Thanks for sharing the clips
@natsulian. It's great seeing this sneak preview of new pairs programs.
^^ Correction to the last link as pointed out by
@haribobo. I don't disagree with any of the placements, but there are programs I like more than others. I'm excited about the potential of all U.S. pairs teams, and I'm frustrated by the dearth of competitive opportunities for them to gain experience and improve. Skaters need to compete to improve.
I love pairs in general and I especially love watching U.S. pairs teams. I have favorites, but I support them all. I'm just going to try and enjoy every team for where they are at and for how hard they work. Every opportunity to view performances is a bonus.
C/J are very well-matched and have a ton of potential. That was very obvious the first time they competed last season.
This is a lovely sp and they had a very strong debut, with only a slight fall forward by Brian on the sbs jumps. I absolutely love that bent leg/skate blade hold by Jessica on the death spiral with a lovely dismount. What a gorgeous dress Jessica is wearing, color and all.
Go C/J, go! @ANL, C/J only need to continue working on rocking their own style. They do not need Russian style, IMHO! They've already shown a lot of versatility in the programs they've competed so far, both last season and this season. Who knew that together they would be this strong? They trained together with other partners for years. But I guess it took those years with other partners to get them to where they are now, in wonderful harmony.
C-G/L are very strong in their expressiveness and flow over the ice, but this program needs a bit of more oomph and fleshing out in order to stand out. Still, I can see evidence of the work C-G/L are continuing to put into training and developing their partnership. I agree the sp costumes don't quite connect to the musical theme. But it is only the start of the season. Perhaps Timothy's costume is still in the works. The red design on Ash's body suit looks more like fire than a storm approaching. As this is the first time out, for Ash/Timothy and for everyone, their programs have a chance to evolve. I didn't get a good look at Ash's makeup.
L/M are a very classic-looking pair, and fairly consistent jumpers. They are at the top in that aspect, along with C-G/L (who have good jump difficulty but must work on aceing consistency of full rotation), C/J, K/O, et al are also good jumpers who generally need to further their consistency. And @ANL, Misha has Russian ancestry, so there's your Russian style.
L/M still need to grow in terms of projecting more to the audience, but they are always a pleasure to watch.
F/N have speed and lots of potential. I agree that their sp needs to develop further. The theme is not quite coming across with any impact. They did try to project the music theme, but the expressiveness and connection needs more work. They have good elements all around, but they need to continue pushing for consistency. The only way to do that and to improve confidence is to be given opportunities to compete.
D/N are always fun to watch. Nika is a firecracker! She's usually got great lift and flow-out on her throws. This is a good program for Nika and Danny to sink their teeth into further. Yes, they could benefit from increasing their speed, and improving their projection to the audience, and their connection with each other. Nika really looks good in that beautifully designed body suit.
C/H appear to have a lot of potential. They are a new team, so they need more time to develop a 3-twist and to ace timing, rhythm and unison, which they are already good at -- they just need mileage together. The height on their 2-twist was excellent, so they should have the 3-twist together soon. They clearly need to work on improving timing, confidence, difficulty, and ease of entry and dismount on their lifts. Their throw and death spiral look good, as does their speed generally, except for entry into the lift where they were being cautious. They appear to be good jumpers as well -- Spencer was leaning in the air on his jump, which is why he fell. Otherwise, they really look good together and I hope they stay together for the long haul.
S/T need more time to improve, as it takes time especially when you are new to pairs as Olivia still is. I too love Mervin. He's a great pairs partner. I don't think 'yikes' when I see them. I simply send them good vibes and loving thoughts. Keep pushing for your goals S/T! They completed gorgeous sbs jumps with great rhythm and timing, and their throw 3-twist and lifts are coming along.
S/T definitely have good basics, and I see improvement from U.S. Nationals, which was their first real competition together. Obviously, death spirals are one of the hardest elements to learn in pairs. That's what I've heard the experts say.
But once you get it under your belt, they say, everything can kinda fall into place (no pun intended). It looked like Olivia was trying for a difficult leg variation on the ds, and lost her balance. But let me just commend S/T for the cool move they performed at U.S. Nats in January: A double spread eagle into a death spiral! I always love seeing innovation in pairs moves.
I'm pulling for you Merv and Livia!
I look forward to seeing the fps. And I can't wait to see what the Knierims, Kayne/O'Shea, and Denney/Frazier are working on this season.
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We are very lucky Rasher was there and generously filmed and tweeted about the senior pairs short programs, along with some of the singles short programs and a few of the fp of juniors.
I understand that all teams have to be competitive with skaters in their own country. That's the name of the game: competition and being your best. But still, my feeling is that athletes do better when they don't obsess overmuch about their competition, but simply focus on improving every aspect of their own training strategies and performance skills. The coaches can worry about competitors and/or competition strategies while keeping their athletes focused on doing their own thing to the best of their abilities. That's in fact the approach that has worked so well at Gadbois, where many rival teams train under the same coaches.
I'm not sure why, but the rules were obviously different, and changes were probably put into place soon afterward. In 1953, for some reason, no U.S. pairs teams competed at Worlds. From 1947 - 1950 (after the WWII layoff) the Kennedy siblings of the U.S. were on the rise, and the U.S. sent two pairs teams to Worlds in those years. From 1951 thru 1952, the U.S. sent 3 pairs teams to compete at Worlds, post the Kennedys winning gold in 1950 and becoming the first NA team to win gold in pairs.
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