Yuzuru Hanyu: 2017-2018

[DorYiu]

a quick look at Yuzu's FP BVs in recent times...

Seimei @ 2015 GPF
BV 95.19 (with StSq3; would have been 95.79 with StSq4)
TES with GOE 120.92

Hope & Legacy @ Worlds 2017
BV 103.43 (everything was level 4)
TES with GOE 126.12

Hope & Legacy @ WTT 2017
The program content he was going for (had he not popped the first 4S):
1. 4Lo 12.00
2. 4S 10.50
3. FCCoSp4 3.50
4. StSq4 3.90
5. 3F 5.30
- - -
6. 4S+3T 16.28
7. 4T 11.33
8. 3A+2T 10.78
9. 4T+1Lo+3S 16.72
10. FCSSp 3.00
11. ChSq 2.00
12. 3Lz 6.60
13. CCoSp4 3.50

BV 105.41

- - -

in comparison...

Nathan Chen's FP 2017 4cc
(4Lz+3T, 4F, 4T, 4T+2T; 3A+2T+2T*, 4S, 3Lz, 3A)
BV 106.48 (everything level4)
TES with GOE 115.48
(had Nathan done 3A+2T+2Lo, his BV would have been 1.98 points higher)

Yuzu's 4cc FP
(with the planned second-half 4S+3T combo popped to 2S+1Lo - lost over 14 points in a single element! Also no half loop triple sal combo here)
BV 93.20
TES with GOE 112.33

For perspective: Even with the big pop and therefore significantly lower BV, Yuzu won the free skate @ 4cc with 2+ points over Nathan because of his GOE & PCS advantage.

Hope I got everything right and someone finds this helpful!

Thank you for the information and easy comparison!

So put it in simple maths, even a clean 3 quads program (SEIMEI GPF 2015) vs. a clean 5 quads program (Nathan 4CC), due to the GOE, which Yuzu manage to score close to 16 GOE points, when Nathan only manage to score 9 on top of the BV. Yuzu could still win with a lower BV program, the key is the skate clean. (Because one fall would cost over 10 points, which take out the whole GOE advantage, no matter how good you were landing all other jumps.) Even he could do that (a lower BV program), he is not leaving any room for his competitors, that's why he up his program to a 5 quads program.

At the end of the day, whoever gives a clean skate and get the best out of GOE will be the winner. Thats why Yuzu said, injury free is the most important, coz that means maximising the prossibility of landing all the jumps; working on the quality of all types of jumps, that means aiming the best of GOE; no fall give no excuses for a lower presentation score, when he already know how to preform both programs so well. (Not to mention the best presentation score of Yuzu is almost 10 points beyond Nathan's 4CC FP, but there is only a small gap between Yuzu and Javi's best presentation score. Even he knows there is a limit on the presentation, he still too proud to let anything go, he want to be the best in every aspects. But he also know how to win.)

That's really is the way to gold, if he skate clean, which is what he is working on. Things that he said in the media day become clearer when looking at the historical score with it.

 

[kiches]

I think judges didn't like or understand these programs. Whereas they love Chopin and SEIMEI.

I think LGC was actually well received by the judges, if he had skated it perfectly I'm sure he would've broken the world record with it. Hope and Legacy on the other hand may have been too introverted for some and not obvious enough to easily get excited for.

 

[DorYiu]

Thank you for your explanation I wish we could see Max's interview with Yuzuru someday!

I would love to see that happen, I think Max might cries. Given how much he love Yuzu.
it will be nice to see Max yell out: "Welcome to planet Hanyu! Population One!" with his actual facial expression.

 

[Ender]

If he did a 3A-2Lo then he wants a 3A-3Lo, which is both ever so exciting and ... it makes my hips hurt. From a BV point of view, perfectly understandable though. I suppose we know and are seeing in practice some of that which he said he needs to do before the 4Lz. Yes, he's fully attacking everything first. I wonder if he'll rippon anything in the FS...

I am really excited to see the step sequence though, that should be something considering how much he's improved.

ETA
Oh yes, someone asked about values?

3A-2T = 9.8 ->> 10.78
3A-2Lo = 10.3 ->> 11. 33
3A-3Lo = 13.6 ->> 14.96

So yes, potentially a huge jump in points.

Hanyu certainly has better chance to fully rotate the 3A3Lo and get good GOE with it than some skaters can do with their quads.

