2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating

[natsulian]

A lot of the people at the arena were amazed by Megan’s speed. If she keeps it up and adds a 3-3, she can really move up the standings.

Pooja is such a fine skater and I was bummed that she had to withdraw. Hopefully this will spark a new fire within her to really fight for her assignments next season. I was wondering why she was having such trouble landing jumps she could land in her sleep.

 

[frida80]

I worry about Starr. She always seems to look quite winded after the short and I'm praying she hasn't inherited any of the vascular or cardiac problems her mother has. Not sure if it's a genetic thing or not.

I'm 99.9% sure that the problem Starr has this year was her FS music. It's way too energetic for a FS. The normal strategy would be to have an energetic SP and a slower FS to more easily conserve energy.

Also, every time I saw the program the jump layout changed. You cannot nail a program unless you've competed consistently with the same layout. Unless your name is Nathan Chen. Here's what I hope for next year with Starr.

She competes early and in multiple summer competitions to get her muscle memory early and build way more confidence.

Work on her lutz. Apparently she was getting the edge in practice but not in competition.

Work on including her 3F+3T.

Avoid including the triple axel until everything is square.

I think is just a sophomore slump. Bad planning by her team with her programs and layout made her season much worse than it needed to be. She had a lot of nerves during this season compared to previous ones. But that's normal for skaters to feel pressure once the focus is on them. I like the idea of her having to fight for international spots. It means she'll be better prepared and more focused.

Now, I have to figure out how Courtney can improve. I think I can analyze everyone and come up with something except for her.

 

[tokoyami]

I have to wonder if they're shading the senior ladies by predicting that. Like they think Bradie, Mariah, or Ting are THAT inconsistent/terrible that they'd be beaten by a novice skater with a wonky 3a? Maybe they just didn't think it through.

LOL I hope nobody ever actually listens to me on this forum

 

[bobbob]

Why is Starr in the World Junior team camp?

 

[TontoK]

Why is Starr in the World Junior team camp?

I can't think of any rational reason.

She should close the door on these programs and get an early start for next season.

 

[truthbooth]

I can't think of any rational reason.

She should close the door on these programs and get an early start for next season.

Agreed. Didn’t Derrick say Starr WD from JW last season because she wanted to focus on senior? She was at two senior GPs this year. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I think Starr has potential, but she might need a coaching change to realize that potential. She is evidently falling behind in the jumping. She does not have a reliable 3Lz or 3F, and we now have skaters at the intermediate and novice levels landing these jumps with ease. Starr could also use some work on her basic skating - speed, ice coverage, flow, etc. I hope she can find someone to help her work through these issues.

I’m a bit confused about this camp in general. I like the idea, but I am unsure about the attendees. I think Ting and Hanna should have been offered slots. If Ting didn’t want it because of 4CC and transitioning to senior, then Gabriella Izzo seems like the next most logical choice.

 

[natsulian]

I don't understand why Starr is apart of the Junior conversation anymore. She's been way past that. I hope that Ting and Hanna will go to Junior Worlds and that they'll gain back 3 spots for JW and all the spots for the JGP season. The frustrating thing with Ting is that she could contend for a medal at JW, but her wild inconsistency is holding her back. Had she been apart of the last group to skate, she would've probably won the Long Program, but she botched the Short. A clean Ting could potentially score 210+ internationally and at least 220 domestically. Ting has to get those nerves under control. Hanna has the chance to get in the Top 5 if she's clean, but a medal might be too much to ask unless others falter because she's got very little international exposure and she doesn't have the PCS advantage like Ting does.

 

[tothepointe]

Agreed. Didn’t Derrick say Starr WD from JW last season because she wanted to focus on senior? She was at two senior GPs this year. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I think Starr has potential, but she might need a coaching change to realize that potential. She is evidently falling behind in the jumping. She does not have a reliable 3Lz or 3F, and we now have skaters at the intermediate and novice levels landing these jumps with ease. Starr could also use some work on her basic skating - speed, ice coverage, flow, etc. I hope she can find someone to help her work through these issues.

