Yuzuru Hanyu: 2013-14 Season

[ayarose]

Quick review of TOI on 13th, Friday.

Part 2
1. Girls from Sendai’s local skate club, Let It Go.
2. Music performance by BREATHE
3. Javi with BREATHE. He looked little nervous, as he said in the video message “It is the first time to perform with live music.
4. Johnny, Schindler’s list. He was wearing simple black out fit and black shoes with red soles.
5. Honda, Talking to the Moon. Excellent performance by my emotional favorite skater, who are from Fukushima, and so am I
6. Verner, New York New York. Excellent Veteran skates know how to use the link, very well.
7. Plushy. He was on! It was Plushenko. People were so excited and he looked happy.
8. Music performance by Monkey Magic.
9. Yuzuru, Change. It was very exciting performance, even with a fall at steps. He said it’s a killer program, which requires so much stamina to perform.
10. Yuzuru’s speech. He looked more than happy.
11. All skaters with Panda-Lion’s music, no Plushy
12. Emerging of Emperor of Russia! He did triple jump with Yuzuru, side by side.
13. Farewell with Monkey Magic’s music.

That’s all I saw.
I wonder how ladies in SS seats were able to maintain their sanity during the show, because they were so close to the skaters, all of them were good looking men who, especially veterans were very good at appealing to the audiences. (Unfortunately my seat was far enough to maintain it.)


Good Night.

Otsukaresama deshita & Oyasumi nasai. I need to sleep too, I still have work tomorrow.

Thanks for the updates guys.

 

[mikaboo]

Thank you so much for your update lady_bee. I'm really happy that you had fun. Good luck waking up in 3 hours.

And thanks to everyone for providing all the links. I will have to spend some time here to catch up on all this.

BusyMom, Looking at the video that Pamina selected to snip out makes me agree with you. Food in Sendai must be doing him some good.

 

[rmla2]

Why the hell he falls in 90% of his performances, being it in competitions or shows. If a program is too demanding for you, then skate to programs that you can actually handle ... Sorry, I'm probably being too harsh, but he's never going to be the "dominant skater" that he wants to be (or Plushenko's heir like japanese media likes to say) if he keeps this record. Now he's 19 years old but will he be able to skate to his current layout when he gets older? Obviously no, because his knees won't be the same. Everyone knows that the current judging system values youth and the technical difficulty that comes with it, and I don't want to see his skating fall apart. That's why he needs to complete his skating in all the aspects and skate to comfortable programs, if not maybe his period on the top will be really short. It goes against the common sense of the casual viewer too: why a guy that won the 3 major titles falls so much. (I couldn't care less for the medals now, but he obviously does and is quite thirsty for it so .. ) I'm starting to think that the "stamina problems/asthma/whatever" won't actually go away if he doesn't water down his competitive programs. I guess with time he developed a habit to focus on the jumps because of his current layout too, that's why when he was younger his performance ability was 10 times better, just compare White Legend in 2010 to White legend now; the 2010 one is just divine (not that WL now is bad it's beautiful too, but you know what I meant, about his arm movements etc, the older one can convince me much better) I'm not refering to Change especifically as a program he can't handle, but it's obvious he can't handle his LP, and he took 2 years to master his SP; so I wouldn't expect the same refine for his new SP now for obvious reasons. If he keeps his layout I'm afraid he won't be able to improve his performance ability because, well, he will be focused on the jumps like always because that's what makes one win nowadays. But I'm sure he won't do it because that's what keeps him winning, not his actual quality of performance which he needs to improve A LOT. Or at least go back to his 17 yo self, which won't happen. The direction he took his skating wasn't smart in my opinion. Yes, in the short term it brought all the medals that he wanted, so congratulations, your strategy worked, but with his monstrous talent it was a matter of time for him to achieve all this. As a read in another forum, or maybe this one, for me he's like a candle being burnt in both sides, sad because he's probably the most talented skater in the world right now and could have turned this potential to much more if he didn't rush everything. Sorry, had to speak this out.

