Shocker of the Season

[Buttercup]

Definitely one shocker of the season for me was the fact that both Tatsuki Machida and Takahito Mura won Grand Prixs, but Daisuke didn't. Who would have predicted that Japanese #4 and #5 woud win a Grand Prix and Daisuke wouldn't?

...thanks to the stupid federation assigning their own Worlds medalists to the same competition...
If they hadn't done that, maybe, just maybe Daisuke could have won TEB...then we would still have had six different GP winners but all to have qualified to GPF, which is very rare to happen, I would believe.

It wasn't just his federation's doing - the FFSG wanted both their seeded guys at TEB and the JSF wanted both their seeded guys at NHK.

Also, Takahashi didn't skate all that well in either GP, including the one that did not have a fellow Worlds medalist. He has a good but not great GP record; he's won both NHK and SA for a total of seven wins in a ten year career, but no other GP events (that includes the GPF). Oda, OTOH, has fewer wins but has won four different GPs and in less time than Dai. Joubert has done a similar number of GPs to Takahashi and also has seven wins, but he's won 5 different GPs plus he has a GPF title in his record.

[deedee1]

You are right, Buttercup, I know...
Inconsistency has been Daisuke's problem throughout his career, and he does have a couple of technical issues, such as UR/DGs and -GEOs, especially after his injury. It's amaging, even to his fan like myself, that Daisuke could advance to the Final every season since 2005-06 (except 2008-09 where he missed the whole season). There were seasons 'he was just lucky' to advance there, considering his regular GP appearances with not-so-good performances; NHK Trophy and Skate Canada during 2009-10 come to my mind, for instance.
For that matter, however, his fans can not stop rooting for this guy! (even though some people including the JSF may think/believe he won lots of medals/publicity/money/fans, he had enough, he is losing his jumps or his time is over)

[sky_fly20]

I am shocked that Julia had so many injuries and pulling out of GPF

[bramweld]

1. W/P great team but this season they looked a bit nervy, they weren't skating into the ice, so their elements were not that impressive. Hence an improving B/S should beat them. B/S had a horrible free last season so in comparison this year they do look like gold. W/P need to toughen up a bit and be more aware of the competition
2. I am not so shocked about S/S because they are still a developing team, growing pains. Maia is growing and Alex must learn to adjust. They also had injuries Marina mentioned. So it must not be easy. They are also constrained by being a brother and sister team a little bit. The irony here being that their natural elegance would make them ideal for romantic themes. I think that is why Marina is trying to stretch them with their SD this year. They need to develop a broader range of artistic vision, too one note and waltzy all the time, but they are very young, I think they will be alright
3. I am shocked however that with just a couple weeks before Sochi, Tessa and Scott would change all their step sequences. IMHO it was the execution and not the quality of their elements that needed changing. Sometimes the skating looked hard and slow, not their best. The simple physics of the matter is that Meryl and Charlie have them beat when it comes to ease of execution in part because of their hard work and the ideal size difference that they have. T/S do not have that advantage, and apparently, their aren't many points in COP for connection. Sochi will be a very difficult competition for them. Anyways I hope going forward all teams will maximize their potential.

[Buttercup]

2. I am not so shocked about S/S because they are still a developing team, growing pains. Maia is growing and Alex must learn to adjust. They also had injuries Marina mentioned. So it must not be easy. They are also constrained by being a brother and sister team a little bit. The irony here being that their natural elegance would make them ideal for romantic themes. I think that is why Marina is trying to stretch them with their SD this year. They need to develop a broader range of artistic vision, too one note and waltzy all the time, but they are very young, I think they will be alright

3. I am shocked however that with just a couple weeks before Sochi, Tessa and Scott would change all their step sequences. IMHO it was the execution and not the quality of their elements that needed changing. Sometimes the skating looked hard and slow, not their best. The simple physics of the matter is that Meryl and Charlie have them beat when it comes to ease of execution in part because of their hard work and the ideal size difference that they have. T/S do not have that advantage, and apparently, their aren't many points in COP for connection. Sochi will be a very difficult competition for them. Anyways I hope going forward all teams will maximize their potential.

