2021 Worlds: Men's' Free Skate

[Ic3Rabbit]

As someone who has seen Yuzu, Shoma, Jason, Keegan, and Nathan (unfortunately not Mikhail), I can firmly say that imo in terms of PCS, Nathan is the weakest. I first saw Nathan in person in 2016 and he has certainly improved from there but compared to the others mentioned above, I just don’t get how he has better PCS (especially SS). I acknowledge that having high PCS doesn’t mean you have to be lyrical (I like Kevin Aymoz’s skating and I wouldn’t exactly call him lyrical) but I’ve seen Nathan for many years and I just don’t see the edges I see with the other skaters mentioned. Depending on the performance, I can get Nathan’s performance and interpretation component being high (but not 9.50 high). But I don’t get his SS and transitions being higher than a Jason. Obviously you could’ve given Nathan low PCS at this competition and he still would’ve won (and he deserved to win), it’s just weird to see that whenever you land jumps your PCS sky rocket (well... depending on what nation you skate for), it happened with Trusova as well (love her but her PCS were way too high here for what she did).

I guess that’s the thing PCS though, is that it is subjective and we can all have our favorites and prefer a skater’s PCS to another.

Being a Yuzu fan, I'm not surprised this was stated, but I will tell you: I have seen them all and Nathan is not as bad as being repped here.

Sure he'll never be a Kurt Browning, Jeremy Abbott, or Patrick Chan with his edges and PCS, but he has his own way of doing things and his PCS and edge quality is not as bad as many are trying to say here. There are far, far worse. But if one doesn't get it, they don't get it and that's just fine. No need to criticize him, just move along.

And no, me stating this was not meant as anything negative against Yuzu.

 

[Skatefan15]

Being a Yuzu fan, I'm not surprised this was stated, but I will tell you: I have seen them all and Nathan is not as bad as being repped here.

Sure he'll never be a Kurt Browning, Jeremy Abbott, or Patrick Chan with his edges and PCS, but he has his own way of doing things and his PCS and edge quality is not as bad as many are trying to say here. There are far, far worse. But if one doesn't get it, they don't get it and that's just fine. No need to criticize him, just move along.

And no, me stating this was not meant as anything negative against Yuzu.

“Being a Yuzu fan”?! Uh... I’ve seen non Yuzu fans share this opinion but anyway... (or did I misunderstand you?)

I’m not trying to say Nathan is bad, just compared to the people he’s scored significantly higher than, imo he’s not as efficient in those areas. What was six points better between him and Jason and Mikhail other than quad jumps? They all three tried different styles. For me, Nathan just didn’t have very good PCS in this program (compared to what he got) until the last 45 seconds after the jumps were done. I just don’t understand the 96 for that, but that’s just my opinion. Also, I didn’t take anything you said as negative against Yuzu, he wasn’t even mentioned

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

“Being a Yuzu fan”?! Uh... I’ve seen non Yuzu fans share this opinion but anyway... (or did I misunderstand you?)

I’m not trying to say Nathan is bad, just compared to the people he’s scored significantly higher than, imo he’s not as efficient in those areas. What was six points better between him and Jason and Mikhail other than quad jumps? They all three tried different styles. For me, Nathan just didn’t have very good PCS in this program (compared to what he got) until the last 45 seconds after the jumps were done. I just don’t understand the 96 for that, but that’s just my opinion. Also, I didn’t take anything you said as negative against Yuzu, he wasn’t even mentioned

There's no convincing certain people that Nathan deserves his 96 and not just for jumping. But hey, if you can't see it and understand it, you can't.

Let's just all agree to disagree and be done with this already.

 

[Tavi...]

I actually thought this was the best performance I’ve ever seen from Nathan. I don’t always agree with his PCS, but for this performance I thought it was well deserved. IMO the program was both exciting and effortless from start to finish. One of the things contributing to the sense of effortlessness for me was how secure his jump landings and spins were. He also seemed to have pretty good flow over the ice.

Were other skaters under marked? Maybe. Probably. But that’s another question and shouldn’t take away from Nathan’s achievement.

I also think it’s good to remember that he didn’t give himself those marks; he just skated.

 

[sworddance21]

Were other skaters under marked? Maybe. Probably. But that’s another question and shouldn’t take away from Nathan’s achievement.