 

[Henni147]

He also risks the judges holding off on those 10s and +3 GOEs in these repeated 'safe' programs. Which they kind of already did last season, to be honest, regardless of him having new programs (forever salty about his Worlds SP 4Lo not getting a +3), so it makes little difference in the end. Might as well try to go for the consistently clean strategy and if all else fails, bring in the 4Lz if he doesn't start with it already.

Actually it's quite easy to satisfy the judges. You just have to raise your arms above your head while doing the 4Lo

 

[YesWay]

Actually it's quite easy to satisfy the judges. You just have to raise your arms above your head while doing the 4Lo

That reminded me, that Yukiko Okabe (an ISU judge) said something interesting recently, while she was doing some of her priceless commentary - this time on 4CC replays on Japanese J-Sports4 TV channel (I think it was 4CC, might have been another competition... but anyway...):

A skater was doing tano/rippon jumps and she said something along the lines of: "it's not enough any more, to simply 'do' a tano/rippon - it also had to look good, and the other aspects of the jump had to be solid, or it wasn't going to help the skater's GoE".

Now, that's "as I remember it", from my wife's on-the-fly translation (native Japanese speaker), and we don't have recordings or anything to double check exactly what Okabe said... So don't take the above as an exact quote, or the absolute truth.

But I definitely raised an eyebrow at the time, at the implication that judges might be shifting how they view tano/rippon jumps... that if simply 'doing' a tano/rippon automatically ticked a GoE bullet point in the past, it might not be so any more...

 

[kiches]

That reminded me, that Yukiko Okabe (an ISU judge) said something interesting recently, while she was doing some of her priceless commentary - this time on 4CC replays on Japanese J-Sports4 TV channel (I think it was 4CC, might have been another competition... but anyway...):

A skater was doing tano/rippon jumps and she said something along the lines of: "it's not enough any more, to simply 'do' a tano/rippon - it also had to look good, and the other aspects of the jump had to be solid, or it wasn't going to help the skater's GoE".

Now, that's "as I remember it", from my wife's on-the-fly translation (native Japanese speaker), and we don't have recordings or anything to double check exactly what Okabe said... So don't take the above as an exact quote, or the absolute truth.

But I definitely raised an eyebrow at the time, at the implication that judges might be shifting how they view tano/rippon jumps... that if simply 'doing' a tano/rippon automatically ticked a GoE bullet point in the past, it might not be so any more...

I certainly hope this is true, but really it's supposed to be that way as the varied air position is only one of the GOE bullets.

 

[nekun]

I'm here for Chopin 3.0 if that's mean we'll get 4T3T (rippon) it's so lovely..


to be honest I was abit dissapointed when Yuzu jumped 3A2T from SE on OP coz I love the original entry and then he casualy throw 3A2L on the next day...Ok then Yuzu, you can use SE for entry if that mean I'll get 3A3L, lol

 

[Interspectator]

https://static.blog-video.jp/output/hq/Np82PyNhMQmqoCETwrMq08dV.mp4 A funny clip of Yuzu from Sonia Lafuente's Instagram.

 

[yude]

Newspaper of August 12.
https://twitter.com/aki_yuzpooh/status/896186917657624576

"He is hungry and that is his personal nature. Once the skaters get gold medals (in the Olympics), there is the time to be relaxed for them. But Yuzu is only looking ahead." (Tracy)

Bourne and Orser says Yuzuru has been matured and come to open his heart.

"It's like I got used to the environment. When the time around Sochi Olympics, I had been adding my thoughts as "+α" to Brian's advice such as "do it, do that". But now we discuss both sides of opinions. 1+1 has come to be equal to 3 or 4."(Yuzuru)

And according to the article, Orser agreed to use Chopin but was hesitant with SEIMEI at first (opposite to Yuzuru ).
"It's tricky (to skate two programs he has already used to)." (Orser)
But he and Yuzuru talked about it and now they both are in agreement.
"This long program has been (highly) evaluated by many people and the program means a lot to him. If he performs it again, he has to raise the level to the different dimension." (Orser)

 

[sailormoon]

At the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona in 2015, Hanyu received a total of 330.43 points, 219.48 in the free and 110.95 in the short with the Japanese-themed music, which are still world records. I think repeating the programs would give him the best chance to maximize his scores and defend his Olympic title at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" did not go down well with the judges, who may like Japanese-themed programs more. Hanyu was in seventh place after the men's short program at the World Team Trophy in April because of a failed quadruple loop, for which he did not receive any points, which may be why he's less adventurous for the Olympic season. I personally liked "Let's Go Crazy" but Hanyu was less consistent compared to the 2015-2016 season.

