What do Ashley or Gracie need to do to Medal in Sochi | Page 3 | Golden Skate

What do Ashley or Gracie need to do to Medal in Sochi

TontoK

Hot Tonto
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Jan 28, 2013
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United-States
It was the first World's for both skaters, and both have limited experience on any international event, especially at the Senior level.

Both made the mistakes of inexperience. Having the practice rink be Olympic size while the competition rink was a bit small even for a hockey rink can't have helped, either.

I thought the size of the rink was an odd thing. I don't know what other amenities and advantages London may have, as I have never visited. But it seems to me that the competition arena would be a major consideration when selecting the host for a WC. As I said, I've never been to London, but I wonder why they didn't use the Olympic rink for the actual competition.

Edit: I thought the size negated some power and speed advantages of some of the skaters, particularly the ice dancers. I thought both D/W and V/M got really close to the boards on occasion, and I would suspect they both had to throttle down the speed a little to adjust to the smaller rink. Does anyone know more about how skaters adjust to smaller facilities?
 

rvi5

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
...but I wonder why they didn't use the Olympic rink for the actual competition.
Western Fair Sports arena (Worlds 2013 practice rink) ... 3 NHL rinks, 1 Olympic rink. Seating at Olympic rink = 1500.


ETA: In North America rinks make significant money from Hockey, not so much from Figure Skating. With North American Hockey, the NHL is everything. Smaller leagues want to play on the same size rink the NHL uses. Playing on larger rinks will change the dynamics of the game.

Most North American rink with large seating capacity will likely be NHL size. Why would they build a large capacity Olympic rink which will probably be rejected for use by the various Hockey leagues?

At the Hershey Centre in Mississauga (Nationals and SCI 2011), there was one high capacity main rink, with three smaller capacity rinks. (I'm guessing perhaps 150-200 seats per rink). All rinks were NHL size.

Obtaining access to a high capacity Olympic rink in North America would likely be very limited.
 

Moment

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Ashley could do it if she skates two SOHLs. She does need some luck because Mao and/or Carolina will have to bomb though...

For now Gracie is too stiff and boring. She needs considerable improvement in her presentation if she wants to medal even in 2018. Forget 2014.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
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I thought the size of the rink was an odd thing. I don't know what other amenities and advantages London may have, as I have never visited. But it seems to me that the competition arena would be a major consideration when selecting the host for a WC. As I said, I've never been to London, but I wonder why they didn't use the Olympic rink for the actual competition.

Edit: I thought the size negated some power and speed advantages of some of the skaters, particularly the ice dancers. I thought both D/W and V/M got really close to the boards on occasion, and I would suspect they both had to throttle down the speed a little to adjust to the smaller rink. Does anyone know more about how skaters adjust to smaller facilities?

You can see how this worked with D&W's Yankee Polka at SkAm. They dialed back the speed to fit the pattern into the rink because the corners of the Kent, WA rink are very odd, even for a hockey rink.

One must always keep in mind that hockey rinks are not standard sized at all.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
That's an incredibly difficult combo, Ashley wouldn't be able to land it (she isn't even able to rotate the 3T as the second jump!)... The only time I remember someone attempting it was RF at 2011 4CC, but it was UR... Do you know any girl landing a clean 2A+3Lo??

ashley actually used to be able to land 3F+3L http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us6YwQQ0LD0
that one is shaky and URed but if i remember the one at 08 nats was way better. and she used to do double loop combos rather than toes on the end.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
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One must always keep in mind that hockey rinks are not standard sized at all.

Actually, I didn't know that.

Thanks to the contributor above who filled in the blanks regarding seating capacity at the Olympic-sized ice.
 

Nadia01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Edit: I thought the size negated some power and speed advantages of some of the skaters, particularly the ice dancers. I thought both D/W and V/M got really close to the boards on occasion, and I would suspect they both had to throttle down the speed a little to adjust to the smaller rink. Does anyone know more about how skaters adjust to smaller facilities?

