Yuzuru Hanyu: 2017-2018 | Page 311 | Golden Skate

Yuzuru Hanyu: 2017-2018

Thanks Yoa, so it's like Martial Arts, you don't go beyond black belt but you get dans which are added in form of some lines to your belt.
 
Me and my bad timing. My trip is on the june 17th :palmf:

@yude Would japan concert tickets help with nhk or worlds saitama too?

https://twitter.com/axelsandwich/status/989783007157456896
I can relate to yuzu cannot swim and ride a bike lol.

Probably yes. And NHK and the Worlds are international competitions, maybe they even have the official ways to buy the tickets for the fans overseas.

I really love Yuzuru's Lz, and when he had mistakes on that jump, I always thought they were because of the bad timing of take-off or the lack of speed or stamina. And 4Lz in NHK's practice, it looked like to me he had all those points due to his terrible body condition. I'm not sure if we'll be able to see 4Lz from him again, but that gorgeous 4Lz in CoR's practice will be remembered forever :love: I can never forget how I got excited when I saw it :laugh:
 
Sorry for stirring the whole "lutz issue" again, but I was so flabbergasted by what I read in the thread I had to delurk for the second (or third?) time on this site. :shocked:
Ugh, Yuzuru is really NOT one who could be accused of not having a pure picking technique, on ANY of his toe jumps. In his lutz and flip it's even more obvious, he picks and vaults immediately UP, no time at all to go down on his full right blade and then go up.
Of course for the Lutz he has his full left blade on the ice, on DEEP outside edge, but he uses only the toepick of his right foot to vault. That's textbook technique, for counter-clockwise jumpers like Yuzuru. Actually, he is one of those skaters who ride that back left outside edge until it becomes super-deep, making a very pronounced counterrotation compared to those who instead switch on outside edge only briefly before the take off (therefore jumping a "less" counterrotated Lutz).

Well, other here have already explained all of this better than me. I'll just add this: that the lutz is a bad jump for Yuzuru is a myth, likely born from his struggles with it since 2014-2015 season when 1) it was his last jumping pass in the free (on tired legs) 2) injuries hindered his stamina training during the whole season 3) he was practicing 4lz, messing with the timing of his triple.
Yuzuru is a pretty good strategist, why on heart would he place a jump he is not good at as his last jumping pass? (now, his 3F instead has been his 3rd jumping pass for ages, he wants to be on fresh legs to keep that inside edge in check :p)

On his Quad Lz, there is this brief analysis from PerformLive
http://perform-live.com/blog/video-analysis-of-figure-skating/231-quad-lutz-what-else.html
starring the COR FS 4Lz with the very tilted axis and one of the “good” ones during practice.
Yuzuru's time of flight on the 4Lz is insane but, as others said, he needs it because of his counterrotation, his pointing against rotation with his right toe pick (instead of what any other sane people does) and delayed rotation. Which are also the things that make his "good" attempts look so impressive. The jump from NHK can’t be taken into account as his “standard” 4Lz. Photographers noticed he wasn't getting much height on ANY jump on the day (I think there was footage of 4T3T combo and the jumps looked quite smaller than usual, and they didn't looked effortless):
He appeared to be a little tired/having a hard time from when he entered the rink・it seemed like how he feels and his body wasn’t quite reconciled・He’s falling quite frequently today, I was thinking・He landed the 4S combo・Didn’t land the Loop, and then went into the Lutz・His axis was askew as he landed・the edge got stuck・I thought, oh no・If the ice is as hard as it was in Russia and some other venues, he might have gotten away with just a fall… On the wall behind the uncharacteristically talkative photographers hung the notice about Hanyu’s withdrawal from the NHK Trophy.
(From https://wherespacepooh.tumblr.com/post/167583117954/he-comes-back-no-matter-how-many-times-sponichi)

