Will Mao make the Oly team?

[Nadine]

As was stated before, this thread is now obsolete. I feel it only gives the troublemakers the opportunity to vent.

Mao won her place on the Olympic Team without question, unlike poor Miki Ando whom has been dragged over the coals for the last 4 yrs. due to her being put on the 2006 Japanese Olympic Team despite her less than stellar placement at that year's Nationals (5th or 6th place?). Done & over with, finito!

arty:arty:MAO, YOU HAVE MY HEART, CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING THE OLYMPIC TEAM, WHICH I HONESTLY NEVER DOUBTED YOU WOULD DO SO!!!!arty:arty:

 

[Nadia01]

Oscialla, fantasting analysis of Mao's situation and great post!
As to the programmes, last year when I saw the LP to Masquarade, I fell in love with it but then I realized it only worked so well because of the transitions and the fast choreography. Now seeing how Mao struggled this season and chucked most out of the Bells programme in order to concentrate on jumps, I also think there is no way that programme is gonna measure up to anything she's done. I think most ppl felt empty after watching her skate the Bells LP even with clean jumps is cos the programme is now only a shadow of what it was. I think it's important at this point that she gets her confidence back but going out with these programmes, which required so much work when the jumps were becoming problems, was not a great strategy indeed.

So I wasn't the only one who felt empty after watching her LP? Mao didn't fall or anything so I expected some ... emotions, but I was just unmoved and astounded that performance that appeared lacking in other areas got rewarded so handsomely.

I thought her LP from TEB was far superior to the one she did at Nat even though she fell in Paris.

 

[schiele]

I thought her LP from TEB was far superior to the one she did at Nat even though she fell in Paris.

Totally agree.. And I saw it live.. But given the kind of rut she's in, I guess this was the only way to go to temporarily maintain a reasonable TES until olympics..

 

[Bennett]

So I wasn't the only one who felt empty after watching her LP? Mao didn't fall or anything so I expected some ... emotions, but I was just unmoved and astounded that performance that appeared lacking in other areas got rewarded so handsomely.

I thought her LP from TEB was far superior to the one she did at Nat even though she fell in Paris.

Thanks for sharing your insight.

I liked this performance for the first time since I started to watch this. But it might be more to do with the fact that I had been shocked at TEB to see Mao skating to dark music in a dark costume and I could not do any fair assessment of the program at that time. Now I am getting used to it.

I did not notice that the choreos getting emptier. It is still a very classy program.

But I still am worried that the music is so repetitious.

Yet, I love the fact that Mao looked strong and not overpowered by the music. I love the light, adorable, happy Mao better, but this one is a fine effort from her to transform into a new Mao, as she said before that gentle music that TAT prepared as an alternative choice was too lovely and soft. As long as she has some image about where she was going to, perhaps she could find her style.

I feel that she is trying to convey some emotions this season. That may be a big improvement of hers this season.

 

[I-witness]

Now seeing how Mao struggled this season and chucked most out of the Bells programme in order to concentrate on jumps, I also think there is no way that programme is gonna measure up to anything she's done. I think most ppl felt empty after watching her skate the Bells LP even with clean jumps is cos the programme is now only a shadow of what it was. I think it's important at this point that she gets her confidence back but going out with these programmes, which required so much work when the jumps were becoming problems, was not a great strategy indeed.

Although I agree that Bells got emptier but I don't really get why someone can say that LP program got that bad.
Mao has ditched two eagles, one before 3F combo in the first half and the other before 2A. I am especially disappointed that Mao replaced eagle with steps before 2A.
To me, from the end of 3Fcombo ~ 3T ~ 2A was the most impressive part of Bells. It was like a prelude to explosive step sequence and I loved every single move. She did not have any problem at JO and Rostelecom. I hope Mao would go back to the former version.
But apart from this, I only observed a few other minor changes that should not affect the entire program.
I am glad that she finally finished with the end of music!

 

[mskater93]

There was more than just "a little" missing out of the original choreo. She spends even more time doing plain crossovers between the elements and without the transitions, it just looks like she's doing a 4:10 warm up of 6 jumps, 3 spins, a spiral sequence and a step sequence. I wasn't impressed with this program at all this season and now I am even less impressed.

 

[inside edge]

There was more than just "a little" missing out of the original choreo. She spends even more time doing plain crossovers between the elements and without the transitions, it just looks like she's doing a 4:10 warm up of 6 jumps, 3 spins, a spiral sequence and a step sequence. I wasn't impressed with this program at all this season and now I am even less impressed.

:yes::yes:
Her LP from TEB was a lot better to me.

