2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating

tosca · Oct 21, 2018

Just putting it out there... this is the first time in 10 years and only the second time in history that an American did not medal at Skate America in the ladies event.

Just a fact - that being said, I think Bradie will show up later in the season in better form. I think it goes to show people, that she isn't the most steadfast competitor. She had a LOT of pressure on her as America's top lady and I think it definitely may have gotten to her. That being said, I think it is admirable that it was still a decent showing even with all that pressure. Do I wish she got a medal? Yes. Nevertheless, I think she did a respectable job.

Starr... I was never a fan, still not a fan. I like what she represents and hope that she can improve the tech and skating skills because she is a natural performer.

Megan, respectable job!

Canadianskatingfan · Oct 21, 2018

Megan Wessenberg was a very nice surprise for me this weekend. Not sure why she's leaving out the 3Lo though, she used to have a very good one on the jgp circuit and nationals! Still a great skater with powerful jumps. Hope to see more of her!

Tolstoj · Oct 21, 2018

tosca said:
Just putting it out there... this is the first time in 10 years and only the second time in history that an American did not medal at Skate America in the ladies event.

Just a fact - that being said, I think Bradie will show up later in the season in better form. I think it goes to show people, that she isn't the most steadfast competitor. She had a LOT of pressure on her as America's top lady and I think it definitely may have gotten to her. That being said, I think it is admirable that it was still a decent showing even with all that pressure. Do I wish she got a medal? Yes. Nevertheless, I think she did a respectable job.

Besides the statistics, i don't think we should make a big deal about it. Bradie didn't exactly bombed a program, and she wasn't out of shape here considering she did better at the Autumn Classics earlier: I think this was more pressure and just not a great day.

I'm still not a huge fan of her skating, but you have to give her credit that she has two very ambitious technical programs this season.

tosca · Oct 21, 2018

Tolstoj said:
Besides the statistics, i don't think we should make a big deal about it. Bradie didn't exactly bombed a program, and she wasn't out of shape here considering she did better at the Autumn Classics earlier: I think this was more pressure and just not a great day.

I'm still not a huge fan of her skating, but you have to give her credit that she has two very ambitious technical programs this season.

I think i did give her credit...?

tosca said:
That being said, I think it is admirable that it was still a decent showing even with all that pressure. Do I wish she got a medal? Yes. Nevertheless, I think she did a respectable job.

Oh and yes, i didn't mention the tech upgrade - mad respect.. I think she has a lovely 3Lz+3Lo when she hits it. And she was hitting it throughout her practices

flipsydoodle · Oct 21, 2018

evasorange said:
I mean I was there at the Olympics and have seen Ashley skate in person may times. Even when she makes mistakes she still sells the program. That’s her strong point. She can draw the audience even in the very last rows into her performance and make you feel it. ....

I think you're assuming that everyone responds the same way to Ashley and that "selling" the program appeals to and draws in every member of the audience, live or on TV. Her "selling" is not my thing at all, and I would encourage open mindedness about whether "selling" a program really makes for an excellent skate. Personally, I get anxious because of the inevitable screw-ups, which definitely distract from performance appeal;
Combined with poor sportsmanship (never redeemable since it says something about character) in response to marks (e.g. at Olympics and Nationals), the salesmanship seems insincere. Total package: a big no for me, "selling" or no "selling".
I'll bet there are a lot of people who react this way, even if they aren't on this board.

flipsydoodle · Oct 21, 2018

katymay said:
When she gets tired she gets a bit sloppy. Her problems though, are easily fixable. She gets up in the shoulders, sloppy arms, flinging hands etc. Hopefully her coaches watch the video and point things out: there there and there, and look at your hand/arm/freeleg there there and there. I expect these tiny issues to be cleaned up by nationals.

To me she looked really stressed and super-focused on just making her elements happen. The program is still a little paint-by-numbers, IMO. For instance, she hasn't figured out how to get her feelings into her arms. They are bolder and she makes more interesting shapes, but she hasn't made them hers. Yet.

