Sephane describes someone who needs total control and then tells them to just let go. Does he have a brain formatting tool to come with that advice by any chance?
Misha ig stories show him, in california maybe he getting some jumping training before russian national
I hope we can see it performed clean soon so all of these character traits and nuances Stephane is talking about will shine through. Right now the only thing I associate with the short program is crippling fear (Misha’s and my own), not a rebellious spirit Also, it looks like Stephane will be in Vancouver for JGPF with Koshiro, so no conversation with Misha in Zagreb.Stephane talks about working with Mika on his SP:
http://absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2018lambiel
I hope we can see it performed clean soon so all of these character traits and nuances Stephane is talking about will shine through. Right now the only thing I associate with the short program is crippling fear (Misha’s and my own), not a rebellious spirit Also, it looks like Stephane will be in Vancouver for JGPF with Koshiro, so no conversation with Misha in Zagreb.
Some excerpts from Misha’s LP practice. It appears he changed the layout again.... https://m.vk.com/wall-24618099_39039
https://www.fontanka.ru/2018/11/29/100/
There are a couple of questions about Mika which Mishin did his best to avoid giving any straight answer to, however if to ignore his sarcastic tone even Mishin admits 'high level of skill/talent'
I don't know how Valentina endures all of these thinly veiled jabs from seemingly every coach in Russia (and now abroad from Raf). It makes me admire her silence all the more (though I do selfishly wish she would enlighten us a little bit more on Misha's training and health).
Do you think he dropped 3A for second 4T?
That’s what it looks like....somebody in the VK group suggested 4S, 4T3T, 4T, 3A, 3Lo, 3Lz-Eu-2S(3S), 3Lz2T(3T) (side note: why can Misha land quad-triples but is seemingly incapable of landing triple-triples? Fatigue, probably.) If this is the case, I wonder if dropping the second 3A is what he meant when he told Tatjana Flade he knew what he had to do. It seems to be a major psychological barrier.
Also, not sure if I can post here, but there is a livestream of the competition. Decent video quality, too!
Thanks for the link! I am not going to watch live tomorrow though - I think I jinx him when I do.
I not too optimistic about the changes, his 3A is excellent, to take it out is like trying to treat a symptom and not the cause.
I was going to say the usual: 'but they know best' but realised that I have no confidence in this particular mantra anymore
Same, I would rather wash my face with hot sauce than have to witness another short program of his in real time The facial expressions are too much....
Again, if this (and Nationals) goes badly, then it just means that this isn’t his season and he needs time off to reassess everything and treat those underlying causes. It’s like what he said after Helsinki—“a bad result is still a result.” That’s what I’m going to keep telling myself if things don’t go our way.
I don’t think he has the stamina to land quads and 3As in the second half....I know he’s done it in previous seasons, but now with the time change?
Maybe Misha is just more confident in himself than we are, tbh. He's already exchanged axels for toes this season, and perhaps he wants to see what's going to happen with a different layout - but if the music behind the jumps is anything to go by, that layout mentioned above is not happening, my feeling is that he's going much more bananas with it:
4S, 4T-3T, 3A, 3Z-E-3S, 4T*, 3A-2T(single toe in this video)*, 3L*
And that's pretty crazy in my book, though I don't think moving the combo to the first half is crazy in itself. Landing quads and axels in the second half, that's what I want to see. Also, this layout works with the video because Misha has a first spin after the third jumping pass, and piling up four jumping passes before the first spin would move his entire layout around.
After some thought, I think a 3 quad LP is probably aimed at RusNats. They've tried an easier layout it didnt work and BV is too low to absorb a few mistakes. In a way it might take his mind off the idea of skating a clean program and focus on tech instead?
I really thought he was going to be pressured into adding 4Lz for nationals, and he would test it out here. It must not be stable in practices at all. Adding another 4T is a good compromise, I guess. But three quads still feels like a lot....
But maybe he'd rather go down fighting, because what good will do him two quads if he isn't going clean with that layout.
He has seriously fought so hard this season. By the end of the month he will have done six competitions with possibly a different layout in each one, all while battling illness and the usual overwhelming pressure (even more pressure now that he’s a world medalist). A lot of things bother me when it comes to the way the media treats Misha, but nothing more so than this narrative that he is complacent and doesn’t work or fight hard enough. But I’m preaching to the choir, of course