"No one knows Mirai's mirai" Nagasu cheer thread

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Some skaters say they're doing Sr. B's to ramp up and it does not seem to help them at all. A lot of times it seems to exhaust them mid season. Mirai literally seems to be getting stronger. I mean, listen, she definitely had some UR calls but the plan seems to be right now, land Axel's in competition and follow it up with a 3/3 and pull in for all jumps. She accomplished that. With what she learned, she will likely address her physical fitness ( she conked out around the 2nd Lutz) as well as go back to the technique Tom has asked her to commit to that i can tell you is a struggle under the pressure of competition. You train and train and practice and practice but then it's you out there showing the world everything you're made of and all you want to do is a great job so reverting to what you're used to makes sense...until it doesn't. I think that she will realize that she's got great training and that if she does it like practice it will work. That axel is super clean in practive and frankly better than Asada's. Mirai can handle immense speed and is a great athelete. I would love to see her go to the Olympics as no less than our #2 lady. I would say #1 but i don’t want any added pressure.
 
arakwafan2006 said:
Some skaters say they're doing Sr. B's to ramp up and it does not seem to help them at all. A lot of times it seems to exhaust them mid season. Mirai literally seems to be getting stronger. I mean, listen, she definitely had some UR calls but the plan seems to be right now, land Axel's in competition and follow it up with a 3/3 and pull in for all jumps. She accomplished that. With what she learned, she will likely address her physical fitness ( she conked out around the 2nd Lutz) as well as go back to the technique Tom has asked her to commit to that i can tell you is a struggle under the pressure of competition. You train and train and practice and practice but then it's you out there showing the world everything you're made of and all you want to do is a great job so reverting to what you're used to makes sense...until it doesn't. I think that she will realize that she's got great training and that if she does it like practice it will work. That axel is super clean in practive and frankly better than Asada's. Mirai can handle immense speed and is a great athelete. I would love to see her go to the Olympics as no less than our #2 lady. I would say #1 but i don’t want any added pressure.
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I also hope they address her PCS scores. Those hold her down even when she nails the jumps. 7's are okay scores but not where she needs to be. I think Ashley is the only American whose scored in the high 8's and 9's versus the top women in the world.
 
Sasha'sSpins said:
I also hope they address her PCS scores. Those hold her down even when she nails the jumps. 7's are okay scores but not where she needs to be. I think Ashley is the only American whose scored in the high 8's and 9's versus the top women in the world.
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It's not "where she needs to be"...but tbh, I wasn't sure how much Karen's PCs would "go up" after being 4th in the world, so I think that it was a good thing that Mirai beat her in PCs in the LP, since Karen is someone who DOES seem to have some of the expressiveness that Mirai lacks (but I think she is sloppy in other areas). Of course, Mirai's expressiveness and choreography does need to be worked on a lot. But I think the only way that one of the team USA ladies is getting Ashley level PCs at this point is if they skate consistently/ make the GPF and "magically grow" their PCs scores that way ;). Mariah's team should be most concerned with the PCs she got here actually.
 
Sasha'sSpins said:
I also hope they address her PCS scores. Those hold her down even when she nails the jumps. 7's are okay scores but not where she needs to be. I think Ashley is the only American whose scored in the high 8's and 9's versus the top women in the world.
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I chose not to talk about it but you're right. Tom Z's camp is incredibly inept at that. The deficit he's allowed to exist with Max Aaron is appalling. Mirai last season literally was cross over, cross over, jump, especially that free skate. Mirai has everything a gorgeous American lady is known for. Her lay back is best in class. She's flexible. Her spins are great. A step sequence though shows her weakness and it's. It getting better. The only reason I was in favor of her going to Tom ( as if I were consulted lol)is because I figured with jump improvement, her overall artistic impression is not bad. Still, like Max, her PCS are neglected.

Say what you will about Frank Carrol and John Nicks being conservative, overall, they produced well rounded skaters. Tom markets himself as being a good jump coach and frankly , his work
With Mirai and her Axel should be lauded but all of his talent eggs are in one damn basket. I don't even know what the hell Becky Calvin does but he should be trying to partner closely with someone stronger at developing skaters packaging , performance and skating skills. Zueva hired Oleg and Johnny Johns and Massimo to replace Igor. The Montreal team has an expert or two and you can see improvement in their teams in every area from Beaudry/ Sorensen to Hubbell / Donahue. Nina Mozer struggles with finding a style for Tarasova/Morozov but her teams have it all. Eteri can have her feat held to the fire for back loading programs and maybe that hideous Aberbukh choreography but her skaters are well rounded.

Damn , what a tangent. My bad. Anyway, I hope they fix things as well.
 
