Jason Brown | Page 731 | Golden Skate

Jason Brown

Don’t get me wrong, he probably is and should be disappointed by the result, who wouldn’t? But my point is that I don’t think, personally, think it’s some BIG meaningful thing at play. From what I could see he was practicing well and training well and for whatever reason it didn’t translate to a great result.

With the free skate, I agree he was unfocused and he was having a hard time, but I don’t think the skate was a complete disaster with that consideration. He did what he could given how he was feeling and I think I’m the past he would have let a lot more go.

I noted Brian’s absence also. It sounded like Yuzu was also dealing with a lot mentally as well and perhaps Brian decided it was best to help Ghislan with that. Who knows?

And in optimistic fashion, I’m going to focus on the fact we get to see him
skate in two weeks and hope he make the most of the opportunity.
 
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Don’t get me wrong, he probably is and should be disappointed by the result, who wouldn’t? But my point is that I don’t think, personally, think it’s some BIG meaningful thing at play. From what I could see he was practicing well and training well and for whatever reason it didn’t translate to a great result.

With the free skate, I agree he was unfocused and he was having a hard time, but I don’t think the skate was a complete disaster with that consideration. He did what he could given how he was feeling and I think I’m the past he would have let a lot more go.

I noted Brian’s absence also. It sounded like Yuzu was also dealing with a lot mentally as well and perhaps Brian decided it was best to help Ghislan with that. Who knows?

And in optimistic fashion, I’m going to focus on the fact we get to see him
skate in two weeks and hope he make the most of the opportunity.

I didn’t see any of his practices or hear about how his training has been going, so if you know he’s been doing well, that’s great to know. And yeah it’ll be great to see him shortly. Although I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch in real time. :) This is the first time ever I’ve deliberately slept through a skate of his, ever, but I just couldn’t deal!
 
One thing I've noticed is Jason is skating slower than he usually does. In both SP & FS. Tentative going into the jumps and slower than Skate America for sure.

That's why yesterday I wondered if its some sort of injury. I do not think it's pure nerves.
Nerves =>Evgenia came back strong in the FS after falling in the SP at Skate Canada.
Suspected injury=>Jun Hwan came back stronger in the FS after a disaster SP at COC. Not great but stronger. He twisted his ankle attempting 4F at the previous GP. With Jun Hwan it's usually boot problems and/or injury.
 
It is good that we will see him compete at Golden Spin. I think both his programs are great and skated cleanly will garner high scores . He seemed really nervous at this competition. But it could just be that he wanted the GPF too much. It affects your performance when you worry too much about your performance.

I think he will be terrific at Golden Spin. :)
 
Was his layout changed from Skate America? If so, I wonder at the wisdom in implenenting such change considering Jason's NHK history... unless... Brian is trying to build mental flexibility and strength into his competitive psyche... to help him get rid of perfectionism, to get him much more comfortable with thinking on the fly instead of skating to a set repertoire. One of the reasons Russian skaters are so successful.. first ladies, now men.. is their ability to stay loose in competition, to expect change during a performance and react reflexively, instinctively to correct, balance, add, subtract at speed. If this is the strategy it could work to take the quad out of Jason's focus to a point where it might just happen in comp with some degree of consistency because his attention would be divided, looking at the performance as a whole with quick responses, split-second timing, as needed. It helps to keep negative emotion away from center stage until after the performance. His perfection would still be there; it is ingrained.. hope what I've said makes sense... but I can almost see Brian's fine tuning here.. changing the layout in a high stress environment .. Anyway look forward to Jason's skate at Zagreb .. and, I did enjoy his Skate at NHK tbh.
 
If I were trying to get someone to be more flexible, I would start by sending him to an improv class, not by changing his program in a high stress situation with a lot on the line. Especially given the concussion and the fact that he’s only competed once so far.

And...Jason wasn’t just off in the FS, he was off in the SP. He scored very high in his SP last year, and it had the same elements as the one he’s doing this year.
 
To be fair we don’t know when the layout change was made. It could have made weeks a go. For all we know he’s been working on this layout for a a little while, he did have a few weeks after SKAM to train it.

I was just as bummed as the rest of you all on this, but sometimes you just have a bad competition and there really isn’t a reason for it.

For example, the big XC star in my town was one of the big favorites to win the state title and he was in line to do so in the first half of the face and then he struggled and ended up 8th. He wasn’t injured, by all accounts and was training well.

I actually do like the new layout. I think his 3Z-1L-3S combo was great pre TCC, but it was amazing how much coverage he has on it now. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was working on 1L-3F combos.

I mean considering someone who finished 1st and 6th is in the GPF tells you about how chaotic the men are in general. It’s not just Jason.
 
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Well, I guess I’m glad I’m still on Percocet.

I think it is the fact that expectations were raised that makes me sad. If you had asked at the beginning of the season with Jason or BoYang make the GPF I would have chosen Boyang. :shrug:

I do hope that the lower pressure of Golden Spin brings us the results and the skates that we know Jason can do. And I am certainly in no condition to assess his layout. Although to be fair, I was probably not in a condition to do that even before my accident. :laugh:

And Apple dictation has its limits. The original of this message had golden spoon and bowl Jan.;)
 
I like the new layout too and love the 3Z-Euler-3S. That combination is so frequently so ugly, and his is just really, really nice.

