U.S. Ladies [#18]: These Boots Are Made for Skating

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Tinami Amori said:
In my experience, few things happen: often your height and weight changes from 15 to 18 approx., and jumps require various adjustments, and at the same time you become more aware of your body and more careful/cautious, more aware of the fact that a fall can lead to serious injury... when you're younger you don't think of consequence as much and just jump like a flea, but as you get older you think "no, I can't break this leg again, i have to go to work or to school in the morning".... and this fear also hold you back..... :D
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I totally get that!
 
Tinami Amori said:
In my experience, few things happen: often your height and weight changes from 15 to 18 approx., and jumps require various adjustments, and at the same time you become more aware of your body and more careful/cautious, more aware of the fact that a fall can lead to serious injury... when you're younger you don't think of consequence as much and just jump like a flea, but as you get older you think "no, I can't break this leg again, i have to go to work or to school in the morning".... and this fear also hold you back..... :D
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This and, the taller you are, the harder you fall. You also have a much smaller margin of error. Being an inch off in the air at 5'2" and you can save the jump, being an inch off in the air at 5'8" and you are going down. I suspect that is why when really tall skaters land the jumps they are spectacular. They have to be perfect or they can't stay upright. I will have to watch Polina again, but I didn't get the impression she rotates very fast. Add that to her less than excellent skating skills and I think getting the harder triples back is going to be tough. She needs to get way more power out of her edges if she is going to consistently launch her self into those jumps.
 
mag said:
This and, the taller you are, the harder you fall. You also have a much smaller margin of error. Being an inch off in the air at 5'2" and you can save the jump, being an inch off in the air at 5'8" and you are going down.
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I tried that excuse... little/shorter 5'2" girls can jump higher because they weight less and are shorter...... The reply was "because they are smaller overall, their legs are usually shorter than of a 5'8 person for example, less volume of leg - less total mass of muscles, more volume of leg - more volume of muscle proportionately to smaller leg. Use the damn muscle given to your body.".. :D
 
I completely understand the puberty part. Completely upsets your stability and velocity.

I also understand the loss of the notion of invincibility that comes along with age. I also understand coming back from an injury and the timidity that could bring.

I guess where I get stuck is what happens to the jumps in early competitions? Where did they go? It can't all be learning a new program. Your body must know what to do. It is not like you have to re-learn them. So, Polina had a long time off. But how long is it going to take a person of her caliber to perform her jumps. Is it physical? Mental? If a skater takes a month off are their jumps gone? Does it take a couple of days to get them back? Weeks, months? Is it stamina?

I have always wanted to know.
 
mag said:
This and, the taller you are, the harder you fall. You also have a much smaller margin of error. Being an inch off in the air at 5'2" and you can save the jump, being an inch off in the air at 5'8" and you are going down. I suspect that is why when really tall skaters land the jumps they are spectacular. They have to be perfect or they can't stay upright. I will have to watch Polina again, but I didn't get the impression she rotates very fast. Add that to her less than excellent skating skills and I think getting the harder triples back is going to be tough. She needs to get way more power out of her edges if she is going to consistently launch her self into those jumps.
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Good Point. If you think about it (and I am 5'10") your limbs have to travel a further distance to get into a position. Fast movements are more difficult..........but you make up for it with the long languid line you can create.
 
AxelAnnie said:
I completely understand the puberty part. Completely upsets your stability and velocity.
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But then you just do not give up, just accept there is a slow down, keep practicing and adjusting, maybe miss some time from competition if things not going well, or better yet, keep competing to be in the loop, and accept not doing as well for a while. Important thing is NOT to compare yourself to others, or to worry what others do. Eventually, with hard work practically EVERYTHING returns to normal and even better. It always works, and its all up to you.
 
AngieNikodinovLove said:
I feel like Amber's jumps are the most glorious of any USA senior lady including Gracie when she is at her best. Im just mesmerized by Amber's jumping...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Nl3_60j48

For me she is like a Nicole Bobek. I can't take me eyes off her. She is the most exciting of all the ones just under the radar.
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Nice program by Amber. Totally amateurish and annoying work by the camera operators. Full views of skaters' bodies (including their skates) need to be seen throughout performances.
 
AxelAnnie said:
If a skater takes a month off are their jumps gone? Does it take a couple of days to get them back? Weeks, months? Is it stamina?
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I do think that, along with everything else, loss of stamina is huge. I'm betting a lot of these skaters who make a comeback are nailing their jumps in practice, but it's a whole other thing doing a triple lutz three minutes into an already strenuous program. Figure skating is such a tough sport. We focus on the elite skaters and they make it looks so easy; it's easy to forget that these kids are training hard, hard, hard at the top of their game. The demands of a four minute program are huge. I remember the first time watching a junior event at a club competition; these were all kids I watched grow up on the ice, kids who flew around flinging off jumps like nothing. But now, with an double axel and even one or two triple attempts, you could mark exactly where the program hit 3 minutes, because you would see kids sort of physically deflate. It's so intense. To take time off and build back not only the jumps but then to put them into a program and make it look effortless...it's hard.

And, too, there is a single-mindedness of practicing at elite levels. These kids eat, breathe, sleep skating, almost with blinders on. To take a break of any kind and get a glimpse of "regular life"...sleeping in past 5 a.m., going out with friends, not having to watch every bite, not living in the hyper-stress of competition season...I do think that, after a break, there's a huge mental hurdle to get back to that mindset of almost monastic physical discipline.
 
Tinami Amori said:
I tried that excuse... little/shorter 5'2" girls can jump higher because they weight less and are shorter...... The reply was "because they are smaller overall, their legs are usually shorter than of a 5'8 person for example, less volume of leg - less total mass of muscles, more volume of leg - more volume of muscle proportionately to smaller leg. Use the damn muscle given to your body.".. :D
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Except what I am talking about has nothing to do with muscle mass. Yes, tall skaters can jump. It is the distance from the top of the head to the toes that is the issue. Tilt the hips of a 5' skater X degrees and the head and the toes move and the skater is off axis in the air. Tilt th hips of a 5'8" skater the same amount and the amount the skater is off axis is significantly more because the distance between the head and the toes is significantly more. Body proportions also make a difference - shorter legs are generally easier to deal with than long legs. Taller skaters can jump, but they need to have really good technique and extra strong skating skills so they have complete control of their edges for the edge jumps. Like I said, it is a matter of margin for error.

Think about a baby learning to walk. When they first start trying to walk their legs tend to be short in comparison to the rest of their body. This helps with walking because their centre of gravity is closer to the ground. Now think about walking on stilts, your centre of gravity is very high so the slightest stumble can be significantly more difficult to recover from.
 
olympic said:
I just watched Bradie and Amber's SPs for the 2nd time. Bradie looks like she belongs on a Homecoming float in suburban America. Amber looks like she's prowling the East Village looking for CBGBs sometime in 1977.
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OK, as a former East Villager, you just got my attention. :) I will take a look at Amber.
 
olympic said:
I just watched Bradie and Amber's SPs for the 2nd time. Bradie looks like she belongs on a Homecoming float in suburban America. Amber looks like she's prowling the East Village looking for CBGBs sometime in 1977.
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Amber at best looks like 1980's Peppermint Lounge, The Cramps concert..... 1977 CBGB was Ramones and Dead Boys... Amber is not cutting the "cool"... :D
 
wickedwitch said:
List of US ladies who hit 132.36 in the LP last season:
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Nobody, not even Bradie Tennell. I think the scores at Lombardia have been pretty high, like Mordorvian Tournament high. I wonder if this will set the tone for the GP series. Last Olympic season, they judged normally and then went extra high at the Olympics. Sort of like 2016 Worlds.

That said, Tennell made a real case for herself and the other U.S. ladies need to show the USFS they're here and ready to fight.
 
I feel like Bradie should have been 3rd overall over Carolina. I love Carolina and no question she has it all over in components over Bradie, but so too many errors. Oh well, that was a great competition for Bradie and actually that whole last group was great.
 
Major respect to Bradie: She finished 4th (3rd in the LP) in a tough field that included the best Japanese skater (Wakaba skating like that is better than Satoko), and probably the no. 2 Russian, Zagitova, as well as Kostner who is the best Euro non-Russian skater right now. Bradie beat Kostner in the LP and moved ahead of Matsuda to finish 4th.

It sounds also like there is room for debate about Kostner v. Bradie for the bronze. The competition was in Carolina's backyard, so the 1.5 difference may have been because of that.
 
Bradie in that sweet spot. She's strong enough without body fat issues yet. Like Polina a few years back. But congrats; skated beautifully; showed real nerve against an intimidating field.

Have to complain about PCS, of course. Alina as prima ballerina - I wasn't feeling it. Think someone just taught her the moves. Wakaba is a strong athlete but no relationship to the music. So my beef is Carolina PCS is 71 while these barely-out-of-juniors girls are 67/68. It's not rational.
 
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