GullyGirl84 said:
It's not "where she needs to be"...but tbh, I wasn't sure how much Karen's PCs would "go up" after being 4th in the world, so I think that it was a good thing that Mirai beat her in PCs in the LP, since Karen is someone who DOES seem to have some of the expressiveness that Mirai lacks (but I think she is sloppy in other areas). Of course, Mirai's expressiveness and choreography does need to be worked on a lot. But I think the only way that one of the team USA ladies is getting Ashley level PCs at this point is if they skate consistently/ make the GPF and "magically grow" their PCs scores that way ;). Mariah's team should be most concerned with the PCs she got here actually.
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It's also transitions and her levels on the footwork. She could definitely work to boost those up as well as her speed and putting a little more meat on the choreo. :)

arakwafan2006 said:
I chose not to talk about it but you're right. Tom Z's camp is incredibly inept at that. The deficit he's allowed to exist with Max Aaron is appalling. Mirai last season literally was cross over, cross over, jump, especially that free skate. Mirai has everything a gorgeous American lady is known for. Her lay back is best in class. She's flexible. Her spins are great. A step sequence though shows her weakness and it's. It getting better. The only reason I was in favor of her going to Tom ( as if I were consulted lol)is because I figured with jump improvement, her overall artistic impression is not bad. Still, like Max, her PCS are neglected.

Say what you will about Frank Carrol and John Nicks being conservative, overall, they produced well rounded skaters. Tom markets himself as being a good jump coach and frankly , his work
With Mirai and her Axel should be lauded but all of his talent eggs are in one damn basket. I don't even know what the hell Becky Calvin does but he should be trying to partner closely with someone stronger at developing skaters packaging , performance and skating skills. Zueva hired Oleg and Johnny Johns and Massimo to replace Igor. The Montreal team has an expert or two and you can see improvement in their teams in every area from Beaudry/ Sorensen to Hubbell / Donahue. Nina Mozer struggles with finding a style for Tarasova/Morozov but her teams have it all. Eteri can have her feat held to the fire for back loading programs and maybe that hideous Aberbukh choreography but her skaters are well rounded.

Damn , what a tangent. My bad. Anyway, I hope they fix things as well.
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Whole post! :respec:
 
With regards to Mirai's PCS, I wouldn't put the whole blame on Tom Z and his team, the reality is that Mirai began to shut down expression-wise during programs when she was still with Frank, and I honestly think it had to do with how over-emotional she used to get during competiton. I believe it was at 2009 Nats. where Mirai was all over the place emotionally and I think somewhere along the line she learned to shut down and focus on the technical elements in order to keep focused. In doing so, she became very mechanical and her PCS suffered. It's ironic because Linda Fratianne skated the exact same way, though she was never penalized for it. With that said, that doesn't take into account the issues with the transitions and skating skills (she used to be super fast).
 
My number one constructive fixable gripe regarding the new Miss Saigon LP, now that the 3A euphoria has worn off, is the choreography sequence immediately prior to the final 3Lp needs to be reworked to have more purpose.

1) I would keep all the body positions but put them in a sequence that purposefully demonstrates flowing edges, like an old fashioned Spiral Sequence.

2) That Charlotte Spiral needs to be entered with more dramatic arms, with that left arm coming over the top as her right arm reaches for the right skate. I hate the current crinkled left arm, although I know it is supposed to express fragility and femininity, because it does not translate well to big picture presentation.

3) After the Charlotte, I would move the back arabesque spiral and go directly to the Fan Spiral Position

4) Keep the turn around the corner with the back inside edge in the upright position, then do the back arabesque spiral

5) Keep the Spread Eagle,

6) Keep the forward arabesque spiral

7) Do the Inna Bauer with a back bend a la Shizuka Arakawa

8) She needs to enter the Charlotte much faster and maintain speed and flow because right now you kind of want to go on the ice and push her.

9) USE THOSE CROSSOVERS TO BUILD SPEED before the Charlotte Spiral and after she turns the corner on the back inside edge.
 
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bardtoob said:
My number one constructive fixable gripe regardless the LP, now that the 3A euphoria has worn off, is the choreography sequence immediately prior to the final 3Lp.

1) I would keep all the body positions but put them in a sequence that purposefully demonstrates flowing edges, like an old fashioned Spiral Sequence.

2) That Charlotte Spiral needs to be entered with more dramatic arms, with that left arm coming over the top as her right arm reaches for the right skate.

3) After the Charlotte, I would go move the back arabesque spiral and go directly to the Fan Spiral Position

4) Keep the turn around the corner with the back inside edge in the upright position, then do the arabesque spiral

5) Keep the Spread Eagle as is.

6) Keep the repeated arabesque spiral

7) Do the Inna Bauer with a back bend a la Shizuka Arakawa

8) She needs to enter the Charlotte much faster and maintain speed and flow because right bow you kind of want to go on the ice and push her.
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I agree with this. If Mirai's team does not think she can compete consistently with facial expressions, they should at least focus on choreography and transitions. Gracie never had the best interpretation, but her programs seemed to contain choreography. Tom Z. did say that they were aware that the critique of Mirai's 4CC LP was that there were blank spots/lack of transitions between a lot of her jumps. Also, Adam Rippon said that Mirai holds back when she competes a program compared to how she practices it, so I think it's also a tension/nerves thing (and I'm sure it doesn't help to know that you're one that the technical panel will always have their eagle eyes on in regards to all landings).

One thing I was wondering was...does Mirai still take dance (ballet) classes? In her golden skate interview, I believe she said that she "used to" do a lot of ballet. I think taking some ballet classes again would help to bring out the accents in her SP in particular...
 
