Caroline Zhang

krenseby · Jan 31, 2012

cornell08 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGyl0AHk2zY

Caroline's Nationals EX to "Defying Gravity"!

And what does Caroline need next season? Better.Programs.

Yeah it's interesting that in this exhibition, her skating is incredibly slow. This may mean that she is still most comfortable with very slow skating, and the faster skating she tries to do in competition doesn't yet come naturally to her.

Of course, this means she has ventured very far outside her comfort zone in trying to improve on her speed.

demarinis5 · Jan 31, 2012

cornell08 said:
The programs were not memorable at all. Its not enough for certain parts of a program to be likeable. In order to reach the next level, presumably worlds team, she needs to have two entire programs be thrilling and engaging for the audience-- on the level of Mirai's Olympic season programs.

Same could be said for most of the the ladies competing at Nationals.

skfan · Jan 31, 2012

cornell08 said:
The programs were not memorable at all. Its not enough for certain parts of a program to be likeable. In order to reach the next level, presumably worlds team, she needs to have two entire programs be thrilling and engaging for the audience-- on the level of Mirai's Olympic season programs.

thank you for elaborating. it is hard to say whether the skater or the choreographer is more responsible when a piece doesn't sing the way you think it should. for me, the programs were very good--caroline still does not have the full confidence and attack and yes, speed, required to make that dvorak program come to full fruition. of course i am biased--because i love dvorak--not david wilson, dvorak

even more than i love caroline.

i would say that the memorable performances from mirai's olympic season were more due to mirai's sparkle and verve than due to the programs being brilliantly choreographed. lori's last great program prior to carolina's programs this season was mao's nocturne, IMO.

cornell08 · Jan 31, 2012

To clarify, I did enjoy her programs and I think she can emote wonderfully. But I don't think the choreography or music choices her team has decided upon the past few years have been very good, though once set, she's always done as much as she could with them. Personally, the only competition program that really stood out for me-- choreo, music, execution-- was her Spanish Gypsy short program.

cornell08 · Jan 31, 2012

demarinis5 said:
Same could be said for most of the the ladies competing at Nationals.

I actually thought none of the ladies programs were memorable this Nationals. Maybe I'm just too picky

Or they were all too mediocre.

Serious Business · Feb 1, 2012

Olympia said:
Might it be possible that Caroline concentrated on reworking her jumps and thus put the other elements aside for awhile? If that's the case, surely she will now focus on the spins and so forth to bring them up to par. You could be right about her, of course, but I think Caroline has proved that she can repair things to a remarkable degree. As for flexibility, that pearl spin of hers looked pretty flexible to me.

Absolutely! If that happens, I'll come crawling back like the fickle dog that I am.

I'm speaking entirely on a personal level about what I particularly enjoy watching in skating. Caroline's current progress is great for her success as a competitive skater.

krenseby said:
But back to Caroline. Well, the thing is, once you don't have to worry about jumps so much, you can devote more time to maximizing points on your spins, trying to tell a story with the choreography and emoting. That said, I am still surprised by how she doesn't get good levels on spins. She seems to rush through them, except for the final layback spin at the end. And yet why not get extra points where you can? Spins really do a lot for Alissa, they are huge point-getters for her. Whatever problems she had with her jumps, Alissa never ever backed off her spins. Since Caroline lost weight, that should help her flexibility, so I hope her spins benefit from it.

Andalusia said:
Caroline lost some valuable points in both the SP and LP by not maximizing the levels on her spins - she would easily have won the bronze if she had. Her footwork was also graded at a Level 2 in the LP. All these are easily correctable issues (at least relative to her jumping problems) that she had better fix and not fail at again since she needs every point she can get as she won't be gifted in PCS and GOE scores.

Entirely conjecturing here, but: I don't think it's a weight issue keeping her from doing the more flexible moves, at least not entirely. While she's not waif-thin, she's hardly overweight. And as others have pointed out, she is still pretty flexible. I think doing those moves actually cause her a bit of pain now, possibly some sort of injury is at work. She certainly looks it during some of those spins. And it would explain why she rushes through them (thus negating her levels).

And it's definitely not easy to maximize levels in the footwork when your basic skating skills are so deficient. It takes speed and clarity of edges to nail those levels. Caroline is still very afraid to commit to her edges, although it is very encouraging that she has shown she can let that go and gun for it as she did in the SP. Karen Kwan should consider chasing her around the rink with a cattle prod.

PolymerBob · Feb 1, 2012

I believe weight was one of the big issues holding Caroline back. That's why I was glad to see she had slimmed down somewhat. Caroline seems to be capable of skating fast, though she doesn't always do so.
Given her past history of skating better at ISU events then national events, I think it likely she will do even better at 4CC than she did at Nationals.

Olympia · Feb 1, 2012

cornell08 said:
To clarify, I did enjoy her programs and I think she can emote wonderfully. But I don't think the choreography or music choices her team has decided upon the past few years have been very good, though once set, she's always done as much as she could with them. Personally, the only competition program that really stood out for me-- choreo, music, execution-- was her Spanish Gypsy short program.

