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Nathan's transitions and features are so quickly done and so well woven into his choreography that if you aren't looking or know what to look for you will easily miss them.
2020 U.S. Nationals: Men's Free Skate
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Nathan's transitions and features are so quickly done and so well woven into his choreography that if you aren't looking or know what to look for you will easily miss them.
If you are not blind, obviously you can’t see transitional steps and turns. Granted, unlike judges most of us can’t identify transitional steps and turns without using slo mo.
Here Nathan did double back three powerpulls into his 3A, while Jason did a 3turn two half-rinks away into his 3A. Just refresh the Youtube pages to rewatch them to see the difference.
I am sure ISU judges are more qualified to assess PCS than you and me. The mean PCS they gave Nathan and Jason this season so far are as follows (https://skatingscores.com/men/). I think their conclusions are different than yours.
Nathan SS9.39 TR9.16 PE9.43 CO9.44 IN9.49
Jason SS8.73 TR8.66 PE8.64 CO8.82 IN8.84
If you want to learn to identify transitional steps and turns and see what transitions Nathan did, you can watch the technical breakdown videos of Nathan’s GPF FS here. For convenience, I’ll write down the main transitional steps and turns, not including most arms and body movements that could be counted as transitions. Are these merely "a few crosscuts and a basic turn or two" as you claimed?
cw 3-turn
Left leg swing and upper body movements connecting crossovers in two directions
RBO-RFI 3-turn followed by Mohawk
4F3T
Hop
Right leg swing and upper body movement matching the lyrics
Choctaw
Upper body movement corresponding to the lyrics and music
cw Mohawk on a high note of the music
Choctaw
4Lz
ccw spread eagle on the outside edge
Successive crossover and edge changes with shifts in center of gravity
cc Mohawk followed by 3-turn highlighting the entrance of the strings
cw Mohawk
ccw spread eagle on the outside edge
RFO to RBI 3-turn, change of foot
4TEu3S
Chasse
Double twizzle followed by knee slide
CCSp
ccw Mohawk followed by 3-Turn
Backward cross rolls
3-Turn
3-Turn
cw Mohawk
Long curve with change of edge on one foot
3A
StSq
(Choctaw
LFO-LBO-LFO Rocker-Counter-Loop
RFO-RBI Bracket
RFO-RBO-RFO Rocker-Counter-
Double Twizzle
Coupe jete-change of edge on one foot on a curve-Loop
Chasse- double Twizzle on bent knees-Loop
Choctaw-right leg swing matching the music
RFO-RBO Bracket)
cw Mohawk
ccw Mohawk
ccw Mohawk
RBO-RFI 3Turn-ccw Mohawk
4S
Spread eagle on the inside edge- Twizzle on bent knees-3-Turn
RFO-RBI 3-Turn
Change of edge on one foot with free leg swinging back-and-forth
LFO-LBI 3-turn
4T
LFI-LBI Rocker
LFO-LBI 3-Turn
Choctaw
Mohawk-Choctaw entry
3Lz3T
Continuous 3-Turns and Illusion entry into spin
CCoSp
ChSq
(Hop into slide
Choctaw-Loop
Hip-hop dance in place
Hop with two feet leaving ice and landing at the same time followed by 3-turns
Upper body hip-hop movements
3-Turn-Ina Bauer-change of edge on one foot
Kick jump followed by besti squat)
Butterfly entry
FCCoSp
I think people are mixing up steps into jumps with transitions. The former is a feature related to GOE. Transitions are in-between, linking moves between elements. This fan cam video of Nathan’s free skate shows many steps and turns between his technical elements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zwBOLybv_s&app=desktop It is incorrect to say he has no transitions or that he doesn’t deserve his high mark.
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Honestly, it would be sweet to have a separate thread for demystifying the PCS like that. It’s amazing to see what actually makes up the skate
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He's the first one I've seen that does a choctaw into 4Lz (at the GPF). Not a very trivial transition into the most difficult element in figure skating.
He also added the double back three turns + powerfull into 3A this year, by far his weakest jump.
Just wanted to mention these notable transitions he has added to his FS this year, in addition to the spread-eagle into 4toe-eu-3sal that he has been doing for a while.
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Let’s get back to the men in general:
What a competition. Why I love the diversity, breadth and talent of the US men.
First for me, of course, Jason. I’m still on cloud nine from those two skates. :yay: We are all Tracy Wilson to Jason coming off the ice: oh boy, you are special. Or Charlie White: Figure skating is lucky to have Jason Brown.
And then of course, Andrew T. *Slaying* the SP:yes2: of course, my Andrew could not put together two clean skates but he fought for the FS. Blade to ice skills that are second to none.
