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- Jan 23, 2022
Sasha Ignatova (It's so weird saying her new last name, but I will try to get used to it) is a bit jerky in her overall movements as she turns into the jump, but if she had the control and softness of Petrosian or Akateva in the arms it would be perfect! But Sasha is not "soft" style skater so it isn't quite fair for me to expect the same in upper body movement against the girls who fit within this bracket.I'm glad you agree! Free programs in general elucidate minute shortcomings of this sort. Again, in the SP Adeliia and Sofia exit their 3A with momentum and confidence, remaining sharp and escaping habit. Contrastingly, avoiding total failure becomes the foremost concern of our thoughts as free skates end and endurance wanes. As such, the original comparison of FS to SP was incomplete; further research was required into direct comparisons. I think it was valuable elaboration to compare identical scenarios.
Yes, we have reached agreement on this long ago. I concede this superiority of Akateva's glide to Adeliia.
Aha! So we are beginning to merge on the same point I was making from the beginning. Adeliia is not playing with the rest! Its no wonder or controversy that Akateva valiantly defends her personal, isolated kingdom. A kingdom which, again, still conquers probably everyone else! How unbelievable is the talent we find in skating??
It is a valid criticism. Adeliia and Akateva do tend to freeze often under such pressure.
Shall we venture further on this fascinating matter? Is this a particular weakness of theirs or a general struggle for quadsters? Let's find out!
Beginning naturally with our two favourites in question:
I consider the beginning single-foot glide as no freeze, it is a beautiful and light hold, generating anticipation and stealing breath from the viewers as we soar towards the jump. Neither do we expect twizzles into a 4F! However, her extended arms freeze during the 3-turn as if carefully holding something? It is awkward. On principle, I actually prefer such a position as opposed to the standard T-pose every girl freezes into. This could be a uniquely beautiful entry, but the near absolute freeze is off-putting. Why not slowly lift her arms into said position, then quickly swing down to the hips and back up for momentum? It would be beautiful. Or, she could begin at the apex and slowly decline to her hips from which she then likewise swings in.
Akateva, her arms are unfrozen, unlike Adeliia's - a serious distinction; yet the general entry holds no dynamics. I can see a case for it to be considered above Adeliia, being so effortless and escaping awkward breaks, despite its simplicity and lacking excitiement. Consider also though that this is a 4T compared to Adeliia's 4F... Close... but at face value I think I prefer Akateva's!
Now lets look at the classic era quadster trio:
Shcherbakova is reminiscent of Akateva, though the hand-over-head into the 3-turn renders her the best so far, notwithstanding an arguably inferior flow to Akateva (or should we say Akateva is reminiscient of Shcherbakova? We are speaking about the Olympic Champion!). Remember the observation: Akateva is an introverted Shcherbakova? I am noticing it more!
In these entries we observe strikingly similar cognitive planning, alongside equally wonderful distinctions in their external personality! Notice Shcherbakova's explosivity and flare, juxtaposed with Akateva gentler, intelligent and smooth flow into a similarly impressive takeoff.
And we continue
Distinct to all aforementioned skaters, Valieva doesn't freeze or hold any sort of pose whatsoever. She drops her hands as if there is no care for the jump. I cannot even judge her dynamics because there are none. For this reason she is my least favourite in this context. I can not even comment on anything; nothing is happening. Consider also these are 4S and 4T - not even a 4F!
And unsurpsingly my favourite today:
Intelligent, effective, gorgeous turns as she builds momentum, letting her arms follow the bends of her knees. The handwork holds no tension, remaining elegantly dynamic. The formerly discussed artists - hypnotized in their contemplation of a jump's personality, negotiating for compromise... Ignatova - ceaselessly baring herself forward as David to Goliath! No judgement, no questions, and no fear!! There is only charge by the sword for Ignatova leaves desolate once soaring banners of the 4F!! To at once lull and liven the ice in one entry... We are unsurprised given her temperament and athletic superiority. Her unparalleled physical gift allows easy mastery in circumstances under which others freeze or flounder.
In conclusion, I find your critique entirely valid, though not necessarily separating the two from anyone but Ignatova.
