Evgenia Medvedeva

[nervosa]

Do you think the transitions are simpler too? I guess I am worried that since she doesn't have as many transitions and/or complicated transitions she will get less points? I may not be choosing my words right.

She's not skating a simple program - not having the unbelievable amount of transitions she had before allows her more speed and flow, it's a choice of style I don't mind transition packed programs but when it's too much they start not to make sense with the music and they look like they're just there to add difficulty. Btw, she definitely won't get penalized in transitions for this program.

they will add the transitions at least I hope so. Brian said before that he prefers adding transitions during the season because skaters need to gain stamina and get used to their programs.

I guess, overall, in this incarnation, I would have to say that the program is in pure transitional content, 'not as complex' than Zhenya's old programs. It may be a stylistic choice, and we may also see more difficult transitional content added -- there wasn't any layback spin that I saw, I also hope that comes back. But this is also not a program where Zhenya does nothing but crossovers between elements. I would like just a few more transitional bits maybe, like the skid spiral, but I think this is still an 'above-average' program in terms of transitions. So right now, I'm not overly worried.

Besides, since when do judges actually put that much thought into giving PCS scores?

 

[Mrs. P]

There's some cool transitions in and out of the jumps and some interesting entrances in and out of spins. Transitions doesn't just mean doing six trillion steps into every jump/spin pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urWLxxfab4g#t=2m25s
She does the 2A, leaps and then goes right into the illusion into her camel spin. That is a good transition -- no set-up for the spin, basically.

 

[KiraraChin]

Is she wearing the rose gold blades???

Yes, she is.

 

[LucyH]

There's some cool transitions in and out of the jumps and some interesting entrances in and out of spins. Transitions doesn't just mean doing six trillion steps into every jump/spin pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urWLxxfab4g#t=2m25s
She does the 2A, leaps and then goes right into the illusion into her camel spin. That is a good transition -- no set-up for the spin, basically.

Yes exactly I think we have been too “conditioned” re what transitions are in the past. I love the direction and the overall liveliness and fun vibe of the SP. I am so excited to see the finished package in person!

 

[Hello from Brazil]

I am still worried about that flutz though

 

[pandatours]

For a test skate this is very encouraging. The Russian Fed will give feedback as needed and then Evgenia and Brian and Tracy will decide how to move forward.

This program is very light and free, I enjoyed it

 

[leoleo]

More TatxZhenyaxBrian pics https://twitter.com/evgeniaxmoon/status/1038517425342476289

 

[meowmeow]

Her SP only seems empty in comparison to her other programs which were usually packed as hell. I like this better. You get the time to completely get what she's trying to do with her program. and as others have said her team will work on adding more if needed. I think she sells the program well enough to not need more transitions.

no i don't think that her programs were overpacked, imo in her case, it was fine and balanced, and always matched to the music, not a random moves. i never thought 'it's too much or too busy', but it was interesting to watch from the very beginning to the very end.

 

[Mrs. P]

Yes exactly I think we have been too “conditioned” re what transitions are in the past. I love the direction and the overall liveliness and fun vibe of the SP. I am so excited to see the finished package in person!

Yes, there will be more work done for sure! I look forward to seeing this with a costume!

Another good transition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urWLxxfab4g#t=3m

After her 3F-3T, she does a bunch of steps and goes to her step sequence.

 

[meowmeow]

i like that they dropped the little spread eagle that she used to do as a lz exit c:

 

[Fluture]

I will add a more detailed impression of me watching her SP but for now all I can say is: I‘M CRYING THIS IS PERFECTION

Okay, no it‘s obviously not (fluhuutz) but she‘s enjoying this so much and she‘s working on her axel and lutz and generally tries to increase her BV (with lutz in the SP, maybe the aim is to change combo to 3F-3Lo one day?) Not sure about the spins, though. Why did they change them? Her layback was fine. Does she get all level 4s on them?

But overall I‘m just: :luv17:


I LOVE HER AND THIS PROGRAM SO FREAKING MUCH!! Even though I initially wasn‘t sold on jazz. And the interaction with Brian is just... omg, don’t mind me because I’m fangirling so much right now it’s not even funny anymore.

Anyway, hoping the same for the FS. You can do it, Zhenya!