 

[nimi]

Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" did not go down well with the judges, who may like Japanese-themed programs more.

I just took a look at LGC at 2016 GPF and Yuzu's PCS are the highest (47.35) with judges marks ranging from 9.00 to 10.0. (Those 10s were in Performance, Composition and Interpretation of the music.) In comparison, CLEAN PChan (47.10) didn't get any 10s from any of the judges (range from 9.25 to 9.75).

Also positive GOEs (mostly +2 and +3) for Yuzu on every element except the 4Lo with the scrambled landing.

So, I'm not sure what do you mean about LGC not going down well with the judges?

 

[xeyra]

I just took a look at LGC at 2016 GPF and Yuzu's PCS are the highest (47.35) with judges marks ranging from 9.00 to 10.0. (Those 10s were in Performance, Composition and Interpretation of the music.) In comparison, CLEAN PChan (47.10) didn't get any 10s from any of the judges (range from 9.25 to 9.75).

Also positive GOEs (mostly +2 and +3) for Yuzu on every element except the 4Lo with the scrambled landing.

So, I'm not sure what do you mean about LGC not going down well with the judges?

The judges loved LGC. His step sequence alone got max GOE four times last season. I keep saying that the judges just didn't love him not going clean on it.

 

[nimi]

Agree with the "going clean" thing. As far as the program itself goes... The music & concept do require a lot of infectious energy and swagger to be convincing, so when you make a mistake and you're bummed about making that mistake and it shows on your face (and maybe now and then in your body language)... Not ideal. It's easier to hide some of your disappointment when you're skating to something more sombre and serious.

I just vividly remember seeing LCG live @ Helsinki and it was so so great, watching the performance in my cheap seat (high up). There was the collective *GASP* when he made the mistake in landing 4S but then he proceeded to do just great and I was all "STANDING OVATION! YAY! GIVE HIM ALL THE POINTS! I don't care if there was a mistake!"
But then later on I watched the program on Youtube and saw the disappointment on his face and I got a bit sad... hwell: And that's the view judges get. They see the facial expressions, and little things like that could make a difference between 9.25 and 9.75 (e.g. in IN), I guess.

 

[Tallorder]

I hope he and Brian find the best cadence for his competitive season. The goal is not to peak at NHK or GPF, but in February (normally Four Continents time) and at an event which will likely have needing to perform in a team event for which Japan has limited opportunity to medal, relatively close in timing to the Men's event.

 

[Danibellerika]

While it'd be ideal to peak at the Olympics, Yuzu's goal is to raise his average, so I think he'll strive to be a close to perfect as possible all season.

 

[Yatagarasu]

The goal is not to peak at NHK or GPF, but in February

That's not good enough, no matter how that sounds. He needs to be relatively consistent this entire season, in order to ride the wave to February and the Games. Olympics season is different; there's always politicking and nudging, but nothing, nothing beats the Games in terms of how much play BTS there is. So ideally, he'd be able to start the season already in good shape, and hold that throughout. Very difficult but this is why he's been messing about with his highest average and looking at Zhenya and talking about stabilizing the 5 in FS first, while maximizing those elements.

It's not going to be easy this season but he's obviously got a firm grasp on what he needs to do to repeat that gold.

 

[riminin]

The judges loved LGC. His step sequence alone got max GOE four times last season. I keep saying that the judges just didn't love him not going clean on it.

Yes, I agree.

 

[moonkat]

I am surprised how conservative Yuzu is being this season, with two repeated program. That said, these programs fit Yuzu's personality very well. He is serious, thoughtful (Chopin) and fierce ( Seimei).
LGC was really fun, but it looked like he felt awkward performing it.

Well, I hope he changes his costume. It is always nice to be able to tell which year the performance was depending on the costume. Chopin is especially fun because the costume turned bluer as the season progressed.

 

[Interspectator]

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5wt869 this video shows so much of his programs I love it. Watching him skate is the best.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ws5xe
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5wrzob
Another wave of Yuzu clips!! :agree: