Nagasu

Spun Silver said:

And the poster above who opined that Frank Carroll should watch tapes of young MK ... ludicrous!

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I didn't say they should look at tapes of a young Kwan, so don't call something ludicrous that I didn't say. What I said was:

"I think she and Frank need to look at tapes of Michelle and Sasha as they transitioned from teens to young women to find inspiration."

Both Kwan and Sasha successfully transitioned from the perky teen programs to more mature programs. Mirai has not; whatever key ingredient to transform her into an elegant woman skater is missing.

You shouldn't take "free-floating advice" of others so personally. It's a message board.

R.D. said:

That is PRACTICE though. If it's not fully in muscle memory, once pressure of competition kicks in, most (if not all) goes out the window. Something similar happened to me a while back.

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I would relate again that Mirai appeared very well trained at Nat's, especially in the jumps. From the very first practice, she came out doing jump after jump, like a machine, without a fall, without a stepout or a stumble. However, she didn't smile or appear loose. I couldn't read her emotions, thinking maybe she was just a more driven skater this year, determined to do better than in 2011. At 2011 Nats, she had been looser, more carefree. The only practice that didn't go well was the Sat practice before the freeskate. She made a few stumbles on her landings, mistakes that she hadn't been making all week. It appeared to me that she was already feeling the pressure a little bit. Just my observations.

I say "leave her alone". Mirai knows better than anyone else what's going on with her, where she's at in her life, what she needs to do, what she doesn't need to do, et al.

Like Gracie Gold and so many others, Mirai's Story is yet unwritten: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7k0a5hYnSI&ob=av3e



I am unwritten
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined

I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines

We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way, no

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips


Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
To the years where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
To the years where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
To the years where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
To the years where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

All of the reports from nationals indicated that Mirai was well-trained despite what people were saying. It'd be easy to assume that her commute was attributing to her being under-trained but I don't think that was the issue. Her long commute coupled with her apparent weight gain made people assume she was out of shape or wasn't well-trained for nationals...but she was well-trained.

The fact that Mirai was nailing her practices all week is the evidence of her being trained. The issue was (and has been for a while now) her ability to turn of her brain and just go on autopilot when she skates. Had she been able to just let herself go and let her body do what it's been trained to do, she probably would have had a great skate.

Mirai over-thinks and that allows doubt to creep in; when the doubts come she starts second guessing herself or she holds back and then she makes a mistake; after the mistake she deflates like a balloon and by then she's usually too far gone to salvage the performance into something respectable.

I know people suggest this all the time but I really do hope Mirai works with a sports psychologist. Have there ever been reports of her working with one? If she does work with one, she needs to find a better one; if not, I wonder why?

I had heard as well from numerous people that she was rocking her practices & was well trained. So I doubt lack of training was an issue. From the reports I got, I was really hoping she was going to kick butt at Nationals. But the ice is slippery & things happen.

She may have been too focused on it & created too much pressure. We've seen it before with numerous skaters. I've also done it to myself, so I understand how that is 1st hand.

It's one thing to make a mistake and attempt to salvage the rest of the program and fight through it, even if you make more mistakes, but it was clear that Nagasu gave up after that funky fall on the combo. And even from the very beginning, the program was lifeless. It looked like she didn't want to skate, and her performance made that clear.

She carried her first mistake around like toilet paper on her shoe and it led to snowballing mistakes. It happens when you don't get in your zone. Clearly she wasn't in her zone. She's very hit or miss with the ability to get there. Not to dispair, though, it is something that can be taught.

A huge part of being well trained is being in peak physical and mental condition. Being above optimum competition weight is not being well trained. I'm not confirming that she was or wasn't overweight. Maybe her choice of costumes made her look heavy. Ashley looked so fit and ready. Caroline looked trim and the fittest she's looked in years. They both skated the best they have in years. Not being able to recover from a mistake doesn't show being well trained either. Mirai's talent is so great, she could look great without much practice. IMHO she looked not in the best condition, especially compared to the other ladies. Watching her skate in the final group, it was evident how much more talent she has than the rest of the field. But championships and medals are not won on talent. I don't want to turn this into a Michelle Kwan thread. But I don't ever recall her showing up to a competition untrained or unfit. Her consistency was no accident.

I think Kwanatic and Pikachuusb have hit it exactly. Very nice message from Nadine which fits well here.

R.D. said:

It's one thing to make a mistake and attempt to salvage the rest of the program and fight through it, even if you make more mistakes, but it was clear that Nagasu gave up after that funky fall on the combo. And even from the very beginning, the program was lifeless. It looked like she didn't want to skate, and her performance made that clear.

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And that's the biggest thing to me...that's why she doesn't have more medals than she does. She gives up way too easily. No one expects her to be perfect and not make a single mistake; ice is slippery and things happen. But think about how much better off Mirai would be in terms of placement if she could manage to perform a program with energy and purpose every time out. Her speed, her charisma, her gorgeous spins and overall presentation are enough to carry her through a mistake or two...when she actually puts those traits on display.

When she took the ice at nationals I didn't get the sense something great was about to happen, but at least she started out decently: there was more speed and attack in her first jumping pass. But after that mistake she put on the brakes...she slowed down significantly and you could tell she was thinking her way through everything from then on to the end of the program. If she can find a way to just stay in the moment and not over-think everything...just perform. Keep the energy up, commit to the choreography (or lack thereof as was the case this season), keep performing no matter what and stay focused. But that's Mirai's problem: she has a hard time staying focused when she skates and that's where the mistakes and the silly mistakes (mistakes that just shouldn't happen) come from.

