2016-17 State of Japanese Ladies Skating

[boskil]

#TeamRika2016

#TeamMarin2017 arty:

 

[Layback11]

#TeamMarin2017 arty:

Yes, that, too!

#MarinForTwoTimeJWC

 

[ioanna]

Today at Prince Ice World, Wakaba has confirmed that she will be turning senior next season.
https://twitter.com/Sk8er__Boi__s2/status/726373145817415680

 

[Marin]

Good luck Wakababy can't believe she has turned senior, she is my absolutely favorite Japanese wonderbaby already 3rd season. I love how natural she is, her awesome jumps are my everything Hopefully she will improve her spins and flip, also someone please do a decent choreo for her, Hameda/Tamura girls all have Zouva/Dickson/Buttle/Nichol choreo .. I think this year her choreography is the reason of her low PCS even she skated clean , I was suprised she managed to pull off something from that LP choreo at wc .

 

[ioanna]

Here's where I've read
https://twitter.com/schumino1/status/726273707937648640

 

[tinnychan]

Good luck Wakababy can't believe she has turned senior, she is my absolutely favorite Japanese wonderbaby already 3rd season. I love how natural she is, her awesome jumps are my everything Hopefully she will improve her spins and flip, also someone please do a decent choreo for her, Hameda/Tamura girls all have Zouva/Dickson/Buttle/Nichol choreo .. I think this year her choreography is the reason of her low PCS even she skated clean , I was suprised she managed to pull off something from that LP choreo at wc .

Wakaba will get her new programs from Shae-Lynn Bourne (SP) and Massimo Scali (FS) next season.

 

[Marin]

Wakaba will get her new programs from Shae-Lynn Bourne (SP) and Massimo Scali (FS) next season.

I am delighted to hear that, I believe Shae and Massimo are able to do great choreos for her, so she will be given good PCS, this season's programs didn't serve her well in this.

 

[gsyzf]

I am delighted to hear that, I believe Shae and Massimo are able to do great choreos for her, so she will be given good PCS, this season's programs didn't serve her well in this.

Wakaba's PCS is not low this season. Her PCS is only low compared to Marin, and other judges' favorites like Polina. But Wakaba's PCS is higher, at least not lower than the PCS of any other Japanese girls or girls from other countries (even if you consider their programs superior).

I don't think it's realistic to expect wakaba to score higher PCS than Marin and Polina regardless of her programs, unless either Marin and Polina give terrible performances or Wakaba does 3A consistently. Some skaters will always get higher PCS than others.

 

[JuliaHols]

Can't wait for Wakaba to announce her programs and for Satoko, we already know Rikas (really looking forward) and Marin's curious to see how it works. Wakabas new Ex Byakuyako definitely shows her artistic potential and its dofferent from stuff she's done before which is definitely exciting. I think (this is bias, feel free to agree or disagree) that in FaOI Makuhari, Wakaba deserves to be crowned new Princess of Japan Figure skating (for me atleast) just comparing with Yuna and Marin. btw any video if Marins new SP?

 

[Skater Boy]

The way I see it 2017 will be very interesting.

You have probably two very clear cut favorites in Satoko and Mao.
Satoko has constantly improved over the years and dazzles with her consistency, artistry, musicality and attention to detail. Sure she does have that weakness that's been talked to death on this forum but she is working on it and you can see the results of it if you bother to look.
I don't think I have to say anything about Mao. Her track record stands for itself. After her up and down season it was so good to see her looking that happy and confident after worlds, scoring notwithstanding. For the first time the entire season it looked like Mao was truly back. I am sure she can and will build on that.

Now the likely battle for the 3rd slot will be really interesting with Wakaba in the mix. She actually surprised me with how she was able to project herself in the FS at Junior Worlds. I saw her as an excellent jumper and nothing else but she gave glimpses of what she can do beyond jumps and that really made me perk up. She will give Rika a run for the money throughout the season and I am looking forward a lot to seeing that.

On the outside looking in you have Kanako who didn't have great seasons recently but I wouldn't discount her just yet and I guess Yuka but she has been way to inconsistent. However I wouldn't mind if either one surprises me this season.

A a rosy and positive look at Mao and Satoko. We like to say things are on the upswing and make positives but the balanced side in me says not everyone can go up. I am not sure just how on the upswing Mao and Satoko are. Miyahara missed the world podium and Mao no longer looks so invincible after several losses to teammates not to mention Russian ladies who cannot seem to figure out who is no. 1 and can they stay there for more than 8 months. Mao looked joyful thankfully in exhibitions but as much as she has followers and so many of us love her, her results do not show an upswing but more of actually from no longer gold to a medal to not even medalling. Think about her 'fall from grace' so to speak as when people speak about the evidence or results - she didn't make top 5 at worlds.

 

[ioanna]

Miyahara lost the world podium and that's a sign she won't go further up anymore? :sarcasm: What about her GPF silver, second Japanese National title and 4CC gold? What about her constant clean skating? She was 3rd in the FS at Worlds, by the way. She got a small bronze medal. And Gold finishing 4th ahead of her was ridiculous. I think it's a bit too soon to write her off.

 

[shyne]

How are funding groups decided in Japan? I know it's very cut and dry some places, like the US.

Top 3 finishes at Worlds or Jr Worlds or nationalsautomatically qualifies for the top tier. The rest the JFS takes other things into consideration. This list is not final. Once the selection for GP/JGP is announced, anyone with 2 GP or JGP events automatically gets moved up to the top tier for the next season.

