Practice reports/videos

[feraina]

I know there are very few practice passes available this year, but are there any GS'ers with access to senior practice sessions that can enlighten us?!

In the meantime, ice-network has made a few practice videos available. My impressions:

- Mirai Nagasu looks well-prepared, with a more mature look. I like her practice dress -- I wonder if she'll use it for the competition too. It makes her fit in much better with the senior ladies. It was mentioned in an interview that she has a new SP? That should be exciting! She lands a beautiful 3Lz-3T in one of her two practice clips. But somehow she's still looking at risk for under-rotating some of the later jumps in her LP. I really don't get it, she gets such height and speed into her jumps, how can she ever be at the mercy of the technical caller? Certainly, if none of her jumps ends up being downgraded, then she should be right up there challenging Kimmie & Caroline for the gold.

- Ashley Wagner looks like she might put the 3(f)lz-3R back into her program. The 3loop still looks a bit under-rotated, but she's getting closer.

- Kimmie Meissner is looking much better than she did all season, better jumps (I saw a good 3F, 3Lz, & 2A), and better presentation (softer arms, skating more to the music), but she didn't do any combos in the clip

- Bebe looks slower than last year -- they only showed a footwork sequence, no jumps

- Caroline: where is she?! Did she not turn up at practice or is ice-network hiding her practice clip? She certainly arrived St. Pauls already.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I hope that marai does get a new SP. her jazzy one was cute, but very childish for the senior level. I know that she is only 14, but compared to Caroline it looked very juniorish.

 

[Wrlmy]

Considering this is her last year as a junior, this year might be Mirai's last chance to do "juniorish" program. She might as well transform into a mature skater next season. Her 3-3 looked pretty great! Probably even better than Rachael's. I'm so excited for her! I was disappointed there was no clip of Caroline or Alissa though.

 

[london_calling]

I don't see anything wrong with Mirai having a "juniorish" program. Only at Nationals is Mirai skating as a senior this season compared to Caroline who has skated her season as a senior.

 

[BelleFilleYuna]

Wow, I'm so happy for Mirai.
I liked her SP a lot this year, but I can't wait to see her new one.
Go mirai!!

 

[jeff goldblum]

feraina, why do you say that Mirai still looks to be at risk for under-rotating jumps in the second half of her program. The practice clip on icenetwork shows the last two triples in her free skated and both are executed cleanly. Charlene Wong also says Mirai's jumps are consistently clean now. I think she'll be fine. And, her triple-triple looks better than any of the other ladies, including Caroline, Rachel, and Ashley.

 

[feraina]

feraina, why do you say that Mirai still looks to be at risk for under-rotating jumps in the second half of her program. The practice clip on icenetwork shows the last two triples in her free skated and both are executed cleanly.

If you pause the 2nd practice clip at the right places, you can see that she's coming down right around 1/4 short for the 3T and the 3R, and she's definitely more than 1/4 short on the 2R after the 3R. I'm not saying that these jumps would necessarily get downgraded by the National's tech panel (though the SA panel would), but certainly compared to the 3Lz-3T combo she did at the start of the program, which were fully rotated, these looked more at risk of being downgraded. She has had a lot of trouble with the 3R-2R combo in the past, and most of her downgrades have come in the 2nd half of the program. This is the longest LP she's ever skated, and she's only had a month with it, plus those last jumps come very close to the end, so I wonder... It's true her coach said in the interview that her jumps are fine, but she herself didn't seem to think so. We don't know whether it's because she knows her self best and Wong is just trying to make her feel more confident, or whether her coach is really right and and she's being modest or something.

Anyway, I also didn't mean to imply her jumps are more at risk of downgrading than anyone else's. Mirai's jumps are higher and bigger than both Kimmie's and Caroline's right now, who all have their own rotation (and edge) problems. All the more surprising to me, therefore, that when she gets to the end of her program she tends to under-rotate.

 

[Cal Girl]

I like Mirai's skating and although she is juniorish, her skating quality is very good senior quality. Her programs suit her and show her speed and personality. Caroline however just uses the same kind of program every year. Slow methodical and balletic. She needs to show more depth and interpretation to music. Yes, she can do the slow piano music so well, but anything else? Does she even know what Ave Maria is about?
Rachael shows a lot of depth to her musicality. She always comes up with some fabulous pieces and pushes her skating artistry beyond her years. Not easy to do.
It will be a great event tonight. I hope everyone skates their best and is rewarded based on tonight's performance.

