2015 NHK Ladies Short Program

[Sam-Skwantch]

Great that you picked Carolina to demonstrate, because she is the epitome of beautiful and correct jumps and no one can fault her technique. Now if you actually watched these clips that you presented, you will see that her Loop and Salchow took off facing forward, and had exactly 2 1/2 rotations in the air. The Lutz and Flip were exemplary and had something like a ~45 degree pre-rotation so not three full rotations in the air either.

Honestly Gracie seems to stick out to me as someone using very little pre-rotation. :yes:

 

[Mathman]

OMG don't talk about it....I fortunately, have never seen Maria fall in person…

Maria B didn't fall a lot (her technique was too good). But to me it seemed like when she got nervous she forget to bend her knees and came down too straight-legged. This made for bad falls when she did fall.

The other thing is that when she did not skate well it showed so visibly on her face. She looked disappointed and at the same time, "Darn, I knew this was going to happen." Sell it, sell it, sell it, Maria! If you fall, play it off as part of the act!

 

[MIM]

I survived until the end of Men's event, then fell asleep. In the morning I checked the scores and thought I was dreaming.
Catching up the videos and boards, it is a real and every skater needs to fight back for the better LP. Better luck for everyone!

Mirai::thumbsup:
Most impressive skating from the ladies. Her movements and interpretation were so personal that I almost felt like reading her diary. I am happy to finally see who she is through her skating. She patiently searched for an environment where she can find her way back. I am not crazy about Tom Z. and her SP music, but it is her choice and works for her. I am glad she is still around and skates this beautifully.

Courtney::thumbsup:
I am not surprised by her solid skate in the SP. It is the LP that drags her into the "Second tier skater." She needs to prove she can deliver two clean programs. Her Lutz, along with Mirai's Loop was the best jump in the ladies event.

Zijun::thumbsup:
She was sublime. Her artistry is getting deeper and richer. I love her interpretation and presentation. She and Mirai (like sisters) have a same jump layout including an ina bauer to a 2A.

Maria:
She is actually my favorite Russian skater, not as competitive as her compatriots though. Her skating is delicate. She doesn't force anything and let her body and flow speak itself. Her style and music is . It is a pity she never landed that Lz in the SP even though 3T-3T was perfectly done! Only if she rotated a 2A, it could have been much tighter race coming to the LP.

Leonova:
She started with one of her career best 3T-3T. A fall in the 3F was unfortunate. She is like Ashley to me. Great in PE, IN, CR but lacking in SS, TR. She won the Merano Cup recently with a total of 177. I think she is ready to fight back.

Mao:
It is not rare to see her falter in her SP. Fans are upset and worried, but Mao can use this only for her motivation and fuel to perform AMAZING LP. I have faith in her. Her STSQ is a killer!!! No ladies can copy her. it is hers and hers only.

Ashley:
I actually enjoyed her performance. I think her steps and poses are sharper than they were at the SC. Instead of a planned 3F-3T(potential <), she scrambled a 2T to a 3R in the second half, which garnered her about the same points anyways. I could see her grit, but she needs more transition; from the 3R she strokes all the way to a 2A.

Anna:
Sigh... I want to say to Anna; it is okay to skate carefully as a strategy. It is hard to believe she throws her body to the ice, knowing the landing isn't secure. She is gorgeous. She needs to be gorgeous on the ice, too. After watching Anna and Satoko in a row, I got to think there ins't only one form of a great skating. You don't have to fit yourself in such a small narrow frame. Think what works for you first and build yourself around it; some skaters jump small, but pull amazing performance, some skaters need long preparation for an entry, but land a massive jump, etc...

Satoko:
Her face isn't expressive in any sense, but she delivers a fabulous performance. She is a fierce tiny competitor! With amazing skating skills, she can skate to any beats and brings out the feel of the music. The only nit-pick is her I-spin. It isn not as flattering as her other spins. I was wondering if she tired other kinds of upright spins, Y-spins?

