2015 Junior Worlds Ladies Free Skate

[yyyskate]

this is not a one way v.s. another way issue. it is just "how well you do what the movements you plan and execute" according to music, and the design of movement itself (aka choreo).
sima's flaws in technique hinders her intention to perform.
wakababy's choreo is not good. it was composed according to cop rules. such as distribution of elements, and added transitions before and after tech element. also, some of her choreo movement is not the most ideal (but she hit it really well to the music).she need more sophisticated choreo, like akiko's, satoko's, yuna's etc. but wakababy has a very solid tech foundation and innate musicality, so I think she will have a bright future.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

this is not a one way v.s. another way issue. it is just "how well you do what the movements you plan and execute" according to music, and the design of movement itself (aka choreo).
sima's flaws in technique hinders her intention to perform.
wakababy's choreo is not good. it was composed according to cop rules. such as distribution of elements, and added transitions before and after tech element. also, some of her choreo movement is not the most ideal (but she hit it really well to the music).she need more sophisticated choreo, like akiko's, satoko's, yuna's etc. but wakababy has a very solid tech foundation and innate musicality, so I think she will have a bright future.

Agree. Hopefully they all have a bright future. If Zhenia and Sima both go senior(quite likely) then Wakababy may run over the competition next year. Only time will tell but if she continues to improve like she has shown this season she'll be at the top again. FWIW both Of their flaws are outweighed by their strengths in my eyes.

Don't forget Proklova and Sotskova will be aiming to improve and give a good challenge though.

 

[Meoima]

Agree. Hopefully they all have a bright future. If Zhenia and Sima both go senior(quite likely) then Wakababy may run over the competition next year. Only time will tell but if she continues to improve like she has shown this season she'll be at the top again. FWIW both Of their flaws are outweighed by their strengths in my eyes.
Don't forget Proklova and Sotskova will be aiming to improve and give a good challenge though.

Next year Yuna Aoki and Marin Honda will turn juniors as well. These girls can be major forces.

 

[ks777]

Next year Yuna Aoki and Marin Honda will turn juniors as well. These girls can be major forces.

I am already a big fan of Marin Honda.

 

[BounceAround]

She may suffer from stockier body type(because of that, her real artistic potential been ignored...). therefore, need to find a way to come around it.

I think this is what is happening. Midori, who had choreographically difficulty programs (excellent ability to turn in different directions, gained speed with very few crossovers, difficult transitions into jumps), was often criticized for just "stroking around."

 

[Meoima]

I am already a big fan of Marin Honda.

I like Yuna. I'm very looking forwards to these ladies. I really want to see Yuna Aoki at the next Olympic.

 

[yyyskate]

GOD, love the CBC commentary team to death!!!!! so wish someone recorded the whole thing!
in short
"wakaba win my heart" --kurt

 

[yyyskate]

about wakababy, they said her step sequence so pure, caress the ice.
jump technique so pure,old school! perfect 2A
meet the challenge of this music, towards the end building up.
and her own style of pride in performance.
feels like a mature senior program.
should be 1 instead of 2 when the score came up.


so wish some japanese fan record this, awesome commentary from CBC

 

[ks777]

Wakaba really does have both great basic skating skills and jumping technique. She can work on her musicality(PCS) later. She is lucky to have the good basics because as you know, Mao didn't have the good jumping technique and she had to work so hard to fix them. As she worked on her jumps, her jumps became smaller and she wasn't as consistent with them anymore. Yuna Kim, on the other hand, had great jumping technique(not loop) so she didn't have to work on her jumps as much as Mao and she was able to focus on her PCS more instead. I think that's what happened to Mao and Yuna.

 

[yyyskate]

about sima, they said she is an athletic replica of JuliaLip, not only skating but also similar choreo. that is as much as I can remember.
about evgenia, they appraise that she makes an otherwise disastrous step sequence(I guess referring to that unusual music) amazing, and appraised her long limbs to make her lines strong, although she is not a particular tall girl.
their comments about tano: if it is getting your points in current judging system why not use it, sima cannot even do a usual jump without tano (implying is there any variety in this case). also a well-done tano or rippon should be extended arms, will give you a striking image like how Brain Boitano and Adam rippon do it, not just barely over head like swing a fly swatter.
they also showed maria, Kaz ET and the other japanese girl
kaz ET is their second fav.
over all the CBC commentary I watched, I think their fav russian girl is Radio.

about tano arm, after I watched evgenia slow-mo jump montage, especially how she swing her arms in 2A. I have a feeling: is that a way to utilize the Russian jump with arm technique. already swing arms so much, why not make it a little bit more, just over-head, and earn some points.

 

[hanca]

about tano arm, after I watched evgenia slow-mo jump montage, especially how she swing her arms in 2A. I have a feeling: is that a way to utilize the Russian jump with arm technique. already swing arms so much, why not make it a little bit more, just over-head, and earn some points.

