Yuzuru Hanyu: I still have too many shortcomings (Interview)

[HanDomi]

I am pretty sure that his FS will have the same jumps structure as current. No need to change that. It is just how they choreo everything around this next year

 

[foruiz]

I just love the way that he answers questions, it just really shows how intellectual he is and that is another thing that I admire about him most aside from him skating prowess.

 

[Meoima]

I just love the way that he answers questions, it just really shows how intellectual he is and that is another thing that I admire about him most aside from him skating prowess.

I don't know how this kid could give such interviews that thoughtful, I mean, how? He's just 19 and matures so quickly. If we only see him on ice, we would never know he is the type to think that much.

 

[arcticwolf]

I think the slouching is more of a stamina issue. In his 2011-2012 short program (especially in the cup of china), I've never seen him so graceful and ballerina-like on ice.
That's my most favorite SP after Parisienne Walkways. Then, he reverts to his slouched posture in the R&J 1 LP. So I think he is capable of a better posture on ice. It is just hard to maintain it when you're tired and gasping for air.

 

[iluvtodd]

I his modesty!

 

[treeloving]

I got what you mean now. It does sounds like a difficult task for the kid. But I think he will improve it, nevertheless, he seems very serious and work hard to archive his goals. The slouching and postures are affected by the long program and his stamina, it's not his natural habit to be slouching. When he is off the ice his postures look pretty much normal I think.

I don't know, he has quite a crooked shoulder (I don't know if this the right word) off ice too and he always bend forward when he sit, and I never seen him attempt to point toe in his routine. So it may be his natural habit.

Anyhow, since he is Yuzuru, I'm sure he can improve and overcome this shortcoming.

 

[Maria Victoria]

I agree. I think people are too harsh about Wilson's choreography, and a bit too optimistic about how much Hanyu can put into a routine, beyond getting through his increasingly difficult technical elements.

Bear in mind it took him 2 years to perfect PW, and that was just a short program...!

I actually like the choreography of his last two free skates. But (just my opinion) I think he was pushing his technical and stamina limits so hard, he never managed to perfect them, or add the fire and passion that he's capable of.

And as long as he is pushing his limits so hard, I don't think it matters who his choreographer is - the same thing is going to happen.

So, if people are thinking that going back to Abe for choreography... would instantly result in performances like 2012 World's free skate... I think they'd be disappointed!

I think Hanyu is enough of an artist, that he could make any choreography into a 2012 world's performance... but only if he has enough time to perfect it... so the technical elements become "automatic", and he can concentrate on interpretation and expression.

This is why I think it was genius to keep his PW short program for an extra year... and why I think he should only change one of his programs each year. eg. one year, keep short program and make a new free skate. The next year, make a new SP and keep the old FS. And so on. Whichever one he keeps, just keep "tweaking" it, like he did with PW.

Eventually he will (hopefully) become strong enough, and skilled enough... that such a strategy would be unecessary. But until then, maybe it would be a good idea for him?

Yes, I agree that with his programs' degree of technical difficulty, Yuzuru needs time to grow into them. I also think he was able to let it all hang out in the R & J 1 performance in Nice because of the 60 shows he had earlier participated in using that program. And even though he didn't fall in his LP at last Worlds, I don't think Yuzuru was able to bring R & J 2 to its full glory. If he did, he would have gotten the world record in the LP and TP easily. Also while I was as riveted by his 2014 Worlds LP as much as watching his LP in Nice, unlike in the the latter where I was caught up in the skate and the skate alone, regardless of the score, in Saitama, it was both the skate and his coming score (will it be enough to overtake Tatsuki?) that gripped my attention.

That being said, my feeling, like Nimi, is that Yuzuru will have two new programs this coming season. PW has already run its course, while R & J2 is for him the closure, the cap to the last quad. That is why I was happy for him that he got that relatively clean LP as his final performance for the quad. This coming season he has already said there will be no new quad jump added, so it will hopefully be a time for artistic growth in his new programs.

