Yuzuru Hanyu: 2014-15 Season

[Sandpiper]

I watched the news reports, and I'm happy he's trying a darker program. The only problem (outside of the insane jump layout that will not end well...) is that some of his motions seem like the same dramatic ones from previous programs. However, I'm sure there's new stuff once we see more of the LP! I think he's worked on his posture a bit.

I'm all for a super flashy and crazy costume. It's Phantom of the Opera, of course he has to go crazy. Er, maybe not giant-mask-on-the-torso crazy though. That's reserved for Yagudin.

 

[unico]

I think I agree with Sandpiper on the similar gestures thing, kinda noticeable given that he's skated to similar dramatic-type music for the last few years in a row. But yeah, would love to see some interesting arm movements to vary the shapes in the program.

I actually don't think the jump layout is thaaat much crazier from last season. I know there's an added quad-combination, but honestly he can do 4Ts beautifully at the end of ice shows when he's dead tired and pouring with sweat. The 4S is honestly the biggest question mark, but I do think he's going to have much better success with it this year. I mean, it's hard not to surpass last year's success rate given that he hit it twice the entire season... I almost wish he would swtich the beginning two jumps (4S and 4T) so that the 4S is second, because I still think his problem is way too much speed going into the 4S.

 

[Meoima]

Well, I think there would be no way Orser team would let Yuzuru do a program that out of his reach in...practice.

So yes the program is insane but I assume he already kills himself in practice as well. his 4S must have become quite stable in practice for him to pull a program like that.

But on the other hand, in competition? why is this kid so stubborn.

About the choreography, it's true that there are some moves that look the same as the dramatic ones we have seen before, but it's subtle and well... it's the same skater anyways, his habit of arm movement couldn't be changed after a short time. The footwork is quite different, though.

But other than that, I like the darker theme. At least he seems to understand the character he is portraying, and he seems to feel the music better than when he work with David Wilson. After taking a look at Shea-Lynn's choreography for other skaters, I think Yuzuru's step sequence is gonna be interesting.

About the costume: I gave up I mean, I don't even want to guess how the costume will look like, because fore sure it will never be my taste, knowing this kid's taste.

 

[Wo|flax]

I actually don't think the jump layout is thaaat much crazier from last season.

and he landed everything in the second half with almost 100% consistency last season, any mistakes were either the 4s, or could be traced back to the 4s (4T at TEB, Oly3F both in first half, so not to do with stamina). The only thing was a popped 3A, and well, considering its' his strongest jump, might have been a fluke?
Though he could have relaxed on the jumps and focused only on choreo etc this year, 'relaxed' is not a word I associate with him
Besides, it takes more than one off season to improve artistry, it'll probably come as he grows older anyway. I'm glad he's not letting the tech stagnate, because other skaters will be upping the ante too.

 

[Sandpiper]

I actually don't think the jump layout is thaaat much crazier from last season. I know there's an added quad-combination, but honestly he can do 4Ts beautifully at the end of ice shows when he's dead tired and pouring with sweat. The 4S is honestly the biggest question mark, but I do think he's going to have much better success with it this year. I mean, it's hard not to surpass last year's success rate given that he hit it twice the entire season... I almost wish he would swtich the beginning two jumps (4S and 4T) so that the 4S is second, because I still think his problem is way too much speed going into the 4S.

Adding a quad, in combination, in the second half, is a big deal. There are others who have done this, yes (Javi, maybe Reynolds and Goebel?). However, none of them do their 3As in the second half as well, and not in crazy 3A-1/2Lo-3S combo (yes, Plushy does even crazier 3A-1/2Lo-3F combo, but he doesn't backload his quads). Yuzu has a much better 3A than Javi, Reynolds, or Goebel, so that works to his advantage. But he also has a much worse 4S than any of them except maybe UR-prone Reynolds.

Also, he already struggles to skate his current jump lay-out clean (iirc, he only did it once, at Worlds 2014). Taking that into account, I don't think adding another quad in the second half is going to turn out well. I know he'll win anyway, but I don't want him to become a fall-happy skater for the rest of his career...

I'll repeat what I said in the 2014-15 Programs thread: If Yuzu really wants to push the technical side, I suggest replacing 4S with 4Lo and keeping the rest of the jumps the same. I mean, as you noted, it's not hard to surpass last year's 4S success, and he can make some history with 4Lo (which he landed beautifully in practice). 4T-3T in second half is just as big a challenge, and he still has to deal with the 4S.

 

[Wo|flax]

Adding a quad, in combination, in the second half, is a big deal.

I'll repeat what I said in the 2014-15 Programs thread: If Yuzu really wants to push the technical side, I suggest replacing 4S with 4Lo and keeping the rest of the jumps the same. I mean, as you noted, it's not hard to surpass last year's 4S success, and he can make some history with 4Lo (which he landed beautifully in practice). 4T-3T in second half is just as big a challenge, and he still has to deal with the 4S.

