The WOW Factor

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Let's face it the WOW adjective is getting full play in the Forum.

I can think of three WOW skating moves off the top of my head:

Quads- all of them in single jumps or combo jumps

Split legs Spirals with or without change of edge

Bielman positions in spins or substitute spirals.


1. Can you add more WOW moves to the list?

2. Are they overrated when scoring the GOEs?

3. Subliminally subjectively, do you think they influence the whole score of the competitor?

Joe

 

[Zanzibar]

The headless blurred scratch spin - ala Stephane Lambiel. That is one
of the few things that really makes me ooh, aah, and WOW!

 

[soogar]

Wow is a huge DELAYED axel, like Robin Cousins used to do. I also like huge split jumps. Sasha Abt had lots of those in his Blow exhibition. Sasha Cohen's russian split jump done to a beat of music also is a wow element.

I think the triple axel is more of a wow element than the quad. For one thing, it's usually slow enough where you can see the rotations with the naked eye and it also seems that the skater actually gets more height taking off forward on the 3 axel than the quad (or at least a 3 axel needs to be huge to be done well).

Footwork is also a wow element... esp that stop and go footwork that Yevgeny always does the the arms flailing. It is so hard to stay upright when you move the upper body all over the place.

 

[76olympics]

I'm with Soogar. I love the triple axel much more than the quads--it just looks more breathtaking to me. I also like the single axel Josef Sabovcik does--that thing is huge.

I love footwork--it really tends to make me lose myself in the program. Kurt Browning and Paul Wylie are (or were) great in this department though I have liked footwork in many skaters' programs. In fact, I'm going to vote for footwork as my biggest Wow factor. I even love footwork in the pairs' programs.

 

[hockeyfan228]

At US Nationals, people are still going crazy over Kwan's COE spiral and also the flying leaf out of footwork.

3/3's in Ladies, particularly 3Lu/3Lo, are big WOWs, and some triples are as well: Julia Sebestyen's 3Lu and 3F, Kostner's fast, floating turning 3's into 3Lo, Slutskaya's 3S, and Sokolova's 3Lu (HUGE).

I think the Joannie Rochette's two split jumps in Firebird were a big WOW -- she achieved great height and position and covered a lot of ice on them. When skaters do steps directly into 3's and have rhythm in them, they are also a big WOW for me.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

Unusual jump combinations are wows for me. For example: Evgeni's 3A half loop 3 flip. And then I got all gooey when Evan Lysacek did his reverse walley into the 3lutz/3toe. Wheee! And Matt Savoie always has unusual entrances into jumps, the hydroblade thingy into a 3A. *swoon*

I don't believe any of those moves has been properly rewarded, but some of the ones Joe mentioned are overhyped, particularly the full split spiral. Sasha is not on an edge and the "change" edge she does is from a shallow to a flat. I would like to see her drop the leg five degrees and get on a good edge. But the judges don't care, so she should just keep doing what works, I suppose.

 

[Ladskater]

Jeff Buttle's incredible ability to interpret music is a big WOW factor for me - as is Kurt Brownings. Both of these skaters possess fantastic musicality abilites and their footwork is amazing. Jeff also has a great talent for spinning. Both Jeff and Kurt can WOW me anytime!!!

Also Elvis Stojko's wonderful jumping technique is a WOW factor. Just watching him go up in the air and then land is a thrill.

 

[Vash01]

Ilia Kulik's jumps

Plushenko's 4-3-3 combination

The Biellman spin- From the 1980 Olympics this is the only memory I have.

Michelle's falling leaf

Pang & Tong's split triple twist

B&S's throw triple loop out of a spiral

B&S's speed across the ice

M&D's death spiral variations

Brasseur & Eisler's lift where he lifts her with one hand, while both are skating full speed

Johnny Weir's catch foot into a triple lutz

Yagudin's power in triple and quad jumps

Irina's triple-triple combinations

Fumie's scratch spin

Midori Ito's triple axel

Lucinda Ruh's spins

Sasha's spiral

Ina Bauer by Shizuka and Yukina

 

[OwenEvans]

Midori's 3A/3A-2T and the back end of her 3-3 combos are always a wow! for me, no matter how many times I rewind my tapes or replay my clips.

I think the bigger wow is the 3-toe in her combos as she always catapaulted off the ice like she was on springs, got great height and really cranked out the revolutions without the usual leg wrap. If you can, check out her 3lz-3t combos from her 91 NHK or Lalique LPs - perfect......

 

[brad640]

I agree with everything listed so far in this thread, especially these:

The headless blurred scratch spin - ala Stephane Lambiel

And Stephane’s many sit spin variations done in succession at the end of his SP, and his SP footwork, especially the turns with hands clasped behind the back.

footwork that Yevgeny always does the the arms flailing.

Evgeni's 3A half loop 3 flip.

Plushenko's 4-3-3 combination

I love watching Plush’s one-of-a-kind combinations and passionate footwork. Didn’t he at one time perform a 4t half loop 3s sequence? I also love his arm and hand flourishes on certain jump landings.