 

[Pamigena]

more picturrrres

 

[HanDomi]

Why the hell he falls in 90% of his performances, being it in competitions or shows. If a program is too demanding for you, then skate to programs that you can actually handle ... Sorry, I'm probably being too harsh, but he's never going to be the "dominant skater" that he wants to be (or Plushenko's heir like japanese media likes to say) if he keeps this record. Now he's 19 years old but will he be able to skate to his current layout when he gets older? Obviously no, because his knees won't be the same. Everyone knows that the current judging system values youth and the technical difficulty that comes with it, and I don't want to see his skating fall apart. That's why he needs to complete his skating in all the aspects and skate to comfortable programs, if not maybe his period on the top will be really short. It goes against the common sense of the casual viewer too: why a guy that won the 3 major titles falls so much. (I couldn't care less for the medals now, but he obviously does and is quite thirsty for it so .. ) I'm starting to think that the "stamina problems/asthma/whatever" won't actually go away if he doesn't water down his competitive programs. I guess with time he developed a habit to focus on the jumps because of his current layout too, that's why when he was younger his performance ability was 10 times better, just compare White Legend in 2010 to White legend now; the 2010 one is just divine (not that WL now is bad it's beautiful too, but you know what I meant, about his arm movements etc, the older one can convince me much better) I'm not refering to Change especifically as a program he can't handle, but it's obvious he can't handle his LP, and he took 2 years to master his SP; so I wouldn't expect the same refine for his new SP now for obvious reasons. If he keeps his layout I'm afraid he won't be able to improve his performance ability because, well, he will be focused on the jumps like always because that's what makes one win nowadays. But I'm sure he won't do it because that's what keeps him winning, not his actual quality of performance which he needs to improve A LOT. Or at least go back to his 17 yo self, which won't happen. The direction he took his skating wasn't smart in my opinion. Yes, in the short term it brought all the medals that he wanted, so congratulations, your strategy worked, but with his monstrous talent it was a matter of time for him to achieve all this. As a read in another forum, or maybe this one, for me he's like a candle being burnt in both sides, sad because he's probably the most talented skater in the world right now and could have turned this potential to much more if he didn't rush everything. Sorry, had to speak this out.

Let's start from the point, that he not reached his peak yet He will be on top of his abilities propably in next olympics, as 23 is average age for peak of skaters. Second, he definitely can handle his LP layout. If he would not be able then he would have diffrent layout. He can do it perfectly in practice. Only quad salchow mostly was causing problems, but he is the type that will not accept removing problem by removing jump but by mastering the jump, and I am sure it will happen.
It actually didn't took him 2 years to master his SP because he made it great in first outing in SA 2012, but his overall skills developed hugely over the year, and that is where from his scores raised up.

 

[Sorrento]

Hi! I can only translate Plushy's words from the news video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-phXJ5dYxJA&feature=youtu.be. He says: "First of all, I'm happy that I've been invited by Yuzuru to skate with him at all the shows (he meant those in Sendai, I think. I have no idea if there are other shows planned together with Yuzuru). I hope people will like the program (I'm going to skate). I'd say it again- it's my favorite program." That's all he says.

 

[Meoima]

Let's start from the point, that he not reached his peak yet He will be on top of his abilities propably in next olympics, as 23 is average age for peak of skaters. Second, he definitely can handle his LP layout. If he would not be able then he would have diffrent layout. He can do it perfectly in practice. Only quad salchow mostly was causing problems, but he is the type that will not accept removing problem by removing jump but by mastering the jump, and I am sure it will happen.
It actually didn't took him 2 years to master his SP because he made it great in first outing in SA 2012, but his overall skills developed hugely over the year, and that is where from his scores raised up.

Frankly, I don't know if Yuzuru can master more quads and improve his artistry at the same time. I hope he can perform with all his strength, without any regret in the end.

You can only choose one at a time, your jumps or your artistry? If he can do both, then he might be an alien. I am not so hyped over the unclear future as you about Yuzuru. Because in this sport we never know. But it's true that Yuzuru hasn't reached his true potential yet. If he stays healthy for the next quad, then he will become a legend.

Anyways, frankly as a fan I don't care much about gold medals for him anymore. OGM and world champion, he already has them all. Medals are important, but the state of your mind worths much more. Choosing this sport, all skaters know their career will not last for long. Someone as stubborn as Plushenko you can't find everywhere. And frankly even Plushenko's fans hope for his retirement (because of his health).

Yuzuru knows this, definitely. In a recent interview he said, even though he was just 19, the number of competition he can enter could only be counted by hands. The kid also planned to retire at the age of 23, which sounds reasonable, given the demanding layout he has been choosing. Actually it's his choice, he knows this very well, who are we to judge?

