Hittin' the boards...

[CoyoteChris]

We all saw what happened when Mirai hit the boards at Nats.....

So do Images like this one from WTT scare you? They scare ME!
http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd385/CoyoteChris303/house/gracie_zpsgqpvknn3.jpg

 

[karne]

Max also had a moment that was very close to the boards during his FS (though not out of a jump landing like Gracie).

As long as she's perfectly aware of where she is, I see no problem. It gets our heart rates up.

And then sometimes this happens.

 

[Jammers]

Max also had a moment that was very close to the boards during his FS (though not out of a jump landing like Gracie).

As long as she's perfectly aware of where she is, I see no problem. It gets our heart rates up.

And then sometimes this happens.

The problem is Gracie has hit or come close to hitting the boards in almost every competition since Nationals. Once can be excused but when it's happening at almost every competition then it's inexcusable and something needs to be done because in the SP it has cost Gracie because it messes up her opening 3-3 and she loses points.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Skaters getting to close or running into the boards is certainly a nail biter! Plus it's gotta hurt.

However, nothing quite beats what happened to Midori Ito in 1991. Although that was more a case of not hitting the boards! :shocked:

 

[Krunchii]

At Nationals the rink seemed smaller, everyone had me on an edge because they were so close to the boards, I thought it was on a matter of time before someone made a mistake and it was unfortunate that it was Mirai.

Gracie... her 3-3 is kind of wild, especially with her arms, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

 

[Jammers]

At Nationals the rink seemed smaller, everyone had me on an edge because they were so close to the boards, I thought it was on a matter of time before someone made a mistake and it was unfortunate that it was Mirai.

Gracie... her 3-3 is kind of wild, especially with her arms, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Her problem seems to be she doesn't know her own speed at times.

 

[LiamForeman]

Johnny Weir took a nasty fall in his LP at 2003 USNationals. It totally derailed his program and he ended up scratching.

As for Gracie, this has happened all season. Makes you wonder why. Too much speed, maybe, but she's always skated with lots of speed. Does it appear that she's reworking her lutz technique and also on other jumps and therefore her timing is just a bit off? Not picking soon enough? Hitting the wall when you aren't expecting it could cause serious injury. It's much different than falling and then sliding into the boards because you at least are expecting to hit.

 

[solani]

Johnny Weir took a nasty fall in his LP at 2003 USNationals. It totally derailed his program and he ended up scratching.

As for Gracie, this has happened all season. Makes you wonder why. Too much speed, maybe, but she's always skated with lots of speed. Does it appear that she's reworking her lutz technique and also on other jumps and therefore her timing is just a bit off? Not picking soon enough? Hitting the wall when you aren't expecting it could cause serious injury. It's much different than falling and then sliding into the boards because you at least are expecting to hit.

I think it's nervousness, the body reacts differently when the adrenaline kicks in, as it gives you more power. She's probably a bit faster than she is in training because of that. The solution might be to place the jump even farer away from the wall in training. And it only happens on her first jumping pass, doesn't it? She could also try to do an easier jump before the combo. Well, I'm really curious about what choreo they'll give her next season.

 

[doze]

They train on different sized rinks ya know. (nhl, olympic)

Official National Hockey League rinks are 26 m × 61 m (85 ft × 200 ft). The dimensions originate from the size of the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada. Official Olympic/International rinks have dimensions of 30 m × 60 m (98.4 ft × 197 ft)

Gracie trains at the Toyota Center where the nhl team los angeles kings play, so she's probably used to a bigger rink.

 

[daphenaxa]

They train on different sized rinks ya know. (nhl, olympic)

Official National Hockey League rinks are 26 m × 61 m (85 ft × 200 ft). The dimensions originate from the size of the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada. Official Olympic/International rinks have dimensions of 30 m × 60 m (98.4 ft × 197 ft)

Gracie trains at the Toyota Center where the nhl team los angeles kings play, so she's probably used to a bigger rink.

But from the numbers you gave Official Olympic size is bigger than NFL size?!

