Polina Edmunds shows promise

[Sam-Skwantch]

Some people appreciate subtlety and sophistication over "wowing" flexibility.

I think Meoima means the program as a whole needs a wow factor. Not just one aspect of a skaters presentation and skillset. No need to over simplify things. There are great programs that use subtlety and elegance to achieve a wow factor. Send in the Clowns comes to mind. It of course isn't the only way as some programs use a certain gusto and play more towards an exciting element. I am glad for all the diversity these days. It's the different creative ways that skaters approach their programs that keeps me entertained. Would you not agree there is room for many styles?

Polina certainly has more exciting programs this year IMO and it showcases her strengths like her beautiful lines. Love the twizzles

 

[Jammers]

Last season was Polina's debut international season. She had no reputation with the judges. If she continues to deliver good performances, I think her jump GOE and PCS will both rise as her reputation with the judges improves. If Julia and Gracie's small, pathetic jumps can get garner GOE, Polina should be able to earn good GOE on her jumps, too.

Gracie's small pathetic jumps? What??

 

[Lucky Star]

While Polina is a good jumper and have clean edges on her lutz and flip, am I the only one who thinks her jumps are often borderline? Some of her jumps from recent skate did look cheated even, and with a strict caller like the one who was at Junior Worlds last season, giving < and << with no benefit of the doubt for skaters, she might be in trouble. And, IMO, it's one of the reasons why her jumps don't recieve big GOEs. She is a very lovely skater, don't get me wrong, I like her and think she has all the chances to beat Gold next year to become US number 1.
While Julia's jumps aren't the highest, she fully rotates them (like most Russians do with the exception of Gosviani and Sotnikova's 3-3) and make up with difficult entrances/no telegraph and good landings straight to the choreography. Also, Julia is tested, she is able to deliver under the pressure, while Polina was a dark horse and had nothing to loose just like Gracie Gold her first international season, next season will be a whole different story for her. And don't forget Radionova, IMO, she will be the one to beat next season.
Also, all the mentioned above 15-16 yo still have some growing/filling out ahead of them, let's see how it affects them. Skaters like Gracie and Adelina have an advantage there

 

[gravy]

While Polina is a good jumper and have clean edges on her lutz and flip, am I the only one who thinks her jumps are often borderline? Some of her jumps from recent skate did look cheated even, and with a strict caller like the one who was at Junior Worlds last season, giving < and << with no benefit of the doubt for skaters, she might be in trouble. And, IMO, it's one of the reasons why her jumps don't recieve big GOEs. She is a very lovely skater, don't get me wrong, I like her and think she has all the chances to beat Gold next year to become US number 1.
While Julia's jumps aren't the highest, she fully rotates them (like most Russians do with the exception of Gosviani and Sotnikova's 3-3) and make up with difficult entrances/no telegraph and good landings straight to the choreography. Also, Julia is tested, she is able to deliver under the pressure, while Polina was a dark horse and had nothing to loose just like Gracie Gold her first international season, next season will be a whole different story for her. And don't forget Radionova, IMO, she will be the one to beat next season.
Also, all the mentioned above 15-16 yo still have some growing/filling out ahead of them, let's see how it affects them. Skaters like Gracie and Adelina have an advantage there

Didn't Polina have a 1L< in her 3F-1L-3S combo in Saitama?

That darn Shin Amano (I think).

 

[jenaj]

While Polina is a good jumper and have clean edges on her lutz and flip, am I the only one who thinks her jumps are often borderline? Some of her jumps from recent skate did look cheated even, and with a strict caller like the one who was at Junior Worlds last season, giving < and << with no benefit of the doubt for skaters, she might be in trouble. And, IMO, it's one of the reasons why her jumps don't recieve big GOEs. She is a very lovely skater, don't get me wrong, I like her and think she has all the chances to beat Gold next year to become US number 1.
While Julia's jumps aren't the highest, she fully rotates them (like most Russians do with the exception of Gosviani and Sotnikova's 3-3) and make up with difficult entrances/no telegraph and good landings straight to the choreography. Also, Julia is tested, she is able to deliver under the pressure, while Polina was a dark horse and had nothing to loose just like Gracie Gold her first international season, next season will be a whole different story for her. And don't forget Radionova, IMO, she will be the one to beat next season.
Also, all the mentioned above 15-16 yo still have some growing/filling out ahead of them, let's see how it affects them. Skaters like Gracie and Adelina have an advantage there

Agree, especially with the last point. Polina is going to fill out somewhat in the next few years unless she seriously restricts her eating. It is way too soon to make predictions about her future. Let's see how she does on the Grand Prix (and how the judges score her).

