Japan Nationals

There was news about Japanese Nationals by Shizuka.

Shizuka said that Mao practised her 3A last week and succeeded it. She guesses that Mao wants to include 3A at Nationals but will make her final decision during her last minute practise.

I hope her hip is heeling. It was said that it was hurting when she does a bielman or lay back spin.

Two more days to go! maybe we'll be able to see some practise tomorrow.

ddmm wrote:

There was news about Japanese Nationals by Shizuka.

Shizuka said that Mao practised her 3A last week and succeeded it. She guesses that Mao wants to include 3A at Nationals but will make her final decision during her last minute practise.

I hope her hip is heeling. It was said that it was hurting when she does a bielman or lay back spin.

Two more days to go! maybe we'll be able to see some practise tomorrow.

Thanks, ddmm!

The question now is what's the success ratio of Mao's 3As in practices? Has it improved greatly compared to the past two seasons? I guess we'll find out when nationals start and we'll see more clips (hopefully).

No 3-3 news? I was hoping Mao will practice that more.

Not sure about the success ratio. I just hope Mao won't hurry too much . She's just started to be consistent.

I am sure she's practicing her 3-3 too because she mentioned in an interview that her goal is to include 3A and 3-3 in her program. She said she won't be satisfied until the day she can include and succeed them.

I think she should worry about the 3A and 3-3 after she makes sure her jumps aren't downgraded anymore (although, half of the time I fail to see how the judges make that call on her jumps)

roma wrote:

ddmm wrote:

There was news about Japanese Nationals by Shizuka.

Shizuka said that Mao practised her 3A last week and succeeded it. She guesses that Mao wants to include 3A at Nationals but will make her final decision during her last minute practise.

I hope her hip is heeling. It was said that it was hurting when she does a bielman or lay back spin.

Two more days to go! maybe we'll be able to see some practise tomorrow.

Thanks, ddmm!

The question now is what's the success ratio of Mao's 3As in practices? Has it improved greatly compared to the past two seasons? I guess we'll find out when nationals start and we'll see more clips (hopefully).

No 3-3 news? I was hoping Mao will practice that more.

I agree: I think that, unless the 3A has a 80-90% consistency in practice, the 3-3 is more important, especially for the SP... I feel that she's focusing too much on the axel, when she doesn't need it to win, since she's able to land 7 triples in the FS, the SP is the "weakest" of her programs: Yu-Na or Carolina would easily beat a 2A, 3F+2Lo and 3Lo program, she needs a 3-3, landing a clean 3A in the SP is really difficult and I'm not sure if it's possible at the moment for her to land a 3A that won't be UR or <<, even if the landing it's clean...

ddmm wrote:

There was news about Japanese Nationals by Shizuka.

Shizuka said that Mao practised her 3A last week and succeeded it. She guesses that Mao wants to include 3A at Nationals but will make her final decision during her last minute practise.

I hope her hip is heeling. It was said that it was hurting when she does a bielman or lay back spin.

Two more days to go! maybe we'll be able to see some practise tomorrow.

Is this the video you are talking about? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wmpLt8R6GA I posted in the Mao season thread bc it seeme like a resume of her season

helen91 wrote:

I think she should worry about the 3A and 3-3 after she makes sure her jumps aren't downgraded anymore (although, half of the time I fail to see how the judges make that call on her jumps)

sorry none of Mao's jump where downgraded this season!

I am so happy to hear that Mao succeeded her 3A in practice, it will give her more confidence when she competes! I hope to see some practice clips soon, I am soo excitet too see her again, please let time fly!

ballerinamao wrote:

helen91 wrote:

I think she should worry about the 3A and 3-3 after she makes sure her jumps aren't downgraded anymore (although, half of the time I fail to see how the judges make that call on her jumps)

sorry none of Mao's jump where downgraded this season!

I am so happy to hear that Mao succeeded her 3A in practice, it will give her more confidence when she competes! I hope to see some practice clips soon, I am soo excitet too see her again, please let time fly!

The triple toe she adds on after the opening double axel was downgraded at CoC, and a lot of her jumps are getting under rotation deductions which is usually followed by negative GOEs. So although she may only be losing a point or two per jump they do add up, certainly more than what a triple axel can make up for. She doesn't need to rush the triple axel, we have already seen that she is more than capable of winning without it. I just don't want her to be so focused on it that she no longer smiles after a skate like she used to.

