Mao Asada's SP backup plan

miki88 · Jan 10, 2010

In a recent interview, Mao reveals that she has been practicing a backup plan for her SP in case her first 3A ends up as a 2A and then runs the risk of repeating an element like what happened at CoR. So, if her 3A-2T ends up as
a 2A, she plans to change her 3F to a 3F-2Lo and her 2A to a 3Lo.

Here's the interview clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_jrELqWo3c&feature=sub

The interview was conducted by Shizuka and it was great seeing the two skaters together. Unfortunately, it's all in Japanese and there are no subs

. But it was nice seeing the clip of little Mao skating at 5yrs old. :love:

At the end of the interview, Mao said that TAT told her to treat the Olympics as a "game" rather than a competition. However, I don't know if that really relieves the amount of pressure Mao is having since it's obvious that Japan is hoping she will follow in Shizuka's footsteps and win the gold.

Bennett · Jan 10, 2010

Nice to hear that she has some backup plan. If her 3A is not going well right before the competition (which seems to happen a lot to many skaters), she can choose to go for the alternative plan, too.

silverlake22 · Jan 10, 2010

Sounds like a good plan, if Yuna and Rachael are the only ones to attempt 3-3s (if Rachael even goes) I don't think it would hurt Mao to not have a 3-3. Joannie and Miki have only been doing 3-2s this season and they have been getting very good scores, so I'm sure Mao can do the same.

miki88 · Jan 10, 2010

Yea I was glad to hear she has a backup plan, but I feel she has been giving a lot of interviews recently. The Japanese media wants to know every decision and thought that is going in her head. Sigh. no wonder the girl always looks a little nervous in her interviews now.

Tinymavy15 · Jan 10, 2010

I have mixed feelings about this. Yes it is smart to have a backup plan, but knowing that she made one makes me worried that her triple Axel is not going well and that she NEEDS a backup. Just having a backup might lead her to be caucious and settle for that, which is not nearly difficult enough to get her the points she needs. The only way I see that working is if a.) she bombs her warm up and knows she won't land the triple Axel or b.) Yu-na skates before Mao and really messes up (which I don't see happening. At all). Come to think of it, even if yu-na does skates a bad short, mao will probably still need the 3/3 to win considering how many points yu-na can make up with a clean or even semi-clean free.

Mathman · Jan 10, 2010

I think it is a very smart idea. Sometimes we see skaters make a mistake at the beginning, then start to improvise to make up for it and end up with a Zayak violation or an extra combo.

Michelle Kwan used to have a plan A and a plan B in her long programs. Plan A was, hit the triple-toe/triple toe at the beginning, do a split jump at the end. Plan B was, miss the triple-triple, then throw in an extra 3T at the end in the place of the split jump.

silverlake22 · Jan 10, 2010

Mathman said:
I think it is a very smart idea. Sometimes we see skaters make a mistake at the beginning, then start to improvise to make up for it and end up with a Zayak violation or an extra combo.

Michelle Kwan used to have a plan A and a plan B in her long programs. Plan A was, hit the triple-toe/triple toe at the beginning, do a split jump at the end. Plan B was, miss the triple-triple, then throw in an extra 3T at the end in the place of the split jump.

Angela Maxwell did something similar last year at nationals. She had a 3t-3t scheduled in her LP but only did 3t-2t then at the end of the program she changed her planned 3s-2t-2lo to 3t-2t-2lo because the 3t is a more stable jump for her than the 3s.

I would guess that it's not that Mao's 3a is going badly, but more that she realizes how hard it will be to get it ratified at the Olympics, especially if she's nervous and messes up.

Last year Mao got a lot of SP scores around 65 with the 3-3, meaning if she does a 3-2 it will likely be lower. Yuna got a 65 when she popped her 3f at GPF, and a 69 when she messed up her 2a pretty badly at the 2008 GPF, so essentially if Mao does her backup plan, Yuna should have a 10-15 point lead in the short, meaning Mao will really need those two 3a's in the LP if she is to have a shot at stealing away the gold, even if Yuna's LP is not her best.

Marrymeyunakim · Jan 10, 2010

Her new combination would have a base value of around 3.5 + 5.5 + 1.5 + 5 = 15.5, right?

Does Kim have a back-up plan if her 3-3 messes up?

silverlake22 · Jan 10, 2010

Marrymeyunakim said:
Her new combination would have a base value of around 3.5 + 5.5 + 1.5 + 5 = 15.5, right?

Does Kim have a back-up plan if her 3-3 messes up?

Yes that's right. I assume if Kim has a problem with her first lutz she will just do a 3lz-2t, I don't know if you consider that a backup plan or not but that's what she did at the GPF in her LP.

Medusa · Jan 10, 2010

Marrymeyunakim said:
Does Kim have a back-up plan if her 3-3 messes up?