My best wish for him is: stays healthy, performs without any regret.

 

[dia]

Why the hell he falls in 90% of his performances, being it in competitions or shows. If a program is too demanding for you, then skate to programs that you can actually handle ... Sorry, I'm probably being too harsh, but he's never going to be the "dominant skater" that he wants to be (or Plushenko's heir like japanese media likes to say) if he keeps this record. Now he's 19 years old but will he be able to skate to his current layout when he gets older? Obviously no, because his knees won't be the same. Everyone knows that the current judging system values youth and the technical difficulty that comes with it, and I don't want to see his skating fall apart. That's why he needs to complete his skating in all the aspects and skate to comfortable programs, if not maybe his period on the top will be really short. It goes against the common sense of the casual viewer too: why a guy that won the 3 major titles falls so much. (I couldn't care less for the medals now, but he obviously does and is quite thirsty for it so .. ) I'm starting to think that the "stamina problems/asthma/whatever" won't actually go away if he doesn't water down his competitive programs. I guess with time he developed a habit to focus on the jumps because of his current layout too, that's why when he was younger his performance ability was 10 times better, just compare White Legend in 2010 to White legend now; the 2010 one is just divine (not that WL now is bad it's beautiful too, but you know what I meant, about his arm movements etc, the older one can convince me much better) I'm not refering to Change especifically as a program he can't handle, but it's obvious he can't handle his LP, and he took 2 years to master his SP; so I wouldn't expect the same refine for his new SP now for obvious reasons. If he keeps his layout I'm afraid he won't be able to improve his performance ability because, well, he will be focused on the jumps like always because that's what makes one win nowadays. But I'm sure he won't do it because that's what keeps him winning, not his actual quality of performance which he needs to improve A LOT. Or at least go back to his 17 yo self, which won't happen. The direction he took his skating wasn't smart in my opinion. Yes, in the short term it brought all the medals that he wanted, so congratulations, your strategy worked, but with his monstrous talent it was a matter of time for him to achieve all this. As a read in another forum, or maybe this one, for me he's like a candle being burnt in both sides, sad because he's probably the most talented skater in the world right now and could have turned this potential to much more if he didn't rush everything. Sorry, had to speak this out.

He falls because he is a human being.
I admire him a lot because he skates with passion not with that fear he might fall
and some people might smirk at him after. Besides, you lose only 1 point for a fall, so it's worth trying to push your limits.

 

[Meoima]

He falls because he is a human being.
I admire him a lot because he skates with passion not with that fear he might fall
and some people might smirk at him after.

Yup, that is also the reason Plushenko admires Mao Asada. you only live one, why not go for it?

Why the hell he falls in 90% of his performances, being it in competitions or shows. If a program is too demanding for you, then skate to programs that you can actually handle ... Sorry, I'm probably being too harsh, but he's never going to be the "dominant skater" that he wants to be (or Plushenko's heir like japanese media likes to say) if he keeps this record. Now he's 19 years old but will he be able to skate to his current layout when he gets older? Obviously no, because his knees won't be the same. Everyone knows that the current judging system values youth and the technical difficulty that comes with it, and I don't want to see his skating fall apart. That's why he needs to complete his skating in all the aspects and skate to comfortable programs, if not maybe his period on the top will be really short. It goes against the common sense of the casual viewer too: why a guy that won the 3 major titles falls so much. (I couldn't care less for the medals now, but he obviously does and is quite thirsty for it so .. ) I'm starting to think that the "stamina problems/asthma/whatever" won't actually go away if he doesn't water down his competitive programs. I guess with time he developed a habit to focus on the jumps because of his current layout too, that's why when he was younger his performance ability was 10 times better, just compare White Legend in 2010 to White legend now; the 2010 one is just divine (not that WL now is bad it's beautiful too, but you know what I meant, about his arm movements etc, the older one can convince me much better) I'm not refering to Change especifically as a program he can't handle, but it's obvious he can't handle his LP, and he took 2 years to master his SP; so I wouldn't expect the same refine for his new SP now for obvious reasons. If he keeps his layout I'm afraid he won't be able to improve his performance ability because, well, he will be focused on the jumps like always because that's what makes one win nowadays. But I'm sure he won't do it because that's what keeps him winning, not his actual quality of performance which he needs to improve A LOT. Or at least go back to his 17 yo self, which won't happen. The direction he took his skating wasn't smart in my opinion. Yes, in the short term it brought all the medals that he wanted, so congratulations, your strategy worked, but with his monstrous talent it was a matter of time for him to achieve all this. As a read in another forum, or maybe this one, for me he's like a candle being burnt in both sides, sad because he's probably the most talented skater in the world right now and could have turned this potential to much more if he didn't rush everything. Sorry, had to speak this out.

