Blades of Passion critiques and improves Carolina Kostner's LP for the season

[Tanja90]

This is the exact reason, you are right. The take-off of Lutz and Flip stresses her left knee far more than the landing of a triple jump. And it's not like the landings don't hurt her at all - they do hurt, just not as much as the take off on Lutz and Flip.

I can't believe people actually doubt that the injury is the reason she is not doing these jumps. Carolina has always been the skater who risked and tried the most difficult combinations, even though she might not have been consistent with them in practice. May I just remind you of the 3Flip-3Toe-2Loop combinations she has done, not to mention the numerous 3-3 combos. Believe me, this is not fun for her. She would do the harder jumps if she could. Right now she does what she is capable of doing without being in too much pain. And she is just glad to be able to skate, because this is what she loves doing.

To me, her LP is gorgeous and I don't care if she does Lutz or Flip. If she gets surgery and her knee allows her to do Lutz and Flip again, she will put them back into her programs. Until then, I will just enjoy the beauty of her skating and the smile on her face because she is just so happy to be able to skate at all.

This comes from someone who knows her personally and who knows the situation she's in.

I absolutely agree with you!!!!! She will do flip and lutz when she'll feel comfortable with them and the injury! Plus..if people still complains because she is just doing the "easiest" triples what would they say if she start doing doubles? I can heard them already: Look at her...she cannot doing triples so she does doubles...where are we going if we are seeing at these years a skater doing doubles...bla bla bla...
People are always ready to complain with skater they don't like and tend to forget that a skater is maybe suffering badly...

I don't care if she has or doesn't have the flip or lutzes right now because she is skating so beautifully in this period and so freely! She overcome all those complains and critics she received in Italy after Vancouver and she is skating for her own pleasure and we can see it in her programs!
Flips and lutzes will be back...maybe this season or maybe next season who knows? What I really care is seeing her skating as she is doing now!

 

[Kinga]

What I really care is seeing her skating as she is doing now!

I guess that she skates very nicely this season partially because of not including lutzes and flips, so she is much more comfortable and relaxed than she used to. I do not want to sound too pesimistic, but I am afraid that if she puts these jumps back, her programs might get messy again. But she has gorgeous LP and SP, I really enjoy her this season. Lets see how it works out at the Europeans.

 

[Jaana]

I´d trust that Kostner´s choreographer has created exactly such programmes which feel good for her to skate under her present circumstances (injury).

 

[Blades of Passion]

I can't believe people actually doubt that the injury is the reason she is not doing these jumps.

Oh, I'm sure she is not doing Triple Lutz and Flip because of risking injury.

I believe her team did not even consider the point-earning and choreographic potential of Double Lutz and Flip, however. I am thinking outside of the box in a way they didn't.

Again, based on what I know, I don't see the possibility of a knee injury that would make a skater unable to do double Lutz and Flip but be able to do all of the other jumps she is performing. Between the Triple Loop, Salchow, Toeloop, and the Double Axel, she has to use BOTH knees for takeoffs all the time that are not low-pressure. A double Lutz/Flip is easier than any of those, especially for someone with as good of technique as Kostner. You have to exert barely any pressure at all to do a double - your speed across the ice and pulling in your body properly makes doubles quite easy without having to strain the toepick or knee.

I feel there is room in the business for a "program doctor" to help skaters shape their programs during the season. With the CoP system these days, there are so many specifics to capitalize on. Having another knowledgeable, creative pair of eyes is not a bad thing. It's ridiculous to think that a choreographer, no matter how good they are, will always come up with the absolute best possible program for every single skater in the short timeframe they work with them before the season starts.

Many choreographers don't consider all of these CoP specifics in the first place. They create the overall flavor of the program. After the skater has shown the program in competition a couple times, someone who understands everything the skater is going through can come in and make it better. Coaches may be too concerned with getting their skater in shape to truly be able to judge the program itself objectively, or to think of every way to realistically maximize its value.

Or maybe the skater could use extra inspiration. Providing a full interpretation for every movement and technical element, either via story or a set of emotions or why it is choreographically important, can help a skater to really believe in the program. They don't have to think of their movements in this way while doing them, but simply knowing that what they are doing has a meaning can be beneficial. Perhaps the original choreographer might be able to do that for them as well, but it will probably cost a lot more. Not every skater can afford to constantly bring the original choreographer in.

