U.S. Men in 2018 - articles & latest news

[AxelAnnie]

Are you talking about Jason at Worlds? He placed 4th in 2015, wasn’t on the team in 2016 (he was out of Nats with a back injury), placed 7th in 2017, and declined the spot in 2018 after Adam withdrew.

I wonder what I was looking at?

 

[aftershocks]

He could use some ballet.

You mean Kras might benefit from some ballet training off-ice? Perhaps, if he dedicates himself to truly focusing on training practices which he can apply to his carriage on the ice. Since he has Russian coaches now, you'd think they might suggest he get some ballet training under his belt. For all we, know, he well may have, which is why he's showing some small improvements, as noted by @layman.

I think it is beneficial to take ballet training, but it may not work for everyone. It is interesting that not all born and bred Russians have the traditional Russian aesthetic body lines, ballet training, and graceful carriage. Plushenko took some ballet, but he clearly placed more importance on the athletic side of his skating rather than the aesthetic side. Some skaters may benefit as much or more from Pilates and general movement training and body awareness exercises.
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Meanwhile, here's a recent John Wilson Blades interview with Nathan Chen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAWZEP6HgxE

 

[Tavi]

I wonder what I was looking at?

I don’t know! Those are the only two times he’s gone to Worlds, and both times he helped the US keep 3 spots. He’s definitely had some ups and downs in the past few years but he’s done well at Worlds.

 

[Dobre]

You mean Kras might benefit from some ballet training off-ice?

Yes, I think his line, extension, and musicality all need more work and at a very basic level. He has improved over the past few years, but in order to be competitive without the big jumps, you really have to be stronger in the second mark. He doesn't have a solid quadruple jump (and messy ones are not worth what they used to be). Even if he gets a solid one, most guys with one quad go down to a really strong artist without one. Kraznozhon has a nice axel and has technical difficulty with the loop on the end of his combination(s); but those are not going to get him as far as they did in juniors because the quads are allowed in the SP. I think he needs to tackle this challenge from both sides. The technical one and the presentation. He's a decent competitor, which could serve him well. But he has a lot of work to do to be competitive at the senior level because he's not at the top on either end of the spectrum.

 

[aftershocks]

^^ Yes, thanks for your clarification and expansion of your thoughts. I only asked because it was unclear to whom you might be referring in the flow of the discussion.

I agree with your points and views of Kras' skating. Still, e.g., I thought at one of Kras' GPs where he was the only skater to skate consistently in both programs, that he was unfairly dumped to 8th place. He should have more fairly remained in 6th place, or maybe dropped to 7th, but definitely not 8th for what he accomplished vs some of the others' messy performances.

 

[layman]

Alexei seems quite a bit taller than most male figure skaters (He is 177 cm/6 ft according to his ISU Bio page). Plus, he does not have the pencil thin physique of the top men. This affects the way his skating looks (it's easier for the elements to be perceived as messy). It also affects his technique. It's a lot more difficult to jump when you are tall. Yet, I think Alexei's skating looks well managed this season despite those challenges. He will probably never have multiple quads for the reasons I just outlined, but the triples do look clean and stable. I would like to see the judges reward that (more than they did on the Grand Prix). The judges are probably making him pay his dues as a new Senior on the circuit. I think better choreography could get the judges (and spectators) excited and more invested in his skating and lead to better marks.

 

[BittyBug]

Alexei seems quite a bit taller than most male figure skaters.

He's 177 cm, which is just under 5'10". Yes, on the taller side, but not unusually tall. For reference, Brian Joubert with a similar build is 179 cm and Yagudin is 175 cm. And there are many taller skaters (Kovtun, Lysacek, etc.), but I agree that his build does not match the ideal whippet-like frame that many top skaters have.

 

[concorde]

which is just under 6'10". Yes, on the taller side, but not unusually tall.

Gotta love the typo. 6'10" is 3 inches taller than the average height of a player in the NBA.

 

[BittyBug]

Gotta love the typo. 6'10" is 3 inches taller than the average height of a player in the NBA.

Yes, I noticed that and fixed it earlier.

 

[concorde]

I thought it was pretty funny in a good way!

Kinda reminds me of an auto correct typo on one of my posts. "Tano" arms became "tango" arms.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Torgashev made JGPF this year - - 4th in Bratislava, 1st in Kaunas - - but had to WD and did so early, and first alternate Gogolev went instead.

 

[toddlj]

I'm copying and pasting this over from the 2019 US Nationals Competitors thread (thanks @Sylvia ) for discussion. Quite a lineup! All is as expected, so far.

(This confirms that Ross Miner won't be competing. I don't think he officially retired?)

Championship Men (20)
Andrew Austin (Skokie Valley SC) P4
Jason Brown (Skokie Valley SC)
Nathan Chen (Salt Lake Figure Skating)
Timothy Dolensky (Atlanta FSC) E1
Tomoki Hiwatashi (DuPage FSC)
William Hubbart (St. Moritz ISC, Inc.) P4
Ben Jalovick (Centennial 7k SC) M3
Alexander Johnson (Braemar-City of Lakes FSC)
Aleksei Krasnozhon (Dallas FSC, Inc.)
Daniel Kulenkamp (Coyotes SC of Arizona) P3
Tony Lu (North Jersey FSC, Inc.) E4
Jimmy Ma (The SC of New York, Inc.) E2
Jordan Moeller (Northern Ice SC) M1
Sebastien Payannet (Los Angeles FSC) P2
Camden Pulkinen (Broadmoor SC, Inc.)
Sean Rabbitt (Glacier Falls FSC, Inc.) P1
Emmanuel Savary (Broadmoor SC, Inc.) M2
Kevin Shum (The Skating Club of Boston) E3
Andrew Torgashev (Broadmoor SC, Inc.)
Vincent Zhou (The Skating Club of San Francisco, Inc.)

 

[Sylvia]

I was going to start a new U.S. Men's thread for the second half of the season... should I do it?

Replying to myself ... yes - here it is: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/u-s-men-2018-19-season-cont-news-updates.104980/