Caroline Zhang's 2009-10 season

[silverlake22]

I remeber seeing her working with Lori Nichol at Toyota Sports Center during the summer of 2008 and she was popping of triples minutes after getting on the ice, she did not skate like the other elite skaters who made a big deal of setting up for their jumps and working upr from singles to doubles to triples in consecutive order of difficult. Caroline was throwing triples around like they were doubles. She had just started working in her 3/3 and fell or missed most of them, but everything else was effortless. Ahhhh, the good old days.

I think some people are maybe reading into this Caroline business a little too deeply, I think she may just be having a rough year. I re-watched some of the Grand Prix events from 2008 recently and Mirai was having a VERY rough season last year. She came in 5th at SA with a 142.90 and 8th at NHK with a 124.22 (74.08 FS with two falls and four URs).

Compare that to Caroline's season this year, 4th at TEB with a 153.15, and 8th at SC with a 132.46 (77.88 with two falls, two URs, and the invalid combo). The results are pretty comparable, and Mirai is doing just fine now. The puberty monster maybe didn't really hit Caroline until now, whereas Mirai probably dealt with the worst of it last year. It is unfortunate that Caroline has to struggle during an Olympic year, but beyond the fact that she has weird jump technique, I don't think anything is seriously wrong and I bet she'll bounce back next year and do very well.

On a good note, I realized that this year, in her CoC LP Mirai had only 2 clean triples, a fall, 5 URs (4 on triples), and two ! calls and she still managed a 93.18. Not that a 93 is a particularly great score, but considering all the stuff that was wrong there it's pretty encouraging that her overall skating is that good. I wonder how high of a score she could get if she was clean and really presented, I bet it could be like a 110+ :agree:

 

[sk8indel]

But on a better note for Caroline, in that same performance her triple flip had a lot of flow coming out of the jump and looked very nicely done, better than I've seen it in a while.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I think some people are maybe reading into this Caroline business a little too deeply, I think she may just be having a rough year.

It is unfortunate that Caroline has to struggle during an Olympic year, but beyond the fact that she has weird jump technique, I don't think anything is seriously wrong and I bet she'll bounce back next year and do very well.
:agree:

I think why my fans, myself included are panicking for her is that her problems go beyond her body being too big for her. Her technique was bad before she grew and now things have gotten much worse. Unless she takes a year or more and entirely reworked her technique especially on the lutz and the flip I can't honestly see her rebounding to prior sucess. Maybe if she skates really poorly at Nationals she will be motivated enough to take the plunge and leave Mingzu Li once and for all for a strong jumps coach (frank would have been perfect). It is not Caroline's results that bother me, but rather her skating.

 

[silverlake22]

I think why my fans, myself included are panicking for her is that her problems go beyond her body being too big for her. Her technique was bad before she grew and now things have gotten much worse. Unless she takes a year or more and entirely reworked her technique especially on the lutz and the flip I can't honestly see her rebounding to prior sucess. Maybe if she skates really poorly at Nationals she will be motivated enough to take the plunge and leave Mingzu Li once and for all for a strong jumps coach (frank would have been perfect). It is not Caroline's results that bother me, but rather her skating.

So Mirai's skating last year didn't bother you? All I'm saying is that a lot of skaters have problems, then rebound. Alissa reworked her jumps a couple years ago and while she still has some issues with UR she's managing to place very well both nationally and internationally.

 

[bigsisjiejie]

So Mirai's skating last year didn't bother you? All I'm saying is that a lot of skaters have problems, then rebound. Alissa reworked her jumps a couple years ago and while she still has some issues with UR she's managing to place very well both nationally and internationally.

Caroline isn't going to "rebound" until she decides her own skating flaws ARE the problem, and then takes stern measures to fix those flaws, which probably means taking a break from one full competitive season. Not to mention getting a new coach and perhaps finding way to get her mother under control. This all goes way beyond "having a rough year" or blaming her woes on puberty. Her skating technique issues started long before puberty set in.

Mirai seems to have taken same stern measures to fix her own issues and she's still a work in progress. Time will tell if she succeeds, but things do seem to be headed in the right direction. I imagine her time with Frank Carroll has been a bit like Army boot camp and certainly no bed of roses.

 

[PolymerBob]

Well ladies and gentlemen, we have officially hit 100 pages.

I still believe that something else is wrong that we don't know about. Caroline had all her problems earlier this year when she was the top American at Four Continents, and won $30,000 at the World Team Trophy. Why did she do so well then yet falter so badly in the Grand Prix?

 

[R.D.]

Well ladies and gentlemen, we have officially hit 100 pages.

Well, I see only 75...

 

[janetfan]

Well ladies and gentlemen, we have officially hit 100 pages.

I still believe that something else is wrong that we don't know about. Caroline had all her problems earlier this year when she was the top American at Four Continents, and won $30,000 at the World Team Trophy. Why did she do so well then yet falter so badly in the Grand Prix?

Because she is taller and heavier and her bad technique doesn't work as well now that she has grown.

She also seems to have become more introverted and is not a very good performer except in exhibitions skating to pop ballads.

I hope she makes some big changes soon.

But I wish her all the best at Natls and at Jr Worlds.

 

[Tinymavy15]

So Mirai's skating last year didn't bother you? All I'm saying is that a lot of skaters have problems, then rebound. Alissa reworked her jumps a couple years ago and while she still has some issues with UR she's managing to place very well both nationally and internationally.

