Practice Reports

[PolymerBob]

Over at FSUniverse, they are reporting that Evan and Brian are landing quads in practice, Miki is doing quads, and Mao is doing 3As. They report that the competitors don't look tired.

......... and Joannie's luggage got delayed.

 

[Okami]

I'm confused.Laura Lepisto did 3T-3T in SP at the European Championships. Isn't this a repeat of same type jump?

http://www.isuresults.com/results/ec2009/ec09_Ladies_SP_Scores.pdf

Repeating a triple is fine as long as it's in the combination of the same kind of jump (3T-3T and 3L-3L). This rule actually confused Stephane Lambiel who once (or twice) after tripling his quad intentionally doubled 3T because he thought it's not allowed to repeat a triple.

 

[antmanb]

That is against the rules. Ladies may do only 2A in the SP.

According to the ANNOUNCEMENT for the WTC event, Rule 510 will be used for the SP.

http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-191592-208815-140518-0-file,00.pdf (see page 87)

Rule 510 for Ladies:
a) Double Axel Paulsen

If Mao does a 3A in the SP, she will get a deduction for an illegal element, and she will lose all points for the element.

There is nothing to stop her doing a 3A in combination or as a solo jump preceded by steps, as long as she also does a solo 2A.

Ant

 

[Morning Glory]

Repeating a triple is fine as long as it's in the combination of the same kind of jump (3T-3T and 3L-3L). This rule actually confused Stephane Lambiel who once (or twice) after tripling his quad intentionally doubled 3T because he thought it's not allowed to repeat a triple.

Thank you for the clarification. So skaters have to remind the rule book when they fail the planed elements...

 

[LeCygne]

I'm glad Mao is trying the 3A in the short to test it out perhaps for next year, but I'm a bit worried about her 3-3. She hasn't been doing it consistently (downgrades and all) for a while now, and while the 3A is a great point-getter, I just think she'll need at last one 3-3 as well... Actually, point-wise, how does 3flip-3loop compare to 3axel-2toe?

 

[turtle]

Miki will do 3Lz-3L in the SP, and wants to attempt 4S and 2A-3L in the LP.

Does that mean each skater skates both SP and LP? I thought one skates SP while the other skates LP. Of course love to see them skate both of their programs!

 

[Okami]

I'm glad Mao is trying the 3A in the short to test it out perhaps for next year, but I'm a bit worried about her 3-3. She hasn't been doing it consistently (downgrades and all) for a while now, and while the 3A is a great point-getter, I just think she'll need at last one 3-3 as well... Actually, point-wise, how does 3flip-3loop compare to 3axel-2toe?

The base value of 3F-3L is 1 point higher than 3A-2T. 3A-2T gets as many points as 3F-3T.
That's just the base value, though. When we take GoE into consideration, it turns out that doing combos ending with toe-loop is often more beneficial, because they are more explosive and the judges are more likely to awaed them high GoEs.

I don't think that Mao wants to do 3A-2T in order to avoid doing 3F-3L; at Worlds it looked good and was ratified. I think it's the 3Lz that's the problem. I watched Mao's practices at Worlds (some nice soul shared her whole practice sessions) and while she never fell on it (and when she landed it it was very good) she popped/doubled it very often. It looked as if she really needed to concentrate in order to land it well, and the required steps before it distracted her.
I wouldn't be surprised if she simply opted to leave it out until it's more reliable.

Replacing 3Lz with 3A out of steps would be more difficult, I think, because she would have very little time to practice it. Although she used to do 3A out of brackets, it's been a long time since she attempted it in competition. And 3T or 3S just wouldn't be very point-efficient.

Does that mean each skater skates both SP and LP? I thought one skates SP while the other skates LP. Of course love to see them skate both of their programs!

Yes, the skaters will skate both SP and LP.

 

[Spun Silver]

Over at FSUniverse, they are reporting that Evan and Brian are landing quads in practice, Miki is doing quads, and Mao is doing 3As. They report that the competitors don't look tired.

What about Evan's stress fracture? Why would he be endangering his foot at an insignificant event ten months before the Olympics?