 

[BlackPack]

Yes, my pet peeve with Yuz is that his lack of extension and classical posture makes him look juniorish at times. He certainly deserved his accolades, but I am happy he is humble and objective enough to know that he needs more balletic refinement in his skating. There are so many skaters who think they're perfect.

 

[Maria Victoria]

I don't know, he has quite a crooked shoulder (I don't know if this the right word) off ice too and he always bend forward when he sit, and I never seen him attempt to point toe in his routine. So it may be his natural habit.

Anyhow, since he is Yuzuru, I'm sure he can improve and overcome this shortcoming.

Well I noticed before in photos with his fellow skaters he slouches/hunches and does not bring himself up to his full height (he had this picture with Zijun where it was quite evident) but now not so much so his ballet lessons at TCC may be helping. He should also have choreography that will hide and not highlight this problem; PW was a brilliant example of that.

 

[Interspectator]

According to the Audience twitter, Hanyu LANDED the 4Lo at the show today! But there were no cameras there today so we may never see it!!!
Tooooo baaaad!

 

[Hanmgse]

According to the Audience twitter, Hanyu LANDED the 4Lo at the show today! But there were no cameras there today so we may never see it!!!
Tooooo baaaad!

And this is what I call bad luck

 

[nimi]

NMURA posted this in the quad thread:

"Hanyu's "quad loop challenge" http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2139317382668747501
According to Hanyu himself, Fernandez is already landing all kinds of quad jumps in practice. I don't think It includes the 4axel though, the 4loop is definitely a possibility. Hanyu says that he wants to try the first jump(s) in history to boost the morale. If his teammate is landing it in practice, the "first in history" can't be compromised. Yes, he will go for it in next season."

Conflicted feelings about this. Well... I guess if he is going to do hard stuff like work on his posture and basic skating skills, he might as well "boost the morale" by attempting a THIRD effing quad, lol. Little sugar makes the medicine go down, eh?

 

[makaihime]

I don't know, he has quite a crooked shoulder (I don't know if this the right word) off ice too and he always bend forward when he sit, and I never seen him attempt to point toe in his routine. So it may be his natural habit.

Anyhow, since he is Yuzuru, I'm sure he can improve and overcome this shortcoming.

I agree with the off-ice habit. He's always had a slouchy posture whenever he's posing for pictures whether be his shoulders, back, or legs. I've never seen him stand up straight so its definitely an ingrained habit. You can see that he actually tries really hard to maintain a good posture on ice, but once his stamina runs dry he just doesn't have it to control his posture, jumps, and SS all at the same time so one has to go, and they don't penalize you for bad posture :sarcasm: Yuzu's going to have an uphill battle with his posture throughout his entire career but the important thing is he's constantly improving it and he knows he has to alot of work to do.

His stamina's already improved heaps so I don't necessarily worry too much about that. His edges have gotten alot better as well...and that can also only improve with time. His technical's has always been top-notch and he's always been continuing to pushing the limit. So the only thing I really have to worry about in the coming quad is that he competes with himself too much and I worry about his health a little more than I should

 

[cuon_alpinus]

Glad nothing happened here. http://gall.dcinside.com/board/view/?id=figureskating&no=2227027&page=1

very very very dangerous

 

[Meoima]

Glad nothing happened here. http://gall.dcinside.com/board/view/?id=figureskating&no=2227027&page=1
very very very dangerous

PChan did share a picture of his torso on his Instagram. He was injured a bit but it was not dangerous. He gave an interview in which mentioned about that incident. And Hanyu went over him to say sorry right after he accidentally kicked him. There is nothing serious about that, thank God.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Yes, my pet peeve with Yuz is that his lack of extension and classical posture makes him look juniorish at times. He certainly deserved his accolades, but I am happy he is humble and objective enough to know that he needs more balletic refinement in his skating. There are so many skaters who think they're perfect.

ITA. His arms are sometimes "lazy", and sometimes they have great fluidity and musicality. I'm glad he's being his own toughest critic. An OGM and World title could go to a lot of skaters' heads and he's simply looking forward and focusing on bettering himself further.