 

[solani]

They train on different sized rinks ya know. (nhl, olympic)

Official National Hockey League rinks are 26 m × 61 m (85 ft × 200 ft). The dimensions originate from the size of the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada. Official Olympic/International rinks have dimensions of 30 m × 60 m (98.4 ft × 197 ft)

Gracie trains at the Toyota Center where the nhl team los angeles kings play, so she's probably used to a bigger rink.

Well, NHL rinks are narrower in width, but have only slightly more length, 1m isn't much. So overal NHL rinks are smaller, not bigger. This cannot be the cause of her problem.

 

[Mathman]

Well, that's why they have boards. To protect the spectators from flying skaters.

 

[solani]

Well, that's why they have boards. To protect the spectators from flying skaters.

I never thought about it that way, but it does make sense.

 

[doze]

having 3 more feet is a big difference

 

[solani]

having 3 more feet is a big difference

Compared to the NHL rink, the olympic rink is lesser than 2% shorter, that's not much. It's lesser than 2% shorter. Compare it to the widths: the NHL rink is 15% narrower than the olympic rink, that's a big difference.
And you cannot deny that Gracie is very close to the wall on NHL rinks as well. At nationals in the SP I think she doubled the toe in her 1. combo because she was so close to the wall. And yes, she would've probably hit the wall on a olympic size rink, but that doesn't change the fact, that she was simply too close, she couldn't do the 3T.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Not knowing anything about skating, I wonder if she is trying to time her jump to the music, and if she has too much speed, then that wont work. Frankly (pun intended) I would have thought the coach and choreographer should have seen this during the season and corrected the possible disaster. Ashley's 3-3 didn't come anywhere near the boards, for instance .....in Mirai's case, she had what we pilots call "target fixation". She was concentrating on her next element and let spacial conceptuilization (where she is in space and time) lapse. Broke my heart.
Rink size does matter. But this should be taken into consideration by the choreographer and coach at the beginning of the season. The short dance is more complex, since judges like to see patterns take up the full rink, which varies.....

 

[MFarone]

Sadly I think this problem is strictly Gracie's nerves. I like Gracie quite a bit, but don't have a favorite right now so my opinion isn't because I don't like her. It just seems that her nerves take over when she is competing and her generally good jumps become a problem and things like this happen. Maybe when she is nervous the adrenaline makes her skate faster and then she suddenly too close to the boards.

I believe Frank Carroll mentioned in an interview that Gracie is working with a sports psychologist so maybe some of this will improve by next season (I hope).

 

[Sandpiper]

I'd always wondered about this--why do many skaters jump so close to the boards? Too much hesitation/set-up/transitions going into the jumps? Doesn't it look better to the audience (not to mention being less hazardous) to jump near the middle of the rink?

Gracie's issue is where she jumps. Whereas with Max, he just skates too darn close to the boards in general (maybe 'cause he's going so fast and wants to use the maximum area?)

 

[Skater Boy]

Often when skaters are constantly coming close to the boards especially in jumps has an issue with comfort and the skater for some reason feels more comfortable near the boards and as we see with Gracie it can cause problems. Skaters h ave more checks and balances near the board rather than landing in the middle not to mention there is an issue about take off and space to build speed. I was worried Gracie was going to lose that triple triple in the short here at the WTT. Ice after all is slippery.

 

[hanca]

Often when skaters are constantly coming close to the boards especially in jumps has an issue with comfort and the skater for some reason feels more comfortable near the boards and as we see with Gracie it can cause problems. Skaters h ave more checks and balances near the board rather than landing in the middle not to mention there is an issue about take off and space to build speed. I was worried Gracie was going to lose that triple triple in the short here at the WTT. Ice after all is slippery.

I don't think that's true. My coach always wanted me to cover as much ice as possible, so it meant getting close to the boards. But jumps were not landed close to the boards. It was mostly during transitions. I don't think that skate who skate near the boards are getting any comfort from having the boards nearby, I think it is actually more dangerous. When you fall, you don't want your head to hit the boards.