 

[snowflake]

I'm really impressed that she can deliver two such strong programs just four months after her senior Olympic and World debutes. Already improving in performance I think. More sure how to use her long limbs… 7 triples… the amazing twizzles… skating with the music…. potential for sure :thumbsup:

Also this:

Maybe I'm the odd one here, but 9th at the Olympics and 8th at worlds when you've never competed senior internationally before is better than most expected.

No, that's a good point.

She also didn't seem too overwhelmed by the moment which is a positive thing. But things change once you start getting noticed (and as you get older).

Let's see how she does.

I see this as a big asset for her. She seems to have such a calm, down-to-earth personality.

Good luck Polina!

 

[chuckm]

Thus far, Polina is getting low goe's on her jumps, sometimes even negative ones. I wonder if she will be able to improve on that this season.

At Worlds, in the SP she got -GOE on the combination because she UR the 3t and put a hand down on it. In the FS, the only negative GOE she got on a jump was on her 3f+1lo<+3s combo because she URd the 1lo ; all seven of her triples were clean, so I'd call that nitpicking.

At the Olympics, in the SP the only jump she got -GOE was the combo because she URd the 3t. The only jump on which she got -GOE in the FS was the solo 3f which she fell on.

The SP seems to be her Achilles heel. She finished out of the medals at the JGPF because she missed the combo in the SP, but she was second in the FS. She needs to work on steadying her nerves in the SP so that she doesn't put herself out of contention for podium. She was able to do that at Nationals, so she has to do it internationally as well.

OTOH, it's pretty remarkable for a skater making her international senior debut at such a high level to have such near-clean FS performances. As for the low GOE, the judges didn't give her high GOE on her jumps for the same reason that they didn't give her high PCS scores: she's a newbie.

BTW, Polina scored 135.80 in the FS at the Glacier Falls Summer Classic with a 7 clean triple performance. I would say that while Julia has made sturm und drang her calling card, Polina's is ethereal lightness and grace.

 

[2A3TMom]

Polina is going to fill out somewhat in the next few years unless she seriously restricts her eating.

Agreed, it's way too early to predict her future, but you should be very careful about making a comment like that. Perhaps you'd like to read USFS's Safe Sport guidelines?

 

[chuckm]

The same thing could be said and in fact HAS been said about Julia---and by Ilia Averbuch.

But eating is not necessarily the main factor---growth and maturity is. While Polina has already developed a bust and hips, Julia has not, and at some point she will; when that happens, rotating her tiny jumps will become far more difficult. While Polina was going through her growth spurt/puberty bug, she was getting hit with multiple URs, which she has managed to overcome before she made her international debut.

 

[YLFan]

We aren't going to take the bait. Besides, Anna Pogorilaya is a better comparison and she had a strong senior debut last year. If not for the farewell gift to Koster she would have podiumed at Worlds.

 

[Mrs. P]

Anna also had GP experience last season, which Polina did not, so that's not a perfect comparison either. Kovtun (though male) is the more comparable example, having started in the junior level then did the senior level halfway through in 2012-2013. Han Yan is a similar example. He did JGP 1/2 half and then did 4CC in the second half.

Besides, the past is the past. Let's see what happens THIS season.

 

[Selene]

Gracie's small pathetic jumps? What??

You must be thinking of the jumps she was doing a few seasons ago. Her jumps are now very low/small and have very hard landings, with zero flow out.

While Polina is a good jumper and have clean edges on her lutz and flip, am I the only one who thinks her jumps are often borderline? Some of her jumps from recent skate did look cheated even, and with a strict caller like the one who was at Junior Worlds last season, giving < and << with no benefit of the doubt for skaters, she might be in trouble. And, IMO, it's one of the reasons why her jumps don't recieve big GOEs. She is a very lovely skater, don't get me wrong, I like her and think she has all the chances to beat Gold next year to become US number 1.
While Julia's jumps aren't the highest, she fully rotates them (like most Russians do with the exception of Gosviani and Sotnikova's 3-3) and make up with difficult entrances/no telegraph and good landings straight to the choreography. Also, Julia is tested, she is able to deliver under the pressure, while Polina was a dark horse and had nothing to loose just like Gracie Gold her first international season, next season will be a whole different story for her. And don't forget Radionova, IMO, she will be the one to beat next season.
Also, all the mentioned above 15-16 yo still have some growing/filling out ahead of them, let's see how it affects them. Skaters like Gracie and Adelina have an advantage there

There was a very strict caller at the World Championships and Polina only got two UR calls (and one was a pointless call on her 1/2 loop.) I think the rotation of her jumps is good.

