Has Gracie Gold regressed?

[Alex D]

As older we become, as more we all regress.

When you start with something, you don´t know about the outcome, it´s all new for you and therefore you just take things as they come. As soon you have success, your life is changing and you will face two big problems. Can I do it again and is it right, as I do it?

Artists, athletes, manages... will start to question their own abilities. Guess why we have so many one hit wonders, why so many athletes can´t repeat the Olympic gold except for our Katharina from the last years. Your mind changes and you can no longer approach your life in the same way as you did before, as you have so much more knowledge now and knowledge means work for your mind.

I am pretty sure that Gracie is very motivated and that Frank is very skilled, but it seems like they can not overcome that thought process of "what if". That´s why I always felt that she should just skip a season, look for something else and maybe lose those thoughts over time. It´s hard though, as you compare everything you do now, to what you did in the past - it´s really annoying and it makes you admire certain people even more, who are successful for many decades.

This btw. is something we see with many skaters, nothing to blame Gracie for.

 

[andyjo24]

As older we become, as more we all regress.

When you start with something, you don´t know about the outcome, it´s all new for you and therefore you just take things as they come. As soon you have success, your life is changing and you will face two big problems. Can I do it again and is it right, as I do it?

Artists, athletes, manages... will start to question their own abilities. Guess why we have so many one hit wonders, why so many athletes can´t repeat the Olympic gold except for our Katharina from the last years. Your mind changes and you can no longer approach your life in the same way as you did before, as you have so much more knowledge now and knowledge means work for your mind.

I am pretty sure that Gracie is very motivated and that Frank is very skilled, but it seems like they can not overcome that thought process of "what if". That´s why I always felt that she should just skip a season, look for something else and maybe lose those thoughts over time. It´s hard though, as you compare everything you do now, to what you did in the past - it´s really annoying and it makes you admire certain people even more, who are successful for many decades.

This btw. is something we see with many skaters, nothing to blame Gracie for.

Do you think this phase will occur for Medvedeva?

 

[Alexz]

This thread is hooliganism!

 

[Alex D]

Do you think this phase will occur for Medvedeva?

I don´t know to be honest and I hope she will stay focused and healthy for many more years to come and so far, it is impressive how she skates in her second big season. It´s not impossible to win back to back titles, Michelle Kwan did so as well and she was really on top for a decade, or Slutskaya, who just like Michelle never claimed gold, but won worlds and Europeans, two skaters who I have a lot of respect for, without them, many of todays skaters would certainly be in the grocery store, but not the ice rink.

Some athletes manage, but it´s hard and the Olympics are of course an even bigger challenge, as it´s only every four years.

I wish her well

 

[Icey]

I think Gracie should never have left Alex in the first place. If they couldn't work things out and she felt she had to leave, Frank was probably not the coach she should have gone to.

 

[MarinHondas]

I think Gracie should never have left Alex in the first place. If they couldn't work things out and she felt she had to leave, Frank was probably not the coach she should have gone to.

I have to agree.

 

[noskates]

I think she's reaching a mental limit. The pressure is bigger now then before. Yes she has always had pressure but back then she was a blank slate with promise. Everybody was hoping she would bring the US back on the podium and consistently challenge for the gold as American ladies had done in the past. Even though she didn't do it as fast as people hoped she was still very young and people were willing to give her the benefit and wait. She was willing to wait and work hard. But after working her butt off only to have multiple seasons of underwhelming disappointments the frustration of not living up to her personal hopes and dreams as well as the expectations of everybody else its taking its toll. She hoped things would have come together by now and they haven't and she's also most likely feeling the negative feelings of everybody around her.

It's not about regressing, its about having far too many disappointments and negative baggage in the back of her mind.

I think you could almost repeat this post word for word in a Mirai Negasu post....except I think Gracie is inherently more talented than Mirai.

 

[karne]

I think Gracie should never have left Alex in the first place. If they couldn't work things out and she felt she had to leave, Frank was probably not the coach she should have gone to.

IIRC, didn't the USFS jump in when she wanted to leave Alex and sent her to Frank?

 

[ice coverage]

IIRC, didn't the USFS jump in when she wanted to leave Alex and sent her to Frank?

A little more precisely (IIRC), the chronology was that Gracie already had left Alex before USFS approached Frank about the possibility of becoming her coach.
Just want to be clear that (AFAIK) USFS was not involved in Gracie's departure from Alex.

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Anyway, I hate that yet another thread is devoted to scrutinizing Gracie. Unnecessary, IMO.

 

[blue_ice]

I think Gracie should never have left Alex in the first place. If they couldn't work things out and she felt she had to leave, Frank was probably not the coach she should have gone to.

Totally agree. She was an amazing jumper back than.