I’m a bit confused about this camp in general. I like the idea, but I am unsure about the attendees. I think Ting and Hanna should have been offered slots. If Ting didn’t want it because of 4CC and transitioning to senior, then Gabriella Izzo seems like the next most logical choice.

I think honestly its a good way to get together the skaters you want to be able to give a little bit of extra training to. It doesn't really matter if they intend to send her or not. As other posters mentioned she and her team made some strategic mistakes this season and being that her coach will be required to attend the camp also its time and money well spent for USFS.

Also isn't this going to be part of the new pipeline for next year? Novice and below will attend a high performance camp with their coaching team and juniors will go to JW camp?

I think it could be a good tool for the coaches as much as for the athletes.

 

[NAOTMAA]

Maybe it was the bad packaging this season but Starr didn't seem that improved from last season, or at least didn't show enough. Her progress isn't as fast as they hoped. That combined with the poor GP senior season seem to suggest her skating isn't totally ready to face the big seniors internationally.

But the UFSA still see potential in her so perhaps that's why the USFSA still include her in this junior camp. Maybe they think she can get more out of that compare to the senior one. They seem to think she's still in the transition phase.

It's the only thing I can think of. She made a big splash last year (mainly on the LP gimmick really) but seem to fall behind this season. Ting and Hanna look far more ready then she does and then girls like Megan, if they can get the jumps stable, are ready to pass her too.

 

[frida80]

Agreed. Didn’t Derrick say Starr WD from JW last season because she wanted to focus on senior? She was at two senior GPs this year. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I think Starr has potential, but she might need a coaching change to realize that potential. She is evidently falling behind in the jumping. She does not have a reliable 3Lz or 3F, and we now have skaters at the intermediate and novice levels landing these jumps with ease. Starr could also use some work on her basic skating - speed, ice coverage, flow, etc. I hope she can find someone to help her work through these issues.

I’m a bit confused about this camp in general. I like the idea, but I am unsure about the attendees. I think Ting and Hanna should have been offered slots. If Ting didn’t want it because of 4CC and transitioning to senior, then Gabriella Izzo seems like the next most logical choice.

That was the PR reason they gave because they didn't want to admit that she was too injured to do the required jump in the SP at the time.

I think the only reason Starr and Emmy are included is because both Ashley Lin and Pooja are injured and they want to make sure they have a lot of alternates for the camp. For the last two years they've had six girls at the junior world camp.

I too would like to see her focus on next year. Jackie said she looked improved in practice with bigger jumps that were rotated, more speed and more stamina. It's clear that nerves and lack of competition affected her ability to show that at nationals. I'd rather she go straight to training for next year.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

Starr does need a coaching change, she struggles with the lutz and flip. Her sp content is 3toe-3toe and a loop.

Poor Amber Glenn. Is her season over?

 

[frida80]

Starr does need a coaching change, she struggles with the lutz and flip. Her sp content is 3toe-3toe and a loop.

Poor Amber Glenn. Is her season over?

Yeah, I'd say Amber's season is over. She started off so strong, but her nerves took over again.

Starr landed a clean 3F+3T in Asian Open in her SP. As the season progressed they kept changing both her programs so much. I think they took out the 3F+3T because it wasn't as reliable as her 3T+3T which I could get bigger GoE. What ever the case, if your going to debut a new combo, she should've done four club competitions before moving in to international competitions. Her programs were too green. She just wasn't confident in them yet. And when that affected her consistency, they kept making more changes which made it even harder for her to learn the program. A big shame.

However, I've seen this happen enough times. Truth be told, wanted her to have a mediocre finish at nationals. If she landed in fifth, she wouldn't have the wake up call she needs to have. Skaters don't make drastic decisions when their feeling safe, they make them when they realize something is not working. I think if Starr decides to focus just on improving her quality of her programs, keeping the layout consistent, competing more to gain consistency, and working on her jump consistency it will have a marked improvement next year.

As for Amber, I really don't know. After Philly International I realized she doesn't do well when everything is one the line. I really don't know the solution for a problem like that. Gracie, Mirai, and so many skaters struggled with the same problem. The thing is, it's all about the level of your melt down. Maybe some sports psychology.

