- Joined
- Feb 21, 2006
Believe it or not, it could be worse. FSU is much worse on the Rachael rag threads.
I think the challenge for Rachael is to find programs that suite her style. She tried the whole cutesy thing, which didn't work in my opinion. Ironically, this year she has two power programs, which is more suitable to her athletic style, but the problem is that she doesn't have much power right now with her injury.
ETA: I asked my husband about this topic -- because he was seeing Rachael from a non-fan (but not an anti-fan either) lens. He felt that Rachael put up a respectable performance. And I asked whether she should withdraw because of her injuries. His response: "No. Unless there was some circumstance where she absolutely could not show up, i.e. can't walk or just was not doing any triples whatsoever, she needed to be there."
He further mentioned it was more a mental thing that she go out there and at least do the triple jumps. If she mentally knows she can do that much, she can build on it from there.
Some interesting food for thought.
Anyway that's just one guy's view -- Mr. P's.
In any case I hope he's right --I hope she does better at her Senior B next weekend...and that over the season she has some performances she can be proud of and as fans, we have two great programs we can watch.
Found an interesting journal article on incidence of injury in figure skaters, and this citation is 2003, before COP.
One can only imagine that the stats are higher now.
Wasn't Armin hurt at SA, and there was speculation that Jeremy was as well?
Who knows how many of the skaters there were without injury??
http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/16880878/reload=0;jsessionid=jY4Lat7qRenOSduClW8r.4
"The nature, type and frequency of injuries occurring at a national figure skating competition were examined. Data was compiled from the medical history form of all 208 participants and the on-site evaluations of the 55 skaters who presented for treatment. Twenty-six percent of all the skaters were injured during the competition. Senior skaters accounted for more injuries than their junior counterparts. Pairs skaters appeared to be more susceptible to injury, incurring significantly more injuries than singles or dance skaters. As in other reports, injuries to the lower extremities predominated. Low back injury comprised 14.6% of all injuries. Thirty-five (64%) of the 55 injuries were exacerbations of a pre-existing injury and twenty (36%) were new ones. Most competitive figure skating injuries are of the overuse type, suggesting a need to evaluate predisposing factors and methods of rehabilitation. "
Pain Physician [2003, 6(3):313-318]
This IS food for thought.