 

[MKFSfan]

Does Mirai have both a true flip and lutz?

I am excited for the SP tonight! I hope all do skate their best, makes for an exciting competition, but I feel Kimmie may end up the most solid, and defend her title. I like Kimmie. She's a nice girl and a hard worker. But if Caroline, Mirai, Ashley, Rachel, or whoever unseats her, I hope they put forth a skate of a lifetime!

I'd love for Bebe to have another brilliant SP, like last year. And I really want Alissa to skate clean...man, if all that happens, we are in for a treat!

 

[jeff goldblum]

I still disagree with you on those jumps. They're both perfectly clean. Also, I don't recall Mirai having been downgraded on her triple loop-double loop this season, though I think she actually has been downgraded at least once on all the other triples. She did do the loop-loop at the very end of here JGP free program, and got full credit for it. I'm just hoping she'll put it all together and skate well here, since I think the overall quality of her skating is better than Zhang's and Meissner's. As far as her lutz goes, it seems like it's a true outside edge for instance in the videos from her National's programs last year. It seems like she starts to hit that inside edge a bit now, but still far better than say Zhang and especially Wagner. All I know is it's going to be an exciting event, and for anyone who's been questioning the depth of US ladies skating, I think it will show we still have some of the best skaters in the world.

 

[jjskate]

IIt's true her coach said in the interview that her jumps are fine, but she herself didn't seem to think so. We don't know whether it's because she knows her self best and Wong is just trying to make her feel more confident, or whether her coach is really right and and she's being modest or something..

Well, Wong is not exactly a great technical coach, after all the only thing she has produced before Marai was Amber Corwin and we ALL know how bad Amver was with technique and underrotating. I wish Marai's people would get her a new coach, Marai is SOOO talent and a beautiful skater. She would do so much better with a coach that can see the difference between a cheat jump and a clean one.

 

[emma]

It seems like we hardly have any practice reports or skater sightings this year -- has anyone seen the senior men practice????

 

[feraina]

As far as her lutz goes, it seems like it's a true outside edge for instance in the videos from her National's programs last year. It seems like she starts to hit that inside edge a bit now, but still far better than say Zhang and especially Wagner.

I actually think Mirai has improved her lutz on the edge issue from last season to this season. I don't think she got an 'e' deduction in the SP, based on her score.

 

[feraina]

It seems like we hardly have any practice reports or skater sightings this year -- has anyone seen the senior men practice????

Last I checked, Ice-network had a practice video for Evan Lysaceck. I think it incluces a nice 4t-3t as part of his SP run-through. From practice reports on other forums, it sounds like Johnny has also been training the 4T in every session, and though he's standing up on most of them, he's not being consistently clean. I hope it all comes together for him in the SP!

I worry so much for Johnny now. The practice reports for Caroline also weren't good (struggling with the 3-3), and then she skated her SP looking so tentative and nervous. I really hope that Johnny's trouble with the quad isn't freaking him out in the same way. He also has a tendency sometimes to just come off lackluster when he's having an off-night. Then all the shine is gone from his skating, the jumps are off, and the artistry is gone...

Maybe for skaters like Johnny & Caroline, who're more notable for their artistry than athleticism, when they're having an "off" night, their heart isn't in the performance, and then the artistic aspect is gone and the athletic aspect also suffers, and so in the end the whole performance can come off rather bland. Whereas for more athletic skaters, even if they're feeling a little "off", their artistry might slip from good to adequate, but their solid technical basis still enables them to pull off great jumps, which are normally the highlight of their programs anyway.

I'll be so upset if Caroline doesn't skate a good LP, AND Johnny places second or lower (!).

 

[emma]

I'll be so upset if Caroline doesn't skate a good LP, AND Johnny places second or lower (!).

Thanks for the updates - and I know, I'll be really upset too!!!!

I can't help but think that for Caroline - in addition to technique and power issues - at nationals this year and last year it seems nerves have entered too (in a way we don't see with her at other comps)...could it be that her adoration of Kwan adds to the nerves, you know as something to live up to???

 

[Wrlmy]

At least, nerves don't get to Caroline at international events, which is more important than shining at Nationals and doing poorly at international events. How Alissa broke my heart at Tokyo!