 

[LiamForeman]

Poor Pogo. Heartbreaking. I'm sure we've all failed at one point or another where NOTHING is going right, but to do it with an audience? I'm glad she got up after that freak fall in the step seq. She seemed to be extremely emotional last year, but at least she kinda sorta held it together. Her falls are very much reminiscent of Butyrskaya though, just OUCH!!! I hope for her sake she skates well enough in the LP to feel like she redeemed herself. I love her new look and hair color, she's a very pretty woman and lost the tackiness that I associated with her in the past. Go Pogo!!

 

[Seren]

This was such a strange short program but I don't think it will look as odd once the LP has been skated. Mao is capable an awesome LP so I'm not worried about her, I don't see Ashley bombing, and Satoko is super consistent. Pogo just makes me sad. As happy as I am for Courtney, she has always been capable of a strong SP, its the strong LP that has me worried. I have no idea what Mirai is going to do, I hate her LP so much that I don't feel qualified to comment on it, I hope she stays away from the 3A and skates clean. Zijun is a tiny queen, I hope she starts getting the consistency and recognition she deserves.

 

[CoyoteChris]

I completely agree with this comment. Mirai was very good today. In fact, far better than I was expecting from her. Her jumps improved when she went to Tom but, her performance quality IMO is what was lacking in her performances since she left Frank. I think she got robbed here. I hope she can make a big statement in the Long Program.

Came in from cleaning up storm damage and watched the youtubes (thank you). I agree that Mirai was robbed. She looked better than she has in years and looks to be in good shape. It is very sad that they gave Pogo 27.86 for PCS and Mirai 28.9, IIRC. I feel bad for Pogo as I like her but there is no way to put lipstick on that pig of a performance she did. I admire her for even getting up after that first hard fall...I would still be on the ice....and going on but to put her PCSs that high compared to Mirai is evil. Cant wait to see Mirai at Nats....you go girl....

 

[AngelENTL]

I really wish they would change the scoring system for under-rotations. It's problematic in so many ways. For one, when it's a close call, giving the skater the benefit of the doubt versus calling it under-rotated are equally justifiable and often seems to be decided by the reputation of the skater. Second, it just doesn't make sense to me that falling on a jump that's fully rotated should be valued more than landing a jump ostensibly cleanly with a slight underrotation. I would argue that the latter should at the very least be penalized equally as a fall, certainly not more than a fall.

I am a big fan of Mao Asada, but it just boggles my mind that she can UR and fall on a triple axel and pop a triple lutz to a single - and still so handily beat an ostensibly clean Mirai Nagasu. And it's not even like Nagasu is some amateurish junior. The scoring - maybe the scoring system itself - is just whack. It's the equivalent to me of vaulters in Olympic event finals winning with a fall. It just shouldn't happen. Gymnastics finally opened its eyes to that just not making sense. When it skating going to wake up?

 

[Skater Boy]

It was awesome, wasn't it?

Too bad for the 3F.

(Edit: corrected)

The program is really brilliant. I appreciate she works it and it isn't the normal ladies routine - too bad she can't get all the elements done otherwise this is a fabulous program.

 

[CarneAsada]

I'm actually happy for Mao since the combo was credited! Now onto that Lutz.

I knew it was bound to happen one day. It's all about keeping the faith and continuing to sacrifice my goats at her altar.

 

[Franklin99]

I knew it was bound to happen one day. It's all about keeping the faith and continuing to sacrifice my goats at her altar.

 

[Krislite]

I'm actually happy for Mao since the combo was credited! Now onto that Lutz.

She's not out of the woods yet. The skating gods saw it fit to give her the 3/3 credit only when she fell on her 3Axel and popped her 3Lutz. Methinks CarneAsada's goats haven't quite yet pleased the skating gods entirely.

 

[CarneAsada]

She's not out of the woods yet. The skating gods saw it fit to give her the 3/3 credit only when she fell on her 3Axel and popped her 3Lutz. Methinks CarneAsada's goats haven't quite yet pleased the skating gods entirely.

Whatever, I didn't ask for consistency or not catching colds. I just said "go land a ratified 3-3." Thank you for the reminder to be more specific next time, though.

 

[OS]

I knew it was bound to happen one day. It's all about keeping the faith and continuing to sacrifice my goats at her altar.

I am curious... how many kebab worth of goats have you sacrificed to get this? You could have opened a chain store... congratulations anyway