skater Flatt quickly ‘growing up'

[MasterB]

At Nationals she was doing them and hitting them cleanly in practice and I thought that she was going to do them in the program but, she never did. Two seasons ago she did the 3F/3loop in the short at skate America. However the rest of the program faltered.

I agree with the person that said that SOTA has never been a good vehicle for skaters. This piece of music has gotten a bad rap(jinxed) over the years and many skaters have stayed away from it.

GO Rachel................

 

[R.D.]

Well, I'm glad to see at least ONE American lady willing to push the technical envelope...we were once on the forefront there, now we've fallen behind. Good for Rachel

 

[Layfan]

Well, I'm glad to see at least ONE American lady willing to push the technical envelope...we were once on the forefront there, now we've fallen behind. Good for Rachel

Well, Mirai went for a 3lutz-3 toe at worlds. Clearly she was practicing it all year and put it in when she and Frank felt it was good enough to put into competition. I don't think Rachael is the only one pushing the technical envelope. We'll see how it goes for Mirai this year though, especially considering her injury. And then there is Christina Gao who also has a 3-3.

As for whether Rachael should be concentrating on other things, jumps are her strength and she and Tom Z clearly feel she NEEDS to push herself technically to stay in contention. Other girls have spins and other elements to push their scores up even when they can't master 3-3s. Rachael not so much. But if she is the only one doing a sold 3 lutz-3toe at nationals, she'll be hard to beat. Plus, it sounds like they are choosing music that show off Rachael's charm - like Sing, Sing, Sing - even if there is nothing they can do about her spins and spirals. I have to say, sounds to me like Rachael is on the right path at least theoretically.

 

[Spun Silver]

Why would there be nothing she could do about her spins? Spirals I sort of understand.

 

[Layfan]

Well, there might be of course. But I just wonder how much room she has for improvement there. I mean, I'm sure Rachael has always worked hard on her spins. I doubt she neglects them or anything. It's just that every one has natural strengths and weaknesses. I do think she could choose better combinations - if COP allows her to. Her layback spin is actually pretty nice and she has a good donut spin too. Why doesn't she put the donut spin in rather than some of those other positions that don't look very good on her?

 

[dorispulaski]

Rachael has had severe back problems, and that limits the kinds of spins and spiral positions she can do, AFAIR.

 

[Bluebonnet]

I don't like Rachael's skating. But I am admiring her talent, her will, and her abilities.

 

[Nigel]

I don't think that's an accurate view of Flatt's 3/3s. Look at how she pre-rotates with her toepick on the ice. She doesn't jump up into the air, she just swings her body around. Her 3/3s are borderline at best if you take into consideration the actual spot where she is leaving the ice and actually getting into the air. That technique of spinning off the ice rather than jumping off the ice is not commendable.

I predict there is a 0.01% chance that Rachel Flatt gets a 3Lutz-3Loop combination ratified. That combination is not at all within her ability. I also see the article mentions she is doing a 2Axel-3Toe in the LP. Hopefully it gets downgraded. Her 2Axels are so bad; she again has the technique of spinning off the ice instead of jumping off the ice and barely rotates the jump. Considering she has less flow coming out of her 2Axels than her 3Flips, I can't image this combination will be any better than her 3Flip-3Toes were.

She needs to stop focusing on all of these jump combinations so much. At one point Rachel Flatt showed the potential of being an artistic performer but she has sadly gone nowhere (or even regressed) in her artistry.

I disagree about Flatt's 2A technique. Just went back and watched her opening 2A from her LP from last season...entry at about 40 sec point....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XsVPLO9oVw
And she goes into the jump easily following a back spiral position across the ice on her right foot, then puts the left foot down just prior to stepping up into the jump...with good height.

 

[museksk8r]

Well, I'm glad to see at least ONE American lady willing to push the technical envelope...we were once on the forefront there, now we've fallen behind. Good for Rachel

Ashley was attempting and landing 3flutz+3loop and getting credit for the 3loop at the 2008 Nationals. Maybe now that the rules on UR jumps have been lightened up, she and other skaters will attempt the 3+3s more. I don't blame the skaters for taking out the 3+3s from the 2008 to 2010 season as there was no benefit over doing a double jump just to have the 2nd triple be downgraded to a double and receive -GOE.

