Marin Honda

[tars]

The most beautiful Japanese skater, loved by whole world, will be left at home for Olympics. :sad21:

 

[Plumededragon]

She needs to change her strategy and work ethic. Hamada always said that Marin is naturally talented but hated training. If that’s true, this is not good. She could gain a lot from being surrounded by world talents like Satoko (and Rika), but if that doesn’t work, she needs to reconsider her mind set. Maybe leave and train oversea, I don’t know. But she needs to do something. She’s so young and talented, it would really be a waste to do nothing different.

 

[sarama]

I'm sorry she looked very disappointed. But she is a phenomenal skater who had a tough season, in Avery complicated moment for Japanese ladies. I'm sure she can still have an amazing career going forward

 

[Kara]

I'm kind of mad now to think about the comments before on how they were worried the mass media would inflate her scores artificially, and well look at that, none of that sort happened! Her talent is so obvious to anyone who looks at her though she couldn't skate to her full potential pretty much all season and I'm kind of nervous for what she plans next as in her interview after the free program, she said that nationals had changed her skating life will be from now on and she thought that maybe there was some sort of mistake in what she's been doing up until now and she wants to fix that while working hard to keep fighting on. I still love you Marin!

 

[Kara]

It's probably because Satoko was skating next. Rika who skated before Marin also didn't have Hamada at the K&C with her because she was with Marin.

 

[YesWay]

Hamada always said that Marin is naturally talented but hated training.

Marin herself has said similar things about the training...!

eg. that she hates practicing spins... that she gets bored quickly repeating stuff over and over. .. that she has trouble remaining focussed long enough to do full run-throughs properly... that she often breaks run-throughs into 2 or 3 parts, so she can practice each part all the way through, with full concentration...

She does have a natural talent, expressiveness and "star quality"... and her skating is beautiful, elegant and effortless... but all that will only take her so far. If she isn't motivated enough, I don't think she can improve on where she is now, or catch up to the top skaters.

It will take hard work and determination, just to keep up and not get left behind, never mind overtake her current rivals - I hope she's up to the challenge!

PS.
I initially found Hamada's comments in public to be a bit "off", and surprising that a Japanse coach would say such things. But I think it's actually because she cares about Marin, and could see how things were likely to turn out this season.

She wanted Marin to do better, and was desperate to do something to dampen the amount of media attention and "spoiling", so Marin could concentrate on skating properly... and not be influenced by the media narratives that eg. were telling us all year, that the JSF's Olympic selection criteria were actually:
1st selection: Pick the skater whose name is Marin Honda
2nd selection: Pick some other skater

Just my opinion though. Who knows what Hamada was really thinking?

 

[blackey]

My thought after National:
1. It is the time to change coach and train overseas...I felt sick about Ms Hamada...(Jump technique & mass media correspondence)
2. Her (and her team) strategy about program and layout (Turandot FS, Late program change SP, SC SP jump layout and National FS jump layout)
3. Mass media in Japan was suck:sarcasm:
4. All level 4 spin in both SP & FS in National (I think it is her first time achieve):hap93:
*Save my holiday and money (I hope to watch 4CC but now......)

Go Marin...make a strong comeback next season...



I think no 4CC for her and I don't think she will go back to JW...
I hope she can go a senior B to regain her confidence and earn some WS points.

Totally with you especially on the coach changing thing. I feel like Hamada is undermining her way too much this year. The music choice?? the 3lz combo killed her twice??? And Hamada's comment make people thought that Marin has a bad season is because she's not well trained, which is not true. She trained at Colorado this summer and people at the rink there said she actually worked very hard. I mean Marin probably doesn't work as hard as Satoko, but that's ok? they are totally different type of skater from day one. But I doubt the coach changing thing will actually happen.

 

[combinationspin]

Totally with you especially on the coach changing thing. I feel like Hamada is undermining her way too much this year. The music choice?? the 3lz combo killed her twice??? And Hamada's comment make people thought that Marin has a bad season is because she's not well trained, which is not true. She trained at Colorado this summer and people at the rink there said she actually worked very hard. I mean Marin probably doesn't work as hard as Satoko, but that's ok? they are totally different type of skater from day one. But I doubt the coach changing thing will actually happen.