I read that Yuna basically adjusted her training after Nats to ensure that she'd be comfortable in a smaller rink. But then the Nats venue (Mokdong) is also a fairly small rink.
 

bigsisjiejie

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
For now Gracie is too stiff and boring. She needs considerable improvement in her presentation if she wants to medal even in 2018. Forget 2014.

First and foremost, Gracie needs better music selections and better choreography. Last season's and this season's SP and LP were nowhere near top-drawer vehicles. IMO she needs a fresh eye.
 

cheerio2

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
First and foremost, Gracie needs better music selections and better choreography. Last season's and this season's SP and LP were nowhere near top-drawer vehicles. IMO she needs a fresh eye.

So true. She needs music that varies the pacing and mood, more intense in some parts and more soft/gentle in other parts. Her LP his year just had one pace and it was too busy throughout. She needs intense moments and slower, softer moments.
 

snsd

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
I can see her in the top 3 in the sp if Caro or Mao makes mistakes

did you not watch the ladies short at worlds this year???

Caro and Mao did bad short programs, Ashley skated clean and they were still ahead of her.

It is not going to happen at all for Ashley!

They should send an up and coming US Lady instead of her! Like Angela Wang or Hicks to get experience, a good way to start the next 4 year campaign for them!
 

jaylee

Medalist
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
did you not watch the ladies short at worlds this year???

Caro and Mao did bad short programs, Ashley skated clean and they were still ahead of her.

Ashley was ahead of Mao after the short program. Carolina was ahead of them both.

I have to say that even though I admire Ashley getting through the FS after that fall and helping secure three spots for the US, I think she was a bit generously marked in terms of PCS. The fall was not only a disruptive kind as it brought her footwork sequence to a complete halt, but she did not recover at all well, skated veryyyy slowly afterwards and and had another slight stumble. So it's exactly the kind of mistake that should be punished in PCS, particularly P/E. However, she got the same P/E mark as Kanako Murakami, who only had one visible mistake (popping the axel) which was very slight, and slight underrotation mistakes which were accounted for in TES. And Ashley beat Kanako in the FS. Totally disagree on that. I would take Ashley's Nationals or GPF performances over her Worlds FS.
 

bramweld

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Pray for a miracle:biggrin: But in all seriousness, as we've seen from this years men's competition anything can happen. The girls just need to bring it with winning programs that have both the technical content and artistry. After that they've got to sell it like nobody's business the way Ten did it this year:agree:
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
I think Gracie is more likely to win a medal than Ashley, but it will be difficult for either.
 

vera01

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Caro, Yuna and/or Mao needs to have a serious meltdown and Gracie and/or Ashley a skate of their lives if they want to win a medal. I think one of them, either Ashley or Gracie, would be able to place over Russian skaters(whether it's Julia, Liza, or Adelina) and maybe even place fourth at Olympics. But to place over big 3(Caro, Yuna, Mao)-that's another story.

Gracie certainly can aim for 2018 Olympics, though-I can see her as an Olympic medalist there. What she needs is:
1).Better choregraphy.
2).She needs to work on PCS-especially IN and PE. And she needs to be more graceful-she seems rather stiff at this point, but she's young, so she has potential to improve.
3).CONSISTENCY!

I'm not sure about Ashley-I doubt she'll be able to compete at 2018 Olympics.
 

louisa05

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Gracie needs all the PCS improvements already discussed. Better music and choreo is certainly achievable, but I don't know that anyone can be taught to be less stiff. Changing her basic carriage is a difficult thing to fix. Even if improvement can be made, tension and old habits will come back under the stress of competition.

Ashley needs a higher difficulty in combo jumps. I don't know that she needs more difficult spins as much as she needs to get the rotations/levels done in competition.

Both need consistent performances.

Beyond that, I think predicting results in Sochi now is a bit pointless. The first wild card for every skater is injury. Some of the current front runners are getting older (in skater years, not normal life!) and who knows who will last through the pounding of another whole season.
 