Guys, the problem is- to add a 3-3 she need to have a consistent flip, but for now she doesn't have it. It usually UR. So I can understand why she is going for 3a. If you didn't notice her 2a became much better, so I guess her 3a became better too.

Practice video clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_68B9zlzRE&feature=youtube_gdata

(Be reminded: only first 40-sec shows the practice, without jumps...but as polosatik guessed, she tried 3a....it is reported that the 3a was successful!)

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNSSXKE0654_Q2A221C1000000/
http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00237437.html
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2012/12/20/kiji/K20121220004816740.html (<-- here's Mao's comment and photos of the practice)

As for the men's practice, it seems everyone is doing ok. Yuzuru was doing fine:
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2012122000884

Wonder how many Quad-jumps were/will be succeeded?

Mao never changes her layout during the season, with the exception of the 2A-3A(She starts with a 2A which later becomes a 3A). I can see her upgrading the 2A in her SP, it's her opening jump. But what will happen in the LP? If she changes her 2A-3T with a 3A(she can add a 2L to her solo 3F to make it the third combo) she needs to change furthermore her layout in order to include a 2A somewhere(isn't the 2A a required element in the LP?). This will affect her muscle memory and she just got more or less stable with her jumps. Or she can replace her opening 3Loop but that will completely change the beginning and the reason she put that jump first is because it's an easy jump for her which helps her relax for the rest of the program. I'm note sure including a 3A will help her now to be honest, I think it's bit too early

Lady_in_black wrote:

Mao never changes her layout during the season, with the exception of the 2A-3A(She starts with a 2A which later becomes a 3A). I can see her upgrading the 2A in her SP, it's her opening jump. But what will happen in the LP? If she changes her 2A-3T with a 3A(she can add a 2L to her solo 3F to make it the third combo) she needs to change furthermore her layout in order to include a 2A somewhere(isn't the 2A a required element in the LP?). This will affect her muscle memory and she just got more or less stable with her jumps. Or she can replace her opening 3Loop but that will completely change the beginning and the reason she put that jump first is because it's an easy jump for her which helps her relax for the rest of the program. I'm note sure including a 3A will help her now to be honest, I think it's bit too early

There's a rule requiting an axel jump, it doesn't talk about 2A, even a single/triple/quad ( ) axel are ok with the rules...

Lady_in_black wrote:

Mao never changes her layout during the season, with the exception of the 2A-3A(She starts with a 2A which later becomes a 3A). I can see her upgrading the 2A in her SP, it's her opening jump. But what will happen in the LP? If she changes her 2A-3T with a 3A(she can add a 2L to her solo 3F to make it the third combo) she needs to change furthermore her layout in order to include a 2A somewhere(isn't the 2A a required element in the LP?). This will affect her muscle memory and she just got more or less stable with her jumps. Or she can replace her opening 3Loop but that will completely change the beginning and the reason she put that jump first is because it's an easy jump for her which helps her relax for the rest of the program. I'm note sure including a 3A will help her now to be honest, I think it's bit too early

I think she wants to add 3a only to her SP. But why not to try now? She doesn't have to fight for her spot like in previous years. I think Nationals is the best time to try, and to know can she land 3a in competition or not.

I think 3A in the SP is a better idea as of now if she won't be doing a 3-3. She's already gotten consistent in the SP this season so I think it's ok to risk it a bit. Her current FS layout is already ok as she's attempting a 7 triple program. What she needs to do there is to make sure her jumps become consistent especially her 3F.

3A in practice. Looking pretty good to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq27K4NBCmw

roma wrote:

3A in practice. Looking pretty good to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq27K4NBCmw

WOW, it's great! Look at the height!

polosatik wrote:

roma wrote:

3A in practice. Looking pretty good to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq27K4NBCmw

WOW, it's great! Look at the height!

It sure does. Mao is a very good jumper, but she has two obstacle working against her...her nerves, and she tends to slow down before jumping, which doesn't give her enough speed to fully rotate her jumps. Once she conquers those 2 things, she will have the same jump succession as Yuna.

