If Karen already has a tendency to UR her existing jumps - I don’t think working on a 3A is the best idea. Better to work on improving her existing jumps.
So you want to send Ashley to Tom Z for better technical help? Really? His skaters unterotate all.the.time. I believe RAF is one of our best jump technicians around. Ashley went to him late in her skating carrier, and yet she did great under him. World silver medalist, doing very , very well with her Grand Prix events every year, except of course for last year, and she kept winning Nationals or be on top three for almost ten years.. Pretty good record if you ask me!My thoughts on US ladies:
I think unless Ashley makes a big change (such as coach or diet/training routine) she may be a goner. She could go to Tom Z for jump help, and stick with Raf for packaging and Shae-Lynn for choreo, but that seems complicated. If Adam were to retire and she kept going, she may get more attention from Raf, but will it help her?
I think Mirai should stick around. She’s finally starting to get her jumps a litttle cleaner (although not consistent) so I think If she can stick things out like she did over the last cycle, she can become a contender once again with the axel.
Bradie seems to be our biggest hope. Nice jumps, not the choreo maturity yet, but it will come. I just hope she mentally is as strong as she says she is throughout the rest of her career.
Karen needs to leave Tammy. I know that will be hard for her, but sometimes in order to succeed people need to make difficult decisions. She needs a jump specialist because she has the artistry, so I would suggest a Audrey Wesigier or Frank Carroll to help with the urs.
Mariah needs a new sports psychologist. She has EVERYTHING she needs to succeed, just more consistency and fighting spirit. I think Ashley sticking around In the rink can help her competitive mindset, but that may not happen. She also needs to focus on artistry full time with a choreographer on site.
Alysia Liu! Amazing jumps, I just hope she can keep them as she matures.
That’s about it, i hope it didn’t rant for too long!
So you want to send Ashley to Tom Z for better technical help? Really? His skaters unterotate all.the.time. I believe RAF is one of our best jump technicians around. Ashley went to him late in her skating carrier, and yet she did great under him. World silver medalist, doing very , very well with her Grand Prix events every year, except of course for last year, and she kept winning Nationals or be on top three for almost ten years.. Pretty good record if you ask me!
Because I know a Bradie, I can assure you, that no one works harder than her. She also has an amazing relationship with her brilliant coach. That’s an extra benefit.she will great.
So you want to send Ashley to Tom Z for better technical help? Really? His skaters unterotate all.the.time. I believe RAF is one of our best jump technicians around. Ashley went to him late in her skating carrier, and yet she did great under him. World silver medalist, doing very , very well with her Grand Prix events every year, except of course for last year, and she kept winning Nationals or be on top three for almost ten years.. Pretty good record if you ask me!
Because I know a Bradie, I can assure you, that no one works harder than her. She also has an amazing relationship with her brilliant coach. That’s an extra benefit.she will great.
You never know, Kostner was out for 2 seasons and came back at 29 and received a lot of technical help from a new coach, maybe Ashley should go to someone different?
It’s a completely different scenario. Firstly, CaroK was out not by choice. She made a stupid mistake due to affairs of the heart over an ex boyfriend. Ashley to me was frankly tired from all the training and discipline. Secondly, CaroK has always been solid in her basics - possibly the best basic SS among her peers, solid jump techniques, good deep edges, no edge errors on jumps, no UR as a whole. She had that to build on. Ashley though always had weak to mediocre SS and never had the solid jump setups and could never sustain her speed into jumps due to her mediocre edges. I doubt she can ever rework them as it will require her to start off on SS which she never had much of.
It’s a completely different scenario. Firstly, CaroK was out not by choice. She made a stupid mistake due to affairs of the heart over an ex boyfriend. Ashley to me was frankly tired from all the training and discipline. Secondly, CaroK has always been solid in her basics - possibly the best basic SS among her peers, solid jump techniques, good deep edges, no edge errors on jumps, no UR as a whole. She had that to build on. Ashley though always had weak to mediocre SS and never had the solid jump setups and could never sustain her speed into jumps due to her mediocre edges. I doubt she can ever rework them as it will require her to start off on SS which she never had much of.
