This season, Shoma is trying to challenge more -not necessarily in his jumps, but in his mindset. I've been reading his comments throughout this season and this recent article also shows a little of Shoma's thoughts on his competitive results and mindset:
This is not the whole article, I hope the whole thing can be translated soon.
https://sportiva.shueisha.co.jp/clm/othersports/figure/2018/12/10/post_36/index_4.php
It's in Japanese, and covers a lot of things, but about his mindset he said "While giving a few interviews, I've come to think, It's quite hard to believe in ones self" (my note: his motto for this season is Believe BTW)
"The Axel and Toeloop are jumps that I had confidence in and to make mistakes on them one after the other made me lose confidence. If it was the Flip and Salchow that weren't doing well, that would be just business as usual, but this time before going to Canada it was going well, so I think that troubled me. I wanted Results ( my note: Gold medal) and that might have been pressure as well."
"In any competition up till this point, I've been saying "I aim to have fun (or enjoy)" and I wasn't that conscious of winning the titles. I thought, if I concentrate on my own performance, the results will follow. However, from the first competition this season, I haven't thought like that, I've been demanding both results and performance from myself. 'Now, I want to put pressure on myself, and rise above it' "
"If you think about chances, last season, points-wise, in every competition there was a chance. But in the (GP)Final I felt "It wasn't good". It was held in Nagoya and everyone had expectations and it was a competition in which results were expected. Until last year, I was saying just enjoy, but eventually there is a time where you can't just enjoy. I may not be that age yet, but I realized that time will come. That's why I want to put pressure on myself and compete in it, and produce results."
"As Yuzuru Hanyu does each time, conquering pressure and producing a splendid result, and becoming a splendid athlete. I think I also must be like that, so I put pressure on myself. "
End of excerpt.
I admire Shoma for wanting to go for gold this season and challenge himself in this way. His past mindset of just doing his own thing at his own pace really worked for him, kept him calm and impervious to pressure. After the Olympics, Yuzuru said of Shoma that he has a Titanuim heart and a Titanium mind. And really admired it. However, it seems that to challenge for the next level in his development, he wants to make himself open to pressure, to learn how to deal with it.
In the short term, it may be destabilizing, but if he can get his head around it, it may make him more resilient, especially if he wants to be the front-runner in men's skating. It comes with a lot of pressure, scrutiny and expectations.
As always, if you have issues with the translation, or spot an error, comment or PM me.
