Your top 5 skaters in skating skills

puremagic · Dec 12, 2016

You know, PCS is always wrong. Skaters can do incredible transitions like Evgenia or Alina, but can't have amazing skating skills. And vice versa. But I don't know why it's always on the same level. So...

I was thinking about to create some small list of top skaters with superb skating skills. Only it. Nothing more. Not transitions, jumps or etc. Just skating.

That's mine:

Men:

Patrick Chan 10 :luv17:
Denis Ten 9
Yuzuru Hanyu 9
Jason Brown 8
Javier Fernandez 8

Ladies:

Anastasia Gubanova 10 - (Yeah, I know, sorry... don't laugh at me, she is only 14, but I can't handle myself, she is pure perfection :love:

)
Carolina Kostner 10 :love:

Adelina Sotnikova 9.5
Maria Sotskova 8
Elena Radionova 8

What's your top five?

CanadianSkaterGuy · Dec 13, 2016

If we're going with active skaters:

MEN:
Chan
Hanyu
Brown
Uno
Ten

LADIES:
Kostner
Pogorilaya
Medvedeva
Asada
Osmond

drivingmissdaisy · Dec 13, 2016

CanadianSkaterGuy said:
LADIES:
Kostner
Pogorilaya
Medvedeva
Asada
Osmond

I'd have a list similar to yours, except replacing Gracie for Caro. She's really got to bring back speed to her programs because, for me, that is what sets her apart from the current field.

mrrice · Dec 13, 2016

drivingmissdaisy said:
I'd have a list similar to yours, except replacing Gracie for Caro. She's really got to bring back speed to her programs because, for me, that is what sets her apart from the current field.

I agree. Even with her speed, she was not my cup of tea until this program. It's her 2012 LP and she was like a different person during this program and I absolutely loved it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjBtanpTYTY

andromache · Dec 13, 2016

In approximate order, from best to least-best.

Ladies:
Carolina
Adelina
Mao
Gracie
Anna

Men:
Patrick (duhhhhhhh)
Yuzuru
Denis
Javier
Jason

FlattFan · Dec 13, 2016

Just the pure fact that Pogo can't hold her outside edge long enough for the lutz should disqualify her from "great" skating skills. She's fast and powerful but edge skill is sloppy.

noskates · Dec 13, 2016

Men:

Patrick Chan
Jason Brown
Kurt Browning
Javi
Denis Ten

Women:

Michelle Kwan
Mao Asada
Yuna Kim
Gracie Gold
Osmond

Chantilly · Dec 13, 2016

Radionova?!?!?

Ophelia · Dec 13, 2016

Radianova???
Pogorilaya???
Med???

What are y'all smoking?

CanadianSkaterGuy · Dec 13, 2016

FlattFan said:
Just the pure fact that Pogo can't hold her outside edge long enough for the lutz should disqualify her from "great" skating skills. She's fast and powerful but edge skill is sloppy.

Please. So that means Mao is automatically disqualified from great skating skills? :rolleye:

Even Kwan didn't have a solid outside edge on her lutz.

Not to mention, Pogorilaya hasn't exactly been edge called on her lutzes.

noskates · Dec 13, 2016

Maybe there should have been some kind of definition of what "skating skills" is. For me, and I've said this so many times on this board, it isn't about landing quad jumps or what edge they take off on. To me it's a smoothness, musicality and musical interpretation of the music, telling a story, beautiful footwork, no flailing arms, no telegraphing jumps, landing the jumps with the free leg strongly behind them, transitions that are not choppy, a feeling that the skater is skating to the music and not the items in the choreography. Right now, and for some time, I don't think there's a skater in the world that comes close to Patrick Chan in skating skills. He may not always land his jumps, you may not like his music or his coach or him, but there is no one smoother and more complete....IMO. Jason comes very close. Again, my opinion only and from watching figure skating for over 50 years, skaters like Hanyu and Uno and Chen are all super-athletes. Super athletes. The other skater I forgot to mention was Daisuke Takahashi.....with the right music he was magical.

And this is what bothers me about the skaters coming up from Juniors and Novice. It's all about the jumps. The skating skills as I think of them are going by the wayside.

kaarle · Dec 13, 2016

in no order
Johnson, Yan, Hanyu, Chan and Kozuka (wanted to list only currently competitive skaters but taka's ss deserve some love)

i will have to think more about the ladies

FlattFan · Dec 13, 2016

CanadianSkaterGuy said:
Please. So that means Mao is automatically disqualified from great skating skills? Even Kwan didn't have a solid outside edge on her lutz.

Not to mention, Pogorilaya hasn't exactly been edge called on her lutzes.

You have trouble understanding basic English. When did I say not having a lutz = not great skating skills?