You can never predict how someone will develop during puberty, but I see her being very successful this season. The US hasn't had a girl with the combination of her technical ability and consistency in a long time. I see her as the only threat to the Russian girls.

 

[starlight97]

@Selene very well said, totally agree with you on the last part.

About the body change and so on:
At 16 a female is fully grown as for height.
I doubt that any youngster will put on a lot of weight by eating too much/wrong and especially not the Russians, since they are extremely strict in that area.
Filling in because of 'womanhood' could become a factor, yes, but IMO we should not talk about 'bust and hips'... the only two of the female top skaters who actually have those are Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner(given you don't consider for example Osmond to be a top skater right now).
Now I'm not saying they look boyish, god forbid, but as for curves(not fullness) many/most are straight lines, even after puberty.
Look at Sotnikova when she was 16 (like Yulia and Edmunds are now) and compare it to her appearance today! Apart from a more mature face her body has not developed any dramatically changing curves. Same goes for Yuna or so on...

Now, of course their bodies will change, but what I'm trying to say is that they won't burst into Beyonces.

 

[Sai Bon]

About the body change and so on:
At 16 a female is fully grown as for height.

Not a given. Some women continue to grow through their high teens. I think Kanako Murakami grew 5-6cm between 16 and 18 and developed a more womanly figure, which affected her jumps. Possibly why she has UR issues now.

 

[kwanatic]

About the body change and so on:
At 16 a female is fully grown as for height.

As Sai Bon said, that's not always true. For some girls it's 17, 18 or even as old as 19. Everyone is different. I don't think Julia is finished growing yet, but I see her as more of a Sasha Cohen than a Caroline Zhang. Sasha got bigger but her body shape didn't change that much; whereas Caroline got bigger all over and her body shape was much different from when she was 15. I don't think Julia's body will change that drastically over the next year or so, but with figure skating they say the smallest change can really throw you off. The hope is that Julia's technique will be able to withstand her getting taller/heavier/bigger.

Now, of course their bodies will change, but what I'm trying to say is that they won't burst into Beyonces.

 

[chuckm]

Oksana Baiul was 15 when she won the OGM. She was about 5'2" then and weighed about 95 lbs (if that). She continued to grow and fill out and by the time she was 17 she was 5'5"+ and weighed over 120 lbs. If she had continued to skate competitively she wouldn't have been successful, because even as a pro she had lost the harder jumps and wasn't winning pro competitions.

I went to college with a girl who at 17 had long since achieved her full height (5'3") and was straight up and down, like a stick. Then at 18 she suddenly "bloomed" and became very curvy, to the point that none of her clothes fit her any more, even though she was physically very active and didn't eat any more than she had when she was skinny. Late puberty can strike suddenly without warning.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Someone needs to explain the body change thing to my mom. She somehow skipped it and barely weighs 100lbs. She is beautiful though I tell ya. People come in all sizes and some just happen to be tiny little things.

With the way Yulia works out...maybe too much....she will likely only put muscle on. Same with Serafima. That girl is solid muscle and packing a 6pack at 14

Does anyone know Polina's workout load. Is she a gym rat like most of Eteri's students?

 

[Meoima]

I have heard that athlete's growth is much different from normal people? Like some grow fast but some is very slow?

 

[Mrs. P]

Yes, you have people like Dan Zhang who kept growing well into her 20s.

 

[chuckm]

Someone needs to explain the body change thing to my mom. She somehow skipped it and barely weighs 100lbs. She is beautiful though I tell ya. People come in all sizes and some just happen to be tiny little things.

With the way Yulia works out...maybe too much....she will likely only put muscle on. Same with Serafima. That girl is solid muscle and packing a 6pack at 14

Does anyone know Polina's workout load. Is she a gym rat like most of Eteri's students?

Excessive exercise can delay puberty but cannot stop it indefinitely. And if the athlete becomes injured and cannot exercise as usual....oh, well....here it comes....