 

[Iscariot]

To me, from the end of 3Fcombo ~ 3T ~ 2A was the most impressive part of Bells. It was like a prelude to explosive step sequence and I loved every single move. She did not have any problem at JO and Rostelecom. I hope Mao would go back to the former version.

just saw both videos of nationals and teb to compare and i dont see that much change in her program, big deal she took out the spread eagle before the first flip and then the double axel is now out of steps, such a shame because
i also like that part of the program 3f steps 3t reverse eagle 2a with the bells
and well the fisrt part of her spiral seq connecting with the catch-foot, but i guess is just because she wants to get level 4,
but i am not still crazy about the programs but i know mao can make it

 

[I-witness]

just saw both videos of nationals and teb to compare and i dont see that much change in her program, big deal she took out the spread eagle before the first flip and then the double axel is now out of steps, such a shame because
i also like that part of the program 3f steps 3t reverse eagle 2a with the bells
and well the fisrt part of her spiral seq connecting with the catch-foot, but i guess is just because she wants to get level 4,
but i am not still crazy about the programs but i know mao can make it

:agree:
I think Mao and her assistant coach concentrated more on SP than LP during the past two months. Although I am not still big fan of her SP this season, I was impressed by improvements from Rostelecom. I read that TAT is coming to Japan in early January so I hope they can do the same this with LP.

I have seen a good vide on youtube.
You can compare LP at Natioanls, Rostelecom, and TEB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTDK-EVIRrQ

You can really see that apart from two spread eagles, there are only a few minor choreographic changes.

 

[schiele]

I have seen a good vide on youtube.
You can compare LP at Natioanls, Rostelecom, and TEB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTDK-EVIRrQ

You can really see that apart from two spread eagles, there are only a few minor choreographic changes.

Great video, thanks for sharing..
I guess there are not a lot of visible changes, but I think a) the choreo's sync and feel with the music has gotten distorted and b) the step sequence has lost its intricacy.
Now they are small things but obviously made an impact on ppl who felt empty after watching the LP in Nats.
Do they really matter at this point? No, because getting the jumps is much more important after the meltdown period and she's goona keep the levels in other elements.. So I think it will not hurt her at all.. But I preserve my convinction that the TEB LP just felt much better artistically (actually I have the same conviction about the SP as well). Still if this will help Mao get on the podium, I'll say no more..

 

[BlackAxel]

Even if there were barely any changes made to Mao's lp, I still did not feel anything. At Japan Open and TEB, Mao did not land all the jumps and even fell at the latter competition, yet still her lp was able to capture a majestic emotion and I was in pure awe. While I was happy that Mao landed all her jumps sans an underrotated 3A, it didnt "amaze" me or leave me in awe. What worries me the most is that Mao pretty much had a clean program (she still attempted the 2 3A even if one was a little bit underotated), which is what she needs for the Olympics to contend for the gold medal. Yet I was still left with nothing. I can not make any judgement on whether Mao will improve and make a good running for the GOM, since the 4CC is up and that can really contest on Mao's improvement. As a huge fan of Mao, I can honestly say that while I want Mao to win, it would not be the worst thing if she came out with a silver or bronze. Afterall, Mao said that she is looking forward to Sochi 2014, and if anywhere it would be really special if she could get a gold there.

 

[rossdale]

Both SP and LP are not impressive

Even if there were barely any changes made to Mao's lp, I still did not feel anything. At Japan Open and TEB, Mao did not land all the jumps and even fell at the latter competition, yet still her lp was able to capture a majestic emotion and I was in pure awe. While I was happy that Mao landed all her jumps sans an underrotated 3A, it didnt "amaze" me or leave me in awe. What worries me the most is that Mao pretty much had a clean program (she still attempted the 2 3A even if one was a little bit underotated), which is what she needs for the Olympics to contend for the gold medal. Yet I was still left with nothing. I can not make any judgement on whether Mao will improve and make a good running for the GOM, since the 4CC is up and that can really contest on Mao's improvement. As a huge fan of Mao, I can honestly say that while I want Mao to win, it would not be the worst thing if she came out with a silver or bronze. Afterall, Mao said that she is looking forward to Sochi 2014, and if anywhere it would be really special if she could get a gold there.

It is quite disappointing to see how Mao Asada degrades year by year. Last year, she was one of top favorities for gold medal in any kind of competition. This year? at best she can fight for podium. In this National, Suzuki should have won the title. Mao always gets help from PCS. Can someone explain why she deserves such a high PCS score? It does not make any sense at all.

 

[miki88]

It is quite disappointing to see how Mao Asada degrades year by year. Last year, she was one of top favorities for gold medal in any kind of competition. This year? at best she can fight for podium. In this National, Suzuki should have won the title. Mao always gets help from PCS. Can someone explain why she deserves such a high PCS score? It does not make any sense at all.