Akateva walks the easiest road to perfection here, without stutter or distinct freeze but merely a lethargic atmosphere. I am not detecting poor subconscious habits in her case - which are the most dangerous factors potentially encountered under stressful circumstances like a quad entry. Shcherbakova flows, and her dynamics supersede most, but there is still separation between the sections of her entry; Akateva is more seamless, she just needs to become cognizant of adding dynamics.
Adeliia's entry is more unique than Akateva, also exhibiting greater energy and dynamics, but we observes something far more concerning: habit of total freeze in the aforementioned held pose on the 3-turn. If she can fix this stutter she should be the best of the 3.
Despite even my celebration of Petrosian's talent, Ignatova's in this context should remain an isolated case.
Yes. But I am speaking about transferring dance on ice to off ice, rather than vice versa as with Dikidzhi.
I've seen clips of Adeliia's off-ice dance training, directly next to Akateva and some leading Tutberidze girls; she is noticeably beyond them. I haven't actually seen Dikidzhi's dancing outside of TikTok gimmicks; is he really a dancer or just an intermediate hip-hop enthusiast?
I often make the dance comment to elucidate my criteria as being similar to such an art as opposed to sport, rather than directly measuring them as literal dancers, which would be impossible given variety of genre and also useless since they are skaters, not dancers.
Yes, I mentioned the two in a competition of dance, but I present it as a reasonable thought experiment further elucidating my approach, rather than a literal suggestion. For example, we may conclude Zhilina's strictly athletic competitivity, independent of skating, yet we aren't suggesting a gymnastics tournament.
Recall my criteria, by which I then simply draw parallel with a ballerina as opposed to a sportsman:
I also don't recall implying that Zhilina "lacks" in any way, simply that under the above criteria she is incomparable to Adeliia.
So here I should have perhaps elaborated on my intention with "competition of dance".
In any case, I think you understand my position now quite well. If we consider exactly as such, perhaps you might sympathize with my initial shock in comparison of Adellia and Zhilina? Macro-physicality exists with the latter in debatably comparable magnitude, but not the finer dynamic gentleness as described in the previous quotes.
Like with Akateva, there is no dismissal of Zhilina - simply Petrosian flies above.
I am doubtless that Zhilina supersedes comparison with Dikidzhi.
Indeed, you may be considering past raw athleticism, I wouldn't ever accuse you of lacking dimensionality in your analyses! Ponder on Zhilina even further under my criteria, compared with Adeliia, which was the original issue - see if we might agree.
I do not believe the 3As she demonstrated in the discussed open training are worthy of +5, especially if considering Kostornaia or Muravieva for that matter. I hope few if any perceived such a suggestion from my commentary.
I was debating with Skating91 about her general scoring and potential to break the world record. She would not require +5s across her entire elemental repertoire, but average 4s for toe-jumps (absolutely reasonable) and her 3A remains an easy +3 if she executes it as seen in the clip above.
Some may struggle with my appeal to possibility, but, recall in context that Skating91 explicitly allowed me the best case scenario. Furthermore, considering her improvement from finals to pre-season, we do have empirical data to support extrapolation into the future that the aforementioned GOE is reasonable. I also mentioned that she has earned 4s in previous seasons, during which she was significantly weaker, so the suggestion is supported by data although far from proven - something I never contradicted.
Supplementally, your quote:
P.S. The extensive analysis required for my last reply proved most valuable to my understanding of figure skating. Thank you for challenging me. I only now realize my developed efficacy in StSq analysis, resulting from the research I completed on edge changes and turns to properly assess the skills of our two favourites.
Maybe since the conversations or written posts we have are very long some people just doze off or skip. Not reading all that!
I think this is why an hour long video analysis by youtube channels (even controversial opinion based rage bate analysis) are more effective at keeping attention than long online blogs and posts on forums.
. They were attempting programs with a base value 10 points less than Kostornaia so much, much simpler content (Kostornaia had two triple axels - extraordinary!). Hendrickx had one jump on the q and an underrotation as well, so not a clean program. The extraordinary score PCS score was Hendrickx at Skate America last year doing that Madonna program where there is a lot of bopping up and down she got 72.94 for PCS. 
