The story of a jump

[krenseby]

So, over the past season, which lady skater's evolution on any one given jump did you pay attention to the most? I guess this is a good chance for us to discuss how certain coaches were able to help an elite ladies skater make progress on a jump that they've had issues with.

[skateboy]

I was most impressed by Caroline Zhang's getting rid of the mule kick on her flip/lutz.

[krenseby]

I was most impressed by Caroline Zhang's getting rid of the mule kick on her flip/lutz.

That wasn't this season though; it was last season.

[brightphoton]

That's unfair to say that. Caroline has been reworking her jumps for the past two years. She originally fixed the flip but it was still shaky, and her lutz still had mule kick. Now her flip is both fixed and more consistent, and her lutz also has no mule kick.

[Triple Butz]

That's unfair to say that. Caroline has been reworking her jumps for the past two years. She originally fixed the flip but it was still shaky, and her lutz still had mule kick. Now her flip is both fixed and more consistent, and her lutz also has no mule kick.

Her (f)lutz still has a high kick, but it is improved. Her loop no longer has that cork screw wind up on the take-off and has turned into a really gorgeous jump. All of her jumps look higher, too. I hope she has a great season next year.

[Sylvia]

From what I recall, Kathy Casey worked with Caroline Zhang in Colorado Springs beginning in the spring of 2010 on revamping her jump technique, and her flip was showing noticeable improvement by that fall when she was being coached by Tammy Gambill (she switched to Peter Oppegard before 2011 Nationals).

[DickButtonFan]

Zhang's 2A is slightly better as well. It's amazing how much progress she has made.

[PeterG]

And Zhang is the winner! No other ladies made improvements last season. Shameful!!

[caseyedwards]

Leonova turned her 3T+3T into a total work of art! It was so good on so many occasions that it was just really impressive.

[leafygreens]

I don't understand why Caroline needed a coach to fix her mule kick? Couldn't she just, "stop kicking so darn high," by herself?

[sk8er1964]

I don't understand why Caroline needed a coach to fix her mule kick? Couldn't she just, "stop kicking so darn high," by herself?

Because the mule kick threw all sorts of other body parts off, which she had to compensate for while doing it. If you stop the kick, your body is still trained to do the rest of the stuff anyway. It would take someone who can visually see what is going on with all parts of the body to correct it.

[orbitz]

Zhang's 3lutz is still problematic. She still has to cork her upper body and slam the toe pick into the ice for the jump. I don't think she's going to be able to alter that jump too much. The flip is much better, although I do think she places her pick too much inside the circle; It's a good jump for her. Zhang's money jump is definitely the 3loop.

[orbitz]

From what I recall, Kathy Casey worked with Caroline Zhang in Colorado Springs beginning in the spring of 2010 on revamping her jump technique, and her flip was showing noticeable improvement by that fall when she was being coached by Tammy Gambill (she switched to Peter Oppegard before 2011 Nationals).

Peter Oppegard seems to get most of the credits for fixing Zhang's technique, but it was really after she went to Gambill that she stopped doing the flip with the mule kick. I wonder what else Tammy could've done for Zhang if Zhang had stayed with her at least one more year.

[krenseby]

Peter Oppegard seems to get most of the credits for fixing Zhang's technique, but it was really after she went to Gambill that she stopped doing the flip with the mule kick. I wonder what else Tammy could've done for Zhang if Zhang had stayed with her at least one more year.

Well, I find the whole thing confusing. After she left Gambill, she kept on working on changing the technique on her other jumps - lutz, loop, double axel, etc.. etc.. When she was under Oppegard, did she just continue practicing the jump technique she got before from Gambill? It's hard to tell who gets credit for what.

By the way, what about the changes in Mao's jumps? I mean, I am sure it has been discussed before. Still I was hoping that someone would mention it on this thread.