Ophelia · Dec 13, 2016

noskates said:
Maybe there should have been some kind of definition of what "skating skills" is. For me, and I've said this so many times on this board, it isn't about landing quad jumps or what edge they take off on. To me it's a smoothness, musicality and musical interpretation of the music, telling a story, beautiful footwork, no flailing arms, no telegraphing jumps, landing the jumps with the free leg strongly behind them, transitions that are not choppy, a feeling that the skater is skating to the music and not the items in the choreography. Right now, and for some time, I don't think there's a skater in the world that comes close to Patrick Chan in skating skills. He may not always land his jumps, you may not like his music or his coach or him, but there is no one smoother and more complete....IMO. Jason comes very close. Again, my opinion only and from watching figure skating for over 50 years, skaters like Hanyu and Uno and Chen are all super-athletes. Super athletes. The other skater I forgot to mention was Daisuke Takahashi.....with the right music he was magical.

And this is what bothers me about the skaters coming up from Juniors and Novice. It's all about the jumps. The skating skills as I think of them are going by the wayside.

Agreed. Patrick Chan is superb skating skills personified.

I'd add Cizeron to the list.

Geek On Ice · Dec 13, 2016

* I couldn't narrow down to 5, there are so many ties!! :eek:

:

MEN
Patrick CHAN - smoothness, nuance
Han YAN - smoothness, speed
Michal BREZINA - smoothness, precision
Keegan MESSING - smoothness, nuance
Javier FERNANDEZ (especially in EX) - power, nuance
Denis TEN - nuance, precision
Shoma UNO (when he doesn't lean forward too much) - speed, nucance
Takahito MURA - power, precision

Honorable mention:
Deniss VASILJEVS
Liam FIRUS
Alexander JOHNSON
Moris KVITELASHVILI

LADIES
Mao ASADA - smoothness, nuance
Alena LEONOVA - smoothness, speed
Courtney HICKS - power, precision
Carolina KOSTNER (not sure yet after her come back) - speed, nuance
Kaetlyn OSMOND - nuance, power
Gracie GOLD - speed, precision
Anna POGORILAYA - smoothness, power
Satoko MIYAHARA - precision, nuance

Honorable mention:
Gabrielle DALEMAN
Mai MIHARA
Serafima SAKHANOVICH

This is just my personal list. My focus was mainly on lower body, especially on their edge work. My list may look strange and it may not reflect the current SS marks. I am NOT saying that those top skaters receiving high SS marks are not great skaters, because they really are. But IMO some skaters from my list may deserve higher SS marks than now, if they succeed in jumps more (like Kozuka, Abbott, Verner etc.), had better reputation or perceived as the top skaters of their countries etc.

Also I've said if before, just because a skater is perceived as more of a "technical" skater than an "artistic" skater, that does not mean they have less skating skills. TBH, I think "technical" skaters sometimes could have better skating skills, because physical strength and control are required to achieve "good" skating.

MIM · Dec 13, 2016

Men;
Patrick ; skater's skater
...........
Yuzu; exceptional
...........
Yan Han : I think Yan has better skating skills than Denis, but I have not seen it in his competitive programs to the fullest.
Denis : an artist with skating skill
Brezina : light as feather
Jason/Shoma: they are great even in their young ages, and getting better every year.

Ladies;
Carolina: exceptional
Mao:exceptional
.............
Anna/ Gracie : they have the top 2 SS among the current generation of skaters.
Satoko: she is perfect on her own. But lacking power just in comparison to other skaters.
Osmond : she is an opposite of Satoko. she lacks precision/control but otherwise, perfect!

silverfoxes · Dec 13, 2016

noskates said:
And this is what bothers me about the skaters coming up from Juniors and Novice. It's all about the jumps. The skating skills as I think of them are going by the wayside.

Deniss Vasiljevs and Andrew Torgashev have superb skating skills, just to name a couple.

mrrice · Dec 13, 2016

If we're talking about technique only......The best Male I've ever seen is..............I can't choose between Patrick and Plushy. They're both spectacular and if you haven't seen them live, you may not understand how powerful they are in person. If we're just talking about edgework, the crown belongs to Patrick Chan. I got chills from both of them when I saw them live. Best Spinner, and Best Legs, Todd Eldrege

When it comes to the Ladies my favorite skater was, and remains Maria Butyrskaya. However, from a purely technical standpoint, I think the best skater I have seen in person is Julia Sebestyen of Hungary. Her jumps are gigantic. I know she won Europeans but, with her skills, I think with better programs, she could have gone even higher. I've heard that she's a tech caller, is that true?

Interspectator · Dec 13, 2016

It's nice to see such a wide spread of names put forth in skating skills and it shows that fans appreciate a variety of aspects of skating itself.

some of my favorite skaters with an emphasis on skating alone are in no particular order:

Kozuka
Brezina
Yuzuru
Patrick
Han Yan

noskates · Dec 13, 2016

silverfoxes said:
Deniss Vasiljevs and Andrew Torgashev have superb skating skills, just to name a couple.

Sorry - I don't know who they are. I was speaking mainly for the US and will readily admit I don't know all of them....just have a general sense.

Your top 5 skaters in skating skills

puremagic

-

CanadianSkaterGuy

drivingmissdaisy

mrrice

andromache

FlattFan

Match Penalty

noskates

Chantilly

Ophelia

CanadianSkaterGuy

noskates

kaarle

FlattFan

Match Penalty

Ophelia

Geek On Ice

MIM

silverfoxes

mrrice

Interspectator

noskates

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