How can Mao and Yuna max their scores?

[Lumi]

I remember reading that Mao has under rotates 4s but over rotates 3s... So she can't do a salchow.

 

[gio]

Mao Asada SP
1.3A
2.3F,3L
3.2A

Mao Asada LP
1.3A,2L
2.3F,3L
3.3A
4.3F,3T,2L
5.3Z
6.2A
7.2A

 

[bekalc]

I've seen Mao do 3A-2L as a junior! Although there are some flaws in her technique, she's just an incredible jumper. People say she's one helluva jumper now. But back when she was a junior, she was doing things like 4Lo, 3A-2L, and steps into 3A. I'm pretty sure she has given up on quad, which is a smart thing IMO.

I still don't think she is comfortable with 3T yet. But the three combinations she landed at GPF, plus 3A should be enough to guarantee her at least Silver at Worlds, and give Yu-Na a very good fight. She could be super aggressive and put something like 3Lz-3L instead of 2-2-2, or even 2nd 3A. (or both :yes But I think that's way too much given that her 3-3 and 3A have been very shaky this season to say the least.

As for Yu-Na, I've seen her do 3Lz-3T before. So technically she could put two 3-3 in her LP. But then she'd have to sacrifice 2A-3T which gets her almost as many points as a 3-3. Given that Yu-Na doesn't have 3L as a combo jump, she doesn't really have (or need) a lot of options. Mao's base value of the jumps will always be higher than Yu-Na's. But that means nothing. We've all seen what happened just two days ago.

Mao is incredible. It's funny though it seems like Yu-na's team when she was a young girl really focused on her jumping technique. Reports are that her mother was really tough on her when it cames to her jumping technique being perfect.

Whereas I suspect that Mao's team and Mao herself always just allowed her to try new jumps/new combinations, even if her technique wasn't perfect (like the lutz).

So we have Mao has the best technical arsenal in the world, and Yu-na who has the best technique in the world facing off... (Mirror images!) Right now it looks like Yu-na's teams strategy is really paying off. The only problem is her jumps have to be spot on to be rewarded.

 

[Bennett]

Mao is incredible. It's funny though it seems like Yu-na's team when she was a young girl really focused on her jumping technique. Reports are that her mother was really tough on her when it cames to her jumping technique being perfect.

Whereas I suspect that Mao's team and Mao herself always just allowed her to try new jumps/new combinations, even if her technique wasn't perfect (like the lutz).

So we have Mao has the best technical arsenal in the world, and Yu-na who has the best technique in the world facing off... (Mirror images!) Right now it looks like Yu-na's teams strategy is really paying off. The only problem is her jumps have to be spot on to be rewarded.

Wow that's really interesting! Was Yuna's mom also a figure skater? How did her mom learn all those excellent techniques? Does she teach other students than Yuna?

Yuna's program seems to have high return relative to the risk. Although 3F-3T and 2A-3T are extremely difficult, she seems to be pretty consistent on these. Her superb techniques on most of her jumps deservingly make it possible for her to get very high GOEs, which can compensate for the base value difference from Mao. On the other hand, Mao's program currently seems to have low return relative to the high risk. It's really impressive that she had 3A and two 3-3's at GPF. Very few women in the world have ever landed 3A during the last 15 years. Two 3-3’s is also great for a lady skater. But unless the base values for these difficult jumps increase, the program seems to be pretty risky relative to the expected reward, given her success rate so far. It has become even riskier than the last two seasons because of the stricter judging on edges and downgrades. I wonder what kinds of changes Mao's team may make in their strategies in order to adjust to the judging changes.