 

[MarinHondas]

A little more precisely (IIRC), the chronology was that Gracie already had left Alex before USFS approached Frank about the possibility of becoming her coach.
Just want to be clear that (AFAIK) USFS was not involved in Gracie's departure from Alex.

---

Anyway, I hate that yet another thread is devoted to scrutinizing Gracie. Unnecessary, IMO.

I am not trying to scrutinize Gracie. I am a huge fan of her, I wish her only the best. I was just making an observation and was wondering what other's thoughts were about this.

 

[gravy]

Then I'm going to assume that training the 3Lz-3T is what killed her flip edge, since most lady skaters tend to be proficient at one or the other. Training a great lutz makes getting that inside flip edge hard to get.

Also, with Alex Gracie did 3F-3T in SP and 3Lz-3T in LP, at least in 2012/2013 - which is actually a really interesting strategy for making sure both jumps are solid, you can do a combo off both jumps, but also seems risky given that most top skater with fully developed bodies are really only good at one 3-3 combo (or two if you count 3-1lo-3 combos also). It seems like the safer strategy to have the same, more solid 3-3 in both programs.

Somewhere between juniors and seniors that flip edge went wonky - or it was always a problem but maybe junior technical specialists weren't so picky? In 2013 she got e calls.

Once upon a time, Gracie had clips of her doing clean 2A+1Lo+3F combinations (I think on Instagram). It's funny because the flip in that combination is the best she's ever done in terms of a real inside edge due to the mechanics of the difficult combination. The half loop lands on a LBI edge so there's no time for her left foot to rock onto the outside edge as she picked with her right toe to launch into the flip.

 

[ice coverage]

I am not trying to scrutinize Gracie. ...

Oh, really? You start a thread about whether GG has "regressed." And you ask for others to give their opinions.
Even if you want to claim that you yourself are not trying to scrutinize GG, you obviously have invited others to scrutinize her.

All of which is permissible on GS.
But my opinion is: enough already. YMMV.

 

[Crossover]

Why people are so quick to throw words over to skaters even in early of the season? Gracie only competed one event this season.

 

[topaz emerald]

Do you think this phase will occur for Medvedeva?

It's already occurred. Judges put on blindfolds.

 

[topaz emerald]

[/B]
I am not trying to scrutinize Gracie. I am a huge fan of her, I wish her only the best. I was just making an observation and was wondering what other's thoughts were about this.

To answer your question, I did notice a longer delay in reaching back for her toe jump after the lutz now.....maybe it's from gaining a couple pounds??, but I think it's a matter of toning her body more. However, I think it's mental for her. Once she's in better shape physically AND mentally, she will bounce back. I love her programs this year, so I wish her the best. And I am probably in the minority here, but I hope she puts on her white dress, I loved her ghostly appearance and thought it matches her lp music.

 

[solani]

I believe that Gracie is as good as ever, better in some aspects of her skating. Even when she's not in her best shape she can obvioulsy hit her 3Lz-3T combo and it's among the best in the business. Ever competition she enters is hers to lose and she knows that. That's a lot of pressure. And it's not that she doesn't do her homework, she obviously is a very hard worker (we're always talking about Satoko and Evgenia being hard workers, but Gracie must work just as hard). I feel for her, it must be so frustrating. But I guess it's good that she took a couple of weeks off this summer, next season is already the Olympic season so all those skaters won't have time to rest next summer.

 

[lyverbird1]

From a personal point of view, I wouldn't use the word regression but I do know that I preferred Gracie's jumps and overall style from her pre-Frank years. I'm not a fan of a style I find remote and icy (pardon the unintentional pun). I don't get joy or freedom coming from Gracie when she skates. I think there's a lot of fronting going on with even the smile and I'd love to see her rediscover that joy and it being reflected more often in her skating. We can only speculate about her state of mind but I hope that if she is not happy with where she and her skating are that she soon gets back to a good place.

 

[MarinHondas]

Why people are so quick to throw words over to skaters even in early of the season? Gracie only competed one event this season.

She has actually competed in 2 but I agree. She will probably get better as the season progresses! I hope she can be on top at Trophee Bombard!

 

[MarinHondas]

Oh, really? You start a thread about whether GG has "regressed." And you ask for others to give their opinions.
Even if you want to claim that you yourself are not trying to scrutinize GG, you obviously have invited others to scrutinize her.

All of which is permissible on GS.
But my opinion is: enough already. YMMV.

You may think what you want. I wanted to know if I was wrong, maybe there was a reason her jumps have gotten smaller? I got some very interesting info, that Gracie had the flip problem before Frank. This made me look at Frank in a better light because I always thought it was because of him. But again, you may believe what you like. I have seen not one outright rude comment on this thread. They all end with something positive to say about Gracie.