It’s been reported Yuzuru had fever the day before (it’s possible he still had a fever). Here what knowledgeable people (Ambesi and Dolfini form ITA Esp) had to say about jumping in such conditions:
Yuzuru Hanyu. What happened? Intercontinental flights always carry a risk factor with them. Two problems that can arise: the first type - the most common and banal one - regards jet-lag issues. The second type is to get ill.
Yuzuru Hanyu after the flight from Canada to Japan had high fever, around 39°C. So, on Wednesday, he skipped the pre-competition practice. On Thursday, he skipped the morning session and he showed up to the afternoon one. And what happened there?
Since the start, he realized something was off. After the usual warm up, he landed a 4T3T combo but he started to shake his head. Why? Probably due to flu or the high fever still running in his system. By the way, it’s not so easy to get over a fever in just a day. He tried other jumps without success. After that, he went for a 4Lz, which could have been the opening jump in his SP, because that’s how he had also been trying it lately.
That 4Lz was lower than his usual, contrary to what he usual does when it happens (that the parabole is not ideal), he didn’t pop it, but he tried to complete the rotation. Rotation was completed, but he didn’t have enough room to properly land it. Ankle and knee were subjected to a pressure and torsion that scared all those who watched it. End result: he injured his ankle. Word is about a tear on a literal ligament. Anyway, he had to sit out from NHK. Angelo, what’s the difficulty of jumping when recovering from high fever?
(A): Well, of course it depends on the jump, but. First: high fever weakens your body. It weakens you and it also takes away part of your strength, power, reflexes, energy; and this is something everybody of us can experience first hand in our lives. Then of course, a high-level athlete who needs to compete will take medicines and integrators to try and recover as much of that energy as possible, but your body is debilitated anyway. But that isn’t the only thing. Everyone, who has experienced high fever, has also experienced how it makes you a bit dizzy, unfocused, and it may also cause some issues with balance. If we put all these together, it’s easy to understand what it means to try difficult jumps under those conditions. Not to mention that your energy reserve is limited and they run out quickly during a practice.
In the end, what’s lacking? That reflex, power, coordination and quick thinking that Hanyu and all those skaters who are able to do such difficult jumps have. It’s high-level coordination that allows you to properly use your energy in less than a second to complete a four-revolution jump. Clearly, if someone is weakened, a bit foggy-minded, his movements will be a bit slower, and if we speak of triples, it may not be a big problem for an athlete of Hanyu’s level, but if we speak about a quad that pushes these athletes to their limits, we can see how it requires full energy, full concentration, full coordination. And also full elevation. You said it was a jump with a low parabole. It lacked a bit of spring, energy, elevation. Maybe less than one tenth of a second. 5 or 6 cents of a second are enough to make the difference, leaving you with insufficient space to complete the landing. He tried to go for it anyway, he landed earlier than what he was expecting, didn’t manage to properly unlock his free leg, and then I think the majority of figure skating fans have already seen the video, so the consequences are known.
(From https://the-a-factor-fs.tumblr.com/post/168601068950/kiss-cry-episode-7#Part_1)
Yuzuru fell on 4Lz but it could have happened on any jump, really. What made things awful is that his Lutz was “the new one”, and the BIGGEST one, and the one that required the sharpest control and awareness. Which on the day he lacked.


As for the future, let's wait for his rehab to be completed before speculating about what he can or can't do. He is the kind of person that doesn’t let go of something he wants easily, so I have no doubt that, if his ankle recovers completely, he will want to tame the jump again.
(now back to lurking mode, bye:biggrin:)
also sorry for the wall-text :o:
 
https://twitter.com/percyperthy/status/990000401230385152 Here's an example of the second, or third bar added to such a medal.

I think the gold one with a flower is given instead of a fifth bar. It looks so pretty.

This is how Yuzuru's medal from 2014 looks like: link

Kohei Uchimura also got this award twice. For winning Olympics in 2012 and 2016. In this photo you can see his medal with a second bar. I think Kaori Icho (also in that photo) has 4 bars :O
 
https://twitter.com/olympicchannel/status/990032880314273792 Olympic Channel charts Yuzu's busy week. "Latest to have an audience with Yuzu" :biggrin:

I know, I know, they are using him for clicks. :palmf: But, I hope some new fans may be attracted to figure skating through it?

https://twitter.com/yumikikuha/status/990028151420932096 The Sendai Parade was ranked number 3 in the Weekly news rankings, this TV clip shows the cameras used to film the parade. The 360 panoramic camera and the 4k camera that even showed what kind of buttons Yuzu had on his suit. (they had the Japanese flag and Olympic rings on them) :eek:
 
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I think the gold one with a flower is given instead of a fifth bar. It looks so pretty.

