Asada says "not changing anything"

[SusieH]

I think it's OK for Mao to keep practicing her triple axels, but she should also address the technical issues concerning her other jumps and 3-3s. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that the strategy of focusing on 3As really began to hurt her other jumps...

I can't believe a few weeks ago I felt bubbly happy thinking that we will see amazing competition in women's field in this important olympic season, with two of my favorite female skaters going neck and neck with each other! Now I'm simply concerned if Mao can have her jumps (and confidence) back.

 

[Bennett]

Mao did say that she would change her LP into more relaxed contents. But two 3As seem to remain there. She did not have 3-3 or lutz so that I wonder what she would change.

 

[jaws12345]

She did say she would simplify entry and exit choreography on her jumps.

 

[suosuo]

Mao did say that she would change her LP into more relaxed contents. But two 3As seem to remain there. She did not have 3-3 or lutz so that I wonder what she would change.

Someone mentioned that They are planning to use 3F3T to replace the second 3A, but I don't know how her 3F3T is going. And someone saw Mao practiced 3lutz during TEB. But again, I don't know if she has the nerve to use it in competition......

 

[Bennett]

Someone mentioned that They are planning to use 3F3T to replace the second 3A, but I don't know how her 3F3T is going. And someone saw Mao practiced 3lutz during TEB. But again, I don't know if she has the nerve to use it in competition......

I wonder which is more risky for her, 3A, 3-3, or lutz. Would replacing one of 3As with 3-3 or lutz reduce the chance of making a mistake? Not really. Then I feel the logic to go for 3A may sort of make sense in that perspective;

 

[adamlondon]

I honestly think she should get some firm triples and triple triples in place and then think about the 3A if she is on form. I wonder whether she is thinking in an all or nothing fashion- where its either topping yu Na or nothing at all.

Having said that chances are she will be popping all future medals into the bin if she continues. God forbid she may even falter at JPN Nationals and get knocked out of the Olympic berth.

 

[ann918]

I kinda see why they're sticking to the current layout.
Maybe it's Team Mao's strategy to compete Yuna?

Getting rid of 3As would lower overall score if she manages to skate cleanly,
and I think to outscore Yuna with her new 3-3 and 3-2-2, Mao NEEDS to execute
her layout as it is now. Considering that Yuna usually makes some mistakes in her LP, I think Mao definitely has a shot at winning if she manages all her 3As

Mao had been downgraded on her 3-3s so I think it's the best and perhaps the only strategy she has.

Realistically considering how she has been doing so far, I would like her to
change the layouts and PLEASE DITCH the music but if Mao decided to
keep going with what she has right now, I guess it's her choice and I would
just have to suck it up and pray to God that she would skate cleanly in the JPN National.

I don't know if it's TAT or Mao herself who is failing on prioritising....
Mao right now first needs to worry about making on the Olympics podium than
winning the event.

Arggggggghhhhhhhh

 

[newvie]

Well, i understand her decision.

1. jumps
Her 'current' jump quality is nowhere near that of yuna. Therefore, she just has to do the 3A. Her lutz doesn't work, 3-3 gets downgraded, so 3A is the only way she can get high marks on jump. Also, it's her pride. Yuna doesn't do 3A but she does.

2. not changing the SP
She looks much much better in 'caprice'. However, i think it's mainly because she's less stressed about her jumps in gala. If the 'caprice' is performed under enormous pressure, in front of everyone who's judging every single detail of movement, without neither stage lighting nor fancy accessories, it is likely to turn out less interesting. (an example: ando's changed sp - i'm not saying it's bad, but for sure it was not as fabulous as her gala performance)

Nonetheless, I don't like her decision about

3. changing other elements easier
I heard she's going to change other elements (i.e. steps) easier so that she can concentrate more on jumps and conserve her strength throughout the program. I wonder if her team is thinking like, 'whether she screws the performance or not, she will be guaranteed to get high PCS, so we remove difficult-for-nothing elements and focus on landing 3As. As soon as she lands them, the audience and the judges would be swept over with surprise and joy and wouldn't care about simple performance followed after the jumps'.
In consequence, she has her ordinary high PCS + more PCS for having a clean program (hopefully) with difficult jumps + High TES.


I think her choice is understandable and unavoidable for gold medal at the olympics, but a bit disappointed as a figure skating fan who enjoyed her splendid step sequences or difficult choreography. I hope she's not going to be female Plushenko who only jumps and glides and jumps and glides and jumps and glides..... (i exaggerated a bit. no offense to Plushenko and his fans)

 

[Skatetomusic]

I feel so down and depressed about the direction she is headed right now. I'm goiung to be very blunt and say this straight out. I think that she is being stubborn. Her skating put us at edge in a very bad way. I wonder how much time she takes away from the rink. She needs some great life enriching experiences away from the ice. She is robbing herself of time and progress without these types of experiences. She needs more general time away from the ice. The skaters that are going to succeed are having great experiences outside the rink and bringing their lessons to the ice. I don't see this in Mao at the moment which is really sad, especially for her potential. Without disclosing any names I saw a video of a skater taking dance lessons posted on you tube. Skater x will be able to bring more to the ice from broadening educational knowledge from off ice experiences like these. This is what Mao needs.
I really feel bad for her again. Some things about Mao's skating lead me to worry as well she needs to broaden her edging and stroking and posture and she has problems of two footing jumps which you can barely notice but are there. With her decisions after this competition Tatiana even sees that Mao is having trouble with decision making.

