What will 2010-11 bring for Caroline Zhang?

[Olympia]

I don't have time to watch the video right now, but that sounds awesome! I would be so thrilled to see Caroline regain her former promise. Remember that year or two when she was the only up-and-coming young American ladies skater who had any international recognition at all? Wouldn't it be great if she resumed that path.

If this progress continues, she will prove an important and heartening point, previously demonstrated by Paul Wylie and Todd Eldredge, among others: never count anyone out.

 

[cornell08]

Is it just me or does she look totally different? Looks like she's been pumping some iron. Glad to see no mule kick on the 3f but 3lo , 2a, and speed still need a lot of work.

She does look different. Interesting how differently built Yangyang and Caroline are.

 

[R.D.]

Definitely see improvement, at least from what I can see in the video.

 

[krenseby]

I don't have time to watch the video right now, but that sounds awesome! I would be so thrilled to see Caroline regain her former promise. Remember that year or two when she was the only up-and-coming young American ladies skater who had any international recognition at all? Wouldn't it be great if she resumed that path.

If this progress continues, she will prove an important and heartening point, previously demonstrated by Paul Wylie and Todd Eldredge, among others: never count anyone out.

Yes, and there's a lot of work to be done. Her interpretation and performance and execution scores are rather low, which will hold her back against competitors whose jumps, spins, and spirals are worse. The profile of her which emerges from the SP is that of a technically solid skater with deficient artistry and performance. Whether or not that's how you view Caroline Zhang, that seems to be how the judges view her.

Incidentally, both Caroline and Rachael Flatt had a lower score in choreography than Kira Korpi and Elene Gedevanishvili. I think that's a bad omen; if you can't even beat those two on choreography, you can't really ever hope to make the top five at Worlds.

 

[liketotally]

Her jumps definitely do seem to get a bit more height, but they're still passable at best. However, I do hope that she takes getting rid of the mule kick as a starting point to correct all her other problems.

 

[lavender]

The mule kick is gone but still needs a lot of work on everything else.

 

[ayayukiituka]

The mule kick is gone but still needs a lot of work on everything else.

That's true,but it's great to see her improvements. She'll work it one by one.

 

[demarinis5]

That's true,but it's great to see her improvements. She'll work it one by one.

Agreed and barring injury she will be perfect just in time for Socchi.

Go Caroline!!!

 

[cjsk8fan]

The mule kick is gone but still needs a lot of work on everything else.

She still has very nice spins and her footwork isn't bad either. I just think more speed will help. I am going to Skate America so it will be nice to see the differences of speeds in skaters. Everyone talks about it but it is so hard to tell on videos.

 

[feraina]

Wow!!! I seriously couldn't believe it when I saw her 3F-2T. There was no mule-kick, not even a prolonged wind-up. She just went for it and it was light and easy and fast. I wasn't even sure it was a 3F, I thought maybe she substituted an easier 3T, but so it was! No trace of a mule kick, perfect entrance to the 3F! The 2A and 3R both look higher, too, if not better flow in and out. Jump-wise, she has definitely improved, and I'm curious to see what her 3Z will look like tomorrow.

Despite gaining weight, she definitely looks stronger than before. Gone is her delicate, willowy look. She looks more determined/serious on the ice than before. I'm not sure I see the "joy" yet, that she used to have (it was easier to be joyful when success came relatively easily), but I definitely see more confidence and calm in her skating -- like she believes in herself more, and she's determined to do her job well whatever it takes, and she's not going to be deterred by setbacks. I really like that attitude.

Her spins unfortunately have regressed, which I put down to her loss of flexibility and lack of practice time -- she must be spending a lot more time on her jumps instead if she's making such visible progress on them. But spins and flexibility are among the easiest things to regain. I agree with her (and her coach) that she should concentrate on jumps and other technical issues right now, and work on regaining her best spinning shape later.

So proud of you, Caroline!

