.

If Jubert does perform like today, he will manage to be on the podium. No matter how uninspiring his program is in line with Plush's.

I think Johnny isn't top tier in current crop of men's. With his jumping lay out, he only gets on the podium in a mercy of other skaters' falls. But his safe stratagy paid off at least in nhk.

So I wonder why Abbott had to push for quads today after performing other guys disasters falls. He had so much better chance to grab at least silver medal today without it.

That goes with the same line with Mao pushing for 3 ax. Is silver medal no worthy to pursue? If you play safe, you get at least silver. If you are dare, you have a slim chance to grab a gold but most of the time, you might even reach the podium. I wonder why coaches don't even do the math. Am I lacking to understand the hunger for being the best in sports? I don't know. I think if you don't have the nerves settling for the second spot won't be all that of a terrible idea. I'm just lamenting for Abbott after watching yesterday's inspiring and spirit lifting performence.... sigh.....

Patrick Chan will be a good test case. He did wonderfully well without the quad. This year he is trying to add it because he wants that Gold. Part of me wishes he wouldn't, but he's going up against Plushenko and Joubert.

Since a skater can fall on a hard jump and still get points, they keep putting it in. They assume they'll be able to hold the rest of the skate together. But it doesn't always work like that. Abbott's meltdown at NHK was painful to see.

A friend of mine used to be a concert pianist who competed internationally. He said that winning was everything. He had no interest in silver or bronze. I guess that's the competition mentality for many skaters too.

lksunga said:

If Jubert does perform like today, he will manage to be on the podium. No matter how uninspiring his program is in line with Plush's.

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While I understand the gist of your post lksunga, could you please make sure you sound less patronising when trying to make a point? There are people here who actually find Plush or Joubert's programmes inspiring.. Calling smth uninspiring just beacuse it's cheesy or not sophisticated and intricate enough is not very objective.
And yes, at the end of the day, consistency is what really counts. We have seen before how playing it safe caused many to end up with worse than they hoped for (Joubert is the last example). So I don't see anything wrong with them going out there with all guns blazing (e.g. Jeremy trying that quad)..

prettykeys said:

Hip thrusts.

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I was gonna say a big nose but yours sounds better

schiele said:

While I understand the gist of your post lksunga, could you please make sure you sound less patronising when trying to make a point? There are people here who actually find Plush or Joubert's programmes inspiring.. Calling smth uninspiring just beacuse it's cheesy or not sophisticated and intricate enough is not very objective.

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Jeez, I don't think Iksunga deserved a reprimand. I'm all for nice, but there's simply nothing offensive about giving an opinion, even a negative one, IMO. "Uninspiring" is well within the bounds of politeness! Anyone is free to disagree. Say what you want, Iksunga! (And welcome to GS!)

lksunga said:

My favorates are Abbott, Kozka and Oda this year. I love their programs this year except Oda's short. So far only Oda managed to stay on top. I'm so disappointed to see Abbott and Kozka chocked in free. Abbott and Kozka both have great skating skills, artisty, musicality and jumps other than solid quads. Why, why did they chock?

I think Johnny isn't top tier in current crop of men's. With his jumping lay out, he only gets on the podium in a mercy of other skaters' falls. But his safe stratage paid off at least in nhk.

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And Johnny has great skating skills, artistry, musicality and jumps other than quads too. So what makes him not top tier material vs. Abbott and Kozuka exactly?

Weir has been relegated to has-been status after one bad performance at last Nationals. It took one bad performance for people to write him off. How many crappy showings in a row has Abbott had at this point?! 4CC, Worlds, Team Trophy, Japan Open, NHK, that's 5 in a row!Yet he's a top tier skater while Weir is a scavenger who feeds on people's bad skates? Give me a break.

I never said Weir is a front-runner or a leader in the current men's field. But to be relegated below people like Abbott is just not fair!

Sorry that I haven't read the entire thread but just wanted to say that the speed, difficult jumps, and being clean seem to me to be the top three important factors.

Oda, Chan, Taka, and Dai may do better without the quad this season.

On the other hand, I am not sure if Tomas's inconsistency can be reduced without the quad. He might fail in the quad more often than the other jumps and not doing the quad may help him focus on other jumps. Still, his mistakes seem rather random.