I used a harness as a teenager to learn my axel but it didn't help much - I got the jump without it. Harnesses were used for multi-rotation jumps - axel, doubles and up. I've never seen them used to learn anything lower than a single axel. My rink had the kind that was attached to the ceiling. Fishing pole harnesses weren't used until early 00s maybe?
Russia is in a class of its own, obviously. But it's getting tiresome seeing the Japanese and the US women pitted against each other. So much complaining about Japan's two spots, especially because the US has three, and so much hype about how they have a consistency or ability that the US women don't. But the facts are that the Japanese women lost their third spot. It wasn't taken from them and handed to the US or anyone else -- everyone competed, and the results were the results. Yes, Satoko was injured, and yes, it's unfortunate because the Japanese women are doing well this year. But it is what it is. And even this season, only Wakaba is likely to make the GP Final. Mai's had some good performances and Satoko's current potential remains to be seen. But it's not like they're all dominating events and topping podiums.
As far as TPTB pegging competitors and putting skaters in jeopardy, look up how some of the Olympic/World medalists in recent years were doing in the previous fall. Yeah, reputation is a thing, but again, no female skater from the US or Japan is a reigning World medalist, a threat for the Olympic title, ect. There's little evidence that, come winter and spring, the Japanese will be rewarded and the US will be penalized regardless of how they deliver. Again, Russia is in a class of its own and their top two will likely beat most or all of the US and Japanese women because they have such high TES ability.
If you hate being pessimistic, then don't be. Hype and unrealistic expectations can be harmful, but so can negativity about events that are months away. While I'm not predicting any US women for the podium at this point, it's way to early to fret about spots. We've got a long season to go.
With regard to the Japanese ladies, I was focused on their scores, not podium finishes - Higuchi and Mihara are posting some fine scores and are in a better position right now than US ladies. It's not 100% certain what will happen in February, but it is nonetheless indicative.
I'm fine with pessimism if I think it's reality based.
Also a pretty accurate description of last year at this time, and the year before. And the year before that. At least one US lady tends to step up at the last minute.
But I suppose I've learned that so many predictions just don't come true, so I don't see the point in getting wildly optimistic or pessimistic over any skater/competition/season/nation.
Didn't mean to insult you. We weren't talking about skaters in their 40s - Tinami wrote "Question re typical training in USA for younger girls" in the post I replied to.
Alissa performed this past week in Scott Hamilton's show in Cleveland - fan cam here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/scottcares-cleveland-nov-4.101759/#post-5176367
Your original post didn't really mention scores, but rather the idea that the US women can't focus on peaking because Japan and Russia will leave them in the dust if they do, no matter how they all skate later. That's what had me
There are some legit concerns. But I feel that year after year we are proclaiming someone the next champion or dooming them to the bottom of the heap during the fall. And year after year, things change, surprises happen, and predictions fail, come winter or spring. Even with scores, it's common for skaters to get their seasons' best scores, sometimes by a considerable margin, at Worlds.
I know that this is FSU, where we debate and predict constantly.