GullyGirl84 said:
I agree with this. If Mirai's team does not think she can compete consistently with facial expressions, they should at least focus on choreography and transitions. Gracie never had the best interpretation, but her programs seemed to contain choreography. Tom Z. did say that they were aware that the critique of Mirai's 4CC LP was that there were blank spots/lack of transitions between a lot of her jumps. Also, Adam Rippon said that Mirai holds back when she competes a program compared to how she practices it, so I think it's also a tension/nerves thing (and I'm sure it doesn't help to know that you're one that the technical panel will always have their eagle eyes on in regards to all landings).

One thing I was wondering was...does Mirai still take dance (ballet) classes? In her golden skate interview, I believe she said that she "used to" do a lot of ballet. I think taking some ballet classes again would help to bring out the accents in her SP in particular...
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She does. She posted herself at class on Instagram during the summer.
 
Sasha'sSpins said:
I also hope they address her PCS scores. Those hold her down even when she nails the jumps. 7's are okay scores but not where she needs to be. I think Ashley is the only American whose scored in the high 8's and 9's versus the top women in the world.
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I think Mirai's PCS will rise if she starts skating clean and with a little more purpose. She got 8's at 4CC's, I think. She should watch Jason Brown's long program for inspiration. I would also like to see a beautiful spiral held for more than a few seconds. I know it isn't rewarded as tech, but I think a spiral at just the right moment could get the crowd going and maybe influence the judges on the second mark.
 
At this point though , I'm still enjoying watching the ride. I'll never forget 4 years ago and how cruel it seemed. Her tenacity and courage bring tears to my eyes. Quitting would have made sense. She stayed and fought ! I almost wonder if a stronger character would be better than her Miss Saigon where she can just be gritty.

DO NOT SHOOT ME... wonder what Morozov would have done with her. I've never said that but he is good at simplifying things while allowing a program to have the essence of emotion while letting the skater focus on elements. I mean, since that's what we are getting anyway
 
GullyGirl84 said:
It's not "where she needs to be"...but tbh, I wasn't sure how much Karen's PCs would "go up" after being 4th in the world, so I think that it was a good thing that Mirai beat her in PCs in the LP, since Karen is someone who DOES seem to have some of the expressiveness that Mirai lacks (but I think she is sloppy in other areas). Of course, Mirai's expressiveness and choreography does need to be worked on a lot. But I think the only way that one of the team USA ladies is getting Ashley level PCs at this point is if they skate consistently/ make the GPF and "magically grow" their PCs scores that way ;). Mariah's team should be most concerned with the PCs she got here actually.
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Karen's program was way out of character, imo, especially the 2nd half. I felt in real time that she was barely marking her choreographic sequence. Purely an altitude thing, I'm guessing, but it was a shame she had that skate as it kills her momentum a bit.
 
Jarrett said:
Mirai posted a video of a double axel/triple toe/double toe on her Instagram but the best thing was that she was beaming/smiling at the person recording the video. They may be working on her expression or she is just goofy around. Either way it was nice to see.
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I saw it. Mirai is a charmer even in practice. I do hope she is indeed working on expression as well as her speed, transitions, footwork, etc.! Beef up those PCS scores! :COP:
 
Competition ice. Mirai usually does a nice job with bringing out her personality and expression in exhibitions where there are only a few jumps. If only she could bring out the expression she showed in her Worlds 2016 SP (with rotations :)), she would be unstoppable. At this point, I kind of wish she had a zestier sp.
 
GullyGirl84 said:
Competition ice. Mirai usually does a nice job with bringing out her personality and expression in exhibitions where there are only a few jumps. If only she could bring out the expression she showed in her Worlds 2016 SP (with rotations :)), she would be unstoppable. At this point, I kind of wish she had a zestier sp.
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I loved her Chopin SP last year but this year it seems to be missing a bit of that sparkle.
 
She just accomplished a historic feat by incorporating the 3A in both programs. Adding "emotion" to a technically demanding competitive program is hard work for her (she said so in her TSL interview last year). It will take some time for her to do that with the 3A. She also has her URs to work on. And she should start to get more media attention now too. I'm sure she knows she has to work on her PCS bigtime both through skating cleaner and adding choreographed emotion. None of it comes easily any more as far as I can tell. She is working her butt off and her plate is very full.
 
Spun Silver said:
She just accomplished a historic feat by incorporating the 3A in both programs. Adding "emotion" to a technically demanding competitive program is hard work for her (she said so in her TSL interview last year). It will take some time for her to do that with the 3A. She also has her URs to work on. And she should start to get more media attention now too. I'm sure she knows she has to work on her PCS bigtime both through skating cleaner and adding choreographed emotion. None of it comes easily any more as far as I can tell. She is working her butt off and her plate is very full.
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It's also worth noting that it's not JUST the triple axel that is new in Mirai's programs this year. BOTH of her programs contain more difficult elements/different order of elements than she's competed with for the last two seasons. Not to mention the fact that she is 24. Mirai and her team are not blind to the criticisms, and probably know what's up better than a bunch of randos on the internet. I look forward to watching her journey this year!
 
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