 

[Tanja90]

I guess that she skates very nicely this season partially because of not including lutzes and flips, so she is much more comfortable and relaxed than she used to. I do not want to sound too pesimistic, but I am afraid that if she puts these jumps back, her programs might get messy again. But she has gorgeous LP and SP, I really enjoy her this season. Lets see how it works out at the Europeans.

I can see your point and it may happen...But I see some differences between the carolina of the last two years and the carolina of this year! Last year even the easiest jumps weren't secure (she had never landed the loop that was one of her best jumps) and she wasn't at all herself..especially the first part of the season and then we all know what happened in Vancouver.
I have a personal thought which I think it may be true: This year she is skating because she wants to skate because it's the thing she loves the most..last year she was skating because she HAD to skate, she had to win medals. I think that the disastrous long at the Olympics make her understand what she really wants from her skating! This year I can see a woman who is really loving what she is doing last year she wasn't herself! For this reason I think and I hope that even with flip and lutzes we'll see good programs from her!

 

[kiz_4Ever]

I have a personal thought which I think it may be true: This year she is skating because she wants to skate because it's the thing she loves the most..last year she was skating because she HAD to skate, she had to win medals. I think that the disastrous long at the Olympics make her understand what she really wants from her skating! This year I can see a woman who is really loving what she is doing last year she wasn't herself! For this reason I think and I hope that even with flip and lutzes we'll see good programs from her!

I completely agree with you on that, and I would go a bit further by saying that I haven't see her skate in such way since a long time. I think that she has had increasing pressure from the media (especially Italian, of course) since before Torino 2006. Though she managed to get through 2007 and 2008 very well and her artistic side and general skating developed a lot, she already had some technical issue with some jumps sometimes, like alarm bells. But it was only after LA 09 that she decided (or was forced to) change all her training environment just a few months before Vancouver, and though skating fans supported her but also knew that she wasn't in top shape, media continued to portray her as a favourite for medals and so there where high expectations on her! When they all criticised her after Vancouver, she had to ask herself whether she really wanted to go on and it's like she started this year loving what she does more than ever, and that's the thing that's most important for her now, IMO.

Then yes, likely without lutz and flip she feel more confortable, though I'd note 1) Blades of Passion point about doing them as doubles it's interesting 2) she says that flip is her favourite jump, so if she doesn't do that it's really because it'd be hurting a lot.

 

[Blades of Passion]

I have a personal thought which I think it may be true: This year she is skating because she wants to skate because it's the thing she loves the most..last year she was skating because she HAD to skate, she had to win medals. I think that the disastrous long at the Olympics make her understand what she really wants from her skating! This year I can see a woman who is really loving what she is doing last year she wasn't herself!

I agree with this. Both Koster and Czisny are really out there with their hearts this year. The latter especially seems to have found a very definitive sense of self.

I will now fulfill Mathman's request about giving my suggestions for Alissa Czisny's program. These are fairly minor changes, it's such a wonderful program already and she has the best interpretation of the year. Here is her program as a reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXK3i98momk

* Everything up through the Triple Loop should be left as it is. The choreographic change I'd most like to see to the program is the element that comes right after that 3Loop - her Spiral Sequence. This move is kind of crammed into the corner and I also do not see the point of that forward catch-foot position. Unless you are going to do an "Arakawa" and release the hand and keep that free leg up, or add some kind of other panache to it, this isn't one of the most effective positions to hold out in a Spiral Sequence for a singles program (in pairs it works better). In a singles program that position is better when performed briefly as sideways kick up into the air, with a very short hold at most.

Given those issues, I feel Alissa should start her Spiral Sequence with a right forward inside arabesque down the width of the rink. It will curve around until she's parallel with the opposing wall and then she can switch feet and do her classic left forward outside arabesque. This sequence won't be jammed into the corner and the change of foot + classic extensions throughout the sequence will make it more impressive and allow her lines to be relished better.

