- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
So, Milano 2018 concludes the end of this Olympics quad. I think it is undeniable the past four years have pushed the technical boundary of men's figure skating tremendously, largely due to the current top men. Aside from the veterans (Patrick, Javier, Yuzuru), I want to highlight the batch of fresh faces. Commonly called the #sQuad (squad of quadsters - say that ten times ), they're Shoma Uno, Nathan Chen, Boyang Jin. So I want to ask:
1) Who is your favourite?
2) Who do you think has the best jump & spin techniques? Skating skills, transitions, interpretation, performance, composition? On skating skills, how would you break them down, and how do the three differ from each other (strengths/weakness in any particular areas)?
3) Which senior programmes do you find most impressive from them?
4) Who do you think has grown the most since they turn senior?
Personally, if I have to choose I'll go with Boyang. Sure, he's not the best at skating skills and performance out of the three, but I love that he made a lot of progress. He's come a very long way from his noodle stumbling around on skates days, he's got more glide now, and his jumps are still as good, if not better than ever. I would say he's more of a toe jumper, but his take-off technique is sound, landing is fine but could have been better. He's a fun guy, and his fun programmes highlight that very well. I'm quite impressed with his "Crouching Tiger" programme this season, wonderful showing at all 3 4CC, Olys & Worlds. Out of the PCS categories, his transitions are the most problematic, I would like for him to do more transition into jumps. Keep improving Boyang
Shoma is the most pleasing to watch for me. Sometimes he might be overscored, but he wins PCS hands-down compared to the sQuad. Great skating skills, wonderful musicality (although I have enough of Italian opera now thanks Shoma), and his combos at the end of this season make a wonderful climax to his otherwise ok-ish LP. My biggest gripe with Shoma has always been jumps, but he has been trying to fix them so finger-crossed.
Nathan, obviously, has the most number of quads. Not only that, he has correct technique on all of them. I think he's also more of a toe jumper? He has great stamina and relatively high consistency of the quads he is comfortable with. He inherits the problem of 3A from another Cha(e)n (same surname ) - while he splats less (I think) his landing is super scratchy, nearly coming to a stand still. His other quads don't have great landings either - opposite to Shoma's super(human) bent knees, Nathan's are very stiff. PCS-wise, Nathan has potential he almost never shows in competition. His exhibition and competitive skate look like they are by different skaters. Judging by PCS potential, he has more than Boyang right now; by what they put on the ice, I would say they are roughly the same. He is the only one that IMHO regresses after turning senior out of the three, but it might be a temp strategy for 2018 Olys, so hopefully the end of Olympics season bring about more positive change.
Honourable mentions: Mikhail Kolyada (his programmes are not the most inspiring for me, but I like his SS, don't think he has technique problem, his lutz is out of this world, but he needs to land them though ), Dmitri Aliev (some jump problems, but entertaining skates when he's on), and Vincent Zhou (also lots of quads, frequent UR though, worst SS and PCS in general compared to the guys here, can always improve)
Note: not trying to flame fanwars. I hope we can stay civil, and everyone is welcome to an opinion
1) Who is your favourite?
2) Who do you think has the best jump & spin techniques? Skating skills, transitions, interpretation, performance, composition? On skating skills, how would you break them down, and how do the three differ from each other (strengths/weakness in any particular areas)?
3) Which senior programmes do you find most impressive from them?
4) Who do you think has grown the most since they turn senior?
Personally, if I have to choose I'll go with Boyang. Sure, he's not the best at skating skills and performance out of the three, but I love that he made a lot of progress. He's come a very long way from his noodle stumbling around on skates days, he's got more glide now, and his jumps are still as good, if not better than ever. I would say he's more of a toe jumper, but his take-off technique is sound, landing is fine but could have been better. He's a fun guy, and his fun programmes highlight that very well. I'm quite impressed with his "Crouching Tiger" programme this season, wonderful showing at all 3 4CC, Olys & Worlds. Out of the PCS categories, his transitions are the most problematic, I would like for him to do more transition into jumps. Keep improving Boyang
Shoma is the most pleasing to watch for me. Sometimes he might be overscored, but he wins PCS hands-down compared to the sQuad. Great skating skills, wonderful musicality (although I have enough of Italian opera now thanks Shoma), and his combos at the end of this season make a wonderful climax to his otherwise ok-ish LP. My biggest gripe with Shoma has always been jumps, but he has been trying to fix them so finger-crossed.
Nathan, obviously, has the most number of quads. Not only that, he has correct technique on all of them. I think he's also more of a toe jumper? He has great stamina and relatively high consistency of the quads he is comfortable with. He inherits the problem of 3A from another Cha(e)n (same surname ) - while he splats less (I think) his landing is super scratchy, nearly coming to a stand still. His other quads don't have great landings either - opposite to Shoma's super(human) bent knees, Nathan's are very stiff. PCS-wise, Nathan has potential he almost never shows in competition. His exhibition and competitive skate look like they are by different skaters. Judging by PCS potential, he has more than Boyang right now; by what they put on the ice, I would say they are roughly the same. He is the only one that IMHO regresses after turning senior out of the three, but it might be a temp strategy for 2018 Olys, so hopefully the end of Olympics season bring about more positive change.
Honourable mentions: Mikhail Kolyada (his programmes are not the most inspiring for me, but I like his SS, don't think he has technique problem, his lutz is out of this world, but he needs to land them though ), Dmitri Aliev (some jump problems, but entertaining skates when he's on), and Vincent Zhou (also lots of quads, frequent UR though, worst SS and PCS in general compared to the guys here, can always improve)
Note: not trying to flame fanwars. I hope we can stay civil, and everyone is welcome to an opinion