Favourite Twist lift of the 2017/2018 season | Golden Skate

Favourite Twist lift of the 2017/2018 season

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I just saw the post relating to the favourite jump, so with some acknowledged plagiarism (mea culpa) in choosing the subject, I'd like to post another 'favourite' thread.

Twist lifts...to me the one thing that distinctly separates pairs from any other discipline (together with the throws and SBS elements). My own favourite was Bruno and Aljona's at the Grand Prix Final, the Olympics and at Worlds. Just, wow. So high. As the commentator said during the Olympics: 'his hands go completely out of shot'. Great landings too, no crashes there despite the height of the rotations.

But, wondering...any other favourite twists on here? There's some quads present in the last season too. Better than a triple or not really? Seems to me a fun subject to discuss, not political at all, just enjoyment. And, as far as I can see twists are judged rather well, so there's no need for conspiracy theories (whether reality or not) there either.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Country
United-States
Here's Alexa and Chris Knierim's 4Twist from 2016. It's huge, fast, and also meets the requirements for the catch and the landing. Which IIRC, none of their 4twists did nearly as well in 2017-18. The twist comes at 1:08.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn_u9RL4Mgk

For comparison, here's Aljona and Bruno's 3twist from 2018 Olympics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bNOnXTe4Ok&t=36s


I just saw the post relating to the favourite jump, so with some acknowledged plagiarism (mea culpa) in choosing the subject, I'd like to post another 'favourite' thread.

Twist lifts...to me the one thing that distinctly separates pairs from any other discipline (together with the throws and SBS elements). My own favourite was Bruno and Aljona's at the Grand Prix Final, the Olympics and at Worlds. Just, wow. So high. As the commentator said during the Olympics: 'his hands go completely out of shot'. Great landings too, no crashes there despite the height of the rotations.

But, wondering...any other favourite twists on here? There's some quads present in the last season too. Better than a triple or not really? Seems to me a fun subject to discuss, not political at all, just enjoyment. And, as far as I can see twists are judged rather well, so there's no need for conspiracy theories (whether reality or not) there either.

I love this thread! :luv17: your idea of a real discussion of elements besides jumps.

Whether a 4twist is better than a triple or not really ... that's a very good question. Some people have asked why Aljona and Bruno don't do the quad twist, since they have plenty of room to do so. But for me, that's the point. Their triple twist is so spectacular. Bruno gets her so high, and then Aljona's speed is :eeking:. And there's so much time and space to complete it; for me those are reasons why theirs is so spectacular and stands out from others'.

If I watch the Knierim's perfect quad from 2016 and then S/M's perfect triple from Olympics or Worlds, I honestly like S/M's triple better. I think it's one of the occasions when adding a rotation and adding difficulty may rack up more points, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

Other than the Knierims', I can only recall Sui/Han's 4twist, and to me it had diminishing returns. Technical difficulty isn't everything.
 

Mdk0144

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
I love Y/Z’s twist lift. She flies like a butterfly and he catches her like a feather. Still wondering why they’ve recieved a level 3 at the worlds tho.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I love Y/Z’s twist lift. She flies like a butterfly and he catches her like a feather. Still wondering why they’ve recieved a level 3 at the worlds tho.

I wondered about that too. Maybe because the judges now expect S/M height and catch for a level 4 (kind of a standard for the twist to get a 4)? I agree with you though that Y/Z's is rather beautiful too.
 

Mdk0144

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
I wondered about that too. Maybe because the judges now expect S/M height and catch for a level 4 (kind of a standard for the twist to get a 4)? I agree with you though that Y/Z's is rather beautiful too.

Y/Z completely done everything to have a lev 4-difficult entry, a split from Xiaoyu, Zhang’s hands were down, and she didn’t touch his shoulders. I think they were underscored there a lot hahaha

Other than Y/Z, I loved T/M’s triple twist. I prefer ones whose catches are very light. But I still loved S/M’s twist too!
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Alexa and Chris' quad twist. Hands down. Only sorry we couldn't see it more often.
 

SnowWhite

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 30, 2016
Country
Canada
Y/Z completely done everything to have a lev 4-difficult entry, a split from Xiaoyu, Zhang’s hands were down, and she didn’t touch his shoulders. I think they were underscored there a lot hahaha

Other than Y/Z, I loved T/M’s triple twist. I prefer ones whose catches are very light. But I still loved S/M’s twist too!

Does she get the splits wide enough? IIRC S/M were missing level 4 quite a bit and people were guessing it was because she wasn't getting the full degree for the split that's required.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
To be honest I focus more on the height and the catch than the split bit when watching (and revelling in the watch) the twist lift, but Snow White is quite right in mentioning it. It could be the reason for Y/Z not getting the highest level. I still feel sorry for them because of their devastating skate at the OG. Despite their twist being great to watch as always. It was sad though the Knierims' quad twist wasn't as good as it was in an earlier season. Not, I expect, that a better twist would have helped them much in the end. They just didn't skate very well altogether. As if after the team event at the OG, the balloon got a hole in it and just fizzled down. Perhaps better coming season with an even more beautiful twist. They've got the right coach (although not a very experienced one) to work on it.
 

Mdk0144

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Does she get the splits wide enough? IIRC S/M were missing level 4 quite a bit and people were guessing it was because she wasn't getting the full degree for the split that's required.

Wasn’t the catch was the problem for S/M until last season? Savchenko’s split is very distinctive, but Massot’s catch had a bit of a term and was not smooth as Zhang hao, and Vladimir Morozov (but he somehow gained some flow from it). And yes, the twist that Y/Z done at the worlds just looked fine as always. Including the split. Y/Z never lost a level before.
 

Mdk0144

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
To be honest I focus more on the height and the catch than the split bit when watching (and revelling in the watch) the twist lift, but Snow White is quite right in mentioning it. It could be the reason for Y/Z not getting the highest level. I still feel sorry for them because of their devastating skate at the OG. Despite their twist being great to watch as always. It was sad though the Knierims' quad twist wasn't as good as it was in an earlier season. Not, I expect, that a better twist would have helped them much in the end. They just didn't skate very well altogether. As if after the team event at the OG, the balloon got a hole in it and just fizzled down. Perhaps better coming season with an even more beautiful twist. They've got the right coach (although not a very experienced one) to work on it.

I just wonder if it’s affected from Alexa’s injury last season. She seems to have a trouble on her stamina after those three surgery. But I really love them very much (especially the Ghost soundtrack) and Aliona would be the best for them!
 
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