What does Richard Dornbush need to do to move into the top tier of men's skating?

[briancoogaert]

Forced? Not that Good? To each his own I guess, but I don't see that at all. His jumps are waayy more controlled than Vaughn's ever were, besides being more connected to what he's doing on the ice and more musical.

RE the shoulders - I'm not sure it's hunching, or his 3-piece costume in the LP on a 5'8" frame that made him look that way. But if so, it might be THE one thing he needs to improve, and that may come with maturity.

About the jumps, this is because of the slo-motion in the LP at Worlds. I've noticed a big move of his shoulders before the 3Flip and the 2A/3T. But it's in slo-mo !
That's not a problem, but I'm afraid because while growing, it gets rarely better.
Anyway, I like him. I've been impressed by him at Nationals. I think he is interesting to watch and to follow.

[Ziggy]

He needs more complex and mature choreography. Both of his programs were quite lackluster this season.

He is very expressive and can really sell his programs so it's just a case of giving him better material to work with.

And obviously, he needs a quad or two.

[olympic]

About the jumps, this is because of the slo-motion in the LP at Worlds. I've noticed a big move of his shoulders before the 3Flip and the 2A/3T. But it's in slo-mo !
That's not a problem, but I'm afraid because while growing, it gets rarely better.
Anyway, I like him. I've been impressed by him at Nationals. I think he is interesting to watch and to follow.

Richard will be 20 in a couple of months, so I'm pretty sure he's done growing, and that was a 3x-3t, not a 2x-3t

Also, in order to check rotations during the years of Evan Lysacek, I got used to watching the legs and feet of American men while jumping, not the shoulders, so I wasn't paying attention to Richard's shoulders

[DickButtonFan]

His coach is just amazing. Shame that Zhang left her, as she's obviously a great tech coach. Richard's program for this season was great (love the expression in the beginning), now he just needs a little more maturity, his sp was ok this year but needed more stretch and fluid movement. He's definitely on his way, one of my favorites.

[babyskate]

A Sochi team of him and Jason Brown plus Adam Rippon would be my wet dream.

I cannot agree more. All three of them have natural charisma that can't be taught. Let Jason get his triple axel and he will be a force to be reckoned with.

[Jaana]

I think he needs a quad and some improvement in his general skating. For next season I hope that he will choose good skating music to interpret and forget about playing a character.

[Jammers]

Jason Brown will be one to watch too. His LP at Nationals even without the triple axel was spectacular. He already has a great presence on the ice and just needs to keep improving.

[briancoogaert]

Richard will be 20 in a couple of months, so I'm pretty sure he's done growing, and that was a 3x-3t, not a 2x-3t

My bad for the combo.
But as a male, I can tell you that body changes a lot after 20 years old !
It's not growing in term of height. But muscles are bigger after 20, shoulders and chest are bigger too.
reminiscence of crs

[olympic]

My bad for the combo.
But as a male, I can tell you that body changes a lot after 20 years old !
It's not growing in term of height. But muscles are bigger after 20, shoulders and chest are bigger too.
reminiscence of crs

Cool.

The body does get thicker as you mature, but is there a big difference between 20 and 25?

[~tapdancer~]

Cool.

The body does get thicker as you mature, but is there a big difference between 20 and 25?

IDK, but I see a difference between 20 and 23 year old Charlie White. Scott Moir, not as much but there's a difference there, too.

[pinky166]

IDK, but I see a difference between 20 and 23 year old Charlie White. Scott Moir, not as much but there's a difference there, too.

I agree. I think the same is true of Brian Joubert and Tomas Verner, who look substantially broader/sturdier now than they did around the 2006 Olympics.

[Ziggy]

I think he needs a quad and some improvement in his general skating. For next season I hope that he will choose good skating music to interpret and forget about playing a character.

All skaters should play some kind of character to give more depth to their expression (and well, to have any kind of expression in many cases ;P).