Yes. This is what I was about to say. It is possible to feel that some were undermarked (as I do) without that necessitating Nathan being overmarked (which I don't think he was.) One does not require the other.

 

[Arriba627]

Seconding this, especially if you get to stand at ice level, or even better, on the ice with him. His PCS quality is truly impeccable.

His PCS is pretty amazing. In the jump department, I'm still in awe from 2019 Nats when super close to me, he did a stellar 4T-3T, and it was basically just a blur with 7 revolutions in a couple seconds. It was unbelievable.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Ohhhh tell me who ?? Lmao ! I want to know if I have picked up on it too.

Sigh... It's Vincent Zhou isn't it?

The guy utterly humiliated himself in front of the world, could his haters at least give him break? Goddamn.

 

[cheerio2]

I'm talking about freaking edge quality, which Nathan has whether you refuse/fail to see it or not. That is what I mean about edges, and of course we all have edges on our blades, if we didn't we'd be pretty screwed TBH.

His edges are not noteworthy. In terms of speed, flow, depth, clarity, nothing noteworthy there.

 

[gliese]

As someone who has stood on the ice with Nathan multiple times, his edge quality is for sure noteworthy. Sure, some people have better edge quality than him, but acting like his edges are average or bad is just dishonest.

 

[Skatefan15]

There's no convincing certain people that Nathan deserves his 96 and not just for jumping. But hey, if you can't see it and understand it, you can't.

Let's just all agree to disagree and be done with this already.

Everyone can have different opinions, I was just stating mine about his PCS compared to others (which I’ll never ever get)...

And agreeing to disagree is fine by me, I was just responding to you since you quoted me.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

His edges are not noteworthy. In terms of speed, flow, depth, clarity, nothing noteworthy there.

HAHAHAH Tell me more jokes!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Everyone can have different opinions, I was just stating mine about his PCS compared to others (which I’ll never ever get)...

And agreeing to disagree is fine by me, I was just responding to you since you quoted me.

I never said we couldn't all have differing opinions. But I'm sick of the beating up on one skater (mostly Nathan in this scenario) to talk up another. It's BS and should be stopped.
They all have their own wonderful qualities and they should be celebrated, not picked on. (And no, I'm not talking about just jumps for Nathan as many seem to think that's all he does).

 

[cheerio2]

HAHAHAH Tell me more jokes!

Only joke here is your comment putting Nathan and edge quality in the same sentence

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Only joke here is your comment putting Nathan and edge quality in the same sentence

And the last time you skated at elite level was?!?! yeah, more proof you don't know anything of which you speak.

 

[Minz]

He always used to put his health before his skating (which I’m thankful he doesn’t anymore) and he himself still never makes excuses.

I’m confused. For his sake, I would be more thankful if he puts his health before his skating.

 

[Minz]

As someone who has stood on the ice with Nathan multiple times, his edge quality is for sure noteworthy. Sure, some people have better edge quality than him, but acting like his edges are average or bad is just dishonest.

Only joke here is your comment putting Nathan and edge quality in the same sentence

I have to say, standing on ice with someone is very, very different than watching them on TV. On ice you get a real feel for what’s going on. You can hear the blades on the ice, see the snow flying, etc. in a completely different way in person then on TV.

 

[4everchan]

People who keep on criticizing Nathan's skating skills do it because they desperately try to find flaws where there are none...

Some even tried to whine about his costumes before, until a very serious explanation was given about this. The reality is that Nathan is a 3 time world champion and some people are just bitter.

 

[gliese]

The way people seem to think that you can do all the fancy tricks that Nathan does (not even including the jumps) without good edge quality just proves that some people here have never stepped on the ice.

 

[Minz]

People who keep on criticizing Nathan's skating skills do it because they desperately try to find flaws where there are none...

Some even tried to whine about his costumes before, until a very serious explanation was given about this. The reality is that Nathan is a 3 time world champion and some people are just bitter.

Each skater has their own way of doing things. You like some things, you don’t like some. It’s part of the sport. It‘s how it works, and part of what makes figure skating so different and special.

 

[gliese]

Each skater has their own way of doing things. You like some things, you don’t like some. It’s part of the sport. It‘s how it works, and part of what makes figure skating so different and special.

(Adding on, not to you) I think it's important to recognize that just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's wrong or bad. I don't like red lipstick; that doesn't mean that wearing red lipstick is wrong.