I was taken aback to see that Aliona and Robin were a developing team, until I saw that by S/S you meant the Shibs They need to develop more artistic range by leaving Zoueva ASAP, she clearly has no idea what to do with them.

As for V/M vs. D/W, I seriously doubt Tessa and Scott are not hard workers. They do have to deal with a more challenging size difference than D/W, though.

[dorispulaski]

Buttercup, Did anyone imply Tessa & Scott are not hard workers

bramweld only said Meryl and Charlie were hard workers with an ideal size difference, and that Tessa & Scott did not have an ideal size difference.

Although, it's worth considering that Tessa & Scott may be very careful not to overtrain because of a wish to avoid a recurrence of her Exertional Compartment Syndrome problem. If I were V&M, I would surely be very careful about my training schedule myself.

[Buttercup]

Buttercup, Did anyone imply Tessa & Scott are not hard workers

bramweld only said Meryl and Charlie were hard workers with an ideal size difference, and that Tessa & Scott did not have an ideal size difference.

Although, it's worth considering that Tessa & Scott may be very careful not to overtrain because of a wish to avoid a recurrence of her Exertional Compartment Syndrome problem. If I were V&M, I would surely be very careful about my training schedule myself.

Bramweld did. The way the post is written suggests that D/W have an edge over V/M because of their hard work and the size difference, rather than just the latter:

The simple physics of the matter is that Meryl and Charlie have them beat when it comes to ease of execution in part because of their hard work and the ideal size difference that they have.

Doesn't that suggest to you that one team works harder than the other? If this is not what was meant, perhaps some clarification is required. It's like we're always told that Evan Lysacek is the hardest worker; how does anyone know that for a fact? Unless there's information suggesting otherwise, I think that we can assume that everyone at this level has to put a considerable amount of effort into their training.

I agree that V/M probably have to be very wise in how they train, so that they can be effective without risking Tessa's health.

[dorispulaski]

No, it doesn't, because hard work of the skating exercise variety has little to do with the physics of skating. OTOH, size difference & its correlation with why it is hard to do stuff when there is only a small size difference between dancers/pairs does have a lot to do with physics.

I take it that if D&W didn't work hard, they could not take advantage of their more favorable size difference.

[bramweld]

Sorry guys, I know that Tessa and Scott are hard workers look at them practicing the polka during gala exhibitions...forgive me I didn't mean to imply otherwise. It's the size difference I wanted to highlight plus Tessa and Scott have to work carefully I imagine because of previous injuries. Hope this clears things up

[senatormls]

I'm shocked not to see a single ladies SP score over 70 and an LP score over 130 this season. No one in the Yu-Na or Ando range. Another shocker is Mao Asada can't reach 120 in the LP or at least struggles to reach that score. This ISU season has been rather unbalanced. For example, Kiiri Korpi won with a free skate score of only 115 to 116!

[FSGMT]

I'm shocked not to see a single ladies SP score over 70 and an LP score over 130 this season. No one in the Yu-Na or Ando range. Another shocker is Mao Asada can't reach 120 in the LP or at least struggles to reach that score. This ISU season has been rather unbalanced. For example, Kiiri Korpi won with a free skate score of only 115 to 116!

From two seasons ago, the SP has 7 elements: loosing the 4-5 points of the spirals, it's really difficult to get over 70 points for Ladies, it requires landing a 3-3 with 3Lz/3F with 30+ PCS, and this is something no-one is able to do at the moment, except maybe Wagner and Kim...

[dorispulaski]

Not Wagner-she does do a 2A3T, though, and she's said to be trying a triple triple.

[FSGMT]

Not Wagner-she does do a 2A3T, though, and she's said to be trying a triple triple.

She has landed 3F+3T twice last season (4CC and WTT)!

[dorispulaski]

Yes, but that's last season...

Like many others, she tends to UR the 2nd jump, AFAIR. The 2A3t she has done very well, OTOH, but ladies are sort of not my general area of interest/knowledge.

[blue dog]

Shocker for me was Christina Gao making the GPF