Hi rmla2, Reading your post, I wonder if only you know what you are referring about. There is some corrections I would like to make:

1) Skaters fall, that's a fact. Whether you like it or not. This is the nature of this sport. You think great skaters like Yagudin and Plushenko never fall? Go back and see their early performances.
Yagudin fell 3 times in his senior debut. Plushenko fell as much in his senior debut. And they are all legends.
Plushenko also fell on his 1st quad in Salt Lake city. Yagudin didn't do well in his 1st Olympic. They only start to stabilize their jumps until they reached 19-20. It's the matter of maturity for all men.

2) In ice shows, skaters are not in their top forms. What you often see in ice shows is much less than what they can do in competition. It's not that they don't want to perform their best, it's just they only peak one a year. And that time is usually at worlds.

3) Yuzuru did not take 2 years to master his SP, in fact, he broke record 2-3 times in season 2012-2013 with that SP. He scored over 95 points in Skate America. So when you say he took 2 years to master PW, it's a wrong statement.

4) The current layout that Yuzuru is using, though might be very demanding, but it's still nowhere near the layout top skaters can do NOT in competition. Javi, if he can manage to pull through, would have higher TES than Yuzuru. Javi chose that layout, which means he can do that in practice, it'a his nerves that got him. And Javi is 23 with a bulkier body (harder to rotate fast). If Javi at 23 can do it, then so does Yuzuru.

5) Yagudin and Plushenko also threw quads after quads when young. It's Mishin's style. Yagudin retired at the age of 23. Plushenko also almost retired at that age. But he came back and came back again. His longevity comes with a cost, dozen of surgeries. Timothy Goebel retired at the age of 23-25. And he is the king of quad, the 1st one who did 3 quads a long program. So we all know the career of this sport is very short. If not now then never. If most skaters can compete for 20 years then I am sure they will not rush for they have more time to wait. But most of them can only stay in senior for 5 to 8 years, 10 is quite long already, you can't tell them to wait.

And last but not least, Every winning statistic is simple as this. If you don't take the title right now, you might never have the next chance. It's just what sport is.

 

[HanDomi]

Frankly, I don't know if Yuzuru can master more quads and improve his artistry at the same time. I hope he can perform with all his strength, without any regret in the end.

You can only choose one at a time, your jumps or your artistry? If he can do both, then he might be an alien. I am not so hyped over the unclear future as you about Yuzuru. Because in this sport we never know. But it's true that Yuzuru hasn't reached his true potential yet. If he stays healthy for the next quad, then he will become a legend.

Anyways, frankly as a fan I don't care much about gold medals for him anymore. OGM and world champion, he already has them all. Medals are important, but the state of your mind worths much more. Choosing this sport, all skaters know their career will not last for long. Someone as stubborn as Plushenko you can't find everywhere. And frankly even Plushenko's fans hope for his retirement (because of his health).

Yuzuru knows this, definitely. In a recent interview he said, even though he was just 19, the number of competition he can enter could only be counted by hands. The kid also planned to retire at the age of 23, which sounds reasonable, given the demanding layout he has been choosing. Actually it's his choice, he knows this very well, who are we to judge?

My best wish for him is: stays healthy, performs without any regret.

We will see how things develop over next years. Even changing quad salchow to quad toe combo he still would be winning by big TES margin, but he just seems to be person that can't accept situation to play safe game. He would regard that as his own loss

 

[makaihime]

Why the hell he falls in 90% of his performances, being it in competitions or shows

Name one person who can consistently deliver a program as difficult as his. Patrick, who is the closest in terms of difficulty is also never consistent.

If a program is too demanding for you, then skate to programs that you can actually handle ... Sorry, I'm probably being too harsh, but he's never going to be the "dominant skater" that he wants to be (or Plushenko's heir like japanese media likes to say) if he keeps this record.

