Best Quality, Biggest Flaw

[yoloaxel]

I think this can be a good way to say what we admire about skaters, even those we dislike, and what annoys us the most - even about our favorites!

I'm gonna start!

-Yuzuru Hanyu
BQ: his flow, technique and charisma
BF: he sometimes has big meltdowns

-Evgenia Medvedeva
BQ: her interpretation and difficult transitions, her 3Lo
BF: her flutz

-Alina Zagitova
BQ: her stunning 3Lz3Lo
BF: she lacks in interpretation, sometimes doesn't hit music marks

-Shoma Uno
BQ: his musicality and grit
BF: his jumping technique

-Maria Sotskova
BQ: her elegance
BF: helicopter arm

 

[macy]

I like this thread! its a different way to look at all the skaters.

Alina
BQ: jumps in general
BF: lacks in interpretation, still skates a little juniorish

Evgenia
BQ: tranistions, skating quality and interpretation
BF: miming, flutz

Yuzu
BQ: his overall skating and flow, effortlessness
BF: can bomb sometimes

Nathan
BQ: arsenal of quads, jumping ability
BF: can also bomb, scratchy landings

Javi
BQ: charm, skating quality, interpretation
BF: can be inconsistent

Kaetlyn
BQ: power, speed, huge and easy jumps
BF: can be inconsistent, has trouble putting it all together at times

Gabby
BQ: similar to KO, power, speed, big jumps
BF: sometimes has meltdowns, jump technique needs work (IMO)

Bradie
BQ: consistency
BF: lack of interpretation, can be boring to watch

Mirai
BQ: her grit and toughness, that 3A when she lands it
BF: lack of consistency, carrots

Karen
BQ: musicality and interpretation, big jumps
BF: jump technique/rotating too slowly/carrots, inconsistency

Ashley
BQ: grit, ability to story tell and take the audience on a journey, most consistent of US ladies behind bradie
BF: carrots, spins need work

Adam
BQ: musicality and interpretation, skating quality
BF: lack of quads

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Patrick's Best Qualities - Skating skills and footwork, transitions that make sense with the music, flow over the ice, interpretation, speed, musicality, appealing spin variations that don't look like painful contortions

Patrick's Biggest Flaws - Lack of confidence in his jumping ability, especially on the 3A (even though all his jumps are so beautiful when he does them successfully), inconsistency and some struggles with his competition mindset

 

[mrrice]

Gracie Gold-

Best Quality- Spectacular technical ability, Beauty, and Personality.

Biggest Flaw- Ability to handle the huge amount of pressure and expectation that came with her technical ability. I really think she just burnt out.

 

[ladyjane]

I hope I can include pairs...

Aljona and Bruno:
P: Beautiful skating, really performing a choreography, that incredibly high twist lift, great pairs elements.
N: the landings of jumps and throw jumps sometimes

Meagan and Eric:
P: great technicians, bringing the sport further athletically.
N: they do their elements well and sometimes that is a bit lacking in making an overall picture. Their twist is so-so.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Evgenia:
BQ: jumps, spins, steps, performing
BF: flutz

Alina:
BQ: jumps, spins
BF: rushing ahead of music when nervous

 

[sk8r4ever]

Evgenia:
BQ: spins, 3S and 3Lo, step sequences, interpretation and story telling
BF: flutz and muscled jumps

Alina:
BQ: 3Lz-3Lo(-3Lo-3Lo...)
BF: Junior-ish skating

Alena K:
BQ: great musicality, the rippon arms at the second jump of a combo
BF: her lutz consistency

Alexandra T:
BQ: QUADS, 3-3 combos, strength
BF: lack of musicality? (But she's still really young...)

 

[yume]

Wakaba Higuchi
BQ: Jumps, interpretation, originality
BF: Nerves

Satoko Miyahara
BQ: Spins, musicality, consistency
BF: Jumps

Kaori Sakamoto
BQ: Jumps
BF: Juniorish interpretation, flutz

Mai Mihara
BQ: Full package, no technical flaws
BF: Too much introverted maybe

Marin Honda
BQ: charming, high artistic potential
BF: Inconsistency

Rika Kihira
BQ: Mrs. triple axel
BF: Inconsistency

Yuzuru Hanyu
BQ: His technique
BF: Injuries and nerves

Shoma Uno
BQ: He's an artist
BF: Cheated technique

 

[creaturelover]

Yuna Kim
BQ: consistency, interpretation, technical skills
BF: Spirals and lack of flexibility

 

[likevelvet]

Thought I'd throw in some of my favorite ID teams

Papadakis/Cizeron:
BQ: Smooth edgework, in general a very well-matched team
BF: Guillaume is a few leagues above Gabby in SS

Gilles/Poirier:
BQ: Creativity!
BF: Their programs can still seem a little gimmicky or over-themed. Thankfully they seem to be growing out of it and settling into their own stylism

Shibutani/Shibutani:
BQ: Beautiful synchronicity, exacting precision and their posture is awesome
BF: That precision can sometimes work against them and come off a little stiff.