 

[FlattFan]

Rachael regularly gets +GOE for her 2A and 3R. It makes sense she's turning them into combo jumps.
If she could hit her planned jumps, she would be invincible at Nationals.

 

[R.D.]

NO one is "invincible", I don't care who you are.

 

[FlattFan]

Rachael is. . I don't care who's doing what. If Rachael hits the 3lutz 3loop combo in the short, 3lutz-3loop, 2A-3T combo in the long and are clean in both programs, she will win. No one comes close technically. She still has a lot of good will from the past two seasons. They will crown her the champion again.

 

[lavender]

Where...at worlds?? No way is she beating a clean Mao even if she does those combos. Plus will all her jumps be rotated.

 

[FlattFan]

Where...at worlds?? No way is she beating a clean Mao even if she does those combos. Plus will all her jumps be rotated.

I meant at Nationals, assuming all her jumps are clean and rotated. I agree, no way she's beating a clean Mao.

 

[R.D.]

Rachael is. . I don't care who's doing what. If Rachael hits the 3lutz 3loop combo in the short, 3lutz-3loop, 2A-3T combo in the long and are clean in both programs, she will win. No one comes close technically. She still has a lot of good will from the past two seasons. They will crown her the champion again.

I tend to agree. Even if Nagasu rocks the house again, they may still give the championship to Flatt in a close call.

Although, I admit it would be interesting to see if they would give Nagasu the title in a close call now that she seems to be the top US lady internationally.

But also remember that no US lady has successfully defended her first US championship in 20+ years. History is not on Rachel's side.

 

[silverlake22]

Rachael is. . I don't care who's doing what. If Rachael hits the 3lutz 3loop combo in the short, 3lutz-3loop, 2A-3T combo in the long and are clean in both programs, she will win. No one comes close technically. She still has a lot of good will from the past two seasons. They will crown her the champion again.

It won't make that much of a difference. Likely Mirai is planning 3lz-3t for SP and FS and 2a-3t for her FS, and Christina plans 3f-3t in SP and FS and 2a-3t in her FS, so Rachael might not be at that much of an advantage.

 

[Blades of Passion]

I disagree about Flatt's 2A technique. Just went back and watched her opening 2A from her LP from last season...entry at about 40 sec point....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XsVPLO9oVw
And she goes into the jump easily following a back spiral position across the ice on her right foot, then puts the left foot down just prior to stepping up into the jump...with good height.

Thank you for providing a visual reference to illustrate my point - her 2A displayed awful technique. First of all, how can Earth can you call that "good height"? Are we comparing to snails rather than human beings or something? The jump had almost no height. It didn't have much distance either.

Next off, her body has a tilit in the air. This is because of her poor takeoff technique. She spins off the ice rather than jumping and then turning.

And, lastly, she comes down short of rotation on the landing. Not enough for a downgrade, but enough to further emphasize how small the jump already is.

She looks like a Junior when she does this jump. It's not good at all. Ashley Wagner has similar problems on her 2A and let's try to forget about Caroline Zhang's (worst 2A of all time).

Mirai Nagasu, on the other hand, has the best 2A out of any American female today. Good lift into the jump, good ice coverage, clean air position, fully complete rotation, and great flow out.

 

[janetfan]

History is not on Rachel's side.

Not to mention gravity

 

[SerpentineSteps]

Not to mention gravity

hahaha OUCH.

she doesn't seem to have trouble getting jumps ratified, though, unless she's gained weight since last season.

 

[silverlake22]

hahaha OUCH.

she doesn't seem to have trouble getting jumps ratified, though, unless she's gained weight since last season.

Where she's shorter than most of the other contenders she probably doesn't weigh more than they do. I want to say that on their Olympic bios Mirai and Rachael were both listed as 110 pounds. Rachael's actually pretty tiny if you see pictures of her in clothes it's just the awful costume choices that make her look heavier.