AshWagsFan · Oct 21, 2018

Is it just me, or did anyone else think Bradie seemed a bit sick this weekend? Could’ve been the reason why she was a bit labored in both programs. She seemed to be a bit stuffy, perhaps just a slight head cold that threw her off top form?

hippomoomin · Oct 21, 2018

I have to say I like Bradie more this season. Both of her programs have drama and complex, which I prefer. The opening of her sp really gave me some Evgenia vibe.

MarinHondas · Oct 21, 2018

AshWagsFan said:
Is it just me, or did anyone else think Bradie seemed a bit sick this weekend? Could’ve been the reason why she was a bit labored in both programs. She seemed to be a bit stuffy, perhaps just a slight head cold that threw her off top form?

I did notice that she was blowing her nose a lot and sniffing it during the program but didn’t think anything of it. She may have had a cold.

DanseMacabre · Oct 21, 2018

AshWagsFan said:
Is it just me, or did anyone else think Bradie seemed a bit sick this weekend? Could’ve been the reason why she was a bit labored in both programs. She seemed to be a bit stuffy, perhaps just a slight head cold that threw her off top form?

She sounded fine to me in the post-competition interview. Not congested at all, but then, who knows? Could be. But it's not like she had a disastrous skate. She popped one jump and had two URs, but I think a few bobbles are to be expected. She's not the underdog anymore. There's more pressure on her to perform now. And even if she has a reputation for consistency, no one's perfect all the time. It was just the kind of competition where you had a stacked class and there was no room for error, even minor ones.

twirlingblades · Oct 21, 2018

AshWagsFan said:
Is it just me, or did anyone else think Bradie seemed a bit sick this weekend? Could’ve been the reason why she was a bit labored in both programs. She seemed to be a bit stuffy, perhaps just a slight head cold that threw her off top form?

When she was getting into her starting position, I actually noticing how much she was sniffling. Maybe it was just the cold of the rink though.

Eislauf · Oct 22, 2018

Megan Wessenberg looked terrific! Her style reminds me of Katelyn Osmond's--- fast, exciting, and powerful with pizazz. It was refreshing. She's improved so much even since the summer. Well done Megan at your first GP!

Eislauf · Oct 22, 2018

Brady's SP dress looked like an attempt to make her packaging edgier, in keeping with the music. But I don't think it worked. Plus her hair and makeup still look very traditional, almost old fashioned, so the overall effect is discordant.I wish she'd get more sophisticated hair and makeup.

SnowWhite · Oct 22, 2018

Eislauf said:
Brady's SP dress looked like an attempt to make her packaging edgier, in keeping with the music. But I don't think it worked. Plus her hair and makeup still look very traditional, almost old fashioned, so the overall effect is discordant.I wish she'd get more sophisticated hair and makeup.

I get what you're saying. I felt like this new dress fit the program better, but the simpler black one looked better overall with the rest of her packaging.

charlotte14 · Oct 22, 2018

tosca said:
Oh and yes, i didn't mention the tech upgrade - mad respect.. I think she has a lovely 3Lz+3Lo when she hits it. And she was hitting it throughout her practices

Or maybe she should have dumped the 3lz3lo as the tech panel is super strict on that combo unless you are Zagitova whose 3lz3lo is mostly UR but still gets away. That is not an effective combo for most people. It easily gets UR calls.

Tolstoj · Oct 22, 2018

tosca said:
I think i did give her credit...?

Yes, i was more speaking in general cause Tara kept saying the whole event that Bradie was expected to win here, how consistent she is... and yes i think she had a chance of winning here before the SP, after Autumn Classics she could have kept the momentum and bring a new PB here, so in that sense it is slightly disappointing, but i think clearly the difficulty of the combos, especially the 3ltz-3lo makes her a little less consistent.

Whether she should keep it or going back to the Lutz-toe we will see at the end of the season, how many times she has nailed it in competition.

gizmo · Oct 22, 2018

Bradie definitely improved this season, but presentations still need work especially arm movements. I really do not get her FS....Putting 3 different generations of Romeo and Juliet (ballet, old movie, new movie) just does not work for me, the style is just not consistent.