Of course its a big deal, its nuts, but his layout is always nuts and he manages to (mostly) pull it off. Like I said, second half was pretty much clean last season. The only thing is the 4s, and while I sort of agree, the thing is we don't see everything: one or 2 beautiful 4Lo on video means nothing; yuzu and his coaches aren't stupid- if the 4Lo was consistent they'd put it in instead of this crazy layout.

Probably its' not consistent enough yet: probably less consistent than the 4s. he's consistent on 4s in practice but not competition- if he's not consistent at 4L in practice then yes it can get worse: he can pop(which he did alot on 4s in 2012/13 season) or UR(esp since its Lo) and zayak on a 3L

and he's messed up the 4s for two seasons now; it must get better this season *prays*

 

[Sandpiper]

Of course its a big deal, its nuts, but his layout is always nuts and he manages to (mostly) pull it off. Like I said, second half was pretty much clean last season. The only thing is the 4s, and while I sort of agree, the thing is we don't see everything: one or 2 beautiful 4Lo on video means nothing; yuzu and his coaches aren't stupid- if the 4Lo was consistent they'd put it in instead of this crazy layout.

Probably its' not consistent enough yet: probably less consistent than the 4s. he's consistent on 4s in practice but not competition- if he's not consistent at 4L in practice then yes it can get worse: he can pop(which he did alot on 4s in 2012/13 season) or UR(esp since its Lo) and zayak on a 3L

and he's messed up the 4s for two seasons now; it must get better this season *prays*

Oh, I'm not saying I know better than Yuzu or his coaches. I'm just commentating from afar, using my best judgement with limited information. Of course he isn't going to--and shouldn't--listen to me. It's possible the 4Lo isn't consistent in practice and will end up worse than the 4S. I'm only saying I recommend 4Lo if he absolutely must push the technical side. I'd be perfectly happy if he stuck with his current layout but skated it fall-free.

4Lo might not work. The problem is, I sure as heck can't see crazy 4T-3T and 3A-1/2Lo-3S in the second half working either.

 

[Wo|flax]

Oh, I'm not saying I know better than Yuzu or his coaches. I'm just commentating from afar, using my best judgement with limited information. Of course he isn't going to--and shouldn't--listen to me. It's possible the 4Lo isn't consistent in practice and will end up worse than the 4S. I'm only saying I recommend 4Lo if he absolutely must push the technical side. I'd be perfectly happy if he stuck with his current layout but skated it fall-free.

4Lo might not work. The problem is, I sure as heck can't see crazy 4T-3T and 3A-1/2Lo-3S in the second half working either.

its all good; this is what off-season if for
4T3T blindsided me as well, but I'm not worried about 3A-L-3S; apparently he can do -L-3s no matter what happens with the first jump (see worlds), and he did the Lz-L-S just fine, and 3A is easy for him; so I think he can do it even with 4T in the second half as well.

but maybe we should have prayer circles before every competition just in case. For the 4s as well.

 

[Meoima]

Final conclusion: we need a prayer circles for Yuzuru's layout. Let's hope that the crazy layout we have just heard of is not the final version. Let's pray that when the time comes, Yuzuru will water down his layout a bit.

 

[unico]

Oh, I'm not saying I know better than Yuzu or his coaches. I'm just commentating from afar, using my best judgement with limited information. Of course he isn't going to--and shouldn't--listen to me. It's possible the 4Lo isn't consistent in practice and will end up worse than the 4S. I'm only saying I recommend 4Lo if he absolutely must push the technical side. I'd be perfectly happy if he stuck with his current layout but skated it fall-free.

4Lo might not work. The problem is, I sure as heck can't see crazy 4T-3T and 3A-1/2Lo-3S in the second half working either.

I agree with WoChair, I don't think exchanging the 4S with the 4Lo is the way to go. He's been landing the 4S since before he moved to Toronto, and he's stated openly that he trains the 4Lo because it helps him with his rotation with the 4S, regardless if he ever decides to put the 4Lo in a program. He also stated that he doesn't want to land a jump just to have a record at the expense of the program/overall consistency. As a balance between consistency and pushing technical limits, I do think that the 4T+3T/2T route is the best way to go. (Also falling on it so much must have made him so angry, he seems like the type that won't let it go until he masters it.)

But yeah last year's program was crazy too. He's the only person to have done a clean 2 Quad + 8 Triples program, let alone with 2 3As in the latter half of the program. His strength with the 3A is his backbone and a huge reason why he's able to consistently podium (or place unlucky 4th) in every competition. The 3A-Lo-3S is probably nothing to him... Like was mentioned in the Plushenko thread when they were talking about a 5th Olympics, why measure extraordinary people with an ordinary yardstick.

At this point, everything's a big question mark. I mean, we all agree that we hated the choreographed fall on the 4S last season, but I don't know, I'm optimistic. I'm just optimistic.

 

[Sandpiper]

3A-1/2Lo-3S should be fine, but who knows how it'll look when it's preceded by 4T-3T in the second half? I agree that Yuzu's strength is that falls don't throw him off and he can hit the rest of the program even when he falls. However, adding 4T-3T is just too crazy. I'm more in favour of either keeping the old layout, or simply putting the 4T in the second half (adds a bit more difficulty and gives him the halfway bonus, but it's not such a drastic increase in difficulty).

