Park So-Youn: The teen tipped to be South Korea's 'next Kim Yu-Na'

yyyskate said:

Why do you have to say that Korean skater's leg line is learned from Yuna??? SoYoun has great pointed toes in her jumps and Y spins yet Yuna didnot do, Yuna has very free and agile leg movement control with a whole lot of leg movement range, which could create lines of all sorts of types, Soyoun hasn't got that ability yet.

She of course is brushing up on everything, I believe every skater is trying to improve all aspect of their skating as much as possible, yet born as a Korean is not her fault. I believe, if all of a sudden she can spin as fast and as flexible as Julia, She definitely will. Just like Julia would rather jump more solid jump if she can manage to.

So why didn't you say that SoYoun should fix her back bend, instead of saying her leg bend, Yuna has a great back bend when she was at SoYoun's age. So why do you focus on their leg bend? so that you can say SoYoun (or even korean skaters) copy bad leg lines from Yuna?!

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wow, yyyskate. How I missed your fierce page-long answers to the smallest mentions of yuna, lol.
I'm sure Krunchii didn't mean to say that it's yuna fault korean skaters have a leg bent. But it seems, that korean coaches teach it this way, since yuna had it, Min jung kwak had it, soyoun has it. You have to admit, that a straight leg line is more asthetically pleasing to most people, therefore it would be nice if soyoun (or her coaches) would make an improvement on that. While it's not an IJS-criteria, it does make a big difference for most people watching her. And while yuna got high ponts for her spins, they were her weakest element and therefore coaches should focus on that more, even though one can be an olympic gold medalist with a leg bent.

So Youn has good qualities, she is very nice to watch. But she will never be the second Yuna because she is lacking Yuna's physique. I saw her live at the last Russian Cup. She was one of the slower skaters. Of course, I saw Yuna in Sochi - she was one of the fastest. This is going to be almost impossible to change. Then all these parallels and expectations provide very bad service to So Youn.

Eclair said:

wow, yyyskate. How I missed your fierce page-long answers to the smallest mentions of yuna, lol.
I'm sure Krunchii didn't mean to say that it's yuna fault korean skaters have a leg bent. But it seems, that korean coaches teach it this way, since yuna had it, Min jung kwak had it, soyoun has it. You have to admit, that a straight leg line is more asthetically pleasing to most people, therefore it would be nice if soyoun (or her coaches) would make an improvement on that. While it's not an IJS-criteria, it does make a big difference for most people watching her. And while yuna got high ponts for her spins, they were her weakest element and therefore coaches should focus on that more, even though one can be an olympic gold medalist with a leg bent.

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My post never is page-long, at most half page, well, I am trying my best ability to be fierce (actually just to the pointe), like Yuna had tried her best to turn out her legs...
SoYoun's coach is not Yuna's coach, They are both korean not the same one. Haejin has good leg turn-out. and her coach is Yuna's coach.
You mentioned 3 korean skaters, the sample pool is kinda small for a stats. Before Yuna, Korean has very small number of skaters, maybe we can wait until more korean skaters emerged onto the scene to make any judgement about their methodology, We saw many diversity in North America is because we have many skaters.
I also think that if SoYoun can have better leg extension in general, which may benefit her balance(or other tech) in skating, it would be good for her. And leg line is not about only straight at all time. If Krunchii simply said that SoYoun could benefit from better leg extension, instead saying that Korean skaters copy Yuna. I wouldnot say a word.
Yuna's lay-back spin is NOT weak, Her lay-back spin was stunning when she was younger and only deteriorated after her suffered many injuries and worsened flexibility through aging. Also, Yuna's spins are never her weakness in her haydays, only became weak when comparing to super flexible and much younger skater.
It actually does not make that big a difference for most people aesthetically, since most people did not fascinate on that one point instead of all those other dynamic leg lines Yuna has exhibited. A pointed toe is very prominent in ballet, but in a figure skates, yes, you can detect it, if you focus on it, otherwise not so much. How many people really would say that Wow SoYoun is so amazing because she has a perfect pointed toe in her Y spin.
Yuna had some of the most beautiful layback lines, such as in her Meditation. I bet many commercial of figure skating would die to use it as their logo.
Yuna -- the OGM with a leg bent. sounds kinda cool
EDIT：I checked JuliaLip's lay-back spin, she also has a leg bend similar to the extend to SoYoun's at same position, but she has much better back arch. So Russian coach also teach it that way then (referring to the leg bend)

yyyskate said:

Why do you have to say that Korean skater's leg line is learned from Yuna??? SoYoun has great pointed toes in her jumps and Y spins yet Yuna didnot do, Yuna has very free and agile leg movement control with a whole lot of leg movement range, which could create lines of all sorts of types, Soyoun hasn't got that ability yet.

She of course is brushing up on everything, I believe every skater is trying to improve all aspect of their skating as much as possible, yet born as a Korean is not her fault. I believe, if all of a sudden she can spin as fast and as flexible as Julia, She definitely will. Just like Julia would rather jump more solid jump if she can manage to.

So why didn't you say that SoYoun should fix her back bend, instead of saying her leg bend, Yuna has a great back bend when she was at SoYoun's age. So why do you focus on their leg bend? so that you can say SoYoun (or even korean skaters) copy bad leg lines from Yuna?!

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I didn't say they took it exactly from Yuna, read my post again, because Yuna was still successful without certain qualities, it doesn't seem like the Korean coaches think they're a priority when I think they need to be a greater focus. And I used the leg bends as an example of leg lines in general but I've also talked about her spins, which is where she loses points and where I think her coaches need to be more attentive about. Yuna's spins were never her strong suit but she need had to put her hand on her thigh to balance herself, her spins had consistent speed and were nicely centred and she could get good GOEs while So Youn's are not. And I mentioned Yuna had some troubles with certain positions due to a lack of back flexibility so I wondered if So Youn is in the same department. I never said it was her fault for being Korean or whatever, you're making a huge mountain out of the molehill, seriously for some people any time someone offers some criticism you guys jump to conclusions and fans can't even offer a little bit of criticism for their favourite skaters. I'm done with you, you can think I'm a Korean hater or a Yuna hater or a So Youn hater or whatever you want. I know what I like and I know what I don't like. You obviously only want to see what you want to see from my posts.

Please calm down. I guess perhaps you misunderstood what I mean by "born as a korean is not her fault". this reply is refer to your comments that, she is from a weak fed (Korea), so she get low points, therefore she has to be stronger in all aspect to be competitive. What I meant is that being as this situation (politically weak) is not her fault.
I respect your preferences such as what you like or not like etc, My "hater" argument is main refer to a phenomenon that some people (haters) will say korean skater as (cheap) Yuna copy without carefully examine their skating... it happened a lot on boards and as all the posts on this thread indicated, it is obviously, people would like skater to develop on their own path. My point is exactly that.
I have nothing against you, my impression of you generated from your posts that I read. If you sense that I think that you are a Korean hater, Yuna hater or a SoYoun hater from our argument. then it is a shame.
I only wanna pointed out that Korean young skaters are not Yuna's copies. their weakness also is not due to copy Yuna.

As for whether Korean coaches intentionally compromised developing leg lines and is that the cause of poor position in some leg line. I just dont know. View figure skating as a whole, I think the weakness and suggestions for SoYoun in this article is pretty good.

Krunchii said:

Of course it's on purpose, she's copying the way Yuna did it, that bent leg looks lazy and doesn't make for a nice body line. Kim Hae-jin has a straight leg when she does hers which looks a lot better. If you like it good for you but there's a reason why other skaters are getting better GOEs than So Youn are different elements and So Youn's coaches need to fix that in order for her to challenge anything

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C'mon, let's get real here. While I am sure some skaters might not choose to do a "Yuna camel" for reasons of habit, coaches, and maybe even for the reasons you have stated, you can also add on to that list, the position is famously/notoriously, Yuna's. A skater venturing out in that territory is risking negative comparisons at the very least.
The body line is beautiful and its silhouette is often used to advertise shows or performances of Yuna's. I would even venture to say that as the years fill in the gap since Yuna's retirement that position will be more frequently included in some programs.