I don't think Mao's skating declined. I think it's her programs this year that has been holding her back and not highlighting her strengths. She is still a beautiful skater. Mao gets high PCS because her skating has that delicate look even with gloomy programs, and reputation helps. It was at the Nationals so of course Mao is still the favorite. If you look at the more well-known skaters, they usually have higher PCS than lesser known names. Past accomplishments counts : in sports as in life.

 

[silverlake22]

I don't think Mao's skating declined. I think it's her programs this year that has been holding her back and not highlighting her strengths. She is still a beautiful skater. Mao gets high PCS because her skating has that delicate look even with gloomy programs, and reputation helps. It was at the Nationals so of course Mao is still the favorite. If you look at the more well-known skaters, they usually have higher PCS than lesser known names. Past accomplishments counts : in sports as in life.

Mao's overall skating has gotten better over the years, it's just her jumps that have declined. When she was 15 she had a gorgeous triple lutz and the next year it became a flutz which got increasingly worse so that now she doesn't even do it. Mao also used to do beautiful 3-3s and her 3a was consistent. Her spins and expression though have greatly improved, she used to be a jumping bean and now there is maturity and elegance to her skating. Still though, jumps are most important. Yuna I admit is very expressive, but her huge scores are for the jumps.

 

[Nadia01]

Mao's overall skating has gotten better over the years, it's just her jumps that have declined. When she was 15 she had a gorgeous triple lutz and the next year it became a flutz which got increasingly worse so that now she doesn't even do it. Mao also used to do beautiful 3-3s and her 3a was consistent. Her spins and expression though have greatly improved, she used to be a jumping bean and now there is maturity and elegance to her skating. Still though, jumps are most important. Yuna I admit is very expressive, but her huge scores are for the jumps.

I agree jumps are very important.

I think Mao's skating quality is better than Akiko or Miki. There's something very delicate and lovely about her skating. Although that is enough for exhibitions -- and many here can agree that Mao has great gala programs! -- for competitions she needs all her weapons charged for the big showdown.

I remember someone asking Brian Boitano which is more important -- athleticism (jumps, spins) or artistry. He said that for competitions you need the technical ability. And I think he's right about that. If we judged skating for each skater's artistry, Mao might not have experienced so many disappointments this season.

 

[miki88]

Mao's overall skating has gotten better over the years, it's just her jumps that have declined. When she was 15 she had a gorgeous triple lutz and the next year it became a flutz which got increasingly worse so that now she doesn't even do it. Mao also used to do beautiful 3-3s and her 3a was consistent. Her spins and expression though have greatly improved, she used to be a jumping bean and now there is maturity and elegance to her skating. Still though, jumps are most important. Yuna I admit is very expressive, but her huge scores are for the jumps.

Good point. I think her jumping problem is at least partly a mental issue, because she seems to lack enough confidence. Some people have noted her speed leading to the jumps have decreased, perhaps indicating lack of confidence in landing them. Also, I think someone else pointed out that she is trying to do a lot of things at the same time instead of trying to fix one problem at at time. E.g. Trying to land 3 axels instead of devoting her time to trying to land her other jumps more consistently :no:

 

[silverlake22]

Good point. I think her jumping problem is at least partly a mental issue, because she seems to lack enough confidence. Some people have noted her speed leading to the jumps have decreased, perhaps indicating lack of confidence in landing them. Also, I think someone else pointed out that she is trying to do a lot of things at the same time instead of trying to fix one problem at at time. E.g. Trying to land 3 axels instead of devoting her time to trying to land her other jumps more consistently :no:

I agree. I don't think Mao's issue is really physical because her body has not changed much since 2006, but the jumping issues have progressed. All the coaching changes and personal issues or lack of motivation could also have played a part.

 

[ayayukiituka]

i think her big jumping problems began when she fixed her bad flutz.
she was comfortable with her lutz till then,they are actually flutz though.
i never think she shouldn't have fixed these jumps,but she shuold do after OGM.
if so,she may recieved minues GOE,her jump layout would be different.

 

[yuriyuri]

i think her big jumping problems began when she fixed her bad flutz.
she was comfortable with her lutz till then,they are actually flutz though.
i never think she shouldn't have fixed these jumps,but she shuold do after OGM.
if so,she may recieved minues GOE,her jump layout would be different.

I think Mao's jumping problems earlier this season were due to 3A inconsistency. Even in practice her 3A success rate was not high. So it affected other jumps.

But recently Mao recovered 3A consistency back and at Japanese Nationials she landed all other planned triples well (3F, 3L, 3T),

 

[silverlake22]

I think Mao's jumping problems earlier this season were due to 3A inconsistency. Even in practice her 3A success rate was not high. So it affected other jumps.

But recently Mao recovered 3A consistency back and at Japanese Nationials she landed all other planned triples well (3F, 3L, 3T),

she didn't do a 3lutz at nationals though