But who knows, we'll have to see what happens when he actually brings these crazy jumps to competition.

 

[SuzyQ]

Nikkan Sports Article:

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20140809-1348080.html

Translation of the second and third parapraphs.

Included 4S and 4T in the first half as the last season, he will include two 3A jumps and a combination of 4T in the latter half where the score is 1.1 times. He himself decided this layout that requires stamina close to capacity. He explained the reason as "I felt a good response in toe loop jumps." Brian Orser, his coach, says "A big challenge, but it is very Yuzuru who keeps aggressiveness even after becoming OGM", giving him a supportive push.

He is going to seal off 4L for this season, although he might become the first one to succeed in an international competition. On that day, he tried 4L for the first time in 3 weeks and confirmed the feeling, but he says "4L jump is something like a reward for me. I'm not particularly sticking to it."

 

[HanDomi]

Counting on LP layout I also think he will be doing quad combo in SP in 2nd half

I don't think 4S will be problem for him this season. He will have propably two layouts for jumps as I listed few pages back regarding if he will land 4T2T or 4T3T in LP

 

[Klarnet]

Counting on LP layout I also think he will be doing quad combo in SP in 2nd half

I don't think 4S will be problem for him this season. He will have propably two layouts for jumps as I listed few pages back regarding if he will land 4T2T or 4T3T in LP

Doubtful, what' the point if the base value won't change, or did you imply that he'd do 4Tcombo and 4S as solo,that is even more doubtful

 

[RantingSkater]

"Oh my god, another POTO program? Ugh!" Yeah yeah yeah, boo hoo boo hoo, I get it. But this is getting really ridiculous.

Yuzuru have always wanted to do POTO, so why not? After all, it's his life. It's his choice. Since all of you are his "fans", you might as well deal with it and be happy for him. He lives for no one else but for himself, not for the satisfaction of others. It upsets me that I have to see people complain about his FP not only on this thread but also on tumblr. For crying out loud, we have yet to see his program and people are already crying bloody murder.

"lol I hate your program already" "thank you shae lynn" "For real?" "I'm disappointed" Everyone needs to purchase a ticket to Chillville.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

"Oh my god, another POTO program? Ugh!" Yeah yeah yeah, boo hoo boo hoo, I get it. But this is getting really ridiculous.

Yuzuru have always wanted to do POTO, so why not? After all, it's his life. It's his choice. Since all of you are his "fans", you might as well deal with it and be happy for him. He lives for no one else but for himself, not for the satisfaction of others. It upsets me that I have to see people complain about his FP not only on this thread but also on tumblr. For crying out loud, we have yet to see his program and people are already crying bloody murder.

"lol I already hate your program already" "thank you shae lynn" "For real?" "I'm disappointed" Everyone needs to purchase a ticket to Chillville.

:thumbsup:
It's even worse with the layout. I'm pretty sure last time it was "oh no, 2 3A in the second half!", "Oh no, 3Lz-lo-3S in the second half, he's never going to land that!" blabla... and look at his succes rate with those 3 elements. All of the complaining is kind of tiresome.

 

[ser22]

"Oh my god, another POTO program? Ugh!" Yeah yeah yeah, boo hoo boo hoo, I get it. But this is getting really ridiculous.

Yuzuru have always wanted to do POTO, so why not? After all, it's his life. It's his choice. Since all of you are his "fans", you might as well deal with it and be happy for him. He lives for no one else but for himself, not for the satisfaction of others. It upsets me that I have to see people complain about his FP not only on this thread but also on tumblr. For crying out loud, we have yet to see his program and people are already crying bloody murder.

"lol I already hate your program already" "thank you shae lynn" "For real?" "I'm disappointed" Everyone needs to purchase a ticket to Chillville.

I absolutely agree!

 

[ser22]

:thumbsup:
It's even worse with the layout. I'm pretty sure last time it was "oh no, 2 3A in the second half!", "Oh no, 3Lz-lo-3S in the second half, he's never going to land that!" blabla... and look at his succes rate with those 3 elements. All of the complaining is kind of tiresome.

:thumbsup:

 

[sajoya]

People do get in the heat of things but before you realize it, they'll get over it. I'm pretty sure they don't truly mean it. As his fans we can't help but to be critical sometimes. He's after all an athlete, not an idol. So of course, now and then we'll be questioning things, but mostly b/c as his fans, we care for him

 

[RantingSkater]

:thumbsup:
It's even worse with the layout. I'm pretty sure last time it was "oh no, 2 3A in the second half!", "Oh no, 3Lz-lo-3S in the second half, he's never going to land that!" blabla... and look at his succes rate with those 3 elements. All of the complaining is kind of tiresome.

Yes, it is tiresome now. Just you wait for Finlandia and his FP costume! There will be hordes of people nitpicking and complaining on this thread. You can bet your life on it.