I am so impressed by Nathan and Vincent, but not for the reasons I think many are. I think going to college has brought depth and maturity to their skating, I am amazed by Vincent’s comeback powers, and since spousal unit has degrees from Yale and Brown, I feel kindly to both of them.
Tomoki: I love a split jump. I love Tomoki’s. Alex K., my wild jumper, with his fierce passion in the step sequences. Camden, another smooth like butter skater.
And a special shout out to Sean Rabbitt. 29 years old. No quads. No international assignments. Who cares? He keeps competing and keeps bringing down the house at US Nats from his sheer joy and love for skating.
US men were the comp of the year, as far as I’m concerned.
What a competition. Why I love the diversity, breadth and talent of the US men.
First for me, of course, Jason. I’m still on cloud nine from those two skates. :yay: We are all Tracy Wilson to Jason coming off the ice: oh boy, you are special. Or Charlie White: Figure skating is lucky to have Jason Brown.
And then of course, Andrew T. *Slaying* the SP:yes2: of course, my Andrew could not put together two clean skates but he fought for the FS. Blade to ice skills that are second to none.
I am so impressed by Nathan and Vincent, but not for the reasons I think many are. I think going to college has brought depth and maturity to their skating, I am amazed by Vincent’s comeback powers, and since spousal unit has degrees from Yale and Brown, I feel kindly to both of them.
Tomoki: I love a split jump. I love Tomoki’s. Alex K., my wild jumper, with his fierce passion in the step sequences. Camden, another smooth like butter skater.
And a special shout out to Sean Rabbitt. 29 years old. No quads. No international assignments. Who cares? He keeps competing and keeps bringing down the house at US Nats from his sheer joy and love for skating.
US men were the comp of the year, as far as I’m concerned.
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Just want to chime in with a few of my thoughts on the U.S. men's competition.
First of all, a very enjoyable competition! I was a little nervous after the short because it was too good to follow, yet the men delivered again in the long! When has that ever happened
In both segments the men showed impressive diversity, from music choices for the program to the individuality of each skater. We saw skaters who might not be so technically strong and yet were very entertaining and delightful to watch, like William Hubbart with his broadway musical programs and Dinh Tran in his remarkable senior national debut. And we also saw the progress made by those who turned seniors recently, like Camden (good fight in the long), Alex K (unbelievable raw energy and much better programs than last year), Andrew (amazing SS as always and attempting, what, 3 quads?
), and my highlight of the event, Tomoki 
Love both of his programs, his attack to it, and his timing to peak precisely at nationals each year
And of course, Nathan Chen delivered again. He was clearly not in his best shape yet still produced two strong programs, especially the short. It's reassuring to have someone who can combine the most difficult content with the highest level of consistency as well as some pretty committed performances.
Overall the technical content attempted in the men's free skate might not rival that at some other nationals but everyone was doing their best and that made the event very exciting. And may I add that the NBC sports gold commentators, Tanith White and Charlie White, were as good as I could dream for. Taken together US men were definitely my favorite comp of the season so far
First of all, a very enjoyable competition! I was a little nervous after the short because it was too good to follow, yet the men delivered again in the long! When has that ever happened
In both segments the men showed impressive diversity, from music choices for the program to the individuality of each skater. We saw skaters who might not be so technically strong and yet were very entertaining and delightful to watch, like William Hubbart with his broadway musical programs and Dinh Tran in his remarkable senior national debut. And we also saw the progress made by those who turned seniors recently, like Camden (good fight in the long), Alex K (unbelievable raw energy and much better programs than last year), Andrew (amazing SS as always and attempting, what, 3 quads?
), and my highlight of the event, Tomoki Love both of his programs, his attack to it, and his timing to peak precisely at nationals each year And of course, Nathan Chen delivered again. He was clearly not in his best shape yet still produced two strong programs, especially the short. It's reassuring to have someone who can combine the most difficult content with the highest level of consistency as well as some pretty committed performances.
Overall the technical content attempted in the men's free skate might not rival that at some other nationals but everyone was doing their best and that made the event very exciting. And may I add that the NBC sports gold commentators, Tanith White and Charlie White, were as good as I could dream for. Taken together US men were definitely my favorite comp of the season so far
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Just a note about Dinh Tran. We saw him in practice as a Junior in San Jose and I was immediately taken with him mostly because of his backstory. He lives in one of the worst areas of San Francisco, walks to the bus to go to school and practice and really, really wants to be an elite figure skater to work that hard for it. His mother is raising 4 or 5 children alone in like a 2-bedroom apartment. That was also the year I noticed Camden Pulkinen. I don't know if Tran will ever win a medal but he gets kudos for his effort and his challenges. And I love Camden's skating.
This was an outstanding competition instead of the sometimes splat fest we see. Good job on all the men but one of the experiences I won't forget is the smile plastered all over Sean Rabbit's face. He epitomizes the joy of competing just for the joy of it!!
