Which part of my post do you disagree with? I did acknowledge that her spiral position is amazing. My main point was that it's not "the best" or "untouchable".
And Yukina Ota's Ina Bauer is definitely comparable to Arakawa's if not better.
its just a difference in my esthetic preferences.... neither of us is "right" or "wrong".... but I kinda disagree that she doesnt seem to glide across the ice with speed... seems pretty fast to me
Michelle's FI/FO spiral is still unparalleled. I agree with Shine, Carolina's FI spiral is absolutely awesome, the deep inside edge with the speed, flow, and the gliding feeling you get from watching her. I love Michelle, Carolina, and Sarah Hughes spiral for the flow, the deep edges and the speed, the curvingpaths they sail on the ice is incredible. To me spirals is not about WOW factor at all.
Victoria Pavuk has a gorgeous, fast spiral with fabulous extension that is on a SERIOUS edge. If she learns to hold it longer, she will kill with that move.
I have to agree that Dick and Peggy rave only about Sasha's extension, which is difficult, but they NEVER point out how shallow her edge is, and they raved about her change of "edge" spiral that really wasn't (inside edge, flat, out of spiral). They also never point out how many crossovers it takes her between positions to maintain her speed. Maybe Robin can work on these things with her, since Sarah had such a nice spiral.
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She was really unparalleled in her spiral ability until the next round of tiny baby skaters came out who were trying to emulate her.
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Michelle's free leg in the spiral is very well extended and still incredibly high, and it stays in that position without a bobble when she changes edges. Michelle does not use the flat on her spirals. The flat takes the pressure off the skater.