- Joined
- Mar 3, 2007
I think the US is going to have to fight for even two spots at Worlds this year.
2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating
- Thread starter Spirals for Miles
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
i think bradie was pretty upset with herself after missing out on a medal...when the camera went back to the top 3 after sofia's scores you could tell by the look on her face. she knew had she not singled out on her combo in the short she would have had it. i'm sure this will really push and motivate her to be better at her next GP.
Starr has a lot of potential but i'm not sure she'll realize it under her current coaches. when she's on she can be technically good, but her components need a lot of work. to me she looked tired and got sloppy toward the end of her free, but there's no connection to the music or audience yet.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
It's funny you mention Starr and her coach. I was a
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
huge fan of Derrick Delmore when he competed. Starr is almost a carbon copy of Derrick wrt crossovers, landings, arms, etc. I hope Starr will find herself and learn how to present herself better. This FP is just not good for her. She doesn't seem to relate to it, and it highlights her weaknesses IMO. She needs to do better than this, and work on her weaknesses.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
Japan has a much deeper ladies field than the US from top to bottom. There are several complete skaters from Japan who can combine the technical and the artistry beautifully. In the US, I can't think of anyone who successfully combines both. I think Bradie has the best chance to get there eventually of the current seniors, but she can't afford to give up those TES points when that is what sets her apart in the national field.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
This is completely true. This was a deep field and even perfectly clean, I thought Bradie might sneak in for the Bronze. I look forward to seeing her improve as the season goes on. Maybe the pressure of expectation got to her. Bradie's strength is her technical ability and she has to skate clean to keep her spot in the top 6 in the World.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2010
Yes, I am enjoying the Japanese skaters this year, I love them all. I'd just like some inside opinion as to what's going on in American Ladies. Bradie is fine, but we used to have it and now we don't. It's like we are stuck in a rut. Slute and Kwan were neck and neck for years. And at the same time we had Cohen, who I was not personally a fan of, but she brought it. And Hughes for the gold. Before that we had Yamaguchi battling it with other Americans. Hey, I'm glad for the rise of other country's skaters, but I'd like us to be in it too, and we aren't. Of course, we are in Ice Dance now, which we never were, and Russia, former ice dance power house is in the dust. Maybe it's just the cycle. I just can't remember a time when we were this out of it in Ladies.
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2010
The minute i saw that SP dress I thought it looked like a Slutskaya dress. I do think it was a big change for her and she did carry it off. I think this will be a transitional season for her and hopefully she will come out of it with a better idea of who she wants to be on the ice. I do worry about her tense look now that there are expectations and hope she is consulting with a nutritionist.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2018
I'm sure a lot of it comes down to money and depth of field.
In order to get the depth of talent you need to have a lot of kids in the pipeline so you can have a talent pool to pick from and then support. You also then need funding since it's a very expensive sport in the US. Starr for example at least last season it might have changed now would only skate 2 freestyle sessions a day as that was all the budget would allow. That's never going to compare to the 6-8 hours of ice time the russians have been getting from a very young age.
Actually what I noticed the last two summers is there was a young girl from CSKA in Moscow who come to my rink in LA and pay for a 3 month all you can skate public pass and skate every single session they are eligible for. With "momma" coaching at the sidelines the progress was very rapid.
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2017
Bradie does not have strong outside Lutz. It was funny they call her Flip as ! instead of her flat Lutz now. Overall she should just stay with the 3lz3T and be consistent, they will overlook her 3lutz !. The package this season is meh. The new dresses are all over the place. Look at Satoko and Kaori. Beautiful dresses.
The edginess works, although I completely agree that she needed different make up (like Emma Stone's eye shadow here). I like her SP a lot more now that she's decided to be a villain in it. She's a more cerebral performer and it's becoming clear that her better programs are ones that are more formal to almost avant garde than trying to charm the audience or be an ingenue. If Starr Andrews skates to make you feel the emotion under the music, Bradie skates to make you comprehend the characteristic of the music itself.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
I... think you're grossly overestimating what Bradie (and Starr) are doing currently, but sure.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
IMO.....Bradie sits about 6th-10th Internationally. She is however, still the best lady the US has to offer. I just hope she will skate skate cleanly at her next event. With this 4th place finish, she's not likely to make the GPF as she was an outside shot from the beginning.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2017
On her Instagram story she said that she’s on the ice working on a new short program and is asking for music suggestions.