Gullygirl84 · Oct 22, 2018

Tara's commentary was rather puzzling, how she kept going on and on about how Bradie was expected to win and how she expected her to come back and have a technically perfect performance in the free skate. I'm guessing that she was just thinking that Satoko would end up getting hammered with unders, but at the end of the day, Satoko at this point is a multiple world medalist, was just off the podium at the last olympics, grand prix final medalist, etc. So she should have been favored to win Skate America again. Bradie did not medal here, but she still ended up scoring over 130 points in the free, and that was with a few unders on her triples. I give her a break because she is trying the new combo this year, which is what she had the issues with in both skates. If she doesn't make the grand prix final, is it really the end of the world. There have been women who have made the grand prix final and don't even make the world team, and there have been women who don't make the grand prix final and go on to get a world medal. This more of just speaks to how insane the depth is internationally, but Bradie at this point is still the most consistent one the US has. Tara should really simmer down on it though because the way they talk about Bradie reminds me of how they talked about Gracie (who, at that point, had at least been 4th in the Olympics), and Bradie is only human.

Globetrotter · Oct 22, 2018

charlotte14 said:
Or maybe she should have dumped the 3lz3lo as the tech panel is super strict on that combo unless you are Zagitova whose 3lz3lo is mostly UR but still gets away. That is not an effective combo for most people. It easily gets UR calls.

I won’t get all carried by the reputation thingy. Bradie clearly did UR her 3Lz-3R in the FP. It was clear even without slo-mo and I am sure the trained experts (TP, judges) would have seen it. If anything, her Lutz outside edge also looks !, especially the second one on combo with the toe. Where Zagitova is concerned, I think the issue is she gets incredible GOEs and PCS which IMO are very debatable, especially the latter. Either way, I don’t find many of the Russians (except Kostornaia) having strong SS and IN at the moment. Skaters like Marin Honda or Satoko deserves higher SS. Bradie, Starr and US ladies in general have relatively mediocre SS and they have room to improve. Get that up, skate clean and they will be in business.

Globetrotter · Oct 22, 2018

Gullygirl84 said:
Tara's commentary was rather puzzling, how she kept going on and on about how Bradie was expected to win and how she expected her to come back and have a technically perfect performance in the free skate. I'm guessing that she was just thinking that Satoko would end up getting hammered with unders, but at the end of the day, Satoko at this point is a multiple world medalist, was just off the podium at the last olympics, grand prix final medalist, etc. So she should have been favored to win Skate America again. Bradie did not medal here, but she still ended up scoring over 130 points in the free, and that was with a few unders on her triples. I give her a break because she is trying the new combo this year, which is what she had the issues with in both skates. If she doesn't make the grand prix final, is it really the end of the world. There have been women who have made the grand prix final and don't even make the world team, and there have been women who don't make the grand prix final and go on to get a world medal. This more of just speaks to how insane the depth is internationally, but Bradie at this point is still the most consistent one the US has. Tara should really simmer down on it though because the way they talk about Bradie reminds me of how they talked about Gracie (who, at that point, had at least been 4th in the Olympics), and Bradie is only human.

Tara is human and an American. I am sure she also wanted another American contender on the big stages and at present, Bradie looked like the best bet. Her scoring potential is very high if she can improve the components - primarily the SS, PE (posture) and IN. These take time. I guess the commentators also conveniently forgot that Satoko worked damn hard on her jumps and her jumps in SA had visibly more lift (than expected from previous) and she didn’t UR. While I think her 3F is most suspect, overall, the two Japanese girls and Sofia were simpler stronger. I don’t think Bradie will ever out PCS Satoko this year. The difference in quality is substantial.

2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating

tosca

Canadianskatingfan

Tolstoj

tosca

flipsydoodle

flipsydoodle

AshWagsFan

Edges for days.

hippomoomin

MarinHondas

DanseMacabre

twirlingblades

Eislauf

Eislauf

SnowWhite

charlotte14

Tolstoj

gizmo

Gullygirl84

Globetrotter

Globetrotter

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