This is how Yuzuru's medal from 2014 looks like: link

Kohei Uchimura also got this award twice. For winning Olympics in 2012 and 2016. On this photo you can see his medal with a second bar. I think Kaori Icho (also on that photo) has 4 bars :O

Wow, Kaori!!

The award ceremony will be taken place on May 15, but it seems he didn't attend in 2014 because he was in Toronto. He said he wanted to prepare for the next season as soon as possible, so he might go back to Toronto soon and spend the time there for a month. Just my guess though.
 
I am going to butt in since last year I managed to get tickets for FaOI Kobe :biggrin: if you don’t have any friends in Japan to help you there are agencies that will get into the lottery for you, and the one I used doesn’t charge you anything if you don't get lucky in the lottery. It’s called Japan Concert Tickets ;) too bad Yuzu won’t be there but if you still want to go getting tickets might probably be easier now

:otopic: Thanks for the tip. I am gonna bookmark this site
 
:eek:
Sorry everyone, seems like my inquiries/discussion about the Lutz had stirred up quite a bad atmosphere T.T

I inherently believe in Yuzu's technique. I've read a fair amount of explanations that illustrates how good his technique is. Additionally, I've never actually seen experts, commentaries or even those that seem to dislike him complain about his technique... so that's another good indicator. But when I do see comments that suggest otherwise, I like to hear about that perspective as much as possible to gain more insight as to how things can be perceived differently, be it due to different angles or picking a wrong occurrence as the representative example. And I personally believe that discussions like this is safe within the fan fest as we all are fans and would not be so quick in taking up any critique and spread it around without thinking it through. :)

With that said, sorry for bringing it up again and thank you everyone for your input!
 
"I must live a life or have a lifestyle that I will have no shame in while being proud of who I am up until this point."

Ohh I think he has said something along this line before right? Something about being someone worthy of the OGM. If I'm not wrong his grandparents also mentioned it in their letter to their acquaintance? They must be so proud of the person their grandson has become.
 
I wanted to say sorry for bringing up the Lutz discussion with harsh mistakes :sad21:

I rewatched the gifs and slomos and you're totally right about Yuzu's clean toe assist. The freeze frames, which I found were inacurrate or shew a bad perspective I guess... Thank you very much for correcting me! I'm relieved that Yuzu's technique is totally fine.

Never wanted to attack him, I just tried to understand his struggles with that jump and wanted to share my thoughts. Should have made clear, that these are no facts, just my mere ideas...

Again I'm very sorry for causing that uproar. It won't happen again. :bow:
 
I wanted to say sorry for bringing up the Lutz discussion with harsh mistakes :sad21:

I rewatched the gifs and slomos and you're totally right about Yuzu's clean toe assist. The freeze frames, which I found were inacurrate or shew a bad perspective I guess... Thank you very much for correcting me! I'm relieved that Yuzu's technique is totally fine.

Never wanted to attack him, I just tried to understand his struggles with that jump and wanted to share my thoughts. Should have made clear, that these are no facts, just my mere ideas...

Again I'm very sorry for causing that uproar. It won't happen again. :bow:
:ghug: this is a place to discuss Yuzu. Even if we don’t always agree with each other.
 
I bought "Ice Jewels" today and there was special interview of Yuzuru. It seems to have been given a month after the Olympics and he said he had not put on skating boots at all yet.

Rough summary.

・After going back to Toronto, he saw Brian and had the meeting. Brian was very happy for Yuzuru's Olympic win.

・In the EX practice of the Olympics, he was using the painkillers but trying to have fun as much as he could while making sure not to worsen the injury. He also tried "Big Axel" (single Axel) for his Swan EX at first but started doing it imagining 4A. He knew he would not be able to train after the Olympics so he wanted to do what he could do at that time.

・Ondrej Hotarek had been supportive of Yuzuru. And in EX, when they did the lift together, Valentina Marchei told Yuzuru, "He is my partner, so please don't take him away from me. I am better than you." and he replied "I know, I won't." (lol)

・He doesn't feel like the season was over because he participated in only a few competitions. He watched GPF and he was going to watch WC (this interview was given before WC). He feels he could give his all at the Olympics, but he also feels he could not have done enough to the programs of the different layouts. And if he skated in new programs, he would not have been satisfied because he did not have enough time to practice those programs a lot.