Another clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un01GRhorGg

What do you think of the Lutz? Clean or still a slight e?

same clip but with English trans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvpDqgH_msw

roma wrote:

Another clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un01GRhorGg

What do you think of the Lutz? Clean or still a slight e?

same clip but with English trans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvpDqgH_msw

Still an evident e... I think that her best 3Lz of the Sato years remains the one she landed at 4CC 2011. The 3F looked really good and the axel... I think that that jump could have been not UR nor DG! And, I agree that the best thing would be trying the 3A here: why attempting it for the first time at 4CC, like she did last season?

Her 3Lz is back to an obvious flutz I am afraid. Last season, at least in the warm up an practices it looked closer. On the other hand, the GOE deductions are not that harsh as in the past and she has lots of areas to improve her jumps which are costing her more. She needs to get back her 3F the way it was last season asap
Her 3A was very good and less than 1/4 short of rotation which means she would have probably got full credit on it
And it's good to know a 2A is not mandatory. It gives her more chances to "play" with her layout the way she feels more comfortable.
Maybe it's better to try the 3A only in the SP, since she skated clean all her SP this season. She still struggled to skate a clean LP without the 3A, that is why I think it's a bit early.

polosatik wrote:

Lady_in_black wrote:

Mao never changes her layout during the season, with the exception of the 2A-3A(She starts with a 2A which later becomes a 3A). I can see her upgrading the 2A in her SP, it's her opening jump. But what will happen in the LP? If she changes her 2A-3T with a 3A(she can add a 2L to her solo 3F to make it the third combo) she needs to change furthermore her layout in order to include a 2A somewhere(isn't the 2A a required element in the LP?). This will affect her muscle memory and she just got more or less stable with her jumps. Or she can replace her opening 3Loop but that will completely change the beginning and the reason she put that jump first is because it's an easy jump for her which helps her relax for the rest of the program. I'm note sure including a 3A will help her now to be honest, I think it's bit too early

I think she wants to add 3a only to her SP. But why not to try now? She doesn't have to fight for her spot like in previous years. I think Nationals is the best time to try, and to know can she land 3a in competition or not.

Think so too. As long as Mao makes up to at least 4th place in Nats, I'm sure they'll choose her to enter Worlds anyway. She won GPF, and that's big. Unless she screws up unbelievably, JSF won't think twice about sending her to Worlds. She's already won her ticket for sure.

So it's best Mao tries a 3A at Nats if ever this season. And if she succeeds it there, she can start thinking whether or not to include it in 4CC or/and Worlds.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20121220-00000057-nksports-spo

It says in this article that Mao jumped two 3As and landed them today (no mention of rotation). She said '(Her practices) Have been going very well since Finals were over, so I think this first time (official practice) went quite good (too)'. She also said that ther lower back aches have gotten better after taking a day off since returning to Jpn. But she also said she has not been to any hospitals for checkups...which makes me a bit worried. But I suppose these things happen to athletes alot, and Sato and her trainers probabaly decided it's not anything serious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjW7-NcVheA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This is one of her best 3A.

Thanks for all the news and clips everyone.

[quote=

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20121220-00000057-nksports-spo

It says in this article that Mao jumped two 3As and landed them today (no mention of rotation). She said '(Her practices) Have been going very well since Finals were over, so I think this first time (official practice) went quite good (too)'. She also said that ther lower back aches have gotten better after taking a day off since returning to Jpn. But she also said she has not been to any hospitals for checkups...which makes me a bit worried. But I suppose these things happen to athletes alot, and Sato and her trainers probabaly decided it's not anything serious.[/quote]

That worries me. I guess if you're an athlete it's common to have little pains (especially if you are no longer a teenager) and you can't pay attention to all of them, but I believe it's better to check as early as possible, just in case. The longer you wait, the longer it will take to heal. I hope they're just waiting to check until nats are over (since there's very little time between gpf and nats).

shar wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjW7-NcVheA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This is one of her best 3A.

i'm afraid that the judges would quickly mark that as underrotated. here's to hoping mao will jump unquestionable triple axels for nationals! you're almost there, mao!

swan wrote:

shar wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjW7-NcVheA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This is one of her best 3A.

i'm afraid that the judges would quickly mark that as underrotated. here's to hoping mao will jump unquestionable triple axels for nationals! you're almost there, mao!

Why do you think so? I think it was enough rotated to get full credit.