 

[museksk8r]

What about Evan's stress fracture? Why would he be endangering his foot at an insignificant event ten months before the Olympics?

Indeed! That's what I'd like to know too. It eerily reminds me of Michelle at 2005 Worlds with the struggles she had there with her hip injury and then unnecessarily practicing 3Salchow+3loop combinations during the week of the Marshall's Spring Cheese fest, which she won, but that event ended up being her penultimate competition before the 2005 Skating Idol cheese fest in December. Hope Lysacek too isn't overdoing his training despite injury (and I realize Kwan's injury was much worse, but still). With that being said, he and his team knows his body better than I do, so hopefully all will be okay.

 

[PolymerBob]

I haven't read about nor seen pictures of Caroline or Rachael.
Have they arrived?

 

[Okami]

Today's practice clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjdpOz7S5Wc
Includes clips from Mao's SP runthrough - 3A-2T, 3F, 2A. :agree:

I haven't read about nor seen pictures of Caroline or Rachael.

I haven't seen Caroline yet, but Rachel was present at the practice session today. She can be seen at 0:36 in the clip above.

 

[npa]

Today's practice clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjdpOz7S5Wc
Includes clips from Mao's SP runthrough - 3A-2T, 3F, 2A. :agree:



I haven't seen Caroline yet, but Rachel was present at the practice session today. She can be seen at 0:36 in the clip above.

Did you saw pairs and ice dance practice?

 

[Okami]

Did you saw pairs and ice dance practice?

No, unfortunately - I was not present at the practices, I just watched the clips from the Japanese TV. Sadly they ignored other disciplines in favour of singles.

 

[cloudkicker09]

Any updates on Brian and or how the return of Laurent Depouilly to the coaching helm is going?

 

[Andalusia]

I haven't read about nor seen pictures of Caroline or Rachael.
Have they arrived?

Caroline is behind Miki with her hand on her hip looking at Mao landing a 3A at about 5:42-5:43 of this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42XH6t7aRrM

She's in an all-black practice dress we've seen before. Rachael is in burgundy. You can also hear 'Ave Maria' playing in the background earlier on in the clip while the camera's on Mao.

I predict Mao is going to wow us in this competition - she is looking unstoppable. Miki too, I might add.

Ladies' SP finally happens today and is only hours away...wheee!!!

 

[dance4u]

Joannie Rochette

Did Joannie's skate arrive on time?

 

[Skating Gator]

I wish here in the U.S. they gave skating reports on the nightly news

I can't wait! I still need to convert all the times, I am on eastern time, anyone know of the top of their head what time the events are at for U.S. east coasters?

 

[Andalusia]

Did Joannie's skate arrive on time?

As per FSU, they did, and she managed to sneak in a practice even though she had missed the earlier ones.

I just noticed that Caroline mouths "Wow" when watching Mao land her 3A in that clip I posted . That's right, Caroline...that's what you have to aspire to...no more teeny-tiny double axels lunged into from a standstill!

 

[PolymerBob]

I wish here in the U.S. they gave skating reports on the nightly news

I can't wait! I still need to convert all the times, I am on eastern time, anyone know of the top of their head what time the events are at for U.S. east coasters?

To convert Tokyo time to Eastern Daylight, subtract one hour, then switch the AM / PM from wherever you end up.

So 8:40 PM Tokyo = 7:40 AM Eastern
.... 10:15 AM Tokyo = 9:15 PM Eastern
.... 12:30 AM Tokyo = 11:30 AM Eastern

 

[chuckm]

I wish here in the U.S. they gave skating reports on the nightly news

I can't wait! I still need to convert all the times, I am on eastern time, anyone know of the top of their head what time the events are at for U.S. east coasters?

Thurs 4/16
Dance OD 2:45a EDT
Men SP 3:50a
Ladies SP 5:40a

Fri 4/17
Pairs SP 2:30a
Dance FD 3:40a
Men FS 5:00a

Sat 4/18
Pairs FS 1:00a
Ladies FS 2:20a

Sun 4/19
Exhibition 1a

Japanese Asahi TV will be showing taped events starting at about 6 am each day.

NTV Online (available on WebTV) will be showing the Friday through Sunday events LIVE.