100% agree. I feel like Hamada could have invested in Marin much more than what she did. Hamada also made several strategic mistakes imo:
1. Back to back GP assignment. Cup of China had a super tough field (and none of the 3 Japanese girls who got sent there to battle it out got an Olympic spot ) and Skate Canada had like the toughest judging in recent years (except for Kaetlyn). Not great conditions to debut on the GP.
2. Generic programs: The LP did not play to Marin’s strengths, nor did it make her stand out. Satoko, Yuna Shiraiwa and even Rika Kihira (for Juniors!) all got more interesting and memorable programs than Marin. Marin had the weakest choreographed LP out of the girls in the final group at Nationals imo.
3. Unoptimized layouts: Why not try 3L+3T and solo 3Z in SP? Why repeat 3F instead of 3L in the LP? Why not do all combos in the 2nd half of LP from the start of the season as Marin can easily tag a 3T to a 2A, 3S, 3L, 3F?
4. Lack of public support: Instead, Hamada repeatedly told the media she kinda expected Marin to have meltdowns. This didn’t strengthen Marin’s confidence at all but greatly diminished her reputation among the fans, public and judges. And figure skating is all about perception.

All in all, I think Hamada didn’t really believe in Marin and try to make things work for her. I guess Satoko is really her ideal skater, that’s why she shed tears for her after the LP.

 

[charlotte14]

I don't think Hamada did not work hard for Marin and not worried for her. Maybe it has to do with Marin's managerment side as well. What can a coach do if the skater and her manager don't follow the coach's idea? I think there is more to talk in the backstage.
Who knows, maybe Marin will change coach. Her jump technique is not that long lasting and her presentation stagnant.

 

[combinationspin]

What can a coach do if the skater and her manager don't follow the coach's idea? I think there is more to talk in the backstage.

Then maybe Marin and Hamada simply don’t fit together well anymore.
I can’t disagree about the jumping technique (I’m kinda worried for Sara Honda already - she’s so talented!). The presentation of the LP was rather weak imo because David Wilson tried to impose Yuna Kim’s style on Marin instead of tailoring it to Marin’s innate style (natural arms, more flowy, less posey). But I think the presentation and skating skills displayed in the SP (except at Nationals) were much better than anything she had done before. That’s why British Eurosport gushed about her SP at Skate Canada despite the technical errors. Nobody has been that enthusiastic about her LP. Still, the SP was probably too subtil and lacked impact to become a big hit.

 

[charlotte14]

Then maybe Marin and Hamada simply don’t fit together well anymore.
I can’t disagree about the jumping technique (I’m kinda worried for Sara Honda already - she’s so talented!). The presentation of the LP was rather weak imo because David Wilson tried to impose Yuna Kim’s style on Marin instead of tailoring it to Marin’s innate style (natural arms, more flowy, less posey). But I think the presentation and skating skills displayed in the SP (except at Nationals) were much better than anything she had done before. That’s why British Eurosport gushed about her SP at Skate Canada despite the technical errors. Nobody has been that enthusiastic about her LP. Still, the SP was probably too subtil and lacked impact to become a big hit.

The SP music just suits her. Nothing out of her comfort zone. I think she is stagnant Her jumping ability is very weak. Many of her jumps now are borderline UR. Maybe a coaching change is good.

 

[shiroKJ]

There's a lot of misplaced anger and blame on Hamada IMO. Marin has said herself that she hates training and gets bored all the time even in the middle of her programs during competition. She loves the camera and the attention, perhaps a little too much? That's something she needs to work on internally if she wants to be competitive on an elite level. No one can force her to focus on training if she doesn't want to. Talent can only get you so far, its the effort and attitude that gets you to the top.

Also,
1) Hamada doesn't get to chose her GP assignments.
2) Its unfortunate that the LP didn't work out, but they gave her a Wilson, a world class choreographer. You can't say they gave her a terrible program intentionally.
3) Hamada was likely more emotional after Satoko's skate because she knew what she went through with her season ending injuries. Its always emotional when your students overcome their hurdles, especially on one of the most important stages of their career.