*sigh* She's fabulously frustrating...

kwanatic said:

*sigh* She's fabulously frustrating...

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Well said kwanatic!

Mirai has undoubtedly gained a fair amount of weight since her great 2009-2010 season. Maybe it's just due to growing up, and she is soo talented and obviously still capable of doing the hard jumps, but idk, to me she doesn't look to be at her peak fitness level/weight. That would be the way she looked at the 2010 Olympics. Of course, she was 16 then and turning 19 now, so it's normal she would fill out some and her body would change, but I would stay she could afford to lose some weight without becoming on the verge of unhealthy at this point, and I actually think it would probably help with her jump consistency and underrotation issues. Of course she doesn't NEED to lose weight because she CAN do the jumps at her current size and she isn't overweight, but compared to the other girls in her warmup group at Nationals, Mirai looked the least like an elite athlete and the most like a normal college-aged girl to me. And if she wants to compete with the best, being at a fighting weight is certainly important. Mirai naturally may have a sturdier build, but so did Miki, and she became more consistent once she slimmed down to be at her fighting weight (though for a couple years there she maybe got too thin and that actually caused issues with URs, and the same seems to be happening to Mao now since becoming so slight). It's a delicate balance, but I have no doubt Mirai could get in better shape if she weren't spending 4 hours sitting in a car several days a week.

I do agree Mirai could afford to tone up a bit. None of these girls are even close to being "fat" but Mirai did look heavier than I've ever seen her this season. I don't expect her to get back to where she was back in 2010 b/c she's obviously grown and filled out a bit like women tend to do. Last season she was at a good size; bigger than 2010 but smaller than she is now... she should aim to get back there.

I also think her costume choices (as well as her music and choreography) were very poor this year. Overall it just felt like she didn't even try! In terms of anything...this season felt very half-a**ed IMO: the music selection, the choreography, the costumes, the technical content (compare her base values to last season), her energy, her enthusiasm...all of it felt very blah, like she really didn't even feel like competing this year.

That's why I'm hoping we'll see a completely different skater next season. Ashley is this year's poster girl for reform with Caroline joining in after nationals...hopefully Mirai will be the one with the comeback story next season.

If this link translates, it is a pic of Mirai at 2012 Nats posted by TanithAndBenFan here. This is not my idea of someone who looks overweight or undertrained!
https://picasaweb.google.com/114752...huser=0&feat=embedwebsite#5703624194408870562

No one said overweight. But she could stand to lose a few pounds and tone up. If you want to be a champion you have to get in the best shape possible. Even Michel Jordan for all his talent was always the best conditioned player on the court.

I still think the word "undertrained" might be relevant though. You can be prepared physically but not mentally. And not being ready mentally can be just as bad as not being ready physically since the jumps in particular require focus as well as strength.

Spun Silver said:

If this link translates, it is a pic of Mirai at 2012 Nats posted by TanithAndBenFan here. This is not my idea of someone who looks overweight or undertrained!
https://picasaweb.google.com/114752...huser=0&feat=embedwebsite#5703624194408870562

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She's not overweight, but being small is part of this sport, where the champions tend to be thin and extremely fit. If you look at the recent world champions, you will see that they were all in top form. It is widely known that champions of the sport such as Yuna, Mao, and Miki are very cautious about what they eat and very dedicated to their training, and I'm sure that plays a large role in their success. Sure, they are incredibly talented, but talent alone doesn't get you to the top. I mean, Miki Ando could do a quad at 15, is one of the most talented jumpers in the sport, but she didn't win her World titles until she buckled down on her training and became very focused, disciplined, and fit. Mirai has the talent to be a champion like those three but she has to decide she wants it, because the hard work and discipline is a key factor even for those who are incredibly talented like Mirai.

I wish people wouldn't always equate "fit" with "thin." Detroit Lion's defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is fit as a fiddle at 307 pounds. :yes:

Mathman said:

I wish people wouldn't always equate "fit" with "thin." Detroit Lion's defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is fit as a fiddle at 307 pounds. :yes:

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Well, I agree they are not the same. But, you could tell at nationals just looking at the final flight skating around, Mirai does not have the same kind of muscle definition in her arms and back as skaters like Ashley, Agnes, and Caroline and isn't as thin as skaters like Alissa and Christina. If she were her current size/weight but had muscle definition like Joannie Rochette, people wouldn't be questioning her fitness, but she doesn't, and considering how thin and wiry she always was before these past two seasons, it's likely not just a matter of her natural build or puberty. But I mean, Frank doesn't seem to have an issue telling his skaters they need to lose weight if he thinks they aren't fit enough, wasn't he the one that said that quote about "you can eat or you can compete" with regards to Michelle Kwan? And I haven't heard anything regarding Frank giving Mirai a hard time about her weight or encouraging her to lose weight or work out more, so maybe he feels that is not the issue. And there is a chance it's not, I mean Mirai is such a complicated girl and she seems to have a lot of issues that it's hard to pinpoint what exactly is causing this "rut" she seems to be in, but her body changes over the past two seasons are one of the more obvious changes fans have noticed so it would be logical if there was some kind of correlation between the two, though there may not be.

Also does anyone know why Mirai frontloads all the combos in her FS? And further, considering how she plans the 2a-3t but rarely hits it, how come she opts to do a 2nd 2a instead of a 2nd 3t later in her program? That way she could still be doing 6 triples even if she misses the 2a-3t...her current layout with 5 triples and no 3f is really not competitive with the top ladies and she doesn't have huge PCS to make up for the deficit.

Why won't her parents allow her to live with a skating family near Frank to train consistently?