Thoughts on Satoko Miyahara's skating

[bosskil]

"When she enters the rink, she has a special aura around her which I hope I can get someday", she said.

Perfect description of Marin Honda, btw.... :agree:

 

[ioanna]

ioanna, if you haven't already, be sure to check out the latest TSL's This and That with Dave Lease and his guest Drew Meekins. They discuss Satoko and are very complimentary toward her. Drew saw her in person last weekend and sounds quite taken with her skating and her skating dress. :luv17:

I watched it and was honestly surprised at how complimentary Drew Meekins was toward her. Dave Lease has been criticizing her ever since he saw her at Worlds and all he and Jenny ever say is "she has scary jumps but yeah she went and did her job" they're unimpressed with her consistency (like many other people anyway).

But that's all in the past so I was glad to hear a review from somebody who actually attended US Classic because this is what's relevant now. And Drew said she was stunning and that he was hypnotized by her program. About the jumps - the most sensitive subject - he said "the jumps were just so effortless, she seems to float in the air" and his impression was that they looked "stronger and bigger" and he was confident about the rotations on nearly every single jump.

Now if Drew were a GS poster saying that, I can imagine the pooling prerotation comments, judges turning a blind eye on her underrotations and so on; at this point I believe what Drew said, he was there, he gave a non biased opinion and I hope she continues to improve overall. I really hope she will leave a good impression in every competition for the rest of the season.

 

[Mrs. P]

I watched it and was honestly surprised at how complimentary Drew Meekins was toward her. Dave Lease has been criticizing her ever since he saw her at Worlds and all he and Jenny ever say is "she has scary jumps but yeah she went and did her job" they're unimpressed with her consistency (like many other people anyway).

But that's all in the past so I was glad to hear a review from somebody who actually attended US Classic because this is what's relevant now. And Drew said she was stunning and that he was hypnotized by her program. About the jumps - the most sensitive subject - he said "the jumps were just so effortless, she seems to float in the air" and his impression was that they looked "stronger and bigger" and he was confident about the rotations on nearly every single jump.

Now if Drew were a GS poster saying that, I can imagine the pooling prerotation comments, judges turning a blind eye on her underrotations and so on; at this point I believe what Drew said, he was there, he gave a non biased opinion and I hope she continues to improve overall. I really hope she will leave a good impression in every competition for the rest of the season.

Another poster on GS (Paul_E), who was also there, was also complimentary towards Satoko as well. I'm supposed to see him tomorrow -- he's passing through my city on his way back to his town -- so I'll be sure to ask him about any other observations about her. Let me know if there's anything you want me to ask about her.

 

[ioanna]

No..Satoko is not very much like Machida at all. Tatsuki has nice jumps, especially his 4T, 3A and 3Lz and no prorotation or underrotation problem that Satoko has. I like Miyahara's musicality, so I enjoyed watching a couple of her programs, but she doesn't own some glaring presence on ice yet like Tatsuki.

Tatsuki developed his presence and personality very late in his career and I think excessive prerotations are pretty rare in the men's field, it's mostly a ladies problem. He didn't have a good 4T until the age of 23 and before Sochi the majority of the general skating fans had no idea who he was in the first place. Satoko is only 18 and is already a 2-time National champion and World silver medalist but just like Tatsuki she wasn't some junior prodigy, she's not a "star" but I'm pretty sure there will come a time when her personality on the ice will project to the audience. As a fan of both, I hope Satoko will continue long enough to answer all the "what ifs" I have left since Tatsuki retired.

About their skating, they both have great posture, beautiful lines and feel of music. Shoma's skating is more on the hunched and still not sure what to do with my arms style. Since seeing Tatsuki and Satoko next to each other last year at Carnival on Ice I sensed some similarity in their movements. They both give me a "ballerina in a music box" feeling.
https://youtu.be/n3Qxy8KySXM?t=3m32s

 

[ioanna]

Another poster on GS (Paul_E), who was also there, was also complimentary towards Satoko as well. I'm supposed to see him tomorrow -- he's passing through my city on his way back to his town -- so I'll be sure to ask him about any other observations about her. Let me know if there's anything you want me to ask about her.

Thank you Mrs. P. I guess I'd like to know if she has made improvements on the weakest areas of her skating: jumps, power and projection to the audience.