 

[charlotte14]

There's a lot of misplaced anger and blame on Hamada IMO. Marin has said herself that she hates training and gets bored all the time even in the middle of her programs during competition. She loves the camera and the attention, perhaps a little too much? That's something she needs to work on internally if she wants to be competitive on an elite level. No one can force her to focus on training if she doesn't want to. Talent can only get you so far, its the effort and attitude that gets you to the top.

Also,
1) Hamada doesn't get to chose her GP assignments.
2) Its unfortunate that the LP didn't work out, but they gave her a Wilson, a world class choreographer. You can't say they gave her a terrible program intentionally.
3) Hamada was likely more emotional after Satoko's skate because she knew what she went through with her season ending injuries. Its always emotional when your students overcome their hurdles, especially on one of the most important stages of their career.

Yeah I am not sure why people think Hamada did not do right for Marin. Do people know how much Wilson costs? He is very expensive and it is not easy to get in connection with her. I don't think Marin is a lazy girl. She was fine during practice. I think she has hard time due to too much attention on her doing well, given her junior records. I think her agency team did not do it well the same. She's the 2nd most popular female athletes in a poll recently if I remember correctly, and her senior result this season is not that outstanding but her popularity is, so that takes a lot of toll in her mentality. Maybe her team should consider to do less PR for her, less expectation, less marketing, pess pressure.

 

[SkyFall]

She's the 2nd most popular female athletes in a poll recently if I remember correctly, and her senior result this season is not that outstanding but her popularity is, so that takes a lot of toll in her mentality.

People outside of Japan don't realize the extent of the truth of the following statement, but Marin Honda's popularity is derived from the fact that she is the photogenic older sister of an extremely popular child actress. She is Mai Asada if her younger sister were Shirley Temple.

Her success, or lack of it, will always be little more than a background story to the reality show that is Miyu Honda and the Fabulous Honda Siblings.

 

[Miss Ice]

Honestly Marin has SO MUCH potential. I think her artistry is still undeveloped, but she has potential to be as phenomenal artistically as Yuna/Mao/Michelle/etc. I hope she takes this season as a lesson and incorporates some of that disappointment into passion and expression.

 

[sarama]

I have no doubt that her popularity spurs from her sister's popularity and from the fact that she is very pretty, but that doesn't mean she isn't an excellent skater, World Junior Champion and reigning World Junior silver medallist. She had a tough season and she isn't the most consistent skater ever, but the hype regarding her skating potential is totally justified

 

[Catagar]

A long reportage on Marin Honda, in three parts (not translated).

Part 1 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKAmWo-lfJM
Part 2 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iJhOt0SEmg
Part 3 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QCFQ80i3nc

It's interesting to see behind the scenes, and in the second video, we see a foreign coach trying to explain how to improve on the dramatic performance. But I just feel like I see a big difference with Eteri + staff/Evgenia, for example; you can feel the distance with the guy, you can even imagine that she doesn't understand everything you explain to her. After that, it's only a small part of it, but still...

 

[YesWay]

and in the second video, we see a foreign coach trying to explain how to improve on the dramatic performance. But I just feel like I see a big difference with Eteri + staff/Evgenia, for example; you can feel the distance with the guy, you can even imagine that she doesn't understand everything you explain to her.

I think when she is working with foreign coaches and choreographers, coach Hamada is usually right there on the ice with her, to translate? I heard that Hamada's English is good enough for that. (You can see examples of this happening in the linked videos, when Marin is working with David Wilson).

 

[rnois13]

Last of Part 3 breaks my heart. If there's a disconnection she has with Hamada, I hope she can start fresh.

David Wilson has said that choreo/skater relationship takes longer. This is the first time they worked together and I think she only got to visit him two times for Turandot. Even if he's a highly paid choreographer, it doesn't mean that it automatically works out.

 

[russianfan]

A long reportage on Marin Honda, in three parts (not translated).

Part 1 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKAmWo-lfJM
Part 2 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iJhOt0SEmg
Part 3 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QCFQ80i3nc

It's interesting to see behind the scenes, and in the second video, we see a foreign coach trying to explain how to improve on the dramatic performance. But I just feel like I see a big difference with Eteri + staff/Evgenia, for example; you can feel the distance with the guy, you can even imagine that she doesn't understand everything you explain to her. After that, it's only a small part of it, but still...

is there any translation?