If you don't challenge yourself then what's the point in FS being a sport? No one is ever consistent when they first put in new and more difficult elements like quads. As for dominant skater, look to Patrick as a case in point.

Now he's 19 years old but will he be able to skate to his current layout when he gets older? Obviously no, because his knees won't be the same.

Actually yes. Because men usually peaks at 21-23. And he has not peaked yet. And jumps get more consistent with time.

Everyone knows that the current judging system values youth and the technical difficulty that comes with it, and I don't want to see his skating fall apart.

How's his skating falling apart? He's more consistent than last year, and most of his falls are on his 4S which is a mental block, which he overcame in WC.

That's why he needs to complete his skating in all the aspects and skate to comfortable programs, if not maybe his period on the top will be really short.

Do you not watch his programs? He is improving in different aspects. His basics are better, his jumps are more consistent (4S aside) and his stamina's also improved. How do you know he's not comfortable with his programs? He sure seems to enjoy his PW.

It goes against the common sense of the casual viewer too: why a guy that won the 3 major titles falls so much. (I couldn't care less for the medals now, but he obviously does and is quite thirsty for it so .. )

Have you not watched men's FS the past quad? This is not new, not with the way men's FS is increasingly getting more and more technically demanding. Everyone else falls too FYI.

I'm starting to think that the "stamina problems/asthma/whatever" won't actually go away if he doesn't water down his competitive programs. I guess with time he developed a habit to focus on the jumps because of his current layout too,

Asthma doesn't "go away". That's just ignorant first of all. Why should he water down his programs? If everyone else was afraid of falling and watered down their programs then the sport would move backwards and not forward. Sport means to constantly challenge the limits.

that's why when he was younger his performance ability was 10 times better, just compare White Legend in 2010 to White legend now; the 2010 one is just divine (not that WL now is bad it's beautiful too, but you know what I meant, about his arm movements etc, the older one can convince me much better)

10 times better? Oh really. Well, that's your personal perspective but your stating it like its a fact. (FYI, its not)

I'm not refering to Change especifically as a program he can't handle, but it's obvious he can't handle his LP, and he took 2 years to master his SP; so I wouldn't expect the same refine for his new SP now for obvious reasons.

Again not true. He broke the SP records in 2012 too, but I guess you're blinded by your opinion that he's gotten so incompetent.

If he keeps his layout I'm afraid he won't be able to improve his performance ability because, well, he will be focused on the jumps like always because that's what makes one win nowadays. But I'm sure he won't do it because that's what keeps him winning, not his actual quality of performance which he needs to improve A LOT

I'm inclined to believe that you won't see any improvement in his performance ability no matter how hard he works on it. And he doesn't need to work on it A LOT. To each's own I guess.

Or at least go back to his 17 yo self, which won't happen. The direction he took his skating wasn't smart in my opinion.

Oh really? Which direction would you have liked him to go? He's always been a technician (even as a junior) so I'm not sure what you were expecting cause he was never going to be the best artistically.

Yes, in the short term it brought all the medals that he wanted, so congratulations, your strategy worked, but with his monstrous talent it was a matter of time for him to achieve all this. As a read in another forum, or maybe this one, for me he's like a candle being burnt in both sides, sad because he's probably the most talented skater in the world right now and could have turned this potential to much more if he didn't rush everything. Sorry, had to speak this out.

He's 19. Your speaking as if he's 25+ and past his peak.

 

[Meoima]

We will see how things develop over next years. Even changing quad salchow to quad toe combo he still would be winning by big TES margin, but he just seems to be person that can't accept situation to play safe game. He would regard that as his own loss

My only wish is for him to stay healthy and relatively injury-free until he decides to retire.

 

[rmla2]

Let's start from the point, that he not reached his peak yet He will be on top of his abilities propably in next olympics, as 23 is average age for peak of skaters. Second, he definitely can handle his LP layout. If he would not be able then he would have diffrent layout. He can do it perfectly in practice. Only quad salchow mostly was causing problems, but he is the type that will not accept removing problem by removing jump but by mastering the jump, and I am sure it will happen.
It actually didn't took him 2 years to master his SP because he made it great in first outing in SA 2012, but his overall skills developed hugely over the year, and that is where from his scores raised up.

