Ilia Malinin's quad difficulty

[Lutzedge]

Ilia Malinin's jump difficulty is insane. There are multiple big accomplishments he has made in this Olympic Season, especially when it comes to his quads. He has done amazing things such as:


● Landing 2 Quads in his Short Program and 4 in his Free Skate all successfully with big GOE at Nationals this Olympic season, including a Quad Lutz in each program.

● In his Short Program at Nationals, he broke 100 points with over 60 in his Technical score with top level executed jumps.

● In his Free Skate, he hit 199 points, with 115 points for his Technical Elements, resulting in breaking 300 points overall in his Senior Nationals debut.

● Landed 5 quads in practice (Quad Toe Loop, Salchow, Lutz, Loop, and Flip).

● Has landed quad + quad combinations in practice, and has posted videos of crazy combinations such as 4T + 4T, 4T + Euler + 4S, and 4T + 4Lo.


Ilia finished 2nd at US Nationals this season, but was not selected onto the Olympic Team. However, he has been selected for the Junior and Senior World Championships for this 2021-22 Season. This thread is created to look at Malinin's difficulty of his jumps, in particular his quads.

 

[RatedPG]

Yup. A future legend of figure skating. I really wish someone as talented as him, who peaked at US Nationals, would have been on the Olympic team. I’m rooting for him to shock the World at the World Championship events.

 

[Lutzedge]

Here are some of his incredible combinations!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWeTEPcLDdZ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYiO02LKepQ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZFJtnhqL55/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZSjtXWqOSb/

 

[Mista Ekko]

So he can do a Quad Loop now? And as a second part of a combo?

That's a game changer cause that doesn't only brings his Quad possibilities for the FS to 5
But also all these back end Quads allow him to do 3 Quads in the SP

They're such tools for not sending him,
He is peaking RIGHT NOW in a way nobody else is

 

[TontoK]

So he can do a Quad Loop now? And as a second part of a combo?

That's a game changer cause that doesn't only brings his Quad possibilities for the FS to 5
But also all these back end Quads allow him to do 3 Quads in the SP

They're such tools for not sending him,
He is peaking RIGHT NOW in a way nobody else is

Currently, the short program does not allow for a 4-4 combination. The combination may be a 3-2, a 3-3, a 4-2 or a 4-3. This assumes a "typical" combination, although my reading of the requirement is that a 2-3 combo or a 3-4 combo would also be within the boundaries of the requirement.

A 4-4 would be outside the permissable combinations.

Of course, in the free program, any of these wild combinations he's been playing with would be fine, so long as other restrictions are followed.

 

[4everchan]

So he can do a Quad Loop now? And as a second part of a combo?

That's a game changer cause that doesn't only brings his Quad possibilities for the FS to 5
But also all these back end Quads allow him to do 3 Quads in the SP

They're such tools for not sending him,
He is peaking RIGHT NOW in a way nobody else is

as mentioned, only 2 quads are allowed in the SP ... but yeah... i agree that he is at the top of his shape right now and that's a pity he is not going. Regarding the SP, a 3lz-4loop + 4lutz, 3a program would still be insane in BV

 

[Arriba627]

He is SO talented. I hope he doesn't overdo it on the quads and injure himself or burn himself out...Also am curious to watch how his younger sister progresses.

 

[lariko]

Can’t wait to see him in JWC and WC. Bummer they didn’t put him in the Olympics, it would have been so much fun. I dunno if he does a 4-4 combo in the free in competition, but his training attempts are pretty cool.

 

[TontoK]

Can’t wait to see him in JWC and WC. Bummer they didn’t put him in the Olympics, it would have been so much fun. I dunno if he does a 4-4 combo in the free in competition, but his training attempts are pretty cool.

He still got his qualifier to earn the World SP minimum.

After that, he would have no pressure in the free, and I wonder if he might try something to get a "world first" under his belt.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

So he can do a Quad Loop now? And as a second part of a combo?

That's a game changer cause that doesn't only brings his Quad possibilities for the FS to 5
But also all these back end Quads allow him to do 3 Quads in the SP

They're such tools for not sending him,
He is peaking RIGHT NOW in a way nobody else is

3 quad sp not allowed.
Although his combos allow him to do 6 quads and 2x 3A if he wishes, with 7 jumping passes the necessity would put quads in combination to accomplish this. That being said, this would be monumental task and is so easy to theorise about compared to putting in practice.
It could also be used to replace 3T with 3F/3Lz or something and get a more advanced triple in someplace.