I don't think she needs a back-up plan. When has she ever missed her 3-3 in the SP? She missed the solo Triple from time to time, Lutz or Flip - didn't matter. But the 3-3? I really can't remember when she missed it the last time.

mylastduchess · Jan 10, 2010

silverlake22 said:
Last year Mao got a lot of SP scores around 65 with the 3-3, meaning if she does a 3-2 it will likely be lower. Yuna got a 65 when she popped her 3f at GPF, and a 69 when she messed up her 2a pretty badly at the 2008 GPF, so essentially if Mao does her backup plan, Yuna should have a 10-15 point lead in the short, meaning Mao will really need those two 3a's in the LP if she is to have a shot at stealing away the gold, even if Yuna's LP is not her best.

Its the Olympic year, scores this year is infalted compared to last year. Joannie got a 70 with no 3/3, Mao can get 65+ with no 3A since Miki just hit 67+ with no 3/3

silverlake22 · Jan 10, 2010

Medusa said:
I don't think she needs a back-up plan. When has she ever missed her 3-3 in the SP? She missed the solo Triple from time to time, Lutz or Flip - didn't matter. But the 3-3? I really can't remember when she missed it the last time.

She did in the LP at SA and GPF. At SA both triples were UR and at the GPF her first lutz was fine but not good enough for the 3-3 so she just did a 3-2. Yuna doesn't have to worry about repeating a jump like Mao does, I think that is the reason Mao created the backup plan so she doesn't do a repeat of COR and lose credit for a jump.

Medusa · Jan 10, 2010

silverlake22 said:
She did in the LP at SA and GPF. At SA both triples were UR and at the GPF her first lutz was fine but not good enough for the 3-3 so she just did a 3-2. Yuna doesn't have to worry about repeating a jump like Mao does, I think that is the reason Mao created the backup plan so she doesn't do a repeat of COR and lose credit for a jump.

I actually meant; when has she ever missed in the SP?

miki88 · Jan 10, 2010

Yea, in the interview, Mao explains the reason for the backup plan is to assure that she doesn't do a repeat of a jump which means she will receive no credit for the jump. So although doing an easier jump layout will give Yuna a greater point lead in the short, it's still better than missing the 3A and then ending up as 6th. It looks like CoR, while a disaster for her, was a good learning experience.

museksk8r · Jan 10, 2010

silverlake22 said:
Last year Mao got a lot of SP scores around 65 with the 3-3, meaning if she does a 3-2 it will likely be lower.

The primary explanation for Mao's scores being lower in the SP last season was because she was having major problems with her solo 3Lutz attempt, which she would take off on the wrong edge making it a flutz and sometimes she would double the jump and that's a deduction of a lot of points. Plus, she often doesn't attain the highest spin and spiral levels in the SP because of not holding her positions long enough or not getting enough spin revolutions. She's almost always seemed to have a problem with her nerves in the SP.

It's good to see that she and her team are thinking ahead and can rely on a backup plan should something go wrong with her 3Axel preparation.

R.D. · Jan 10, 2010

Everyone should have a Plan B to fall back on should Plan A not work out.

The pressure on Asada and Kim should not be taken lightly.

Basics · Jan 10, 2010

Marrymeyunakim said:
Does Kim have a back-up plan if her 3-3 messes up?

At the last worlds, she had 3Lz-3T in ready, in case she couldn't add 3T to 3F. I'm not sure about the Olympics though. Well, she can add 3T to pretty much any jump, can't she? :laugh:

silverlake22 said:
She did in the LP at SA and GPF. At SA both triples were UR and at the GPF her first lutz was fine but not good enough for the 3-3 so she just did a 3-2. Yuna doesn't have to worry about repeating a jump like Mao does, I think that is the reason Mao created the backup plan so she doesn't do a repeat of COR and lose credit for a jump.

only the second 3t was UR.

Medusa said:
I actually meant; when has she ever missed in the SP?

two seasons ago. lol once in COC and the other in GPF. She was in 3rd and 1st place respectively after the SP even with those mistakes. :rock:

french quarter · Jan 10, 2010

Marrymeyunakim said:
Does Kim have a back-up plan if her 3-3 messes up?

Yes, she does. She said in a recent interview that she might do another combination jump if she would mess up her opening 3-3.

Tinymavy15 · Jan 10, 2010

If Yu-na or anyone else underotates the combo there is nothing they can donfor a plan b, since the combonation is stills combination even though it may not be clean. She would still have to do a solo 3 flip and a solo triple Axel. Not to mention most skaters do not know mid program which jumps have been downgraded. The only way yu-na woul need a plan b is if she fell on the opening lutz, then she could add the triple toe onto the flip, but the way they have the landing of the flip timed right to the music, I can't see her doing that.

silverlake22 · Jan 10, 2010

GoPC2018 said:
At the last worlds, she had 3Lz-3T in ready, in case she couldn't add 3T to 3F. I'm not sure about the Olympics though. Well, she can add 3T to pretty much any jump, can't she?

only the second 3t was UR.

Only the 3t was downgraded, but the 3lz was underrotated, just not enough for a deduction. And yes she can add the 3t to another jump if she falls on the lutz, the timing could be a bit off but it's probably more important to have the combination.

Mao Asada's SP backup plan

miki88

Bennett

silverlake22

miki88

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win

Mathman

silverlake22

Marrymeyunakim

silverlake22

Medusa

mylastduchess

Guest

silverlake22

Medusa

miki88

museksk8r

R.D.

Basics

french quarter

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win

silverlake22

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