 

[AC96]

Do we know which 3-3 combos Miyahara is planning yet? In terms of points the 2A+3T strategy she was doing was optimal in terms of points, and the only way her base value would go up is by doing a backend loop which...well, I'm skeptical of rotation-wise, to be honest.

 

[ioanna]

Do we know which 3-3 combos Miyahara is planning yet? In terms of points the 2A+3T strategy she was doing was optimal in terms of points, and the only way her base value would go up is by doing a backend loop which...well, I'm skeptical of rotation-wise, to be honest.

We don't know anything yet but Mie Hamada's students can usually do any type of 3-3. She does a lot of various jump combinations in practice. In April 2015 she was practicing 2A-3Lo.
http://66.media.tumblr.com/cfa844aa54e6d9d3bed95b64bfcdb8f1/tumblr_o74j7drwqw1uh3g7co1_400.gif
http://66.media.tumblr.com/98db55926e0794cfd41ce7a6db6416e2/tumblr_o74j7drwqw1uh3g7co2_400.gif

 

[mcq]

We don't know anything yet but Mie Hamada's students can usually do any type of 3-3. She does a lot of various jump combinations in practice. In April 2015 she was practicing 2A-3Lo.
http://66.media.tumblr.com/cfa844aa54e6d9d3bed95b64bfcdb8f1/tumblr_o74j7drwqw1uh3g7co1_400.gif
http://66.media.tumblr.com/98db55926e0794cfd41ce7a6db6416e2/tumblr_o74j7drwqw1uh3g7co2_400.gif

Do you have any idea if among the japanese ladies someone else beside Mao is working on a 3A?

 

[ioanna]

Do you have any idea if among the japanese ladies someone else beside Mao is working on a 3A?

Satoko and Wakaba have spoken about working on the 3A.

 

[boskil]

Satoko and Wakaba have spoken about working on the 3A.

First was trolling, second was exciting.

 

[silverlake22]

Do we know which 3-3 combos Miyahara is planning yet? In terms of points the 2A+3T strategy she was doing was optimal in terms of points, and the only way her base value would go up is by doing a backend loop which...well, I'm skeptical of rotation-wise, to be honest.

I get that points wise, doing 2a-3t twice in the FS is very effective, I can't help but wonder though, if it makes a difference perception-wise. I remember all season the commentators would mention, "She does not have a triple-triple planned in this program" and because of that, I personally will admit that her routine didn't seem as impressive, jumps wise, as the girls who do two 3-3s. I mean, obviously, the points are the points, but I do wonder if swapping one of her 2a-3t combos with a 3lz-3t combo would be a good idea. She could open with 3lz-3t and then move her 3lz-2t-2lo to the second half along with the 2a-3t. That way, she'd tick off boxes for doing a difficult 3-3 in her FS along with backloading her program. She's doing a 3lz-3t in her SP as is, you would think doing it in both programs would help make it stronger.

 

[gotoschool]

A a rosy and positive look at Mao and Satoko. We like to say things are on the upswing and make positives but the balanced side in me says not everyone can go up. I am not sure just how on the upswing Mao and Satoko are. Miyahara missed the world podium and Mao no longer looks so invincible after several losses to teammates not to mention Russian ladies who cannot seem to figure out who is no. 1 and can they stay there for more than 8 months. Mao looked joyful thankfully in exhibitions but as much as she has followers and so many of us love her, her results do not show an upswing but more of actually from no longer gold to a medal to not even medalling. Think about her 'fall from grace' so to speak as when people speak about the evidence or results - she didn't make top 5 at worlds.

The idea that the scoring was unjust for Mao at Worlds is quite widespread, as the massive positive response to Mao's freeskate and harsh criticism of the scoring shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLHt8fsEwG4&spfreload=5

It is also important to point out that Mao only trained at 60 percent from early March due to an injury to her knee and back and that she had two cases of the flu during the busiest part of the season.

There are the official results given be a handful of judges which in the case of Worlds many think were very suspect for Mao, and then there is what the mass of the people think which is often quite different, especially when they are just looking to see what they think are great performances from skaters and don't really care about the official results. In a sense, I think Mao is skating to give these great performances whether the judges view them as great or not; there is always the mass of viewers and the audience which usually view Mao's performance much more positive when she skates well and her own satisfaction to consider. Mao showed this with her Worlds LP 2016 when she said she was very happy and she skated very well and she really didn't care about the scores. Mao did have some issues in her SP, but notice what the posters on this thread think of her freeskate which is 2/3 of the competition:


http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...t-Your-quot-scoring-of-the-2016-Worlds-Ladies post number 1 placing Mao second in the freeskate

Ladies post number 1 placing Mao in 2nd place in the LP
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...quot-scoring-of-the-2016-Worlds-Ladies/page17
page17 post number 247 placing Mao in first place in the freeskate and 4th overall

I have given up on the scoring system and several of my friends have as well after seeing the way Mao's performances were scored relative to the competition. Yes, Mao did make a number of mistakes this year, but I don't believe the quality of her best performances were scored fairly relative to the rest of the competition and beyond that the focus of so much of the score is so often on things that can't be seen or one skater is scored generously and the other one is nitpicked or deflated, or qualities are totally ignored that I highly value in a performance. So, I will be on the lookout for what I think are great performances from Mao or anyone else regardless of the scores.

 

[ioanna]

First was trolling, second was exciting.

None of them have actually jumped a 3A in competition so we don't know which one is "trolling" and which is "exciting". Uninspired attempt at bashing Miyahara. :yawn: