Quad Axel

[WildRose]

Wow - Keegan Messing - what a gorgeous quad axel!
https://twitter.com/JacksonUltima/status/1012170706958708738/video/1

 

[Sylvia]

Nice attempt on the pole by Keegan!

ETA: Thanks, @WildRose.

Keegan posted 2 attempts on his Instagram (second clip is the original source of the tweeted video): https://www.instagram.com/p/BkjTxGJjQY6/?taken-by=sk8erkeeg

 

[dinakt]

Beautiful!
I hope Keegan makes it happen, and remains injury free in the process.

 

[genevieve]

I'd have to say that Keegan Messing is not the skater I expected to see. Good for him. Here's hoping he can do this and stay relatively injury-free

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

He could also spend some time in ballet classes over the summer.
Would love to see a 4A though..Yuzu, you're next!

 

[scooter]

I thought we would see it from Chen 1st for sure.

 

[overedge]

He could also spend some time in ballet classes over the summer.

He looks and moves like he already takes ballet. Sorry if he's not up to your exacting standards.

 

[Kateri]

I thought we would see it from Chen 1st for sure.

Sure, right after Lambiel and Chan get theirs.

 

[aftershocks]

Beautiful!
I hope Keegan makes it happen, and remains injury free in the process.

Here, here!

I'd have to say that Keegan Messing is not the skater I expected to see.

I've always loved watching Keegan 'Honey Badger' Messing! He's always been a delight to watch, and a true entertainer. His spinning ability can be out of this world, and his enthusiasm is infectious. The frustration for him was being stuck within the talented U.S. men ranks. Lucky for Keegan that he had an alternative country to represent and that he made the move at the right time for him.

Full steam ahead for a very deserving and charming young athlete!

I thought we would see it from Chen 1st for sure.

Nathan has a lot of firsts, but I never thought quad-axel would be added to that list. I thought it could be Max Aaron had he continued or been younger. Yuzu Hanyu maybe, but he's not getting any younger. I don't know who else is working on the quad-axel, but it's entirely possible that competitive consistency out-of-the-harness may take awhile, and it won't be any of the current senior crop who manages to land it first in competition.

Certainly, Keegan's practice 4-axel in harness looks clean and gorgeous. It almost looks like a camera trick. But he is a fast rotator, so it'd be cool to see Keegan do it representing Oh, Canada! Then the Canucks could lay claim to first quad revolution jump ever landed in competition, along with the first quad-axel landed in competition, and that's saying something!

 

[misskarne]

I thought we would see it from Chen 1st for sure.

I think a 4A requires a decent 3A first.

 

[screech]

Certainly, Keegan's practice 4-axel in harness looks clean and gorgeous. It almost looks like a camera trick. But he is a fast rotator, so it'd be cool to see Keegan do it representing Oh, Canada! Then the Canucks could lay claim to first quad revolution jump ever landed in competition, along with the first quad-axel landed in competition, and that's saying something!

The first triple axel (Vern Taylor), and the first quad (Kurt Browning) - it'd be amazing to see another Canadian as the first to kind of combine those two. Keegan's quad axel definitely does look like a beauty! I wonder how it looks off the harness!

I can't find it right now, but I know I saw a video of Hanyu attempting a quad axel without a harness (I think it was in a gala). He fell, and I think it was about half a turn under-rotated, but still impressive!

 

[aftershocks]

I think it was about half a turn under-rotated, but still impressive!

It's only impressive when not under-rotated and cleanly landed (no falls). If Hanyu can do a suspended-in-the-air quad-axel, like some of his other impressive quad revol jumps, then I'll be all eyes, not to mention amazingly impressed!

 

[Red Hot Chili Keegan]

Wow! Praise be! This is very exciting news, can’t wait to see him try this in competition.

Nice attempt on the pole by Keegan!

I would definitely like to see Keegan on a pole more often

 

[Tavi]

It does look really nice! I wonder if he’ll attempt it in competition this season.

 

[antmanb]

It does look good and he has great form in the harness, however, Messing does have a fairly wild jumping technique, both his quad toe and triple axel have that slight wing-and-a-prayer feel of just throwing himself into them and the harness and help from the coach on the pole will certainly control that on this quad axel attempt.

Before we rush to think this will happen on the ice soon we've seen Max Aaron land quad axels on the pole, and countless female skaters landing triple axels on the pole including Joshi Helgesson but none of those have made it to even practice ice out of the harness.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Messing skated my favourite men's short program from the 2018 World Championships. His musical attention to detail was second to none. I must watch it again some time.

 

[caseyedwards]

I would support having one pole assisted jump per free skate.

 

[RoseRed]

It does look good and he has great form in the harness, however, Messing does have a fairly wild jumping technique, both his quad toe and triple axel have that slight wing-and-a-prayer feel of just throwing himself into them and the harness and help from the coach on the pole will certainly control that on this quad axel attempt.

Before we rush to think this will happen on the ice soon we've seen Max Aaron land quad axels on the pole, and countless female skaters landing triple axels on the pole including Joshi Helgesson but none of those have made it to even practice ice out of the harness.

But Keegan has made it quite clear that he'd like to do the 4A in competition, so whether or not he can master it enough for that, I'm certain this will make it to practice ice without the harness. Especially since the attempt on the pole was so nice, even with him in brand new boots.

 

[aftershocks]

Here's more about Keegan's pole-harness-assisted quad-axel:
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/06/28/keegan-messing-quadruple-axel-video-harness/

Includes a link to Max Aaron's 4-axel in a pole harness, which he was able to land pretty well with a slight double-foot:
https://twitter.com/CoachTomZ/status/786729396145049600
If he'd landed that the same way in competition out-of-harness, there would have been marveling even despite the double-foot.

Meanwhile, Keegan's landing is very clean with great rideout. So the next step I suppose is landing it in practice without the harness and gaining some consistency in practice before trying it in competition. We don't know how long that might take. The key is training safely and staying healthy while managing to make overall steady strides in the new season.

The article also contains links to Chafik Besseghier's and Artur Dmitrev Jr.'s quad-axel attempts.

 

[aftershocks]

I would support having one pole assisted jump per free skate.

 

[mag]

I would support having one pole assisted jump per free skate.

I am going to assume you are joking.

 

[caseyedwards]

I am going to assume you are joking.

Of course! And it’s hilarious.

 

[Sylvia]

Bumping this thread back up almost 10 months later with an update - filmed during a 2019 World Team Trophy practice:

Keegan Messing (sk8erkeeg on IG)
"Thanks coach @namnamnoodle for helping me get through my first 4A attempt out of the harness?":
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwLwGTDnXRo/

 

[Sylvia]

Did Artur Dmitriev Jr. attempt a 4A last season besides in his FS (fall, downgraded by tech. panel) at 2018 Rostelecom Cup? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ShHhhjZJk

4A<< 8.00 -4.00 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 4.00 (fall)

 

[kre56]

Ok. That’s scary.....

 

[Japanfan]

Also UR, from what I could tell.

But if at first you don't succeed. . .

 

[LoopCombo]

Ouch! But exciting that he's going for it!

 

[Eislauffan]

The quad Axel and skaters working on it were also mentioned in the ISU article that was published earlier this week:
https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...-jump-combinations-and-quads?templateParam=15

On the record are Artur Dmitriev jr (first and so far only one to have attempted it in competition). There are also videos of him practising it (without harness), Keegan Messing and of course Yuzuru Hanyu who said that he'd like to do it (and knowing him I'm sure he's been practising it, at least before he re-injured his ankle last fall).
I recall that years ago Chinese skater Chengjiang Li was asked about the quad Axel and he said that he tried it but took a very bad fall and stopped.

 

[Deleted member 40371]

I would support having one pole assisted jump per free skate.

Yes, from a crane, preferably.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Those falls looked brutal.