・He watched his old programs since his childhood the other day, and he found out that he could do his best more and have good performances more when he was injured. He thinks it is because he can concentrate more on himself when he is driven into a corner. At those times, he does not become greedy, and he does think he wants to win but doesn't feel he has to skate clean. (and he talks a lot about the difficulty in controlling of the state of his mind and body giving some examples in the past competitions, but I'm not sure if I can translate it well so I skip, sorry!)

・He was smiling in SEIMEI of the Olympics because he thought he won and could skate till the end. Usually he doesn't smile during the performances but he could not help letting real himself out (lol). He lost focus after hanging on Lz (he thought "what's that landing?" and burst out laughing), he was so happy hearing the cheer from the crowd and enjoyed the rest of the performance. He didn't feel tiredness and thought he did well in spins and steps. At the end of SP, he looked like he grinned, it was because he felt like "I'm back/home".

・About FS, he was thinking he could compete with Javier without 4Lo depending on the point gap. But he was really conscious of Nathan Chen because he knew the coach Rafael was very calculative in terms of the layout, and he thinks it might have been one of the reasons why he had stayed being vague about doing 4Lo or not, he didn't want Rafael to know his plan.

・In a way, to water down the layout is hard since he has to win with getting GOE +3. He could get +3 on 4S and 4T in FS, which was meaningful. He had error in 4T in the latter half but was confident in 3A and doing it with any difficult entry. 3A is the jump he can feel easy in doing in combo. He thinks the entry to 3A-1Lo-3S is rather hard, even harder than counter-3A
 
I bought "Ice Jewels" today and there was special interview of Yuzuru. It seems to have been given a month after the Olympics and he said he had not put on skating boots at all yet.

Rough summary.

・After going back to Toronto, he saw Brian and had the meeting. Brian was very happy for Yuzuru's Olympic win.

・In the EX practice of the Olympics, he was using the painkillers but trying to have fun as much as he could while making sure not to worsen the injury. He also tried "Big Axel" (single Axel) for his Swan EX at first but started doing it imagining 4A. He knew he would not be able to train after the Olympics so he wanted to do what he could do at that time.

・Ondrej Hotarek had been supportive of Yuzuru. And in EX, when they did the lift together, Valentina Marchei told Yuzuru, "He is my partner, so please don't take him from me. I am better than you." and he replied "I know, I won't." (lol)

・He doesn't feel like the season was over because he participated in only a few competition. He watched GPF and he was going to watch WC (this interview was given before WC). He feels he could give his all at the Olympics, but he also feels he could not have done enough to the programs of the different layouts. And if he skated in new programs, he would not have been satisfied because he did not have enough time to practice those programs a lot.

・He watched his old programs since his childhood the other day, and he found out that he could do his best more and have good performances more when he was injured. He thinks it is because he can concentrate more on himself when he is driven into a corner. At those times, he does not became greedy, and he does think he wants to win but doesn't feel he has to skate clean. (and he talks a lot about the difficulty in controlling of the state of his mind and body giving some examples in the past competitions, but I'm not sure if I can translate it well so I skip, sorry!)

・He was smiling in SEIMEI of the Olympics because he thought he won and could skate till the end. Usually he doesn't smile during the performances but he could not help letting real himself out (lol). He lost focus after hanging on Lz (he thought "what's that landing?" and burst out laughing), he was so happy hearing the cheer from the crowd and enjoyed the rest of the performance. He didn't feel tiredness and thought he did well in spins and steps. At the end of SP, he looked like he grinned, it was because he felt like "I'm back/home".

・About FS, he was thinking he could compete with Javier without 4Lo depending on the point gap. But he was really conscious of Nathan Chen because he knew the coach Rafael was very calculative in terms of the layout, and he thinks it might have been one of the reasons why he had stayed being vague about doing 4Lo or not, he didn't want Rafael to know his plan.

・In a way, to water down the layout is hard since he has to win with getting GOE +3. He could get +3 on 4S and 4T in FS, which was meaningful. He had error in 4T in the latter half but was confident in 3A and doing it with any difficult entry. 3A is the jump he can feel easy in doing in combo. He thinks the entry to 3A-1Lo 3S is rather hard, even harder than counter-3A

Thank you so much for the summary. Indeed, the entry to the last 3A was crazy! https://youtu.be/23EfsN7vEOA?t=3m37s And to do it so late in the program. Wow.
 
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