Skaters reach their peaks in different times, like you said 23 is the 'average' age for it, most of the male peak at the rage of 21-23 years old, most ladies peak when they are younger and can't come back to that form, like Mirai Nagasu. Just like there's skaters that are late bloomers, we can include maybe Machida and from the ladies I would say Kostner. We don't know about Yuzuru but it's quite obvious that he is quite different, we can't be sure if he didn't reach the peak of his ability, maybe he did it already as his results say. Well, only time will tell for sure if he did.
Also, for me 'handle a certain layout/program' means: perform it at the best way you could possibly do, taking time with every element, doing it without apparenting much effort, don't stuggle you way with it and perfect the presentation. Basically this; that's what he did at his SP in Sochi; he could balance the technical AND the presentation; that's not the case of his LP. Also, his performance in Sochi is far superior than the one he did at SA, he's much more in control of the performance and more confident. Yes, he landed all his jumps at SA, but this doesn't mean that he perfected the program at that stage.
We need to count the pressure of the competition too. His presentation at practices is great, but did you see him perfoming all the program from start to finish perfectly? No, he usually doesn't do some spins or 1, 2 jumps. And is him under the urge to win a competition at practice? Obviously no.
Finally, What i'm trying to say is: 'handle a program' means perform it the best way you could do in a competition, projecting to the crowd, in a way that the viewer can feel comfortable with your performance, the viewer can't sense that you are worried with the next jump you will do ..
By this definition, no, Yuzuru can't handle his LP; he can't perform it to the full potential and usually collapses at the end; I'm getting quite tired of it. The best presention of this program was the GPF, but it also had flaws. The WC 2014, isn't the best one for me, yes it was 'clean', but you could feel his urge to land the jumps, it was not comfortable to watch. I've read an interview that Yuzuru is aware that his presentation is subpar, but is it really possible for him to perfect it without harming himself? How many years will it take? His youth won't last that long .. Again, only time will tell.

 

[makaihime]

He is who he is and it is what it is. Can't stand it/him anymore? Leave. No one is forcing you to watch him because your obviously going out of your way to follow his news and watch his performances. You vaguely remind me of a past poster who was also bitterly invested in everything Yuzuru Hanyu did.

 

[giulia95]

Hi! I can only translate Plushy's words from the news video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-phXJ5dYxJA&feature=youtu.be. He says: "First of all, I'm happy that I've been invited by Yuzuru to skate with him at all the shows (he meant those in Sendai, I think. I have no idea if there are other shows planned together with Yuzuru). I hope people will like the program (I'm going to skate). I'd say it again- it's my favorite program." That's all he says.

thank you very much!

 

[rmla2]

He is who he is and it is what it is. Can't stand it/him anymore? Leave. No one is forcing you to watch him because your obviously going out of your way to follow his news and watch his performances. You vaguely remind me of a past poster who was also bitterly invested in everything Yuzuru Hanyu did.

I follow because, well, I still like him as a human being and half of his skating Lol jk. Is is enough reason for stay? For me, it is. I was just speaking out my opinion, like all of you, but obviously no one can change his decisions except himself. I wish good luck to him

 

[Meoima]

Skaters reach their peaks in different times, like you said 23 is the 'average' age for it, most of the male peak at the rage of 21-23 years old, most ladies peak when they are younger and can't come back to that form, like Mirai Nagasu. Just like there's skaters that are late bloomers, we can include maybe Machida and from the ladies I would say Kostner. We don't know about Yuzuru but it's quite obvious that he is quite different, we can't be sure if he didn't reach the peak of his ability, maybe he did it already as his results say. Well, only time will tell for sure if he did.

The ladies have puberty, the men don't. Some men have problems as their body get taller, gaining weight... But I don't see that with Yuzuru. His body is natural that way. He doesn't have to force his body to gain or lose weight. Yuzuru has passed the growth spurt so his current body might stay like that for at least 5-8 years. I am Asian and I have friends who has the same body type as Yuzuru so I know what I am talking about. My friend is even thinner than Yuzuru, poor fellow.
So, objectively, Yuzuru's body can handle it. He can reach his true potential when it's 2018 if he has a wise strategic training. This is where JFS and Borser come in, we have no power over this.