Poodlepal

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
I thought Ashley's music selections hurt her this year. Last year she skated to a fast, peppy song I had never heard skated to before (from the movie "Pollock," I believe) and then did her classical but sort of quirky "Black Swan" piece. This year she did iirc two Michelle Kwan retreads. She is not a Michelle Kwan type of skater.

When more "athletic" type of skaters try to force themselves into a mold of "serious delicate skater" skating to heavy, serious music, I think it robs them of their mojo. True, she did well on the Grand Prix circuit, so it wasn't a total loss, but her skating seemed happier and more entertaining last year.

Both girls need to find music and choreography that plays to their strengths. Neither would be well served skating to the concerto for a single violin or the soft sounds of an elegant piano, but I bet that's exactly what we'll see for both of them next year.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
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Dec 27, 2009
Actually I liked Ashely's pieces this year. I don't really think her music selections hurt her as judges seems more than willing to give her decent PCS. I think what really hurt her the technical side, not the artistic side.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I thought Ashley's music selections hurt her this year. Last year she skated to a fast, peppy song I had never heard skated to before (from the movie "Pollock," I believe) and then did her classical but sort of quirky "Black Swan" piece. This year she did iirc two Michelle Kwan retreads. She is not a Michelle Kwan type of skater.

When more "athletic" type of skaters try to force themselves into a mold of "serious delicate skater" skating to heavy, serious music, I think it robs them of their mojo. True, she did well on the Grand Prix circuit, so it wasn't a total loss, but her skating seemed happier and more entertaining last year.

Both girls need to find music and choreography that plays to their strengths. Neither would be well served skating to the concerto for a single violin or the soft sounds of an elegant piano, but I bet that's exactly what we'll see for both of them next year.

Both of them, especially Gracie, have the potential to convey some of the strength and upbeat personality of Irina Slutskaya. I always thought that she could skate some of the jollier classics, such as Die Fledermaus or the overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla, or the overture to The Bartered Bride. Actually, Gracie could make something wonderful of Jupiter, but a different portion of it and an entirely different arrangement from the dreamy, lyrical "I Vow to Thee My Country" section that Mao used a few years ago.

In other words, yes, I agree with you, Poodlepal, that a single soft piano or harp glissandos are not for these ladies.

Jupiter is over 7 minutes long but could be artfully cut to make one barnstormer of a routine for someone like Gracie who can fly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Actually I liked Ashely's pieces this year. I don't really think her music selections hurt her as judges seems more than willing to give her decent PCS. I think what really hurt her the technical side, not the artistic side.

Me too! Especially her short. But then, clearly I am in the minority in that I did not love Ashley's swan piece from last year. I didn't see what was "quirky" about it. I thought it was rather literal myself. It wasn't awful but you could see her trying to appear balletic and swan like. She was sooooo working those swan arm movements. It was not a natural look for her and it looked overworked.
She's an attack-type of skater and she relies on making eye contact with the judges and, when she can, the audience. She's good at that. This year's pieces showed off her fire more. She needs pieces that show off her fire but that also mask that she's not the speediest or lightest skater out there.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I think Gracie is more likely to win a medal than Ashley, but it will be difficult for either.

This is exactly how I feel. As others have said, anything can happen because Mao and Carolina can really be hit or miss. However, Ashley doesn't have the technical content of the top tier skaters and, despite countless opportunities to go for it this year, she seems to have no intention of even trying a 3/3. I suspect that she was more interested in winning titles than attempting risky elements in her early season programs, but she isn't going to make the podium with her content as it is today.

Gracie, on the other hand, has an outside shot of medaling. I keep thinking of Kwan's 1995 to 1996 transition and if Gold can pull that off she can do well in Sochi. She really needs to do nothing on the technical side; her jump difficulty and quality are among the very best. If she can skate clean and improve her artistry, there's no reason she can't beat a 4 triple LP by Carolina or Mao.
 
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