 

[frauregina]

Hey, we can send message to Caroline thru the NHK Trophy website. For the translation of the page, please see this: http://cz-online.org/?p=658

 

[Blades of Passion]

She still has very nice spins.

Her Flying Sit Spin was awful.

I wouldn't call her other spins "very nice", I would call them okay. She seems to have lost a lot of flexibility.

 

[PolymerBob]

I think Caroline has it within her to pull herself up a few spots in the freeskate.

 

[silverlake22]

Her Flying Sit Spin was awful.

I wouldn't call her other spins "very nice", I would call them okay. She seems to have lost a lot of flexibility.

Still seemed pretty flexible to me. The thing I more noticed with her spins is that they were slow.

 

[krenseby]

Still seemed pretty flexible to me. The thing I more noticed with her spins is that they were slow.

Also, it seemed like she was slow in general, even though it was obvious she was trying to skate fast. Why is it so hard for her to skate faster? Is there some kind of stroking style/technique that she hasn't learned yet?

 

[Andalusia]

Also, it seemed like she was slow in general, even though it was obvious she was trying to skate fast. Why is it so hard for her to skate faster? Is there some kind of stroking style/technique that she hasn't learned yet?

I don't think it was obvious at all, especially during the step sequence. She was pretty much meandering along right after she finished the 3F-2T. Maybe going faster = a higher likelihood of missing her jumps, and that's why she puts the brakes on. She might not even be conscious of doing it.

Caroline is capable of skating faster, especially in exhibitions.

 

[cornell08]

Yes, and there's a lot of work to be done. Her interpretation and performance and execution scores are rather low, which will hold her back against competitors whose jumps, spins, and spirals are worse. The profile of her which emerges from the SP is that of a technically solid skater with deficient artistry and performance. Whether or not that's how you view Caroline Zhang, that seems to be how the judges view her.

Incidentally, both Caroline and Rachael Flatt had a lower score in choreography than Kira Korpi and Elene Gedevanishvili. I think that's a bad omen; if you can't even beat those two on choreography, you can't really ever hope to make the top five at Worlds.

Caroline never really interpreted music that well imo, except for Spanish Gypsy maybe. I don't get why her programs are never of the "tell a story" or "embody a character" type. Those might be easier to emote than the classical pieces she tends to choose, which tend to be pensive and nebulous. I can understand Rachael choosing to create and present a program that way because it seems to fit her intellectual style (I actually enjoy it more than when Rachael skates to perky jazz), but I don't think it suits Caroline. At the same time Caroline's got a lot on her to do list so I don't blame her for tackling one thing at a time. Maybe its just easier to interpret once your technique is fixed. I can't imagine worrying about choreo when I have to mentally prepare for my jumps.

 

[LeCygne]

I wouldn't call her other spins "very nice", I would call them okay. She seems to have lost a lot of flexibility.

I agree, even at the end of last year I noticed her spins starting to suffer as she worried about her jumps constantly. At this point her spins really are just okay, she's lost a lot of the speed and the positions are no longer outstanding. But I think she still has the ability and can get her spins back, after she fixes her other issues.

Right now she has so much going on that she really just needs to take things one at a time. Jumps and technique first. Just with that flip she's made so much improvement, but she still has a long way to go with the axel and even the loop. The key is for her be patient. She can't expect her scores to go up just because she fixed the mule kick. Her problems are much more deeply ingrained than that, and it will take time.

 

[PolymerBob]

Well as most of you know, Caroline only managed 7th place. She was able to do a nice triple-double, and I think her flexability was better than the short. But she seemed heavy. I don't usually say ( write ) this, but I think she will have to lose some weight in order to gain speed and make her skating smoother.

 

[R.D.]

Do I get the feeling that people (fanboys, perhaps) are expecting overnight results??

Of course she's going to struggle now. She's made some pretty drastic changes to her technique (and probably will be making more later). Looks like she has grown a bit, too. So I'm willing to cut her a break...just sayin'.