 

[Fluture]

I am still worried about that flutz though

You can‘t change a flutz in 2 months. Mao Asada who is unquestionably a very good skater had to work years on hers and still occasionally flutzed. So I’m being reasonable about this. But Evgenia and Brian are obviously trying to improve it, she‘s visibly faster entering it even though the edge itself is as bad as ever. And she did seem a bit disappointed in the end (or did I imagine this?) so maybe she jumps the 3Lz better in practice and was just nervous. Idk, I just know that she seems to love this program and she‘s happy and that‘s the most important. She made some very good steps in trying to up her tech by backloading the combo + adding a (f)lutz. If she manages to get a shallow edge by constantly jumping it in competition, she‘ll be perfectly fine. And a lot of top skaters flutz, it‘s not only her.

 

[BillNeal]

Just sharing my appreciation of Med's SP. I like how she kept the character of the music throughout the program, like the little wiggle she does before she goes into 2A and the little dance jump she does right after landing it. She showed quite a bit of sass, hitting the accents of the music, and the performance just seems so natural; you kind of just want to dance along at times. I saw Tat nodding during the step sequence and she was clapping quite enthusiastically once she finished. Clearly she likes what she saw.

It's good to see that they are working on the flutz and attempting it in the SP means they are quite committed to improving it. I'm quite pleased with David Wilson's work with her so far. I'm hoping she can show a great tango tomorrow as well.

 

[OswinOswald]

Is it such a problem not to have a Biellman in her program?

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Is it such a problem not to have a Biellman in her program?

I don't think so. And if her spins today were all level 4 (I think they were but I can't really tell too well) then she'll actually have higher spin BV than if she did a layback.

 

[Shayuki]

Is it such a problem not to have a Biellman in her program?

She's doing a Camel spin instead of a Layback spin. It is considered a poor choice most of the time. There are multiple reasons.

The first is that the Layback spin has a base value of 2.7. Camel only has 2.6. Furthermore, by doing a Camel, the flying spin cannot be a Camel(worth most points). As we could see, Medvedeva had to perform a Flying Sit Spin. Its BV is only 3.0 while Flying Camel has a BV of 3.2. That means that Medvedeva's losing 0.3 points in BV with her spin choices.

That's not all there is to it, either. Layback additionally has level features unique to Layback, one of which being the Biellmann position. This means that by performing a Layback spin, one has more room for choice when it comes to the level features included for all other spins in order to reach lvl 4 for them all.

There is the third one as well - Layback is usually the spin with which it is easiest to get high GOE.


I don't really know why she's not doing the Layback. Perhaps she has trouble with her back?


edit:
To be sure, 0.3 points isn't something that's overly significant. I doubt it's going to make or break anything. But it's not... optimal.

 

[IceBallerina]

She's doing a Camel spin instead of a Layback spin. It is considered a poor choice most of the time. There are multiple reasons.

The first is that the Layback spin has a base value of 2.7. Camel only has 2.6. Furthermore, by doing a Camel, the flying spin cannot be a Camel(worth most points). As we could see, Medvedeva had to perform a Flying Sit Spin. Its BV is only 3.0 while Flying Camel has a BV of 3.2. That means that Medvedeva's losing 0.3 points in BV with her spin choices.

That's not all there is to it, either. Layback additionally has level features unique to Layback, one of which being the Biellmann position. This means that by performing a Layback spin, one has more room for choice when it comes to the level features included for all other spins in order to reach lvl 4 for them all.

There is the third one as well - Layback is usually the spin with which it is easiest to get high GOE.


I don't really know why she's not doing the Layback. Perhaps she has trouble with her back?

Brian said they are still experimenting with the jump and spin layouts. They will change throughout the season. Also I heard her back is still healing and perhaps they don’t want to push it. She’ll probably do a layback when the GP series starts

 

[TGee]

I don't think so. And if her spins today were all level 4 (I think they were but I can't really tell too well) then she'll actually have higher spin BV than if she did a layback.

Brian has said that one of TCC's strategies is to have Paige (the spin coach) work with all their skaters so that all their spins are level 4.

And he also has a strict policy of 'don't train through pain'.

If the layback or the bielmann were at all an issue for Zhenya's back when she arrived in June, it seems that this would mean that Paige would have worked with Zhenya to find new options that would give the BV.

Think of this as giving Zhenya more options for future.

 

[MarinHondas]

Its truly remarkable how Zhenya completely fixed her axel in 2 months.

 

[silvercrystal]

Leave it to Mr. Triple Axel!