What is the best strategy for amazing Asada to challenge incredible Kim at the Games? | Page 6 | Golden Skate

What is the best strategy for amazing Asada to challenge incredible Kim at the Games?

jenaj

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Country
United-States
Her best strategy is to skate clean (meaning construct a program she can actually do without mistakes) and hope Yu Na doesn't.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Why? The scoring is not set up to penalize her properly. Mao scores higher with her flawed programs than she would if she watered down the content and went clean.
 

CarneAsada

Medalist
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Why? The scoring is not set up to penalize her properly. Mao scores higher with her flawed programs than she would if she watered down the content and went clean.
Not so. The scoring will not penalize you (not severely) if you rotate all the jumps and your only errors are things like stepouts or touchdown of the free foot. Doubling, popping, underrotating jumps, all those will kill the BV. And at Nationals, Mao did just that. Look at Mao's NHK Trophy score. If she got credit for the 3A she'd be above 140 for 7 triples (one 3A, no 3-3). She might not get credit for jumps of that quality elsewhere, but she's done better quality. I think a clean 7 triple program is not out of reach for her. 8 triples or two 3A layouts are probably out of reach, but a clean 7 triple program is doable and it would get her much higher than 130.
 

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Mao should do this.

3A
2A-3T
2A-3T-2Lo
--
3fLz
3S
3Lo
3F-2Lo

If she pops the first 3A, she can do 3A second time,
1A
3A
2A-3T-2Lo
---
3fLz
3S
3Lo-2Lo
3F-2Lo

Even the second scenario would be enough to give her a silver medal.

If she pops twice
1A
1A
3A
----
3fLz
3S
3Lo-2Lo
3F-2Lo-2Lo

This should be enough for bronze as long as she doesn't UR anything else.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Jumping isn't even her best attribute, usually I think her step sequences are what I like best about her programs. She should concentrate less on the jumps. I'd even go so far as to say she should even do only six triples with one 3A. Concentrate more on what she does best and make it easier for her to land one huge cracking 3A per program like she did at 2010 Olympics.

(I know she did 2 in the FS then, but it was the first one that had wow factor)
 

CarneAsada

Medalist
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Lol why waste THREE jumping passes on 3A attempts? It would be like playing Angry Birds and wasting 2 birds out of 7.

Jumping isn't even her best attribute, usually I think her step sequences are what I like best about her programs. She should concentrate less on the jumps. I'd even go so far as to say she should even do only six triples with one 3A. Concentrate more on what she does best and make it easier for her to land one huge cracking 3A per program like she did at 2010 Olympics.

(I know she did 2 in the FS then, but it was the first one that had wow factor)
? Jumps are what get you the most points. Six triples with one 3A would waste all the effort she put into fixing her jumps. It's not like she can't land her other triples. Flip, Loop, 3T, 3S she can all do cleanly, and her flutz was consistent this year. She was doing fine at her GP events apart from the 3A.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
would waste all the effort she put into fixing her jumps.

After 2008, Yuna dropped 3Lo and focused on what she did best with less risk of injury. From then, she and her team always had a clear vision for her and what she meant to portray on the ice.

Mao in my opinion has lacked this consistency in approach. If you are a Mao fan, don't you think all her changes have been to her detriment?
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
I think she should stick with her current layout. If she wants to turn the second 3A into a 3F, that would be smarter but also playing it safe, which she shouldn't do in order to win. It would be terrible if she lost to Yu Na by a few points and then wonders "what if I had stuck to my guns?"

We should also bear in mind that many naysayers (myself included) didn't think she had 3 triple axels in her until she proved us all wrong in Vancouver. She's not the same skater technically as she once was, but never count her out. I honestly think a deciding factor might be Tarasova... she really has a way of technically pushing her skaters and ensuring they go for it. Without her this year, I'm highly doubtful Mao can nail all that she's planned, but still optimistic.
 

CarneAsada

Medalist
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Mao in my opinion has lacked this consistency in approach. If you are a Mao fan, don't you think all her changes have been to her detriment?
No. At several competitions, she would've been sunk without the points she gained from 2A-3T, 3S, and her 3flutz. None of which she had in Vancouver. She most likely couldn't have kept up her consistency on the 3A even if it was her sole focus, and what would that leave her? Flip (which she was also losing), loop, solo toe loop.
 

Krislite

Medalist
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
She should seriously go for the three 2Axel+3Toe combinations.

She's more likely to under-rotate the backend 3Toe than a 3Lo+2Lo in the SP. And two 2Axel+3Toe carry higher risks of UR calls in the free as well. The last thing she needs is to risk more "<" calls. I say she sticks with what she's comfortable with, or rather:

3Axel
3F
3L+2L
2A+3T
3S
3F+2L+2L
3L

Best shot at going clean, if you ask me.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
She should seriously go for the three 2Axel+3Toe combinations.

