What I don't understand is why he didn't use his quad. He did them in practice all the time, but never in competition. As you can see in youtube, Orser had a qquad too, but never used it. Why practice a jump you will never use.
@jwest5474 It's the lack of consistency. Wagenhoffer had a pretty good 3 Axel (as did his teammate, Tiffany Chin), but it was reportedly less than 50% in consistency. Mr. Nicks won't let them try such a jump at competitions (other coaches might have--like Machiko Yamada). You practice, though, hoping to improve its consistency, of course!
I don't remember this performance like I do Scott and David's. Those are like implanted in my brain because we didn't have vcr's or dvd's back then for me to watch over and over again. Even before I heard the music from the movie, "Fame" I was thinking this program is such a product of it's time. The music, costume, and choreography of so much of that era. His skating ability is timeless. Alot of current skaters could really learn alot from knowing the vocabulary of skating that's shown here.
Looking at the quality of his edges, jumps, spins, flow, presentation, etc., it is hard to believe that this skater never won any major competitions.
Skating has changed quite a bit in the last 28 years, but his skating is probably the closest to what we consider ideal in today's skating (Code of Points).
Honestly, under the new scoring system, I think this performance would have placed well above the winner there (whom I like and respect very much).
Floskate, I completely agree with you. All of the jumps -- except the slightly labored triple lutz -- were effortless and his style and lines are breathtaking. He also has moves and elements that set him apart (even today) -- the change of edge spiral is superb and I don't believe I've ever seen a split lutz done before.
What I don't understand is why he didn't use his quad. He did them in practice all the time, but never in competition. As you can see in youtube, Orser had a qquad too, but never used it. Why practice a jump you will never use.
jwest5474 2 years ago
@jwest5474 It's the lack of consistency. Wagenhoffer had a pretty good 3 Axel (as did his teammate, Tiffany Chin), but it was reportedly less than 50% in consistency. Mr. Nicks won't let them try such a jump at competitions (other coaches might have--like Machiko Yamada). You practice, though, hoping to improve its consistency, of course!
nondescriptnyc 1 year ago
I don't remember this performance like I do Scott and David's. Those are like implanted in my brain because we didn't have vcr's or dvd's back then for me to watch over and over again. Even before I heard the music from the movie, "Fame" I was thinking this program is such a product of it's time. The music, costume, and choreography of so much of that era. His skating ability is timeless. Alot of current skaters could really learn alot from knowing the vocabulary of skating that's shown here.
funkydreads 2 years ago
Looking at the quality of his edges, jumps, spins, flow, presentation, etc., it is hard to believe that this skater never won any major competitions.
Skating has changed quite a bit in the last 28 years, but his skating is probably the closest to what we consider ideal in today's skating (Code of Points).
Honestly, under the new scoring system, I think this performance would have placed well above the winner there (whom I like and respect very much).
nondescriptnyc 2 years ago
Robert skated back in the days when skaters knew how to skate. Unless they bring figures back, we will never see skating like this again.
teft 3 years ago
Floskate, I completely agree with you. All of the jumps -- except the slightly labored triple lutz -- were effortless and his style and lines are breathtaking. He also has moves and elements that set him apart (even today) -- the change of edge spiral is superb and I don't believe I've ever seen a split lutz done before.
sjkel 3 years ago