This was an outstanding competition instead of the sometimes splat fest we see. Good job on all the men but one of the experiences I won't forget is the smile plastered all over Sean Rabbit's face. He epitomizes the joy of competing just for the joy of it!!
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Nathan is amazing. Coming off sick, going to school whatever he is a marvel and rarity. HIs pcs are too high. He deserves good marks but artistically/pc wise he is not super special ala Chan, Lambiel, Buttle and getting there Brown. I am amazed how little flack he gets for his generous pcs when the Russian girls almost or sometimes get death threats. An argument can be made that Jason can be the artist because technically he is significantly weaker or throwing a much much lower degree of difficulty so it is easier to do transitions and connect with the audience. Still Nathan and Jason were wow. I appreciate Jason still h as not done a quad competitiely At least he tried it. Though to be fair two footed and nderrotated isn't good (one bt not the other would be a more respectable finish.
I agree - Dinh Tran's backstory makes his skating achievements even more impressive - a wonderful skater.
Nathan does get a lot of flack for his PCS, he was even reported to Interpol:eeking:. Of the 3A, Trusova bears the brunt of the complaints of the PCS police, the others not so much.
Many of the complaints I see for the 3A actually deal with the jumps such as wrong edge and prerotation whereas Nathan, for all his faults, actually has great technique on his jumps.
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US men were the comp of the year, as far as I’m concerned.
Certainly a cut above Europeans. There were some aspects I enjoyed more than the GPF.
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Well, fortunately we have you who makes sure he gets some in every single post you’ve ever made that mentioned his name.
Oh, and I disagree with you that he gets little flack for his PCS. Have you been following what went on, for example, after the GPF?
Like... he gets SO MUCH! flack!
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And it is correct that his PCS is criticised.
Anyone who thinks he is a better PCS skater than Jason has rocks in their head and for eyes. Yet twice already this year we have had judges try to convince us of that - and worse, on the most recent occasion when Jason's skate was back-to-back with Nathan's, which did Nathan absolutely no favours in comparison.
Nathan is not a 90+ skater. But I also believe there are few in the world who really are.
Anyone who thinks he is a better PCS skater than Jason has rocks in their head and for eyes. Yet twice already this year we have had judges try to convince us of that - and worse, on the most recent occasion when Jason's skate was back-to-back with Nathan's, which did Nathan absolutely no favours in comparison.
Nathan is not a 90+ skater. But I also believe there are few in the world who really are.
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Oh good gravy. I’m sure Interpol got right on that.
Besides being reported to Interpol, did 3A got “unfair judgement” protest banner during award ceremony like Nathan got at GPF?
And Nathan did get death threats.
Thanks Tahuu for the fan cam link. I was so happy he didn’t leave out the double back three powerpulls into his 3A. It is a highlight of the program for me. His first 3A attempt during 6 minute was not good and apparently he still has stamina issues, so I didn’t really expect him doing that during competition. Not only he did the double 3 turns, his 3A matched the music so well.
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I think for the casual fan, and even those of us who are more than casual, sometimes think of "transitions" as being something really big and noticeable, like spirals, or split jumps or something where the skater holds the leg over the head. We (I) don't really appreciate how difficult the more subtle transitions must be.
I think the people who complain about PCS consider it a subjective "artistry" score, as it was under 6.0. Rightly or wrongly, PCS doesn't even judge "artistry." There is "performance." Can anyone deny that Nathan performed his long program very well? It is a much different type of program than Jason's and so the performances are different. But Nathan had the crowd going wild with his step sequence. That was an excellent performance. And interpretation--note how his triple axel was timed right to the change in the music. He also interpreted the various changes in tempo very well. As shown by others, he had transitions. Maybe his skating skills are not as good as Jason's but they are still very good. Composition was very good too. And I know some will not accept it but the reigning and two-time World Champion is going to get a bump in PCS. It is not unknown in other sports. They used to say Michael Jordan was known as Air Jordan because if the air around him moved, a foul was called.
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jenaj - you make a very good point. Those of who have been around during the 6.0 era probably are still laboring under the misconception that PCS is just artistry. I think Nathan and Jason and Lambiel, Chan, even Plushenko etc. all present their performances in a different manner or style but ALL are performing. Skating skills don't just mean smoothness of movement, soft landings, yada! yada! I don't particularly think Hanyu is a beautiful, smooth, performer or that he interprets his music well - and yet there are many who would argue with that. It just goes to show that I personally don't know the criteria the judges are using for PCS now. Nathan performed the holy H out of that freeskate and I'm not going to judge the judges who clearly know more than I/we do. I think when a skater's performance is criticized or "they" feel his or her PCS is overscored sometimes it's because they prefer another skater. It's all relative.
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