Also, for me 'handle a certain layout/program' means: perform it at the best way you could possibly do, taking time with every element, doing it without apparenting much effort, don't stuggle you way with it and perfect the presentation. Basically this; that's what he did at his SP in Sochi; he could balance the technical AND the presentation; that's not the case of his LP. Also, his performance in Sochi is far superior than the one he did at SA, he's much more in control of the performance and more confident. Yes, he landed all his jumps at SA, but this doesn't mean that he perfected the program at that stage.

Frankly, his SP at SA last year was already perfect. The score was 95, compare to the second skater's 87 point, which means it was nearly perfect. His SP at Sochi was much better because his skills mature, he was faster but it has nothing to do with the level of that program. He was perfect in SA, which is why they gave him that score. PW simply suites Yuzuru's style very well, that's it.
This year he can move on with another SP but he knows that PW is loved by the judges, so he chose to keep it. That's a strategic point and I see no wrong about it. You want to win, you choose the program you know that the judges will like. Simple as that.

We need to count the pressure of the competition too. His presentation at practices is great, but did you see him perfoming all the program from start to finish perfectly? No, he usually doesn't do some spins or 1, 2 jumps. And is him under the urge to win a competition at practice? Obviously no.

That applies for all skaters, not only Yuzuru. Why should he use all his energy in practice right before the competition? So he have no breath to jump in real competition? Seriously I don't get your point at all. If all the skaters skate with their full potential, then Mao should have been the Olympic Gold Medal and Plushenko would be a 4 times gold medalist. But that didn't happen. If Javi skated to his full potential at Saitama, he would have been the world champion, not Yuzuru, but Javi singled a jump and lost 6 points.

Finally, What i'm trying to say is: 'handle a program' means perform it the best way you could do in a competition, projecting to the crowd, in a way that the viewer can feel comfortable with your performance, the viewer can't sense that you are worried with the next jump you will do ..
By this definition, no, Yuzuru can't handle his LP; he can't perform it to the full potential and usually collapses at the end; I'm getting quite tired of it.

Personally I think Yuzuru has already did his best with a program that doesn't suit his artistry. (hello, this is where David Wilson joins the group of my least favorite choreographers).
If you think pulling the 3S out of nowhere in the last combination doesn't mean "handle a program" then I don't know what is. The nature of sport is to push limits, and if you don't push your limit, how can you reach another level?
Both Javi and Yuzuru has same difficult layouts, Javi even had 3 quads. Orser knows his students can handle these layouts, so he let them do it. If you are not injured, and in good health, then it's your mentality that prevent you from performing to the fullest, not your body. And that's why athletes need mental training.

The best presention of this program was the GPF, but it also had flaws. The WC 2014, isn't the best one for me, yes it was 'clean', but you could feel his urge to land the jumps, it was not comfortable to watch. I've read an interview that Yuzuru is aware that his presentation is subpar, but is it really possible for him to perfect it without harming himself? How many years will it take? His youth won't last that long .. Again, only time will tell.

Wrong, his most perfect one was at Finlandia where he landed a huge 4S. And he was not even in perfect form at that time. The WC 2014 is tiresome for him because he has to deal with Olympic and lots of stress from media. Next year they don't have Olympic, his self-confidence is boosted, and he is gaining maturity. It's true that only time will tell but he can be better.

 

[annca]

He is who he is and it is what it is. Can't stand it/him anymore? Leave. No one is forcing you to watch him because your obviously going out of your way to follow his news and watch his performances. You vaguely remind me of a past poster who was also bitterly invested in everything Yuzuru Hanyu did.

:agree: :agree: :agree:

 

[Pamigena]

The ladies have puberty, the men don't.

I'm gonna google that and get back to you I always thought they also had some kind of hormone thing going on

(sorry, don't hate me, I had to... remember, my brain's broken and all that)

 

[rmla2]

I think people blame David Wilson too much .. for me it's Yuzuru that just can't perform it to the full potential because of the layout; if he could the program would be a lot better and people would notice that's it's not just Wilson to blame .. And the presentation for the LP at GPF was far superior than the one from Finlandia, he was running out of gas at the choreografic sequence and steps there. I was talking about presentation not if he landed his 4S or not. I'm aware of some of the stuff you've said so no need to reply. Yuzuru can't by now combine artistic with technical in his LP, that's what I had to say, maybe it will change with Shae Lynn's choreo, maybe it will change in the upcoming years, who knows. I hope so. Anyways, that's all, peace.