 

[evangeline]

I feel so down and depressed about the direction she is headed right now. I'm goiung to be very blunt and say this straight out. I think that she is being stubborn. Her skating put us at edge in a very bad way. I wonder how much time she takes away from the rink. She needs some great life enriching experiences away from the ice. She is robbing herself of time and progress without these types of experiences. She needs more general time away from the ice. The skaters that are going to succeed are having great experiences outside the rink and bringing their lessons to the ice. I don't see this in Mao at the moment which is really sad, especially for her potential. Without disclosing any names I saw a video of a skater taking dance lessons posted on you tube. Skater x will be able to bring more to the ice from broadening educational knowledge from off ice experiences like these. This is what Mao needs.
I really feel bad for her again. Some things about Mao's skating lead me to worry as well she needs to broaden her edging and stroking and posture and she has problems of two footing jumps which you can barely notice but are there. With her decisions after this competition Tatiana even sees that Mao is having trouble with decision making.

If I recall correctly, Mao has taken/is taking ballet lessons as well, and I remember watching a video clip in which she's going to school to learn Russian so she could communicate with TaT better.

It's not like Mao is at the rink 24/7....and come on, it's the Olympic season. I think it's a bit much to expect a skater to get away from skating and do something else entirely.

 

[Phoenix347]

If I recall correctly, Mao has taken/is taking ballet lessons as well, and I remember watching a video clip in which she's going to school to learn Russian so she could communicate with TaT better.

It's not like Mao is at the rink 24/7....and come on, it's the Olympic season. I think it's a bit much to expect a skater to get away from skating and do something else entirely.

Mao actually started in ballet before ice skating so it would be natural for her to be taking some ballet class to brush up on her moves. You can tell by her expressive arms, I think.

On the subject about not changing her program, I think she is right. Without the 3A's, she doesn't have much of a chance of catching Yuna. Remember, she doesn't want the bronze, she wants the gold. Also remember that when she hits the 3A's, like in WTT this year, she can over 200 points total! That would put a lot of pressure on Yuna to perform almost flawlessly in both SP and LP to beat that score. She just need to get confidence in her 3A's and she should be okay. I think it's going to be all or nothing for her in the Olympics. I applaud her for going for it all.

 

[CARA]

Phoenix347
On the subject about not changing her program, I think she is right. Without the 3A's, she doesn't have much of a chance of catching Yuna. Remember, she doesn't want the bronze, she wants the gold. Also remember that when she hits the 3A's, like in WTT this year, she can over 200 points total!

The question is what percentage is Mao currently landing her 3A? I remember that the great Frank Carroll insisted on 80 to 90 % landing before a specific jump is included in Michelle Kwan's program. Mao's 3A is nowhere near that consistent. Given that, I'm not sure how realistic to include 3A in her program, let alone beating Yuna.

Given how technically shaky she is, wanting OGM seems a bit arrogant right now. Of course she can dream, and I'd be delighted if Mao proves me wrong.

 

[Basics]

If she does change, what the jump layout will look like?

I think, since she doesn't have 3Lz or 3-3, without 3A it will be almost impossible for her to be contending for Olympic gold. I'm guessing this is why she just cannot give up her 3A despite of it inconsistency. Don't you think?

 

[CARA]

Oh, dear.

If what you are referring is the case, Mao has serious technical issues. It might be a moot point now, but I wonder why no one put his/her feet down and addressed what appears to be a serious deficiency in Mao. It's almost a criminal mismanagement of a skater's career.

 

[Wicked]

I hope Mao knows what she's doing, but to change nothing at all after these results seems strange to me. I'm not saying she needs a total overhaul but I would have hoped she would say that she and TAT would look at her programs and make whatever changes are necessary. It sounds like Mao is saying here that no changes are necessary.

 

[*Sniper*]

It's her career and her chance at OGM, so I support her decision and wish her well.

 

[janetfan]

If she does change, what the jump layout will look like?

I think, since she doesn't have 3Lz or 3-3, without 3A it will be almost impossible for her to be contending for Olympic gold. I'm guessing this is why she just cannot give up her 3A despite of it inconsistency. Don't you think?

Without the 3A, 3L or 3x3 Mao can't contend for the Olympic podium let alone the Gold medal. In fact, she would be hard up to beat skaters like Alissa, Alena and Ashley as we saw in Moscow last weekend.

 

[CARA]

It's her career and her chance at OGM, so I support her decision and wish her well.

That's all we can do:scowl:

 

[jovani2293]

I'm just think that Mao is young and still has 2014. I think she is going to go to Miki's coach after the olympics.

 

[katha]

My first reaction upon hearing that news was puzzlement and frustration. Clearly something isn't working and endlessly repeating flawed patterns won't make them magically right. But then I have no idea about the actual dynamics of the situation. The LP has potential, just seems too heavy for Mao specifically. A piano arrangement would make a big positive difference IMO. That SP is just a bad idea all around. Recycled music, recycled choreography. What sort of message does that send in an Olympic year?

As other posters said, perhaps she needs to do those 3 axels because her other jumps have disintegrated that much. But if that is the case, she needs a jump coach with her. All the time. TAT has many talents as a coach, installing jumping technique isn't among them. I just can't wrap my head around the possibility that Mao may have been "self-coaching" her jumps since she left RA. Surely there must have been someone there to monitor her? And no, Folle isn't a proven technical coach either...