There's a lot of thought that goes into Bradie's programs--I assume by her choreographer, but it's there and I'm sure Bradie knows what she's doing in that way.
As for why the American Ladies are so weak--well, a couple of top skaters have basically aged out (Mirai and Ashley) and then the other top two from two years ago are out of commission--Gracie Gold was a top level skater who imploded--but for one brief moment a couple of years ago was leading Worlds after the free because she was that good. Right behind her in the U.S. wasn't Ashley but the rapidly improving Polina Edmunds who'd managed a top 10 finish at the Olympics at 15 and won 4CC all while not snagging the U.S. Championships. People tend to ignore her, but if we had Polina and Gracie, we'd be having a different conversation. You can throw in the talented, but uneven Karen Chen who would be lady no. 3 in that scenario and might be vying it out with Bradie, maybe Polina, for the second and third spot.
We're looking at a situation where none of the top ladies in 2016 were at the 2018 Olympics (or are around this year.)
We do have some upcoming talent and I think Bradie will improve now that there's a little less pressure on her--she was in fifth place after the SP and there were Tara and Johnny talking about winning SA. C'mon, that wasn't happening, not with Miyahara having tidying up her URs.
Starr Andrews, on the other hand . . . if you don't have your fundamentals, don't train a triple axel. She looked like she had no business being at the competition.
As for why the American Ladies are so weak--well, a couple of top skaters have basically aged out (Mirai and Ashley) and then the other top two from two years ago are out of commission--Gracie Gold was a top level skater who imploded--but for one brief moment a couple of years ago was leading Worlds after the free because she was that good. Right behind her in the U.S. wasn't Ashley but the rapidly improving Polina Edmunds who'd managed a top 10 finish at the Olympics at 15 and won 4CC all while not snagging the U.S. Championships. People tend to ignore her, but if we had Polina and Gracie, we'd be having a different conversation. You can throw in the talented, but uneven Karen Chen who would be lady no. 3 in that scenario and might be vying it out with Bradie, maybe Polina, for the second and third spot.
We're looking at a situation where none of the top ladies in 2016 were at the 2018 Olympics (or are around this year.)
We do have some upcoming talent and I think Bradie will improve now that there's a little less pressure on her--she was in fifth place after the SP and there were Tara and Johnny talking about winning SA. C'mon, that wasn't happening, not with Miyahara having tidying up her URs.
Starr Andrews, on the other hand . . . if you don't have your fundamentals, don't train a triple axel. She looked like she had no business being at the competition.
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2005
Reluctantly I have to agree that a large part of the US's decline in ladies is economic/weak pipeline. In the 90s, I would go watch regionals, and there would be six or seven qualifying rounds of Novice and Junior ladies - girls would land triple lutzes and not even make the final round. Many fewer girls in the pipeline now, so they don't learn to compete as well along the way. American families are spending money now on health insurance that they used to have available for things like skating and piano lessons. It comes out in the results. Not to get too political and be a Debbie Downer, but the trend now is for even greater inequality of income and opportunity in the future, so don't expect skating to make a big comeback any time soon unless the middle class does. Seems like it's one of the things we have to give up in order for the rich to get richer.
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
Yes to this! I am glad I didn't have a child because I'd want to give them every opportunity, but looking at the cost of skating, no way. I'd put them in tennis or gymnastics at an early age, at least you could aspire to a college scholarship. And speaking of that, college is hugely expensive now. I went to good schools, but even they would be too much now. And I'm saying this as a moderately high middle class, maybe higher, though I don't feel like it... If I had a kid I would defiinitely feel lower middle class. Skating is impossibly expensive without state support like Russia. I just don't think Americans can afford skating anymore. And it's only going to get worse.
I think American singles' decline is partyly due to money and partly due to culture. If you were a parent who isn't a huge skating fan, why would you put your kid in skating over other sports? It's tremendously expensive and a relatively isolated sport. Parents put their kids in sports to make friends while doing something active, and skating is so much more insular than gymnastics, base/softball, football, track & field, and gynmastics. Sure, you make friends at the rink, but there's not that team camaraderie you get elsewhere. Plus, unlike most other sports in the US, there isn't the potential for college scholarships through it. Japan is throwing so much money at skating, training so much young talent, and the Russians have their state-funded sports schools where parents line up at the door to try out their kids. Yes, the Americans falling from the top of the field is upsetting. But honestly, if I had kids I wouldn't put them in skating either, so who I am to judge?
Based upon the weird dream non-skating related dream I had after watching the short program I will contend I might have been feverish.