Kostner is a former World champion, 5-time World medalist and individual Olympic medalwinner. She has stood on the European podium every time she has competed there since 2006, including 5 European championships. Her strong suit is exceptional presentation coupled with her textbook basic skating skills: she doesn't flutz or lip and rarely underrotates her jumps. But even the best coaching in the world could not bring back a Kostner who could consistently land a 3z and 3f+3t or even 3t+3t. She had good results this year, but not the Olympic and World medals she really wanted.
Ashley at her prime was an excellent (but not outstanding) performer who worked hard to rotate her 3/3 and try to take off the lutz on an outside edge. She reached her peak in 2016 when she won silver at Worlds. Since then, her skating has deteriorated and so have her results. Time off will not have improved her skills or make her more competitive at 27 or 28, and even the best coaching can't revive the skills she had at 24. And even those skills are probably not competitive in the current environment.
Ashley's skating skills are comparable to most of the top ladies of the last quad. Having seen her live - at her peak in 2016 - her speed and edge work across the ice are no worse than 2-time World Champion and Olympic silver medallist Evegenia Medvedeva. Yes, her skating skills when she debuted were mediocre at best, but the judges aren't idiots - they saw Ashley make improvements and marked her accordingly. They've awarded her high PCS (including skating skills) for a reason - its because quite simply, her skating skills are no better or worse than the other top competitors. Her World Silver, Olympic Bronze, 3 x GPF, 3 US Gold and numerous other international medals speak for themselves.
Her decline in form post 2016 had more to do with decreased motivation than anything else and, quite frankly, was still better than the majority of other US ladies. You make it sound like Ashley has skating skills at the level of a skater who should barely make it out of the novice ranks, which lacks credibility.
Ashley's skating skills are comparable to most of the top ladies of the last quad. Having seen her live - at her peak in 2016 - her speed and edge work across the ice are no worse than 2-time World Champion and Olympic silver medallist Evegenia Medvedeva. Yes, her skating skills when she debuted were mediocre at best, but the judges aren't idiots - they saw Ashley make improvements and marked her accordingly. They've awarded her high PCS (including skating skills) for a reason - its because quite simply, her skating skills are no better or worse than the other top competitors. Her World Silver, Olympic Bronze, 3 x GPF, 3 US Gold and numerous other international medals speak for themselves.
Her decline in form post 2016 had more to do with decreased motivation than anything else and, quite frankly, was still better than the majority of other US ladies. You make it sound like Ashley has skating skills at the level of a skater who should barely make it out of the novice ranks, which lacks credibility.
Midori Ito and Tonya Harding were both doing Triple Axels 30 years ago, but 3As have never become a standard element for Ladies and I expect something similar with quads. It takes a lot of practice time and speed to get those jumps and that seems to come at the cost of some of the other elements.
The U.S. needs ladies who can fully rotate their triples and are consistent in competition. That, more than a jumping arms race, will pull them up in international standings.
Ashley's skating skills are comparable to most of the top ladies of the last quad. Having seen her live - at her peak in 2016 - her speed and edge work across the ice are no worse than 2-time World Champion and Olympic silver medallist Evegenia Medvedeva. Yes, her skating skills when she debuted were mediocre at best, but the judges aren't idiots - they saw Ashley make improvements and marked her accordingly. They've awarded her high PCS (including skating skills) for a reason - its because quite simply, her skating skills are no better or worse than the other top competitors. Her World Silver, Olympic Bronze, 3 x GPF, 3 US Gold and numerous other international medals speak for themselves.
Her decline in form post 2016 had more to do with decreased motivation than anything else and, quite frankly, was still better than the majority of other US ladies. You make it sound like Ashley has skating skills at the level of a skater who should barely make it out of the novice ranks, which lacks credibility.
OT for what's being discussed but on topic for the thread
Karen has skates! no idea where they're from or anything, but she had her SP done and i'd assume she had skates to do that lol
There's a pic on her instagram, but the part of the heel where a logo would be isn't showing so if anyone wants to try and make any guesses here ya go https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg6vkBFhgb_/?taken-by=karebearsk8
She tagged Jackson on her skates so I'm assuming that they're Jackson skates lol
In the comments people are asking if she's in/moved to Canada. Is there something in the picture that alludes to that? Why would she be in Canada?