Random Figure Skating Questions

[JayW]

A really stupid question:

Can a skater, especially a female skater, achieve better jumps by gaining more muscles.

E.g. Mao tends to under-rotate her jumps. If she has more muscles on her legs and core, can she overcome the under-rotation?

 

[skylark]

Here's what Evan was doing in July:

http://www.fashiontimes.com/article...c-skater-evan-lysacek-creative-consultant.htm

Do you suppose we will be seeing snakes on wedding dresses in the near future?

LOL! Well, at least such a wedding dress would have some Biblical echoes.

Evan designed some of the outfits for his partner on Dancing With the Stars, Anna Trebunskaya. One I remember particularly was for their Futuristic cha-cha*cha, inspired by the woman's outfit in the movie The Fifth Element.

 

[Krunchii]

A really stupid question:

Can a skater, especially a female skater, achieve better jumps by gaining more muscles.

E.g. Mao tends to under-rotate her jumps. If she has more muscles on her legs and core, can she overcome the under-rotation?

From my limited knowledge it's not quite about how much muscle they have but has more to do with muscle memory. I'm sure all of these high level skaters have a lot of muscle and are very strong but years of practicing and executing a jump one way will be very hard to change, especially when you are older. Plus figure skating is very exact sport according my friend who skates, eg. shift your weight a little bit in an element and you could mess up a lot. So making changes to something like jumps would be very hard because it's more about changing the technique than getting more muscle.

 

[skylark]

I'm not sure this is where I should ask this question, but it IS the stupid questions thread, so here goes:

I was wondering what has happened to Caydee Denney and John Coughlin this year. I was surprised to see there's no fan fest thread for them. To make it clear, I'm not a Denney/Coughlin fan, but I listened to TSL interview of Caitlin Yankowskas today. That made me want to know what's up with D/C. Or down.

I was impressed with John's commentating at last year's Nationals.

 

[Blades of Passion]

3Toe/3Sal is a jump he can do without much setup and very consistently. He doesn't need more content with 3 Quads already, unless Hanyu is able to start doing 3 Quads + 2 Triple Axels (a huge ask, he's only done the 2 Quad + 2 Triple Axel layout cleanly one time so far).

I do wish Fernandez would start pushing the jumps in the SP, though, going for 2 Quads there.

 

[iluvtodd]

I'm not sure this is where I should ask this question, but it IS the stupid questions thread, so here goes:

I was wondering what has happened to Caydee Denney and John Coughlin this year. I was surprised to see there's no fan fest thread for them. To make it clear, I'm not a Denney/Coughlin fan, but I listened to TSL interview of Caitlin Yankowskas today. That made me want to know what's up with D/C. Or down.

I was impressed with John's commentating at last year's Nationals.

Caydee & John have recently retired from Olympic Eligible Competition. They are touring the US & Canada this month in "Halloween on Ice." We'll get to see them this Friday evening in Reading, PA (the second show of the tour, which begins in Wilkes-Barre, PA this Thursday).

 

[skylark]

thanks for answering, iluvtodd. Are there any articles or interviews out there that you know of? Did they give a reason for retiring from Eligible?

I know Caitlin eventually skated with Joshua Reagan (another break-up), then with Hamish Gaman until funding ran out. But there was a comment on the TSL interview of her to the effect that it was a crime that the best Ladies Pairs Skater in the U.S. was sidelined for two years. That made me wonder if USFSA tried to help her get another partner during that time. It seems to me that the Russian Federation, for one example, would have hustled to get her a new pairing under similar circumstances. Anyone have thoughts?

 

[gkelly]

I don't know how the Russian federation works, but USFS isn't in the business of putting together partnerships.

They have hosted group tryouts in the past, and allowed member clubs to do so. It wouldn't surprise me if individual officials sometimes mention privately to coaches or to skaters/parents if they happen to know of a potential partner who is available. But as far as I know there's no mechanism to make sure that a particular skater finds a partner.

However, if it's a skater who has received federation funding and won international medals, they may put roadblocks in the way of that skater competing for a different country.

 

[skylark]

That's what I thought, or maybe what I was afraid of. "You're on your own" pretty much, except to the extent you hear things along the grapevine of coaches, etc.