Alissa managed to become national champion with a less than inspiring freeskate. I would hardly call her results the past few years "very good" certainly less than the big dreams we all foe Caroline. She had the potential to be the next Sasha/Michelle. Alissa will not medal and certainly not win at the olympics/worlds. Many thought Caroline could someday.

 

[gkelly]

will not medal and certainly not win at the olympics/worlds. Many thought Caroline could someday.

What made them think so?

It's always dangerous to make predictions about skaters who are still developing technically and physically. Who knows what will happen. Even if they do mature into the right combination of body type and skill level to win at the highest level, it's always possible that they will get injured or lose interest or lose funding, etc., etc.

 

[Sylvia]

But I wish her all the best at Natls and at Jr Worlds.

Wow, you can see into the future?

 

[silverlake22]

What made them think so?

It's always dangerous to make predictions about skaters who are still developing technically and physically. Who knows what will happen. Even if they do mature into the right combination of body type and skill level to win at the highest level, it's always possible that they will get injured or lose interest or lose funding, etc., etc.

Exactly, I mean Mao has great skills and a great body type for skater and she certainly has been struggling recently. Even Kimmie, though I know some think she is too muscular for skating, had good technique and skills and a pretty good build for the sport and still managed to fall from the top. Even Yuna had a couple rough years in 07-08 when she was capable of beating everyone easily but due to a back injury and stamina issues was unable to achieve the greatness we all know she is capable of.

Caroline is taller and heavier than she used to be, but it's not like she is tall or heavy by any means. Her body shouldn't be an issue, but that being said, she has to adjust to it. I also think she needs to start picking different music for her programs, all that slow mellow nutcracker-like stuff clearly isn't working any more, so maybe she should try a jazz or spanish routine and we might see her expression come back. She also might be a little upset about missing out on a normal highschool life, now that she is not competing as well, it's probably easier for her to see the good aspects of being a normal teenager.

This is all speculation, but I feel like 16 is a tough age for most teenage girls...

 

[PolymerBob]

Because she is taller and heavier and her bad technique doesn't work as well now that she has grown.

She also seems to have become more introverted and is not a very good performer except in exhibitions skating to pop ballads.

I don't know. She had a growth spurt over the summer last year, but I haven't heard of a spurt this summer. Her shoulders seem broader than last year.

I hope she makes some big changes soon.

But I wish her all the best at Natls and at Jr Worlds.

............... and Vancouver.

 

[Mathman]

What made them think so?

Because she was so spellbinding as a junior. Anything can happen, but it is human nature to hope that the best young athletes will mature into world-beaters some day.

 

[Nadine]

I still have hope & high aspirations for Caroline Zhang in the future, if she keeps with it & doesn't give up.

Already she is a better skater than when she was a baby ballerina first on the scene ~ filled out & matured ~ a lady. And I personally like to see this, which is why I cannot fully appreciate a skater until they go from a baby ballerina to a prima ballerina! Even in the ballet world, one does not become a prima until one fully matures/maturates. As it should be...

I post two clips to accentuate my point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uyg24hOiog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emTblCcD-c

 

[silverlake22]

I still have hope & high aspirations for Caroline Zhang in the future, if she keeps with it & doesn't give up.

Already she is a better skater than when she was a baby ballerina first on the scene ~ filled out & matured ~ a lady. And I personally like to see this, which is why I cannot fully appreciate a skater until they go from a baby ballerina to a prima ballerina! Even in the ballet world, one does not become a prima until one fully matures/maturates. As it should be...

I agree, I mean it's all well and good if you are a great skater as a 14 year old who hasn't gone through puberty, but it's even more impressive to be a great skater as a mature young lady.

This is why I love Yuna, her greatest successes were reached when she was 18 and 19. I feel like so much of the hype about Mao came from her success as a 15 year old, obviously she is still a great skater, but if she could regain her former competitive record in the years to come it would be so impressive.

I actually think Caroline and Mirai are handling growing up well. It's hard to do that in the public eye, and though they have both struggled in recent years, I see a fight and maturity in them (esp. Mirai) that they didn't have before. When you think about how each girl now is 7-10 inches taller than they were when Mirai won the junior national title, I think it's impressive they can even still jump and compete as well as they do.

 

[feraina]

Caroline just did some kind of TV spot in Denver, CO, accompanied by her sister. I don't know exactly what it's for. Maybe some kind of promotional thing for National's? Or a commercial? There is a beautiful shot of her doing a split jump in the air, really nice. Maybe we'll get to see it on TV soon.

 

[czfan]

Caroline wrote this blog entry on December 9th:

http://teamusa.att.net/team-usa/athlete/caroline-zhang?isScavengerHuntSweepstakeHintPage=1

 

[R.D.]

I do hope she starts tweeting again. Those crazy fans spoiled everything :banging:

 

[LeCygne]

Caroline just did some kind of TV spot in Denver, CO, accompanied by her sister. I don't know exactly what it's for. Maybe some kind of promotional thing for National's? Or a commercial? There is a beautiful shot of her doing a split jump in the air, really nice. Maybe we'll get to see it on TV soon.

Her sister said on Facebook that is was a photoshot for AT&T 2010 Olympic Soundtrack. Not sure what that is.. But yeah that shot is really beautiful. Looks like they had fun on the trip.