Kaetlyn has confirmed that she's skipping the season.I didn't really enjoy her skating much until this past season; her SP was magnificent, plus I love her jumps, they are a joy to watch. I was really looking forward to see her this season, so I was bummed to hear she will skip the Grand Prix series. I really think the best is yet to come from her, she has potential to develop more as a skater so I hope she will stick around. Also, she is very beautiful.
Fair points. I would add that her skaters have weak skating skills compared to other Canadians and tend to slow down noticeably before jumps.I've noticed that many of McLeod's skaters don't seem to know what to do with their hands/arms, so they sort of flop around aimlessly without either adding much expression to the program or supporting their jump technique. The ladies all seem to underrotate, some to a drastic extent. Bausback and Tamura would do well to find new coaching.
I think another one who could make the national team is Sarah-Maude Blanchard. No 3-3's yet but she has a complete set of triples and is at least consistent. She is planning to compete as a senior at nationals.
As for Tamura, I wish that a lot of skaters leave Mcleod. Mcleod's ladies have all either stagnated ( I would claim the likes of Emily Bausback has stagnated ) . Tamura has regressed a lot and you can't even say she looks like she is taking a step back ( ie real attempts at changing technique ) to go 2 steps forward. Mcleod does not teach strong technique and it catches up with her students eventually.
Pineault is a pleasant skater but often succumbs to nerves. There is also the fact that often her programs all have the same look. She needs to expand her expressive range.
It will be hard to say where Cotop will be at nationals. She is clearly in the one step back to go two steps forward stage with Ravi at the moment. Perhaps the payoff might not show this season but will show next season.
To me, working on her tech while doing a few other things is smart strategy.Last season Kaetlyn got three major medals of Team Olympic event, Individuals Olympics and Worlds. Imo it's a peak result for her career, an excellent result btw others just dream about. This FS year seems to be much easier with other strong ladies rebuilded with another coach or going through the puberty, so skipping exactly this season means she's really tired of endless hard training and maintening her competitive physical conditions.
Next season (19-20) seems to be much harder because of quad ladies incoming to senior events. So it will be a big question for Kaetlyn to stay or to finish career.
Sarah-Maude reminds me of some of the Canadian Junior men - a diamond in the rough.count me in as a fan of sarah maude....i have always liked tall and powerful ladies
Can one not be her fan yet favorite her sp? Contradiction I don’t get.
Anyway this is all Canadian ladies.
Who thinks Alaine can best Gabby this year? I haven’t seen Alaine yet. If only we could inject confidence like a b 12 shot....
I've noticed that many of McLeod's skaters don't seem to know what to do with their hands/arms, so they sort of flop around aimlessly without either adding much expression to the program or supporting their jump technique. The ladies all seem to underrotate, some to a drastic extent. Bausback and Tamura would do well to find new coaching.
I think you hit it precisely, "doesn't get anyone in who will."It's not just that, the basic skating isn't there with so many of McLeod's skaters it's clear she doesn't teach it, and doesn't get anyone in who will. So many of her skaters hit a ceiling because they are so. darn. slow. Because of their lack of speed they will simply never reach the top tier. From Kevin Reynolds to Mira Leung to Sarah Tamura and on and on. On the plus side, they do tend to be mentally tough.
Isn't Patrick Chan setting up a school in Vancouver? Maybe he can teach some basics to the B.C. kids.