Her 2A-3T consistently gets UR calls. Not a good idea. At least the 3A has high enough BV to make up for any error on it. Plus in her SP, she should be doing the same layout as she has now. A 3L-2L = 6.9, and a 2A-3T = 7.3 ... not worth the extra 0.4 and risk a UR, when a 3L-2L is much easier.

And choreographically, 3A followed by 2A-3T followed by 2A-3T-2T looks awful.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
No. At several competitions, she would've been sunk without the points she gained from 2A-3T, 3S, and her 3flutz. None of which she had in Vancouver. She most likely couldn't have kept up her consistency on the 3A even if it was her sole focus, and what would that leave her? Flip (which she was also losing), loop, solo toe loop.

I feel like Mao has spent most of her career chasing Yuna instead of focusing on herself. For all of the talent and accomplishments she has, she seemed to be even more promising with more expectation when she was younger.

Now looking back over the years, it seems like Yuna never chased Mao or anyone else. People wanted her to keep 3Lo or she could never be considered a complete skater. She was measured against Mao. Yuna just developed her own abilities and grew into herself as a unique skater in history. Forget all of the accomplishments, there's a lot of Yuna's skating that is consistent and her trademark over the years.

Mao on the other hand, once Yuna passed her, she seemed to always be chasing, but success always comes from discovering yourself within. Know thyself. It seems like she had to constantly change her approach to the sport. Learn 3A, then drop it, then add it again, then do three of them. Learn this jump or that jump, then change to something else. I think Mao is really talented, when I see her 3A at 2010 Olympics, it's one of the best jumps I've ever seen. Some of her step sequences are the best. But I never feel like I'm watching a complete package with her. It's always disjointed. I can't help but wonder if it's because she's always been chasing and not developed consistency with her approach. Just my opinion of course.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
I feel like Mao has spent most of her career chasing Yuna instead of focusing on herself. For all of the talent and accomplishments she has, she seemed to be even more promising with more expectation when she was younger.

Now looking back over the years, it seems like Yuna never chased Mao or anyone else. People wanted her to keep 3Lo or she could never be considered a complete skater. She was measured against Mao. Yuna just developed her own abilities and grew into herself as a unique skater in history. Forget all of the accomplishments, there's a lot of Yuna's skating that is consistent and her trademark over the years.

Mao on the other hand, once Yuna passed her, she seemed to always be chasing, but success always comes from discovering yourself within. Know thyself. It seems like she had to constantly change her approach to the sport. Learn 3A, then drop it, then add it again, then do three of them. Learn this jump or that jump, then change to something else. I think Mao is really talented, when I see her 3A at 2010 Olympics, it's one of the best jumps I've ever seen. Some of her step sequences are the best. But I never feel like I'm watching a complete package with her. It's always disjointed. I can't help but wonder if it's because she's always been chasing and not developed consistency with her approach. Just my opinion of course.

LMAO. Seriously? Are you watching the same skater as the rest of us? Mao's approach has always been to land the 3A no matter what. If anything, she's been incredibly consistent in chasing the 3A, even when she couldn't rotate it, even when she was re-working her jump technique, even when the 3A was worth fewer points, even when everyone was telling her to drop the 3A before Vancouver. From Yamada to Artunian to Tarasova to Sato, Mao has been stubbornly and consistently going for the 3A. That's her approach--for a long time, it seemed that landing the 3A was more important to Mao than winning. Mao's been incredibly self-focused and consistent, arguably to her detriment.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
It stubbornly and consistently keeps getting worse. It was good in 2010. Now it's just a downgrade or fall every time.

How can someone who is essentially a professional do something over and over again for years and get worse at it? Human beings tend to get better with more practice after all.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
It stubbornly and consistently keeps getting worse. It was good in 2010. Now it's just a downgrade or fall every time.

Mao's 3As attempt were disastrous during the 2009-2010 season until Vancouver. Moreover, the quality of Mao's 3As has nothing to do with what you originally said, that Mao's career was all about chasing Yu-Na and being consistent in her approach. Mao's career has been incredibly consistent in chasing the 3A.....

How can someone who is essentially a professional do something over and over again for years and get worse at it? Human beings tend to get better with more practice after all.

Landing a triple axel is incredibly difficult. It's not possible for everyone--and trust me, 99.99% of skaters will practice the 3A for years and will never be able to consistently land it. Just ask Stephane Lambiel.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Actually didn't she only add the 3A after Yuna surpassed her? Wasn't it in response to try and outscore Yuna? Always chasing.
 

kerufin

Spectator
Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Actually didn't she only add the 3A after Yuna surpassed her? Wasn't it in response to try and outscore Yuna? Always chasing.

As a matter of fact she added the second 3A in 2008-09 season, right after she won her first world title.
 

Ven

Match Penalty
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
I just think its curious how she can get worse at it as time goes by. She's not old or physically incapable. It has to be a mental mistake with her approach.
 
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