It is confusing indeed. On one end, supposedly knowledgeable Mao followers are telling us that her focus is not on the 3A but on other areas such as rebuilding the technique on her other jumps. If that's true, how come the 3Lz was absent from the SP? I mean, if the focus is to eliminate the flutzing, which would be an important goal, you'd think she would at least show that in the SP. Instead, she went and attempted a jump that is said to be not her focus and failed? You see why things don't add up?
She will try the 3Lz in the Lp, maybe she is not confident enough to put that jump in both programs. She fixed her 3F technique, improved her Skating Skills, speed, spins so she didn't focus as much on the 3A. This jump was always problematic for her in the beginning of the season but by nationals it gets better. Every year was the same. It's a hard jump to master and she probably risks injury to practice it steadily the whole year. The fact that she went for the 3A today was entirely her choice, she went against coach Sato's advice to go for the 2A and it was a bad decision, and she is paying for it.I don't understand why you are unable to see the improvements she made. In february 2011(at 4 continents) she landed 3A, 3F, 3lz(e), 3S and 3L( and also tried 2A-3T combo). Worlds was a different story and she is not the only one who under-performed because she wasn't in peak condition.
She has the same layout now,so she has almost all the triple jumps(it remains to be seen if she corrected her flutz and she needs time to get the 3A consistent). So where is the problem?