Do you skate at all? Because if you did, surely you wouldn't write such rubbish. Swinging arm up into Tano? Hilarious! Who could come up with that.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Do you skate at all? Because if you did, surely you wouldn't write such rubbish. Swinging arm up into Tano? Hilarious! Who could come up with that.

Did you happen to catch the explanation Zhenia and Sima gave in the presser yesterday about how the Tano's help them to gain air position? They used their arms and shoulders to make a motion that makes perfect sense as to why someone would do it. They also said they don't feel comfortable doing the jumps anymore so expect them to continue I don't care if they stop awarding points for Tano's but the technique is not as bad as some people make it out to be. To tell you the truth....I love seeing all the tano drama. The things that upset skating fans just never cease to amaze/amuse me.

 

[Sandpiper]

about tano arm, after I watched evgenia slow-mo jump montage, especially how she swing her arms in 2A. I have a feeling: is that a way to utilize the Russian jump with arm technique. already swing arms so much, why not make it a little bit more, just over-head, and earn some points.

"Russian jump with arm technique"? Does Liza jump with her arms? Does Voronov? Does Plushenko? Mao uses her upper-body a lot on the 3A. Is she Russian now?

No need for sweeping generalizations...

 

[CarneAsada]

Wakaba does have nice moments in her choreo and performance but at this point they come in spurts. I was editing my SP recap video (posted in the videos/results thread) and there is a moment where she executes amazing SS and does a turn with her arm that reveals a smiley face and then explodes into steps. There are also a few moments where she is dead upstairs and simply skating hips down. Once she combines everything into a complete package she will slay

As for all the comparisons...I see Mao more than anything

Lol, maybe we all see what we want to see... she reminds me more of younger Yuna, just the way she moves in general and sets up her jumps. I think Mao was always a bit "softer" in her movements; also she wasn't particularly big on face-stroking.

some observation of Asian girls puberty:
Zijun grew a few inches at OG season, puberty trouble at age 17, she lost stamina.
Mirai, puberty started from 17, have problem ever since.
Caroline puberty start from 16, suddenly grew taller and fill up gradually every year.
Yuna, had puberty at 16, lark ascending year. said it is very hard for her (stamina issue, no clean lark), but she controlled her weight very well.
Mao Asada, started to have problem from 2008 season.
Soyoun, filled out a lot this season(17), but seems no particular changes at all in her jumps.

Karen is 15 now, will face puberty very soon, :hopelessness: Dont know if she can manage to come out of it before next OG. will be 18.
Wakababy is 14, will be 17 at OG, also alarming puberty year for asian girls.

Yuna and Zijun's puberty issue is stamina, technique did not change much. Caroline lose jump.

Most of the girls who really struggled with puberty and failed to recover already had iffy technique from the beginning. Yuna had excellent technique from the very beginning and survived puberty with no issues, while Mirai and Caroline haven't recovered their previous form even after 4 years. Both So-youn and Wakaba will probably be fine barring injury (knock on wood).

 

[yyyskate]

"Russian jump with arm technique"? Does Liza jump with her arms? Does Voronov? Does Plushenko? Mao uses her upper-body a lot on the 3A. Is she Russian now?

No need for sweeping generalizations...

apparently not,my fault, the Russian jump with arm phrase originated from TSL...:hopelessness: you know what I mean, not all Russians...

 

[Sandpiper]

apparently not,my fault, the Russian jump with arm phrase originated from TSL...:hopelessness: you know what I mean, not all Russians...

I know it came from TSL. It annoyed the heck out of me there, too. Sorry, I came on a bit strongly... I should probably rage at TSL instead.

 

[eyeballlickinggecko]

With her skating and speed she reminds me a bit Akiko Suzuki.

Her jumps reminds me of Joannie Rochette.

 

[hippomoomin]

Just realized that Tyler Pierce skated to a totally different LP from US national. It's so strange because this "new" program does not do her any favor at all. It looks like her old moves packed into a different piece of music; the worst thing is she did not have a different costume for this new program. So sad her placement is not much better than last year.

 

[Skater Boy]

I really loved Higuchi's jumps but I do think the tano twins - now I understand - did a good job overall. Higuchi has such power and spring and "mature" or big jumps. Big disappointment was Karen Chen. I know she did her best but the "odds" or stats are some will skate well and some won't. In a way she was very very lucky to get 8th as the stars aligned up right - usually you don't move up to 8th when you placed 8th in the short and you were originally 4 places lower. Maybe her victory was the bronze at Nats. she beat the 4ccc champ and an olympian and possible world senior medallist. What a fiasco/disaster for Canada - they must be humiliated. A world power house in skating not even qualifying.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

To address the tano complaints I made a quick jumpamatron video of Sima's 3Lz Tano from the SP. I think it shows how she actually uses the arm to get a greater height and have better control. Judge for yourself but IMO she is using it as more than just a point getter but instead as part of her jump mechanics.

Available in up to 720p HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7W7uMvdE7w