Chock/Bates:
BQ: Maddy's outfits
BF: Occasional meltdowns

Wang/Liu:
BQ: Xinyu's outfits, their music choices
BF: Occasionally repetitive

This is an interesting thread! I'm probably going to think about it for the rest of the day and I'll likely end up with more

 

[Osmond4gold]

Best Quality - The ISU recognizing that the present system of judging does not always reward technical ability. The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius, which as you know, means "Faster, Higher, Stronger". It's about time that skating realizes their pitfalls and makes the necessary changes to reward those who are truly willing to take a risk, and are rewarded in the sport, accordingly.

Biggest Flaw - Judging biases based on nationality. How some will award a top placement while another believes a 7th placement is MUCH more, ...fitting. Some believe that 10's with a fall is perfectly okay. Having serious repercussions for those who tap their feet, lean to the other judges left, or reward based on home country favs, is crucial and long overdue. Don't you think, Didier?

 

[Shayuki]

Anna Shcherbakova:

Best quality: Musical interpretation. Even though she can 4Lz...

Biggest flaw: Fragile.

 

[Colonel Green]

Kaetlyn
BQ: Matchless jump height and quality.
BF: Inconsistent delivery.

Gabby
BQ: Best 3T-3T in the business.
BF: Has to rely too much on the aforesaid because she can't max out combos with a higher base value.

Evgenia
BQ: Can tell a story better than anybody else.
BF: Flutz.

Satoko
BQ: The best layback spin you are likely to see.
BF: Tiny jumps.

Alina
BQ: Phenomenal endurance and consistency in delivery of high-value technical.
BF: Saddled with uninteresting program design.

Yuzuru
BQ: Almost everything?
BF: Weird lapses in confidence from time to time, best exemplified by his bizarre streak of always losing his first Grand Prix event.

Nathan
BQ: Phenomenal endurance and consistency in delivery of high-value technical.
BF: His six-quad free program doesn't have much room for anything other than jumps, which is especially frustrating because he clearly has the skills to deliver more than that.

Patrick
BQ: Maybe the best ever at plain skating.
BF: Triple Axel.

 

[LucyH]

What a great idea. Here's mine:

Yuzuru
BQ: Best overall quality of skating (combination of big jumps with difficult entries and exits, transitions, spins, intricate steps etc.)
BF: Has an odd confidence issue even though he is probably closest to be the perfect skater and inopportune injuries

Nathan
BQ: Huge arsenal of quads; jumps
BF: Jump landings, can also bomb when under pressure. Lack of transitions!

Bo Yang
BQ: the best 4Lz in the biz; jumps and desire to improve PCS and overall SS
BF: some scratchy landings, jumps too close to the boards

Shoma
BQ: Musicality and interpretation (fluidity of skating)
BF: Jump "cheats"

Patrick
BQ: Beautiful skating skills, 4Toe (gorgeous jump!)
BF: As a viewer I'm often left cold by his skates even though they are beautiful; his nemesis the 3A; delivering under the biggest stage i.e. OG and some past pettiness (although he seems to be over that now)

Javier
BQ: Good SS, charming persona and interpretation of music
BF: Inconsistent and can be "heady"

Evgenia
BQ: Mental strength (that girl will not beat herself!), 3Lo, 3S, interpretation of music, good SS and spins, musicality and her programs always makes me "feel"
BF: Flutz

Alina
BQ: Jumps
BF: Interpretation, I find her skating a bit wooden

Wakaba
BQ: SS, jumps, speed and flow
BF: Inconsistent and nervy

Satoko
BQ: SS, gorgeous spins, great fluidity in her skating
BF: teeny tiny jumps

Kaetlyn
BQ: Huge jumps (height and speed)
BF: Inconsistent; not all that original

Gaby
BQ: Power and speed (best 3T-3T combo - max GOE's)
BF: Can be all over the place and really "heady"

 

[likevelvet]

Sorry, this is one I must do...

Yulia Lipnitskaya
BQ: her flexibility, her spins, her costumes, her huge heart, her decisiveness and smarts, her performance factor/emoting
BF: Literally nothing

 

[withwings]

Sorry, this is one I must do...

Yulia Lipnitskaya
BQ: her flexibility, her spins, her costumes, her huge heart, her decisiveness and smarts, her performance factor/emoting
BF: Literally nothing

:thumbsup:

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

^ ^ :agree:

 

[lyverbird1]

Tarasova and Morozov:
BQ: Undeniable technical brilliance when on. She is very charming.
BF: Poorly chosen programmes and costuming (Candyman with polkadots and Music with old fashioned costumes). Puzzling lack of charisma for a pair dating each other.

 

[yume]

Yuna Kim
BQ: Jumps and musicality
BF: lack of 3lo, flexibility

Mao Asada
BQ: Spins and steps
BF: URs and flutz which were always called

Kostner
BQ: Skating skills
BF: inconsistency

Miki Ando
BQ: jumps
BF: artistry

Akiko Sizuki
BQ: Originality
BF: very late blooming (surely why consistently underscored on PCS)

 

[cruzceleste]

Tarasova and Morozov:
BQ: Undeniable technical brilliance when on. She is very charming.
BF: Poorly chosen programmes and costuming (Candyman with polkadots and Music with old fashioned costumes). Puzzling lack of charisma for a pair dating each other.

Honest question, could be that they selected Candyman just because the music, with out understanding the lyrics?