Well, I just checked Tatiana Volosozhar's birth date. She was 25 when she paired with Maxim, who is a couple years older. I'm going to hold out hope for Caitlin.

 

[el henry]

Caydee & John have recently retired from Olympic Eligible Competition. They are touring the US & Canada this month in "Halloween on Ice." We'll get to see them this Friday evening in Reading, PA (the second show of the tour, which begins in Wilkes-Barre, PA this Thursday).

OK, Reading, Wilkes-Barre, and no Allentown? ( yeah, Reading's "only" 35 miles away for me. I want skating in my backyard)

 

[silverfoxes]

I skimmed a bit of the Mao vs. Liza thread, but was more interested in a couple of the comments about good choreography being more expensive ($700+ vs. $10,000 or so). What exactly determines the price - the name and reputation of the choreographer? What are you getting for $10,000 that a $1000 program wouldn't have? More of the choreographer's time? A more individualized approach vs. some cookie cutter warhorse program? Is it impossible to get a good program cheaply from a lesser known choreographer, or do you always pretty much get what you pay for? I'm not sure a lot of those $10,000 programs were worth it.

 

[thedybbuk]

Can someone tell me who Viktor Adoniev is? He seems to work with a lot of Russian skaters, it seems especially Eteri ones (though seems to have worked with Ignatenko at the very least this season), but I can't find out in what role. Is he some sort of assistant coach? A choreographer?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Can someone tell me who Viktor Adoniev is? He seems to work with a lot of Russian skaters, it seems especially Eteri ones (though seems to have worked with Ignatenko at the very least this season), but I can't find out in what role. Is he some sort of assistant coach? A choreographer?

I think he does choreography,as in works on choreography, with Eteri's students (doesn't choreograph programs...yet) but last year he went with Sima to one event as her primary coach IIRC. He goes by Vik Baldwin on social media. He posted the video of Eteri's boy Morris doing 2a-4t a year or two ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B958exLmbWA

I think he was an ice dancer and now he's like a super dreamy model type dude hwell:

Here he is as an Ice Dancer: https://youtu.be/DBiQ0hqrhh0

 

[Perdita]

Does anyone have any idea why Nam Nguyen is not listed as one of Orser's students in his website? It's unlikely that the site hasn't been updated since it lists Tursynbayeva as a senior skater. Is he simply forgotten...? :shocked:

 

[dorispulaski]

It is possible that the page has not been updated since 2013. That is the latest date listed on the page. However Nam Nguyen has been with Orser since the 2012-2013 season.
https://web.archive.org/web/20130113003021/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00012641.htm

Elizabet has been with Orser since before season 2013-14 started

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabet_Tursynbayeva

So yes. Orser's webmaster forgot to list him, as since Jan. 2013, when Nam filed his first ISU bio, Orser is listed as his only coach.

 

[Perdita]

Thanks!

The mystery is that it seems Tursynbayeva's status has been updated from junior to senior this season. So, I was curious if there's any problem or difference in status that Nam can't be listed among others.
But you mean he is coached by Orser just like Yuzu and Javi, right? Then, yes, no one has yet realised the missing of Nam's name...

 

[silverfoxes]

Can someone tell me who Viktor Adoniev is? He seems to work with a lot of Russian skaters, it seems especially Eteri ones (though seems to have worked with Ignatenko at the very least this season), but I can't find out in what role. Is he some sort of assistant coach? A choreographer?

One of Eteri's students wrote on her ask.fm that he stopped working with Eteri's group for reasons she didn't know, but he still works at the same rink occasionally with Tsareva's skaters (Pavel and Anna P., and I think she has others now). I think his role involves working on things like steps, gliding, making adjustments to the skaters' programs, and generally supporting the coaches (and probably some off-ice work too). He may have choreographed programs for some of the lower level skaters, but I'm not sure.

Here's a video he posted of Pavel working on his step sequence.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=669991689803614&set=vb.100003783660423&type=2&theater

 

[witcher]

Why state subsidizing of skating is a bad idea?

 

[tulosai]

Why state subsidizing of skating is a bad idea?

I don't think it is...

 

[moriel]

Why state subsidizing of skating is a bad idea?

State subsidizing of any sport is a great idea
It is quite expensive, and most families could not afford it. You may see the results in some countries where the state funding is low or non existant - including great skaters retiring because of the high finantial burden