 

[oly2018]

Starr does need a coaching change, she struggles with the lutz and flip. Her sp content is 3toe-3toe and a loop.

Poor Amber Glenn. Is her season over?

I think Amber Glenn and Courtney Hicks are likely done for the season. I don't see them being assigned to anything else with all the other up and coming talent. Amber had a great short, but she needs to put two clean or cleanish programs together at nationals if she wants to compete with the top US women.

 

[MarinHondas]

I think Amber Glenn and Courtney Hicks are likely done for the season. I don't see them being assigned to anything else with all the other up and coming talent. Amber had a great short, but she needs to put two clean or cleanish programs together at nationals if she wants to compete with the top US women.

Why are we putting Hicks and Glenn in the same category? Glenn could presumably be assigned to something on the basis of her wonderful short(Not saying worlds by any means) but Hicks was second to last and did not perform in either program.

 

[frida80]

Why are we putting Hicks and Glenn in the same category? Glenn could presumably be assigned to something on the basis of her wonderful short(Not saying worlds by any means) but Hicks was second to last and did not perform in either program.

Maybe because of her GP score was 178, just under Ashley Lin. Courtney and Nationals just don't mix.

 

[tothepointe]

13 is for three spots. It's doable enough, Canada won't have a particularly strong team this season.

Main competitors would be: Russia (3), Japan (3), Korea (1). So they can at the very least gun for 8th and 9th. But that won't guarantee the spots. Hence my question about how many needed for two.

I find it interesting and it's not directed at you specifically that when calculating the US ladies chances that there is always the assumption that one of the Korea ladies is automatically above them. Yet we have at least 3 US ladies Ting, Mariah and Bradie who have all scored above the best Korean competitors. According to the ISU seasons best no non Russian or Japanese skater has outscored Bradie this season internationally and only Leona Hendrixx and Elizabet Tursynbaeva. One of those being early summer scores which they have yet to acheive again during the season at a competition where the scores ran very high. The korean skaters are much further down the list. Not sure who they are sending to worlds.

All in all I think their odds are good and there really is no one on the international scene right now who is completely unbeateable.

 

[bennorii]

GP Spot Predictions

2:
Tennell
Bell
Chen (believe it or not, I think her WS will hold her up)
Cui

1:
Lin
Hicks
Andrews
Wessenberg (might happen because there are so many RUS and JPN ladies)

 

[NAOTMAA]

I find it interesting and it's not directed at you specifically that when calculating the US ladies chances that there is always the assumption that one of the Korea ladies is automatically above them. Yet we have at least 3 US ladies Ting, Mariah and Bradie who have all scored above the best Korean competitors. According to the ISU seasons best no non Russian or Japanese skater has outscored Bradie this season internationally and only Leona Hendrixx and Elizabet Tursynbaeva. One of those being early summer scores which they have yet to acheive again during the season at a competition where the scores ran very high. The korean skaters are much further down the list. Not sure who they are sending to worlds.

All in all I think their odds are good and there really is no one on the international scene right now who is completely unbeateable.

I think its because it seems Korea is starting to harvest the success of Yuna and there are multiple young Koreans with potential coming up. It's probably just an assumption on everyone's part (a very negative one at that ) that at some point Korea will overtake the US too just as Russia and Japan did. People are still very frustrated with the American ladies and won't believe it's potentially all okay until American ladies are on the international podiums again consistently

 

[natsulian]

Can Bradie potentially make it to the Grand Prix Final next season? I can see her getting at least Bronze or Silver at Skate America and Bronze at another event, but with the three Russian girls moving up, the Senior scene is about to change drastically.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

GP Spot Predictions

2:
Tennell
Bell
Chen (believe it or not, I think her WS will hold her up)
Cui

1:
Lin
Hicks
Andrews
Wessenberg (might happen because there are so many RUS and JPN ladies)

I think Hanna has a great chance at the host spot if Gracie doesn't get it. With her medal here, I'm not sure I see her on the JGP for another season unless she isn't sent to JWC for some reason.