U.S. Ladies [#5]: All That Glitters Is Not Gold

[Coco]

Well, I think that the .10 bonus on the lutz negates some of the deduction for the inside edge.

I wish she'd learn to do a proper lutz takeoff and use 2z-3t until she has a true 3z. This would give her practice on doing 3t on the back of a jump combination. If she put this in place of her current 3z, she'd have to omit the 2t from the 2a-2t. I believe the impact to her TES would be a loss of 1.18. She could make some of that back if she added a difficult feature or two to the 2a. I think she's capable of that because 2a is a strong jump for her and her legs are fresh at the beginning of the program. Also, if she's able to show better technique on the 2z-3t than she is on the 3z, she'd be gaining back the guaranteed loss of 1.0 in GOE.

So happy for her success, but this has to be one of the worst flutzes ever. Never at any time is she even on the outside edge of the non-landing foot. They should call it a flip. What's scary is that they could call it a flip w/in the rules, I believe. And you know that's going to happen at the worst possible moment.

I wonder why she's doing 3l+2a+seq instead of 3l2t. 3l3t is within reach for her, so I'm not sure why she's doing the much trickier 3l+2a+seq as it's riskier, imo, instead of working on the loop-toe combo. And it's only worth .24 more, if my math is right.

I GUESS WE'LL NEVER KNOW

[emma1227]

Completely agree, some great juniors coming up as well.
I think we will do well in Sochi. Let's hope we can send three girls.

It's the Renaissance of American Ladies. Good to see! Seems that Wagner, Gold, Gao and Zawadski ( and maybe Nagasu) are ready to compete and win over anybody. So excited for Nationals, Worlds etc.

[smarts1]

Well, I think that the .10 bonus on the lutz negates some of the deduction for the inside edge.

I wish she'd learn to do a proper lutz takeoff and use 2z-3t until she has a true 3z. This would give her practice on doing 3t on the back of a jump combination. If she put this in place of her current 3z, she'd have to omit the 2t from the 2a-2t. I believe the impact to her TES would be a loss of 1.18. She could make some of that back if she added a difficult feature or two to the 2a. I think she's capable of that because 2a is a strong jump for her and her legs are fresh at the beginning of the program. Also, if she's able to show better technique on the 2z-3t than she is on the 3z, she'd be gaining back the guaranteed loss of 1.0 in GOE.

So happy for her success, but this has to be one of the worst flutzes ever. Never at any time is she even on the outside edge of the non-landing foot. They should call it a flip. What's scary is that they could call it a flip w/in the rules, I believe. And you know that's going to happen at the worst possible moment.

I wonder why she's doing 3l+2a+seq instead of 3l2t. 3l3t is within reach for her, so I'm not sure why she's doing the much trickier 3l+2a+seq as it's riskier, imo, instead of working on the loop-toe combo. And it's only worth .24 more, if my math is right.

I GUESS WE'LL NEVER KNOW

The 3 Loop-2 Axel sequence is actually 0.5 more. I suspect they put it back in this season because skaters receive criticism for using the same jump layout and content. On top of that, it seems that that sequence has received more positive GOEs than her doing simply a 3 Loop-2 Toe. The higher GOE that combo got was probably 0.4, whereas the 3 Loop-2 Axel sequence has gotten even more than 1 point this season.

And I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal out of her flutz and thinks that it's absolutely necessary for her fix it. She's doing perfectly fine with it and doesn't even receive more than 0.7 in deductions so I don't see why she should leave it out of her program until "it's fixed". At this level, I'm not sure skaters can completely fix their jump edges.

[cbd1235]

Ashley's lutz was borderline real last year. The odd time she would actually do it off an outside edge! I'm disappointed that it has gotten noticeably worse this year :/

[BmcC102]

I agree with smarts1. The flutz issue is SO small! There are so many men and ladies who don't do their flip or lutz on the right edge. She is now doing one lutz a competition, in the second half of the program, where it receives bonus. It's such a BIG jump with a great landing, who gives a rats @ss if it's not perfect on take-off? She's getting the deduction, that's enough for me.

[jlai]

I'd love for Ashley to kick some ass at worlds, but I think all the confident talk from Wagner's camp lately is almost asking for...a jinx from Skategod, esp considering how things can change by March. Hopefully things will go her way though

[RD]

^ that's my biggest fear...you just don't know what can happen in the next few months...

[mgobluegirl]

I'd love for Ashley to kick some ass at worlds, but I think all the confident talk from Wagner's camp lately is almost asking for...a jinx from Skategod, esp considering how things can change by March. Hopefully things will go her way though

But what's fresh about the confident talk is that it's backed up by really hard work and training. She's not saying anything bad about others, or even comparing herself to other skaters, she just says that she feels good with herself and where she is with her skating. I don't think it's a bad outlook to have.

[jlai]

There's nothing inappropriate about her words. I just think there's no telling what will happen in three months, and she'll look rather foolish if all this talk sets her up as her favorite and she doesn't do well at nationals or worlds (if she qualifies). Which, actually, happens quite often (favorites not medalling).

I like Ashley and adore all her programs this year; I do worry about tempting fate; that's all.

[victoriaheidi]

We're within 100 posts of thread #7! I think we should call it swagner or something. Nothing about gold/Gold! :p

[zebobes]

We're within 100 posts of thread #7! I think we should call it swagner or something. Nothing about gold/Gold! :p

Actually... you mean thread #6

How about "Swagger with the S'wagner!" ?

[morqet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14-I7LjhFgQ

The Orange Team caught up with Christina Gao in Paris & did the card game with her.

[victoriaheidi]

Actually... you mean thread #6

How about "Swagger with the S'wagner!" ?

Psh, because my counting skills are so brilliant.

[mag]

Actually... you mean thread #6

How about "Swagger with the S'wagner!" ?

I vote for this one!

[jlai]

Psh, because my counting skills are so brilliant.

As long as you're not a skater counting jumps you should be fine.

[jlai]

Re: world team selection. I think one of the US ladies will have to do qualifying at worlds? That means that lady needs to be a relatively good lp skater this season. If I were judging nationals I'd keep the top short program skaters relatively close together and let the long program be more of a deciding factor. (In the past, the top short program skaters sometimes have too much of a lead going into the long)

[RD]

Wasn't the QR axed this season? Isn't that the reason behind the whole deal of qualifying scores for worlds?

[jlai]

Oh, that's right. I was remembering the discussion last worlds but not the rule changes

[victoriaheidi]

As long as you're not a skater counting jumps you should be fine.

I can think of a few skaters who're in my boat.

[Sylvia]

Before the start of the competition at NHK Trophy, Mirai Nagasu visited a school in Sendai (with Akiko Suzuki and Daisuke Murakami): http://instagram.com/p/SWI9o7i5Xa/