 

[Crossover]

Tatsuki developed his presence and personality very late in his career and I think excessive prerotations are pretty rare in the men's field, it's mostly a ladies problem. He didn't have a good 4T until the age of 23 and before Sochi the majority of the general skating fans had no idea who he was in the first place. Satoko is only 18 and is already a 2-time National champion and World silver medalist but just like Tatsuki she wasn't some junior prodigy, she's not a "star" but I'm pretty sure there will come a time when her personality on the ice will project to the audience. As a fan of both, I hope Satoko will continue long enough to answer all the "what ifs" I have left since Tatsuki retired.

About their skating, they both have great posture, beautiful lines and feel of music. Shoma's skating is more on the hunched and still not sure what to do with my arms style. Since seeing Tatsuki and Satoko next to each other last year at Carnival on Ice I sensed some similarity in their movements. They both give me a "ballerina in a music box" feeling.
https://youtu.be/n3Qxy8KySXM?t=3m32s

Let me put it this way. Shoma has been criticized for his pre-rotation and UR problems so has Satoko. They are not free of wrong edge take-off too. On the other hand, they both feel music and have good skills although Shoma appeals to the audience more and his SS are better than Satoko's. However, Satoko has better landing flows than Shoma. All in all, both have been criticized for their jumps, not for other elements.

Besides, age doesn't play equally to men and female skaters because of the difference in their physical strength and jump mechanics. Female single skaters' high years come early while male single skaters become stronger as they get older with more strength and power backed by their muscles. Satoko's consistency relies on largely his tinny body frame, but Tatsuki jumps big contrasted to his short height (not as much short as Shoma.). Honestly I feel unpleasant about Tatsuki being compared with Satoko whose jump techniques are questionable. Satoko may have more presence like Shoma as he was basically nobody to many of figure skating fans until 2014-15 season. Something I find similarities from Satoko and Tatsuki though is that they are both Japanese, diligent and working hard. That's all. I didn't feel at all that Tatsuki got any favor from his federation unlike Satoko. He wasn't consistent until his peak years unlike Satoko as well. I don't ever consider Satoko a balletic skater as some other posters previously said. Skaters capable of using arms softly doesn't automatically mean that they are balleric.

 

[ioanna]

Let me put it this way. Shoma has been criticized for his pro-rotation and UR problems so has Satoko. They are not free of wrong edge take-off too. On the other hand, they both feel music and have good skills although Shoma appeals to the audience more and his SS are better than Satoko's. However, Satoko has better landing flows than Shoma. All in all, both have been criticized for their jumps, not other elements.

Besides, age doesn't play equally to men and female skaters because of the difference in their physical strength and jump mechanics. Female single skaters' high years come early while male single skaters become stronger as they get older with more strength and power backed by their muscles. Satoko's consistency relies on largely his tinny body frame, but Tatsuki jumps big contrast to his short height. I feel unpleasant about Tatsuki being compared with Satoko whose jump techniques are questionable. Satoko may have more presence like Shoma as he was basically nobody to many of figure skating fans until 2014-15 season. Something I find similarity from Satoko and Tatsuki though is that they are both Japanese, diligent and working hard. That's all. I don't ever consider Satoko a balletic skater as some other posters previously said. Skaters capable of using arms softly doesn't mean that they are balleric.

I don't necessarily think Shoma has better skating skills, he just does more crossovers and gets speed easily. Speed is not the only characteristic of good skating skills. However, he was more popular than Tatsuki before 2014-2015, those who followed Japanese skating know. Anyway, Tatsuki had edge problems too and his technique before 2012 was, um, shaky to say at least. Anthony Liu and Phillip Mills fixed his axis and landings. The spins continued to be his biggest weakness until the end, he was always losing levels for that camel spin. All the rest... is a matter of taste.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Another poster on GS (Paul_E), who was also there, was also complimentary towards Satoko as well. I'm supposed to see him tomorrow -- he's passing through my city on his way back to his town -- so I'll be sure to ask him about any other observations about her. Let me know if there's anything you want me to ask about her.

Two forum members told me she had improved her jumps, including Paul, so I watched some icenetwork (will these people EVER get their act together?) and to me she looks like she is indeed stepping up into her jumps and I see them as much improved.
Ask Paul how cold it was in the rink.:agree:

 

[ioanna]

It's funny because in the competition thread somebody said "is it me or are her jumps bigger/better" and everyone was like "you're just projecting / in fact they're worse" it's like everyone is watching a different skater.

 

[Heleng]

It's funny because in the competition thread somebody said "is it me or are her jumps bigger/better" and everyone was like "you're just projecting / in fact they're worse" it's like everyone is watching a different skater.

Yeah, to me, her jumps looked much improved, higher and with more power, but when so many posters said that wasn't the case, I wondered whether I'd imagined it, lol!