* Her next series of jumping passes after the Spiral Sequence could probably be improved. Right now she is attempting:

3Lutz
2Axel
3Toe-2Toe-2Toe

Alissa is simply not good at doing 3-jump combinations. She almost never hits it, so planning it as her very last jumping pass doesn't make much sense. I feel like the pressure of knowing she has to do this 3-jump combo makes that last Triple of her program a lot less consistent, in fact. I think Alissa might be better off if she instead tried this:

3Flip
2Axel-half loop-2Sal
3Lutz

Alissa has greatly improved her consistency with the Flip this year and in fact was doing a 3Flip earlier this year in the very spot I've listed. She should go back to doing that. As for the 3-jump combo, Alissa can utilize the new rules for this season to attempt an easier 3-jump combination that will still look good. The half loop+2Sal is worth a whole point less, but considering she rarely hits the 2Toe-2Toe and it even hurts the consistency of any jump she attempts it with, I feel like she should just drop the planned content in this area and go for an easier combination. It is important to note how well this combination would work musically with the program. Listen to the quick succession of piano notes at the point where she does her 2Axel. That is the ideal spot in the program to place a 3-jump combination and, despite being worth less point, a half loop+2Sal would look and flow much better than a 2T+2T.

Since Alissa would no longer be repeating the 3Toe in her program (this change would have her doing two 3Lutzes and two 3Flips in the program), what I'm suggesting here would actually slightly raise her base value for the program as a whole, despite that easier 3-jump combination. Having a second 3Lutz as the last jumping pass might raise a stamina issue, but considering how ineffective the 3Toe-combination has been for her in that slot, I think she'd actually be a bit more consistent with this. She has planned the 3Lutz that late in previous programs and been able to pull it off.

* The only other change I would possibly suggest would be with the footwork sequence, although I'm not entirely sure if it is a performance issue or a content issue. I'd have to see exactly how Alissa plans the sequence in practice. She has only received a Level 2 for her footwork all season and there's simply no reason to lose points here, considering that there already appears to be enough variety and quantity of turns and steps to achieve Level 3. I think the problem is that there isn't quite enough full-body rotation in the clockwise direction. Notice the clockwise toe-turn she does at the end of the sequence. Adding just one more of those should be enough to satisfy the rules.

 

[Mathman]

Alissa often gets an edge call on her flip, even when she does it pretty well. Maybe she would be better off just to do a solo 3T in that spot, and 3T+2T earlier?

3Lz
2A+half-loop+2S (!)
3T

 

[Bruin714]

What about the double axel-double axel combination she competed with last year. It was sometimes successful. Is that combo advantages based on the new rules?

 

[silverlake22]

What about the double axel-double axel combination she competed with last year. It was sometimes successful. Is that combo advantages based on the new rules?

Not really. 2a-2t is worth basically the same amount of points than a 2a-2a seq now. Plus, Alissa sometimes struggles on her 2a. What she should really do is a 3 jump combo off the top like 3lz-2t-2t and then not do her flip in combination, and do 3t-2t twice (once after the halfway point).

 

[Blades of Passion]

Alissa often gets an edge call on her flip, even when she does it pretty well.

Well she only got called at TEB this season. Not at Skate Canada or the GPF. It seems like she can avoid the call if she's mindful enough. She just needs to keep her speed up and trust the technique, which she has gotten better at this season.

What she should really do is a 3 jump combo off the top like 3lz-2t-2t and then not do her flip in combination, and do 3t-2t twice (once after the halfway point).

3Lz-2T-2T is a possibility but hitting that opening jump cleanly is very important. I'd rather she not stress about a 3-jump combo since it's her weakest element. The 2T+2T totally ruins her GOE anyway. Alissa should be capitalizing on doing solid jumps with good outflow. That's the other reason 3T in combination isn't very good for her. Look at how good her 3T was solo at Skate Canada and the +GOE she got. As soon as she tries for a combination it really hinders the quality of the jump. She could probably still get +GOE for a 2Axel-half loop-2Sal, though.

EDIT - I also forgot to mention in my initial writeup for Alissa that a 3-jump combination would work best musically in the spot where she is doing her 2Axel. Listen to the quick succession of piano notes there. That is further reason why the 2Axel-half loop-2Sal would be best, I think.