 

[sky_fly20]

one thng tat will carry him is his jump technique
Yuzu has the most effortless jumps

as the commentators have said, they make hem look like doubles with triples

 

[lakeside]

Bear in mind it took him 2 years to perfect PW, and that was just a short program...!

No that's not true. Yuzru's PW program was almost perfect the first time he debuted it at SA, and that's why he got a WR the first time. DW's two programs never reached the level of PW debut in two years. That says a lot about the quality of DW's choreographing for Yuzru. I wish DW will be dumped if he still has no inspiration this coming season.

Yuzuru obviously trusts David Wilson and is comfortable around him. David Wilson in fact subbed for Brian Orser more than once in Yuzuru's K and C (2013 Worlds and Finlandia). I have read that Yuzuru has said that David Wilson was the most interesting person he met in Canada and that with David Wilson around, he doesn't need to consult with the other TCC coaches for specific things.

That only means DW is a nice friend of Yuzru. It doesn't mean he's a nice choreographer for Yuzru. So far, Jeff has choreographed better program than DW.

 

[YesWay]

Yuzru's PW program was almost perfect the first time he debuted it at SA, and that's why he got a WR the first time. DW's two programs never reached the level of PW debut in two years. That says a lot about the quality of DW's choreographing for Yuzru.

1. SA was not the debut for Hanyu's Parisienne Walkways. He only scored 75.57 when he debuted it at Finlandia... far from a WR.
2. It says more about Hanyu's skating, than the quality of the choreography.
3. Hanyu used Wilson's choreography when he achieved his current personal best FS score.

So I don't see your point. Choreographers can only do so much, it's up to the skater to bring it to life. Otherwise why bother skating? They could just hand out the medals to the best choreographers instead.

Also, "almost perfect" is not "perfect". In this case it's nowhere near. It took something quite extraordinary to get those extra points to set the current WR and break the 100 points barrier. Hanyu didn't come close to that performance in his first year with PW, and I maintain that he didn't in the 2nd year either, until near the end of the season.

 

[lakeside]

1. SA was not the debut for Hanyu's Parisienne Walkways. He only scored 75.57 when he debuted it at Finlandia... far from a WR.
2. It says more about Hanyu's skating, than the quality of the choreography.

1. It's the first time he skated at a formal competition i.e. grand prix SA. And if you say SA is not the debut, then fine it's second time he skated, so what? The second time he skated PW is better than anything DW's two programs could be skated in two years, which leads to

2. No it says more about the quality of DW's choreography than Yuzru's skating. So far, DW is incapable of choreographing something as good and refreshing as Jeff's PW program. When people first saw Notre Dame as early as 2012 they said DW was copying the style of R&J 1.0. DW has had no inspiration and no creativity so far.

Choreographers can only do so much, it's up to the skater to bring it to life. Otherwise why bother skating? They could just hand out the medals to the best choreographers instead.

This is nonsense. Blame everything on Yuzru, huh? A lot of people don't like DW's programs but they like Abe and Jeff's programs for Yuzru. A lot of people don't like DW's SP for Fernandez either. Is that also Fernandez's problem?

Skaters can only do so much, it's up to the choreographer to find something interesting for the skater to skate. Otherwise why bother paying DW all the money for the boring and uninspiring programs? Just because he's Orser's partner? He should be dumped if he still has no inspiration for the THIRD season.

Also, "almost perfect" is not "perfect". In this case it's nowhere near. It took something quite extraordinary to get those extra points to set the current WR and break the 100 points barrier. Hanyu didn't come close to that performance in his first year with PW, and I maintain that he didn't in the 2nd year either, until near the end of the season.

I said almost perfect because I wanted to be humble. I can say Yuzru's SA SP is perfect. This season they changed a lot from last year's program, but that doesn't mean the first version was not good. And a large part of those extra points is due to consistently skating the program cleanly and reputation judging. In fact, the first version was perfect too, something DW's two boring programs, even if skated cleanly, would not be able to come as close because DW the choreographer did not have any inspiration in those two programs.