Jeff Buttle's incredible ability to interpret music

Yes, though it is more amazing for me when he pushes the envelope with his music choices like he did in the LP.

when Evan Lysacek did his reverse walley into the 3lutz/3toe. Wheee! And Matt Savoie always has unusual entrances into jumps, the hydroblade thingy into a 3A. *swoon*

And Evan’s spiral into 3f3t. I love that Matt does a 3a entrance that can’t be described in words. I think Dick Button called it a “low position.” Maybe it should be named a Savoie axel.

Joannie Rochette's two split jumps in Firebird

This is one instance where CoP is deficient. Joannie was one of the few skaters who bothered to perform split jumps this season, and she got no credit on the TES. Split jumps should be assigned a technical value like other jumps and not just supposedly rewarded under the PCS.


WOW combinations:
VDP’s 3-3-3
Sandhu’s 3-3-3 in “Purple Rain” with hesitation between each jump
Dinev’s 3-3-2 in his worlds LP this year was the most powerful combination I saw
Johnny’s 3a3t landed so quietly with pure edges. He was the only skater at worlds to receive a +3 GOE from any judge for a jump on his 3z3t in the SP.

WOW spins:
Oksana’s donut spin
Rudy’s Y spin
Tara’s illusions
Buttle’s sit spin in the combination where he hits the sit position while the skating leg is still upright, and then descends into a full sit position.
Sasha’s layback
Sasha’s one-leg spin

WOW elements:
Oksana’s expression in numerous performances
Michelles circular footwork in the 98 Rach SP, especially the forward steps with swinging arms
Urmanov’s turns on his knees
Klimkin’s circular footwork in his Swan Lake SP – true performance on ice
Klimkin’s cantilever jump entrance
Kristoffer Berntsson’s Michael Jackson dance moves at the beginning of his Justin Timberlake SP in 03-04
Lulu’s back spiral with turned upper body in the Spring Breeze SP
Savchenko/Szolkowy’s criss-cross footwork pattern in their Casablanca LP – very expressive of the musical theme and the story.

 

[bronxgirl]

Sasha's I spin AKA the Beaver Cleaver has no WOW for me. It just looks as if she has pushed her extreme flexiblity to it's maximum and she's going to show you she's a Gumby no matter how ungraceful it looks. Somebody needs to tell her that we all appreciate the fact that she's flexible, now let's work on being musical and flexible at the same time.

 

[33leprechaun]

Jeff Buttle's incredible ability to interpret music is a big WOW factor for me - as is Kurt Brownings. Both of these skaters possess fantastic musicality abilites and their footwork is amazing. Jeff also has a great talent for spinning. Both Jeff and Kurt can WOW me anytime!!!

Also Elvis Stojko's wonderful jumping technique is a WOW factor. Just watching him go up in the air and then land is a thrill.

 

[33leprechaun]

Midori's 3A/3A-2T and the back end of her 3-3 combos are always a wow! for me, no matter how many times I rewind my tapes or replay my clips.

I think the bigger wow is the 3-toe in her combos as she always catapaulted off the ice like she was on springs, got great height and really cranked out the revolutions without the usual leg wrap. If you can, check out her 3lz-3t combos from her 91 NHK or Lalique LPs - perfect......

Midori rocks! :agree:

 

[Hikaru]

For me would be the throw jumps from Shen and Zhao; you can really count their rotations as she seems to be floating in the air. Even with the quad sal they did at the olys, even when she fell after the landing, the jump was perfect in the air. I love Sasha's layback spins and her spiral. Alexei's expressions and his huge triple axel, Pang and Tong's and the Zhang's split twist. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze's spiral/spread eagles combination moves, Michelle's spiral too, and Miki's 3lutz3loop, Shizu-chan's ina bauer... I could go on and on

 

[Doggygirl]

I could spend all day watching Shiz do nothing but Ina Bauers. It's probably not a huge "wow" to the judges, but it's sure a wow to me!


DG

 

[Kasey]

Agreed that footwork can have the "wow" factor.

Stephane's headless spin.

Klimkin's cantilever.

And Shizuka's Ina Bauer

 

[icenut84]

Sasha's I spin (when done to the music, like in Malaguena), layback, and russian splits

Irina's BI3 turn directly into the 2axel - amazing! Incredibly difficult entrance

Oksana Baiul's flying camel (beautiful, one of the best ever IMO), donut spin, and sideways leaning spin. And her huge lutz

Plushenko's jump combos and unbelievable footwork, and the spin combo he did at the end of his Carmen performance in the 03 Euros gala

Stephane's spinning (all of it), footwork sequences, and the number of transitions he has into his elements

Carolina Kostner's speed, her edge on her FI spiral, and the way she can skate so close to the barrier! I'd totally freak out if I went that close, I'd be scared of crashing.

Fumie's back blur spin and her death drop is also pretty good!

Boitano's death drop and spread eagle

Yagudin's death drop

Julia Sebestyen's height on her jumps

Midori Ito, full stop

Shen & Zhao's big elements. And their quad attempt at the Olympics. She may have fallen off the landing, but it was amazing to get even that far, and that throw was the biggest I've EVER seen, from any pair.

Zhangs and Obertas&Slavnov's quad twists, and O&S's crazy elements, especially the lifts

Sale & Pelletier's lift in Come Away With Me where she's doing a handstand on his lower arm, with no suport!! Unbelievable.

Klimkin's cantilever, and his multi-directional camel spins into 3salchow