To be clear, I don’t necessarily think putting the 4T in was a last minute change or that it was a bad idea. I think he must have been doing really well with it in practice for them to put it in. And I’m glad they did because I have really missed that combo.

I know anyone can have a bad competition, and I hope he’ll bounce back quickly and do well at Golden Spin. It just makes me sad to see him struggle and to see how hard it was for him to get through the FS especially.
 
Just watched Jason's FS (couldn't bring myself to watch the SP). Most of his jumps looked solid except for the second 3A and the loop (both falls) which have not been his most consistent jumps anyway. I hope these falls are a confidence issue that he can work on.

Good luck to Jason at Golden Spin! Hoping he can bring it and peak at Nationals. Would love to see him at skate in person at Worlds in Montreal this coming March.
 
In terms of the coaches, I don't know if it means anything that Brian wasn't with him. I do get the sense that Tracy maybe came just for him. I didn't see her in the KnC with Conrad for either program, IIRC (nor for Yuzuru, but then he did already have two so there may not have been space), even though Conrad has said they are both his main coaches and Jason was not about to skate. Maybe they think her energy is better for Jason at comps? Idk. Yuzuru did also seem stressed, so it could have been Brian dealing with that as someone said.

I wonder if Jason may have been in his head a bit - with pressure for wanting to make the final, but also maybe about it being Japan? If fans have noticed he often struggles in Japan for whatever reason, he's probably aware of it too, and that could get in your head even if you don't really believe there's anything to that (which I don't). Anyways, we've seen several skaters/teams tense in their 2nd event with finals spots on the line, so it's not unusual.
 
Trying to be objective here. I think it's perfectly acceptable that Brian was with Yuzu and I would imagine Jason wouldn't think any differently. Who has been with Brian the longest and had the most success? Since none of us really know what was going through Jason's mind or what his issues were - IF there were any, I just prefer to think he had a bad skate and an off day. I try not to read too much into facial expressions or anything else. It is what it is. I have confidence that his coaches would not put changes in that would cause him difficulties. We don't know if Jason tried the quad or if Brian encourged him to or what. As Scott Hamilton always said - the ice is slippery. I don't mean to minimize the import of the skate, but trying to second-guess everything is kind of fruitless. I can only hope that the next time out he's rid of the heebie-jeebies and lays down a superb performance - as we know he can!

He had a bad skate. It happens.
 
I don’t think anyone said it was wrong that Brian wasn’t with Jason, simply that it was noticeable he wasn’t there. It was not necessarily a big deal.

As to whether Jason just had a bad day/ competition, I guess we all have different thoughts about that. Regardless of what you make of his facial expressions, Jason has historically had a problem skating well in Japan, and in recent years he’s had trouble skating when there’s a lot on the line. While I am with you in hoping he has a great performance at Golden Spin, if he can’t rely on himself to skate well when the stakes are high - e.g, when he’s second after the SP at Worlds or when he has a great shot to make the GPF with a decent skate - I worry that he won’t reach his goal of making the next Olympic Team. Yeah, it’s two years out, but now is the time he needs to be laying a foundation for success.
 
Well, Tracy was there for both Yuzuru & Conrad Orzel during official practice. Jason was in a different group.

So I suppose for this GP, Tracy & Brian has divided their duties at the K&C. We need to remember Tracy is Jason's main coach. While Brian is Yuzuru & Conrad's main coach. The main coach has to be there, the others depending on need & availability.

If it's really nerves/mental strength issue, I hope Jason gets some help from the sports psychologist. Apparently Evgenia has started going to a sports psychologist after Skate Canada
 
I do wonder why it is the 4t now rather than the 4s? I have not had the guts to watch this yet :(

However, on the plus side, I see Jason is in the gala, for those of you who get to see galas.
 
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I do wonder why it is the 4t now rather than the 4s? I have not had the guts to watch this yet :(

It's actually not a bad skate, relatively speaking. The fall on the 3A actually ended up adding to the drama of the program...almost like it was deliberate :laugh:. And on the reverse angle of the fall on the 3Lo you can see him smile as he rolls up. It was businesslike, probably not as beautifully as he could have skated it, but it was pretty good. His TES alone held up for quite a while.

He was charming and gorgeous in the gala as always.

On to Golden Spin! I am sure this was just a blip, and he will be ready later in the season.
 
I was anticipating the worst, but TSL was actually pretty nice about him. They were trying to figure out what was wrong and what he needed to do (surprise!). But the important tidbit was that according to Doug Haw he is practicing well. It was their impression that Tracy was surprised by what happened. Dave was very complimentary about the beauty of his skating skills and carriage.
 
I was anticipating the worst, but TSL was actually pretty nice about him. They were trying to figure out what was wrong and what he needed to do (surprise!). But the important tidbit was that according to Doug Haw he is practicing well. It was their impression that Tracy was surprised by what happened. Dave was very complimentary about the beauty of his skating skills and carriage.

I was absolutely dreading what TSL were gonna say, recently they've been thriving on Jason not doing well... I may actually be able to stomach watching it in that case!
I definitely think for Jason it's a mental game - in the FS warm up he landed what would have been his second 3A gloriously - but I just think he was really nervous (for whatever reason). I do think Tracy is a great calming influence on him though.
 
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