- Joined
- Jan 16, 2010
Unless a skater is blatantly working the system and knowingly falling or what not to get the points (ala Buttle in 2006 on his stupid quad) I don't understand why the skater gets all the blame heaped upon them for winning/scoring high. the judges make that call.
Of course it wasn't Alissa's fault...it's always on the judges.
Yes. That Alissa is such a sweetheart. In my note to her I mentioned that folks on the GS forum were discussing her contributions to figure skating & she acknowledged that in her response:
"Thank you so much for the encouraging message. I'm really grateful for your support, and please tell the others, too, thank you from me."
I honestly think last season when she was training all of those 3lz-3ts is what did it.
No...but then again, probably because I didn't write to her in the first place.
I have in the past, though...and have gotten a (short) response about a month afterwards. Surprising that you guys got one so quickly. Guess she really does read all her fan mail. That's an admirable trait.
Math, what an inspired thing to send her. I think that's probably the very best thing she could hear right now: that she will always have a place in U.S. skating history. Good for you! (And it proves that math, in the right context, can be an emotionally sustaining force.)
Yeah she kept going for those combos but couldn't rotate them enough, which is so much pressure on your body when you're trying to hold a landing while your blade grinds through the ice like that...
So what you're saying, which makes sense, is that the weaker your technique is, the more likely you are to have certain injuries. If there were ever a reason for coaches of very young skaters to insist on good technique, this is is. A coach may never have the chance to more than leisure-time skaters, but he/she can't know that. One of those eight-year-olds may turn out to be a champion, with a twenty-year skating career, and it's the first coach's job to teach technique that (as far as can be helped) won't tear the skater's body apart.
Skaters with better technique do tend to last longer in this sport. But in addition to technique, I would add that not pushing yourself beyond your limit is another way to stay healthy. Alissa was trying to be competitive and I really admire that, but given her technique, the fact that she's never been a strong jumper, and her age, I think training those difficult combinations was unnecessary and ultimately the cause of all of her problems. If she'd just tried to maximize her points doing what she did well (maybe adding another triple or a sequence or something) she may have avoided some of these injuries.
That's why I don't get why people fuss about Carolina Kostner not doing certain jumps. She's "old" by skating standards and she already has knee issues. In order to keep competing, you have to do what you're able to do and do it well. Granted Carolina's much more of a natural jumper with better technique than Alissa, but the same principle applies. Do what you can do without pushing yourself too far.
I agree: as a skater, I know how frustrating injuries are and not being able to be competitive just because your body it's not all right when you're trying to do your best is an awful feeling, so I agree that pushing yourself beyond your limits is a thing that no-one should do, especially if you are 20+ which (for the Ladies figure skating standards) is an "old" age. And, if you're doing what you can do well, why you shouldn't win against people who try more difficult elements but make a lot of mistakes? Figure skating is an artistic sport, so the presentation of your program (and this includes your technical elements) should be one of the most important things: quality agains difficulty, what counts more? My answer is: quality. (I know this is off-topic, so I don't want to start a discussione about this! )Skaters with better technique do tend to last longer in this sport. But in addition to technique, I would add that not pushing yourself beyond your limit is another way to stay healthy. Alissa was trying to be competitive and I really admire that, but given her technique, the fact that she's never been a strong jumper, and her age, I think training those difficult combinations was unnecessary and ultimately the cause of all of her problems. If she'd just tried to maximize her points doing what she did well (maybe adding another triple or a sequence or something) she may have avoided some of these injuries.
That's why I don't get why people fuss about Carolina Kostner not doing certain jumps. She's "old" by skating standards and she already has knee issues. In order to keep competing, you have to do what you're able to do and do it well. Granted Carolina's much more of a natural jumper with better technique than Alissa, but the same principle applies. Do what you can do without pushing yourself too far.
I thought that is what age restrictions were going to do for juniors going to seniors. The content the juniors are doing is crazy difficult, more so than when Alissa was a junior, but I wonder how long those little bodies will hold up.