By contrast, I was thrilled that Caroline's long program was set to the Dvorak cello concerto. It has a smooth depth to it that lends itself to powerful, fluid skating and a projection of a mature, warm personality. It's not a child's music. Maybe it's just my personal preference influencing me, but I find this piece very exciting for a skating program. (Full disclosure: Dvorak is one of my favorite composers.) I think Oppegard has done right by her in this area, though as several of you have pointed out, the spins and footwork could be ramped up.

ManyCairns · Feb 1, 2012

^What Olympia said! I liked both the music and Caroline's skate to it. "Mature" and "warm" most certainly. I felt warm and uplifted by the performance even though of course there's still much room for improvement.

feraina · Feb 1, 2012

I think she slows down and stops emoting when she's preoccupied with other things: the jumps in the FS (the smile on her face disappeared the moment she stepped out of the first jump, and then didn't really fully return until the end), the whole program in the EX (she probably made up that program in the EX practice since I"m sure she didn't expect to medal), and in general the pressure to deliver (she always emotes less and skates slower when there is more on the line).
Hopefully this pewter medal will help her build confidence, and she will view 4CC as icing on the cake to a successful season, instead of thinking that she *has* to deliver and get a much higher SB in order to be invited to GP's next year. I think given how her season is finishing up, she will almost certainly get invited to SA if she gets 0 or 1 GP invitation from other countries.
But in general, I think she needs to continue feeling like she's skating for herself instead of for results.

Spun Silver · Feb 1, 2012

I think she started smiling as soon as she finished her jumps. Very understandable.

But what's really great is people who smiled while landing their jumps. I forget which lady did that so splendidly but even a judge would have been blown away.

brightphoton · Feb 1, 2012

Spun Silver said:
I think she started smiling as soon as she finished her jumps. Very understandable.

But what's really great is people who smiled while landing their jumps. I forget which lady did that so splendidly but even a judge would have been blown away.

Caroline Kostner smiles going into jumps and while landing them. I love that, they're so relaxed and you just know she's going to land it.

demarinis5 · Feb 1, 2012

brightphoton said:
Caroline Kostner smiles going into jumps and while landing them. I love that, they're so relaxed and you just know she's going to land it.

I was just going to post the same thing but you beat me to it. lol

skateluvr · Feb 1, 2012

Yes, but the Kostner now is new and improved. She is like a different girl last two years.

CZ's gala skate was pretty blah. Nancy Kerrigan skated her heart out to it last year in Ceasar's I. I've watched a few times. It's great seeing the older skaters do a good skate. Nancy looks fab in green. She really looks like she loves skating more than ever in her 40's.

krenseby · Feb 1, 2012

skateluvr said:
Yes, but the Kostner now is new and improved. She is like a different girl last two years.

CZ's gala skate was pretty blah. Nancy Kerrigan skated her heart out to it last year in Ceasar's I. I've watched a few times. It's great seeing the older skaters do a good skate. Nancy looks fab in green. She really looks like she loves skating more than ever in her 40's.

Well, I wonder when CZ had that program choreographed for her. Her exhibition program at the Ice Challenge was "Lullaby for a Stormy Night." That's what I was expecting this time around too.

As for Nancy's performance to Defying Gravity, yeah it was good. I have to say that Nancy, despite having been away from competitive skating for over a decade, still has good stroking and speed on the ice. I guess that's one of those skills that once learned never leaves you.

frauregina · Feb 2, 2012

Speaking of Caroline's programs, I really want to see her skate to Out of Africa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_fAEdw7ts0

I really do think that she can pull this off because this is the kind of music that suits her very well.

Olympia · Feb 2, 2012

Ooh, yeah! What a great thought, frauregina. The long, sweeping lines of that music...I think she could make something gorgeous out of it.

feraina · Feb 2, 2012

brightphoton said:
Caroline Kostner smiles going into jumps and while landing them. I love that, they're so relaxed and you just know she's going to land it.

Actually, she starts smiling half way through a successful jump, because as soon as she takes off, she knows whether she's got it or not. It's great to see, because you know she'll land it when she comes down!

PolymerBob · Feb 3, 2012

If you have IceNetwork, there are 2 short Caroline interviews in the video section.

heyang · Feb 3, 2012

PolymerBob said:
I believe weight was one of the big issues holding Caroline back. That's why I was glad to see she had slimmed down somewhat. Caroline seems to be capable of skating fast, though she doesn't always do so.

Caroline usually skates faster IMHO when there's less pressure. She's more cautious during competitions, especially in the past couple of years. Since she's becoming more accustomed to her new technique, she'll feel more secure and be able to allow muscle memory to kick in more.

As for weight, a lot of younger people gain weight as their bodies prepare for a large growth spurt. I recall my cousin being harassed by his parents for gaining weight when he was 14-15..... he had his growth spurt and shot up the following year and couldn't be conceived as overweight. Everyone's differents - so, it's possible that Caroline is one of those people who gained weight before her spurt as compared to Mirai, etc.

Caroline Zhang

krenseby

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!

skfan

cornell08

cornell08

Serious Business

PolymerBob

Olympia

ManyCairns

feraina

Spun Silver

brightphoton

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!

skateluvr

krenseby

frauregina

Olympia

feraina

PolymerBob

heyang

Similar threads

Connect with us