 

[lariko]

He still got his qualifier to earn the World SP minimum.

After that, he would have no pressure in the free, and I wonder if he might try something to get a "world first" under his belt.

I know, but I assume he is in Beijing atm, so I dunno when he skates for TES

 

[Arriba627]

I'd be curious to know, did he jump the 4-4 ten times, and this is the good result? Or did he try just a few times. The spring in his jumps is really cool.

 

[Mista Ekko]

3 quad sp not allowed.
Although his combos allow him to do 6 quads and 2x 3A if he wishes, with 7 jumping passes the necessity would put quads in combination to accomplish this. That being said, this would be monumental task and is so easy to theorise about compared to putting in practice.
It could also be used to replace 3T with 3F/3Lz or something and get a more advanced triple in someplace.

He can't do 6 Quads because he doesn't have a Quad Flip
He's not even doing 3F in his layout I think

But considering the 4L came as kind of a surprise I wouldn't put it past him next season

 

[4everchan]

I know, but I assume he is in Beijing atm, so I dunno when he skates for TES

i am not sure we can assume that many alternates were flown in... probably for USA, and especially in his case... but i doubt Canada has flown in any subs in figure skating...

 

[treblemakerem]

He can't do 6 Quads because he doesn't have a Quad Flip
He's not even doing 3F in his layout I think

But considering the 4L came as kind of a surprise I wouldn't put it past him next season

I think he has landed he 4F in practice already so I would not be surprised to see it in the program soon. I’m pretty sure he did have 3f in his jr programs but with his layout he didn’t need it.

The quad quad combos are really cool but at this point I’m not sure how beneficial they are. You can only repeat 1 quad so the benefit is really more of being able to include higher triples instead of 3t rather than the benefit of another quad. I’m not sure the risk is worth it since he already has a 3lo combo. I’m sure he’ll try them to get the records though. Maybe in the future they will allow 4-4 in the short program.

Also I’m a little bit worried about him growing. He still looks pretty small so I hope he can hang onto all those quads as he gets bigger.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

He can't do 6 Quads because he doesn't have a Quad Flip
He's not even doing 3F in his layout I think

But considering the 4L came as kind of a surprise I wouldn't put it past him next season

He can do 4F.
4Lo wasn't a surprise for me. At his JGP practice he landed every quad. 4F is his weakest, but he does it with textbook mechanics (although I didn't analyse his edge)

 

[TontoK]

I think he has landed he 4F in practice already so I would not be surprised to see it in the program soon. I’m pretty sure he did have 3f in his jr programs but with his layout he didn’t need it.

The quad quad combos are really cool but at this point I’m not sure how beneficial they are. You can only repeat 1 quad so the benefit is really more of being able to include higher triples instead of 3t rather than the benefit of another quad. I’m not sure the risk is worth it since he already has a 3lo combo. I’m sure he’ll try them to get the records though. Maybe in the future they will allow 4-4 in the short program.

Also I’m a little bit worried about him growing. He still looks pretty small so I hope he can hang onto all those quads as he gets bigger.

I've seen video of the 4F. In his recent TSL interview, he said this was the most inconsistent of his quads.

Physical growth is indeed something to watch. But, if you look at him from a year or so ago, the growth that has already happened is not minor.

When I first say him this year, I didn't even recognize the skater of a year ago. How much more will he grow? And will he handle that as well as he has the physical growth he's already had? Time will tell, but the one thing he has going for him is technique. These jumps don't seem like they're done in a way that will seriously hamper future ability.

 

[4everchan]

growth is not always a bad thing for men : Conrad Orzel started his own quad fest once he grew taller. He said the acquired power and height helped him. On top of that, Malinin has much better technique than Conrad.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

growth is not always a bad thing for men : Conrad Orzel started his own quad fest once he grew taller. He said the acquired power and height helped him. On top of that, Malinin has much better technique than Conrad.

Malinin's quads have at least as good technique as Chen, if not more stable technique (than Chen's earlier quads). From technique standpoint, I'm not worried. Of course, Injury as well as mental stuff is important, but technique is definitely going for Ilia.

 

[4everchan]

Malinin's quads have at least as good technique as Chen, if not more stable technique (than Chen's earlier quads). From technique standpoint, I'm not worried. Of course, Injury as well as mental stuff is important, but technique is definitely going for Ilia.

..yup... i refered to orzel because of the growth factor but then, if we believe his bio, Malinin is only listed at 1,68M... which is comparable to Chen's 1.66 Conrad is 1.83m