- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I think a lot of times people are perplexed by her high placements, but she hardly ever gives away points from lack of concentration or not going for her jumps.
State of U.S. Ladies' skating 2016-17
- Thread starter R.D.
- Start date
I think a lot of times people are perplexed by her high placements, but she hardly ever gives away points from lack of concentration or not going for her jumps.
Hope she's ready for NHK, because its a deep field.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
Hopefully she'll do as well as Courtney did this weekend. The COR field was as deep as the ocean. Granted, Lip was injured but, even a 4th place finish would have been a proud moment for Courtney. She had 2 solid programs which were very well performed for this early in the season. Of course, as a defending US Medalist, the stakes are higher for Polina, and so are the expectations. I'm sure she's hoping for a podium finish no matter where she skates.
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- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
I want to like Courtney, and sometimes I do, but she just doesn't work when she's trying to be pretty. She doesn't have the physique of a ballerina or a typical skating princess, and sometimes her costumes and programs emphasize this weakness. I liked the dramatic and dynamic moments of her Maleficent program, and I think the costume suited her. The slow part of the program at the beginning did not.
And while I love the Hunchback of Notre Dame music, that program tried too hard be pretty and lyrical, which Courtney just didn't pull off. The dress didn't help. Get her out there to something more modern and rock-inspired and I think she can work it.
And while I love the Hunchback of Notre Dame music, that program tried too hard be pretty and lyrical, which Courtney just didn't pull off. The dress didn't help. Get her out there to something more modern and rock-inspired and I think she can work it.
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2012
Hey, I think Courtney has a pretty face, and her performance looks very authentic to me, even though she looks unpolished. You can have a stocky body and look polished, like some Japanese ladies managed to do, so Courtney has room to grow.
I don't think Courtney is trying to be pretty at all. Norte Dame is not princess music. I think this program with some mileage will actually be pretty awesome. I wish she had gotten to that point with her Elizabeth program last year, but alas...
ALSO: She's dating Brian Johnson! (of the US Pair team) : https://www.instagram.com/p/BMbk1VtjUt2/?taken-by=courtneynhicks&hl=en She wished him a happy birthday earlier today, right before the FS. Very sweet.
ALSO: She's dating Brian Johnson! (of the US Pair team) : https://www.instagram.com/p/BMbk1VtjUt2/?taken-by=courtneynhicks&hl=en She wished him a happy birthday earlier today, right before the FS. Very sweet.
Watching Courtney this weekend, it looks like she overrotated all of her jumps so the landing is so unstable to add any combo jump at the end. How do you slow down your rotation without ending up underrotating. What can she do?
I really like her deep edge though. Maybe because it always looks like she can't control her edge very well that's why her SS is so low. Girls with deep edge like that normally get 8.5 - 9 on their SS.
I really like her deep edge though. Maybe because it always looks like she can't control her edge very well that's why her SS is so low. Girls with deep edge like that normally get 8.5 - 9 on their SS.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2009
It looks like Ashley is not only the US #1 lady -- she is the only US lady.
Gracie is depressed.
Mirai can't rotate triples anymore.
Polina is injured.
Wildcards, still to see:
Mariah - promising
Karen ... didn't live up to her first year hype, but we'll see her at NHK
Tyler ... withdrew? injury?
Courtney ... she's okay
Caroline ... goal is to make nationals
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2016
Typical americans.... human beings are just some colors for you. That's why nothing will ever change, oh well......
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
Despite the GP results so far, I'd say Gracie is still solidly the #2 US woman. It takes more than one bad event to change that, especially when she admitted before the event she wasn't as ready as she'd like to be. As usual, the third spot is wide open.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
If you asked me today who I'd like to see on the team. I'd have to say Ashely and Mariah Bell. I'm hoping Gracie has a strong showing at her next event as she admittedly had a late start to the season. From technical standpoint she is still our best bet when she lands her jumps. Time will tell. I Haven't seen Polina, Angela Wang, Tyler Pierce, Karen Chen, Emily Chan, or Bradie Tennell since Nationals. This could still be a very exciting year for the US Ladies but they'll have to deliver when it counts.
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I'm not surprised that Polina has pulled out of NHK given she's been busy with school & her sorority and perhaps she is still rehabbing her injury. I hope she will be ready for Nationals given she was the Silver medalist last year.
Not giving up on Mirai, despite her poor showing at SC. I hope Gracie will fight at TEB this weekend. She won't beat Medvedeva, but she can get on the podium with relatively clean skates.
Not giving up on Mirai, despite her poor showing at SC. I hope Gracie will fight at TEB this weekend. She won't beat Medvedeva, but she can get on the podium with relatively clean skates.
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2012
I have a feeling Polina is in a semi-retired state. Doing full time regular college can hardly allow you to train full time. Other skaters doing college while training are taking online courses. Christina Gao managed for a semester or two but had to stop school for a year to train for the Olympics. Sorority activities will take quite a lot of her time too.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2014
What is Polina's injury, anyway? I thought it was a bone bruise, which I had no idea took so long to heal. But due to her numerous other commitments, skating might not be her first priority right now. It's a shame - I'm looking forward to her programs this season to see how she bounces back from GWTW.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2012
I was pretty wowed by the international competition at Cup of Russia, though I haven't seen the LP yet. It hasn't been aired.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
LOL, my opinion/assumption re Polina is quite the opposite.
I believe that her injury is far and away the root cause and primary reason for her withdrawal.
(And I'm sorry that she has not recovered in time to be ready for NHK.)
Polina previously has said:
- Proximity to her rink was a major reason that Santa Clara was her school of choice.
- She scheduled all her classes for the morning -- in order to have the rest of the day available for training and other activities.
She had arranged her life to be optimal for juggling training/competing as an athlete and studying/socializing as a freshman.- She scheduled all her classes for the morning -- in order to have the rest of the day available for training and other activities.
[Not incidentally, she graduated from a real (meaning "normal") high school. College is a different experience from high school, of course -- but my point is that she was not home-schooled.]
If Polina's recovery were not the major issue and instead she simply felt that her sorority and studies were higher priorities than training, why did she wait until now to withdraw from NHK? When she withdrew earlier from Rostelecom, why not withdraw from NHK at the same time?
I see things the other way around -- that if she were healthy and able to train as many hours as usual, I do not think she would sacrifice training time for anything else. I think that she would work her time for studying and for sorority activities around her training.
I believe that it is only b/c she has not been able to train (or at least not as much as usual) that she is making lemons into lemonade and taking advantage of the extra time by enjoying sorority stuff as much as possible for now.
:agree: Agree with everything else. Go, Gracie :yay:. And a little further down the road, go, Mirai and Polina :yay:.
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- Joined
- Dec 27, 2014
I'm hoping Mariah gets a 2nd gp spot at NHK now!!
These are my thoughts exactly--just because Polina's social media is filled with her school activities, it doesn't mean that she isn't training at the level she normally would.
I do hope Mariah is able to go to NHK, even though the field is deep beyond belief.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2012
Didn't Tyler Pierce withdraw from Trophee de France? Has someone been named to take her place yet?
